The Murdered Princes in the Tower 1483

A call for Dignity

A call for Dignity In the past few days, many people have signed the petition calling for scientific testing of the bones believed to be those of the Princes in the Tower. I am deeply grateful for that support. I would also like to say something directly to those who admire and study the life..
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And I confess I often cry.

This is an extract from my second novel, The Wolf of Whitehall. The odd thing about writing is that when one of your characters dies, it feels like a real loss. And I confess I often cry.   He felt the warmth of her tears on his hand. It comforted him more than any draft..
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The Bayeux Tapestry: Should England Ask for It Back?

The Bayeux Tapestry: Should England Ask for It Back? A few years ago, I had the opportunity to see the extraordinary Bayeux Tapestry in its current home in Bayeux. It is an astonishing work of medieval storytelling — nearly seventy metres long — depicting the events that led to the Norman Conquest of England in..
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If these bones are not the Princes… then who are they?

Yesterday’s post about the mystery of the bones believed to be the Princes in the Tower brought a remarkable response, and I want to thank everyone who signed the petition or shared it. Every signature brings us one step closer to answering a question that has lingered for more than five centuries. But time may..
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For more than 350 years

For more than 350 years, the small bones placed in an urn in Westminster Abbey have been widely believed to be those of Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury — the so-called Princes in the Tower. But what if they are not? Today I received a thoughtful message from a lady who told..
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The first day of spring.

The first day of spring. A season that never arrives all at once, but by degrees — in light that lingers a moment longer, in birdsong newly bold, in the first green insistence at the edges of fields and hedgerows. Winter loosens its grip not with drama, but with quiet resolve. The past is much..
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A note on my recent BBC interview

A note on my recent BBC interview I have shared below a link to a shortened section of my BBC interview from last week, now available on the BBC website. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0n2916z While I am grateful for the coverage, the edited version necessarily omits two points that are central to the historical evidence surrounding the Princes..
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What is a bill?

What is a bill? The bill was one of the most common and effective weapons of late medieval England. Adapted from an agricultural billhook, it was mounted on a long wooden shaft and used by foot soldiers across the Wars of the Roses. With its hooked blade, sharp point, and cutting edge, a bill could..
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The Princes

The Princes By 1483, the Tower had already witnessed the quiet removal of kings and princes. Edward V and his brother Richard of York were not the first royal figures to enter the Tower — but they may have been the last never to leave it. Officially, there is no record of their deaths. No..
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I shall be honest — it brought tears to my eyes.

As many of you will know, I am still very new to being an author, and today I received the most extraordinary email from a reader about my book. I shall be honest — it brought tears to my eyes. Below is what she said in brief: The Reflection in the Mirror, I felt I..
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The fate of George, Duke of Clarence

Secrets of the Tower: The fate of George, Duke of Clarence George, Duke of Clarence, was born into privilege and danger in equal measure. Brother to Edward IV and Richard of Gloucester, Clarence was of royal blood — and relentless ambition. He rebelled, submitted, conspired, and rebelled again. In 1478, he was imprisoned in the..
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A Kirtle

What Is This? An object from The Reflection in the Mirror (1540) A Kirtle A kirtle was a fitted garment worn close to the body, forming the foundation of a woman’s clothing in the sixteenth century. It could be worn on its own in private or working settings, or beneath a gown when dressed more..
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Secrets of the Tower: How did Henry VI die?

Secrets of the Tower: How did Henry VI die? He was a king twice crowned. He died a prisoner. In May 1471, Henry VI was held in the Tower of London following the defeat of the Lancastrian cause. Officially, his death was recorded as natural. Unofficially, few then — or now — believed it. Contemporary..
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What happened to the Princes in the Tower in 1483?

By the summer of 1483, the Tower of London no longer echoed with the sounds of youth. The laughter that had once drifted across Tower Green had fallen silent, and the fortress resumed its ancient, solemn character. Two young princes were no longer seen. Where had they gone? It was a question whispered on many..
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Richard III – Why He Took the Crown

Richard III – Why He Took the Crown He did not ride into London seeking a crown.He rode as Protector of the Realm. Richard of Gloucester was not a boy king. He was thirty years of age, battle-hardened, of proven loyalty, and of undisputed royal blood. When evidence emerged that Edward IV’s marriage may have..
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Succession, Then and Now

Succession, Then and Now The line of succession looks stable. History suggests otherwise. Today, the British line of succession appears orderly, regulated, and safeguarded by law. Names are fixed. Positions are clear. The crown passes by statute, not force. In the medieval world, succession was rarely so simple. A child king, such as Edward V,..
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A young queen.

A young queen. An ageing king. A court where silence is as dangerous as speech. The Reflection in the Mirror is set in the final, perilous years of the reign of Henry VIII, when power is brittle, fear governs loyalty, and love can be fatal. At its heart stands Catherine Howard — young, watched, and..
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A Death of a King

  A Death of a King In April 1483, England woke to silence. Edward IV, still only in his early forties, was dead. No battlefield. No warning. No clear succession secured in a realm that had known nothing but fracture for a generation. The court moved quickly, but beneath the surface there was fear. Edward..
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On 29 March 1461, England stood on the edge of itself.

On 29 March 1461, England stood on the edge of itself. Snow fell sideways across the fields near Towton, driven hard by a bitter wind. Men fought half-blind, boots sinking into churned mud and blood, banners barely visible through the white haze. By nightfall, the River Cock ran red, and the road south was lined..
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Henry VI at Ludlow:

Henry VI at Ludlow: When Henry VI inherited the Crown as an infant, England faced a problem of governance as much as succession. A child king could not rule, yet the realm still required authority, continuity, and legitimacy. The answer lay at Ludlow Castle. During Henry’s minority, Ludlow became the seat of the Council of..
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The story behind the petition for DNA testing

The story behind the petition for DNA testing To understand why this petition matters, we must begin in Wales. When Edward I conquered Wales by force of arms, he knew that conquest alone would never secure loyalty. To bind Wales to the English Crown, he made a solemn pledge to the Welsh people. His son..
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A Book of Hours

A Book of Hours was a personal devotional prayer book, used by lay people for private worship. It followed the canonical hours of the day — Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline — guiding prayer from dawn to night. By the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Books of Hours were among the..
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Tomorrow, this story reaches the BBC.

Tomorrow, this story reaches the BBC. Before it does, our petition needs your signature. On a day when many of us are indoors, this is the moment to act. The petition to allow DNA testing of the Princes in the Tower is being discussed with the BBC tomorrow. History does not change quietly. It changes..
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The Reflection in the Mirror

A Prie-Dieu

What Is This? An object from The Reflection in the Mirror (1540) A Prie-Dieu A prie-dieu is a small piece of furniture designed specifically for private prayer. Its name comes from the French phrase priez Dieu — pray to God. Typically made of wood, a prie-dieu consists of a padded kneeler, a small shelf to..
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Where Princes Were Made: Ludlow, and a BBC Conversation

Where Princes Were Made: Ludlow, and a BBC Conversation I am very pleased to share that I will be interviewed by BBC Radio Shropshire on Monday. We will be discussing Ludlow, its deep connections to the Princes of York, and why place, history, and evidence still matter when we examine England’s past. I will also..
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What is an oriel window?

While writing Murder in the Tower, I often describe spaces where power is observed rather than spoken aloud. One such architectural detail is the oriel window. An oriel window is a projecting window, usually supported by brackets or corbels, and does not reach the ground. In the Tudor period, these windows were often found in..
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A Stomacher

A stomacher was a decorative panel worn at the front of a woman’s gown, filling the open section of the bodice. In the sixteenth century, gowns were often designed to open at the front, and the stomacher was inserted and secured in place to complete the garment. Far from being merely practical, stomachers were frequently..
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An object from The Reflection in the Mirror (1540)

What Is This? An object from The Reflection in the Mirror (1540) In Tudor England, a blackjack was not a weapon, but a drinking vessel. Made from thick leather, hardened with pitch or resin and sealed to hold liquid, black jacks were commonly used in taverns, households, and even at court. They were lighter and..
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Elizabeth I (Queen of England, 1558–1603)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400   Elizabeth I (Queen of England, 1558–1603) Elizabeth I understood that survival depended on control — of image, language, and distance. The daughter of Anne Boleyn, declared illegitimate in childhood, she learned early that queenship was as much performance as power. When she came to the throne, she..
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Mary I of England (Queen of England, 1553–1558)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400   Mary I of England (Queen of England, 1553–1558) Mary I was England’s first crowned queen regnant, and she ruled, knowing every eye was waiting for her to fail. Declared illegitimate in childhood, separated from her mother, and forced to submit to religious change she did not believe..
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A pomander

What Is This? – Inside The Reflection in the Mirror While writing my current historical novel, The Reflection in the Mirror, set in 1540, I found myself using words, objects, and terms that are no longer part of everyday language. Many of these appear throughout the novel, exactly as they would have been spoken or..
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Lady Jane Grey (Claimed Queen of England, July 1553)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400 Lady Jane Grey (Claimed Queen of England, July 1553) Lady Jane Grey was never meant to be a queen. Scholarly, devout, and intensely private, she was raised for learning rather than rule. Fluent in Greek and Latin, she preferred theology to politics and books to ceremony. Her brief..
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Coming soon: Murder in the Tower

Coming soon: Murder in the Tower Two houses, alike in pride and passion, bound by ambition and avarice to rule and wear the crown. The white rose of York and the red of Lancaster are drawn towards a final reckoning — a battle to end the Wars of the Roses. As dawn breaks, the sky..
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Ordering from Outside the UK? A Quick Amazon Tip

Ordering from Outside the UK? A Quick Amazon Tip I had an interesting (and useful) moment this week that felt worth sharing. A reader in the United States wanted to order my book via Amazon but kept running into problems and assumed it was unavailable. In fact, I had already had Amazon sales to the..
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Catherine Parr (Queen of England, 1543–1547)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400   Catherine Parr (Queen of England, 1543–1547) Catherine Parr was not chosen for youth or beauty, but for competence. Twice widowed, educated, and politically astute, she entered Henry VIII’s court fully aware of its dangers. Her marriage to the ageing king was an act of duty rather than..
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Catherine Howard (Queen of England, 1540–1541)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400   Catherine Howard (Queen of England, 1540–1541) Catherine Howard came to the throne astonishingly young, shaped more by neglect than ambition. Raised within a lax household, poorly educated and unprotected, she entered the Tudor court without the tools required to survive it. Her marriage to Henry VIII was..
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Anne of Cleves (Queen of England,1540)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400   Anne of Cleves (Queen of England,1540) Anne of Cleves was never meant to be loved; she was meant to secure an alliance. Raised in the austere courts of the German states, she was educated for obedience, modesty, and household management — not flirtation or courtly display. When..
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Ordering from Outside the UK? A Quick Amazon Tip

I had an interesting (and useful) moment this week that felt worth sharing. A reader in the United States wanted to order my book via Amazon but kept running into problems and assumed it was unavailable. In fact, I had already had Amazon sales to the US, so I knew it must be working. The..
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Anne Boleyn (Queen of England, 1533–1536)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400 Anne Boleyn (Queen of England, 1533–1536) Anne Boleyn did not inherit a crown; she provoked a revolution. Intelligent, sharp-witted, and politically alert, she refused the passive role expected of a king’s mistress and demanded marriage, legitimacy, and authority. In doing so, she became the catalyst for England’s break..
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The Princes in the Tower: why the 1933 examination is not the last word

 The Westminster Abbey urn was opened and inspected in July 1933, but the team’s cautious findings were never conclusive; modern, minimal sampling can finally resolve the question with dignity.   The story so far Two young princes vanished from the Tower of London in 1483 — a mystery that has haunted England ever since. Workmen..
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Katherine of Aragon (Queen of England, 1509–1533)

Queens of the British Isles from 1400 Katherine of Aragon (Queen of England, 1509–1533) Katherine of Aragon arrived in England as a princess forged by power. Daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, she was raised to rule, not merely to marry. Widowed young after the death of Prince Arthur, she endured years..
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Queens of the British Isles from 1400

Queens of the British Isles from 1400   Elizabeth Woodville (Queen of England, 1464–1483)   Elizabeth Woodville rose to queenship not through treaty or dynastic planning, but through a private, astonishing marriage. Widowed, the mother of two sons, and of comparatively modest noble birth, she married Edward IV in secret — a decision that stunned..
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Margaret of Anjou (Queen of England, 1445–1461)

Margaret of Anjou (Queen of England, 1445–1461) Margaret of Anjou was not meant to rule England, yet history forced her hand. Married at just fifteen to Henry VI, she arrived from France as a peace-bride, intended to quiet a kingdom already cracking at its seams. Instead, she found herself queen to a fragile, gentle king..
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Queens of the British Isles from 1400

Queens of the British Isles from 1400 Catherine of Valois Queen of England: 1420–1422 Born a French princess into the embattled House of Valois, Catherine of Valois became Queen of England through her marriage to Henry V at the zenith of English power in France. The union was as political as it was symbolic, sealing..
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Where all the Six Queens are to be found now:

Henry’s Queens Where Henry VIII’s six queens are buried: Where all the Six Queens are to be found now: ·       Katherine of Aragon — Peterborough Cathedral (d. 1536). Her tomb is honoured annually with ‘Katherine Queen of England’ tributes. (Note: her and Henry’s infant son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall (1511), was interred at Westminster Abbey, not..
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The Pearl Driver ( It is worth flagging up that these were real people

Meet the Characters from my current novel, The Reflection in the Mirror The Pearl Driver ( It is worth flagging up that these were real people) It is extraordinary to remember that not long after the Mary Rose sank, the Tudor state was already thinking about salvage. Under Edward VI, divers were hired from abroad..
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The Princes in the Tower: Why we need your petition signatures now

The Princes in the Tower: Why we need your petition signatures now DNA testing of the remains in Westminster Abbey. As Lucy Worsley has rightly said, ‘only scientific analysis will bring certainty.’ There is only one person in the kingdom with the authority to approve this: His Majesty King Charles III. Westminster Abbey is a..
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Sir Rafe (Ralph) Sadler

Meet the Characters – from my novel: The Reflection in the Mirror Sir Rafe (Ralph) Sadler Ralph Sadler entered the household of Thomas Cromwell when he was just six years old. A thoughtful, serious child, he grew into a man of intelligence and quiet strength. Cromwell became more of a father to him than his own,..
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Hans Holbein the Younger (c.1497–1543)

Meet the Characters – From my novel The Reflection in the Mirror Hans Holbein the Younger (c.1497–1543) Hans Holbein the Younger was one of the greatest artists of the Northern Renaissance. Born in Augsburg, he travelled widely before settling in England, where he became court painter to Henry VIII. Holbein’s portraits are celebrated for their..
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Suleiman the Magnificent

Meet the Characters – from my novel: The Reflection in the Mirror   Suleiman I (1494–1566), known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East as Kanuni (“the Lawgiver”), ruled the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power. Crowned in 1520, he expanded Ottoman territories deep into Europe, conquering Belgrade, Rhodes, and..
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Meet the Characters – From my novel The Reflection in the Mirror

  Francis Dereham first crossed paths with Catherine Howard while serving as secretary to the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Though only distantly related to the powerful Howard family, he nursed ambitions far beyond the limits of his position and carried himself with a confidence that outweighed his rank. Dereham was already known for dalliances with..
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Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester

Meet the characters from my novel: The Reflection in the Mirror Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester Sharp-eyed, heavy-browed, and impossible to wrong-foot, Stephen Gardiner was the king’s lawyer-theologian who preferred statute and canon to sweet talk. Trained in law at Cambridge and Paris, he could unpick an argument thread by thread, and he did not..
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Christina of Denmark (1521–1590)

Meet the Characters – From my novel The Reflection in the Mirror Christina of Denmark (1521–1590) was one of the most remarkable women of her age. Widowed young as Duchess of Milan, she became a political prize in Europe’s dynastic marriage games. In 1538, Hans Holbein painted her portrait when Henry VIII considered her as..
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Meet the Characters – From my novel The Reflection in the Mirror

Meet the Characters – From my novel The Reflection in the Mirror In the Tudor court, even reflections can betray you. London, 1540. As the axe falls on Thomas Cromwell, the tremors of his downfall ripple through every chamber of Whitehall. Into this world of shifting loyalties and sharpened smiles steps Catherine Howard, newly arrived,..
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Archery Butts & the Law

Tudor Sports and Pastimes Archery Butts & the Law By statute, no Englishman was to neglect the bow. Churchyards often had targets at their edge; fines were levied for shirkers. Even as guns appeared, kings feared losing the muscle-memory of archery and banned bowling and football lest they tempt men away. The parish butts were..
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Lady Jane Rochford (Jane Boleyn), Viscountess Rochford

Meet the Characters – From my novel The Reflection in the Mirror   Married to George Boleyn, her union proved unhappy for both. When George’s sister, Anne, returned from France, the siblings were notably close, and as Anne drew the eye of Henry VIII, the Boleyn fortunes rose sharply. After the family’s downfall in 1536,..
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Real Tennis

Tudor Sports and Pastimes Within stone-walled courts, kings chased balls of cork and cloth. “Real” tennis was the ancestor of the modern game: wooden rackets with angled heads, galleries for spectators, sloping roofs where shots might ricochet. Henry VIII built courts at Hampton Court and Whitehall, often playing while politics seethed outside. The game was..
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Thomas Tallis

Meet the characters from The Reflection in the Mirror Thomas Tallis is remembered today as one of the greatest composers of Tudor England. In his own time, he was a quiet and discreet figure, moving carefully through the dangerous shifts of Henry VIII’s court. Beginning his career as a simple organist, Tallis rose steadily, serving..
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Meet the characters in The Reflection in the Mirror

Meet the characters in The Reflection in the Mirror Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury A quiet scholar turned reformer, Thomas Cranmer rose to be Archbishop of Canterbury and the most influential churchman of Henry VIII’s reign. He helped reshape English worship, supported the English Bible, and later guided the prayer books that would become the..
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Tudor Sports and Pastimes

Tudor Sports and Pastimes Hunting with Hounds Stag or boar, horns sounding at dawn, dogs unleashed in cry: the hunt was not leisure but spectacle. Kings proved their courage in the chase; nobles displayed wealth in horses and hounds. To kill a hart was to take part in an ancient ritual, half pagan, half royal..
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Meet the characters from The Reflection in the Mirror

Meet the characters from The Reflection in the Mirror   Jane the Fool Jane the Fool — sometimes written Jane Foole — served in the Tudor court, first with Princess Mary and later with Queen Catherine Parr. One of the very few recorded women in her role, she moved between chapel, privy lodgings, and great..
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Wulfhall Not Wolf Hall

Historically, the house was Wulfhall Cottage (sometimes Wulhall, Wolhall, or Wulf Hall) — a medieval spelling that survived into the Tudor period. The neat modernised “Wolf Hall” spelling only really became widespread because of Hilary Mantel’s novels and their adaptations. Correct historical name: Wulfhall (Seymour family seat, near Savernake, Wiltshire). Common mistake: Wolf Hall —..
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Tudor Sports and Pastimes

Falconry to be Hoodwinked Did you know that the term ‘to be hoodwinked’ comes from falconry in Tudor England? In Tudor times, hawks and falcons were fitted with a leather hood, known as a hoodwink, placed gently over the bird’s eyes. This calmed the falcon, prevented distraction, and made it easier to control until the..
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Tudor Sports and Pastimes

Falconry A hierarchy of hawks: kestrel for knaves, goshawk for squires, peregrine for earls, gyrfalcon only for kings. Falconry was both hunt and heraldry, a noble art where birds bore rank as visibly as robes. Henry VIII’s pale gyrfalcon was his boast — sovereignty on the wing. To ride out hawking was to ride out..
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A question for readers and fellow history lovers

I am currently working on the draft cover for my third novel, Royal Reflections, which will conclude the Tudor saga that began with The Reflection in the Mirror. Before anything is finalised, I would genuinely welcome your thoughts. Does this cover: Convey the period and tone you would expect from a Tudor novel? Feel appropriate..
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Thank you for your reviews

Thank you for your reviews My first novel, The Reflection in the Mirror, set in Tudor England in 1540, was published just over a month ago. Launching a debut novel over Christmas and New Year is not generally advised, yet my expectations have been exceeded. Sales have come in from France, the United States, and,..
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William ‘Will’ Sommers

Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror   William ‘Will’ Sommers Will Sommers danced into Henry VIII’s court with a grin, a quick tongue, and timing sharper than any courtier’s dagger. Officially he was the King’s Fool; in truth he was a truth-teller in motley, able to say what others dared not by..
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Another new year, 2026. The Princes in the Tower: Time to sign

Another new year, 2026. The Princes in the Tower: Time to sign Thank you to everyone who viewed my last post: It raised a few interesting points from LinkedIn members, some thinking that DNA testing had already been done on the two children’s remains in Westminster Abbey, which is not the case; So hopefully this..
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An Execution. Who was this woman?

I have never seen an execution like this. She is old, far older than most who come here, and when they lead her out, I hear murmurs ripple through the crowd. Her hair is white beneath her hood, her body slight, yet she stands with a dignity that feels almost defiant. She looks around, confused,..
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The Wolf of Whitehall Introduction You find us in 1542, in Tudor London, with Henry VIII, who has been on the throne since 24 June 1509. In this period, for some twenty years, he was married to Katherine of Aragon, now dead and lying in Peterborough Cathedral. From this marriage, he has but one surviving..
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Who is this man? I stood among the crowd in Oxford as the fire was prepared. The air was sharp, the morning grey, the silence uneasy. Men shifted their feet. Women crossed themselves. No one spoke loudly. He had already been broken once. Papers had been forced from his hand. Words had been wrung from..
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A Time for Reflection I am back. With a new year upon us, my start was somewhat jutted. My heating oil ran out early, my electric immersion heater for hot water failed to click in, and then my internet went down. My home is based on all these connections, so there was no radio, no..
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Execution  Who was this woman ? I stand among the crowd on Tower Green, the earth cold beneath our boots, the air heavy with waiting. When she appears, a silence falls so complete it seems deliberate. She is slighter than I expected, her dark gown plain, her cap modest, her bearing unbroken. There is no..
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The Reflection in the Mirror

Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell was born into a harsh and troubled household in Putney, London. His father, a blacksmith and part-time ale brewer, was frequently in trouble with the law, and from an early age, Thomas learned how unforgiving life could be. Still little more than..
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The Mandrake Root

The Mandrake Root At my desk this evening, the fire burns low, the hour deep, and the scent of herbs and wax thickens the air. On the shelf before me lies a small glass phial containing what the ancients once called Mandragora officinarum — the mandrake root. It is a curious thing, twisted and gnarled,..
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The Lady of Shalott: The Mirror Cracked

The mists of dawn coil around the riverbanks, where willows dip their branches into silver water. Within her tower, the Lady of Shalott sits before her loom, the rhythmic clatter of the shuttle her only company. By some ancient enchantment she is bound: she may see the world only through the reflection of a mirror,..
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30 October – Samhain Approaches

When the Veil Begins to Thin At my desk this evening, as the last light drains from the sky and the wind murmurs through the old trees, I can feel the year turning. The hearth burns low, the air smells faintly of smoke and apples, and somewhere beyond the window the dark fields breathe a..
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SPELLS – THE SHAPE OF INTENTION

The word spell has a double meaning, one that bridges language and magic. To spell is to assemble letters into meaning — to shape thought into visible form. In the medieval world, that same act of shaping was the essence of enchantment. A spell was not simply recited; it was constructed, woven from words, herbs,..
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Gunpowder Plot – The Wider Circle

The November winds will soon groan against the beams, and the candle before me sinks lower, its wax spilling onto the desk. In such hours, the mind recalls not only the chief conspirators but the wider circle who gathered around Robert Catesby’s desperate design. Sir Everard Digby, knight and landowner, young and fervent in his..
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Gunpowder Plot – Ambrose Rookwood

The November wind will soon beat upon the house and the candle gutters low, its flame casting long fingers of shadow across the desk. Nights such as these bring back the memory of Ambrose Rookwood — young, loyal, and doomed. Rookwood was born in 1578 to a wealthy recusant family in Norfolk. His devotion to..
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Gunpowder Plot – Robert Keyes

The November wind will soon moan through the rafters, and the candle at my elbow flickers low. Shadows lean and shift across the room, as if listening. Nights such as these bring back the names of men now half-forgotten, yet once central to a scheme that shook England. Robert Keyes was one such figure. Born..
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Gunpowder Plot – Jack Wright

Gunpowder Plot – Jack Wright With November close at hand, the nights are heavy with wind and rain. The candle gutters and leans, throwing long shadows that sway like ghosts upon the wall. It is in such nights that we recall the men who moved quietly into treason. Among them was Jack Wright, born into..
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Gunpowder Plot – Jack Wright

With November close at hand, the nights are heavy with wind and rain. The candle gutters and leans, throwing long shadows that sway like ghosts upon the wall. It is in such nights that we recall the men who moved quietly into treason. Among them was Jack Wright, born into a Yorkshire Catholic family that..
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Gunpowder Plot Thomas Wintour

With November close at hand, the nights grow darker still. The wind drives rain against the beams, and the candle before me wavers as if troubled by the weight of the air. Such nights bring back the figures who moved in secrecy, drawn to treason as moths to flame. One such figure was Thomas Wintour,..
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Gunpowder Plot – Robert Catesby

With November close at hand, the nights grow heavy. Rain falls in dark sheets, wind rattles the timbers, and the candle at my desk flares and gutters, painting the walls with restless shadows. Such nights remind us of storms that once shook England itself — when men conspired to light November with fire. At the..
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Crown Jewels Attempted Theft at The Tower of London 1671

Crown Jewels Attempted Thief at The Tower of London 1671   Today we remember one of the boldest heists in royal history — the audacious attempt by Thomas Blood (often dubbed “Captain Blood”) to seize the English crown jewels. The date: 9 May 1671. The place: The Tower of London, under the quiet night burdened with ambition and glittering..
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The Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot As November approaches, the nights deepen. The wind rattles the beams and rain runs in dark rivulets down the panes. My candle flickers, the flame guttering as if it too listens to the groan of the house. Such nights draw us back to moments when England trembled — when plots and fears..
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Borley Rectory: “Most Haunted”

Borley Rectory: “Most Haunted” Bells that rang themselves, messages on walls, a nun in the lane — and Harry Price with notebooks and headlines. Fire took the house in 1939; debate took the legend afterwards: frauds alleged, believers steadfast, archives pored over again and again. Whatever you conclude, the story’s grip is real — the..
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Witch Bottles

The candle trembles, and the timbers above my head creak in the stillness. The night air is filled with distant sounds: an owl’s mournful cry, the sharp bark of a fox, the restless whisper of the wind. These are the sounds of old England, and they carry with them memories of how our ancestors sought..
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Witches of Warboys

The rafters strain as the wind drives rain against the windows, a constant drumming that seeps into the bones of the house. Wax runs down the side of my candle, hissing as it pools, while the shadows shift and lean across the room. Nights such as this belong to dread — and dread belonged to..
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Pluckley, Kent: A Dozen Ghosts

Orchards, lanes, and — say the guidebooks — a roll‑call of ghosts: a White Lady, a miller, a coach that stops for no door. The village even embraced (and sometimes rolled its eyes at) the “most haunted” crown. Recent local research tries to separate folklore from fact — but in autumn fog the yew still..
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All Hallows Eve

All Hallows’ Eve, now referred to as Halloween (31 Oct), is the evening before All Saints’ Day—a Christian vigil that, in Britain and Ireland, grew alongside older seasonal customs marking the turn into winter. Medieval communities kept the Hallowtide (All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints, All Souls) with prayer for the dead and acts of remembrance…
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Pendle Witches

Pendle Witches At this time of year, I often find myself still at my desk long after night has settled. The candle burns low, its light throwing uneven shadows across the pages. Outside, the wind rattles against the panes, as though something presses close, eager to be heard. In such moments the mind turns more..
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Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General

Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General The night deepens. Candlelight trembles, and beyond the walls the country is alive with sound — the hoot of an owl, the bark of a fox, the sigh of the wind through the hedgerows. Such a night belongs to shadows, and it was in such shadows that Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder General,..
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My Diary of October 2025: The Ghost of the Tulip Staircase

The night is still, the moon a pale lantern above the fields, and the fen mist curls close against the windows. From the hedgerows I hear the rustle of some unseen creature, the distant call of an owl. These are the sounds that stir my thoughts towards old tales — stories that linger where silence..
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Elizabeth Sawyer: Witchcraft Accusation

The night deepens, and candlelight trembles on the page before me. Beyond the window lies silence, yet in memory the voices of the past return — voices like that of Elizabeth Sawyer of Edmonton, tried and executed in 1621. Elizabeth was a poor woman, elderly and often quarrelsome. She begged for scraps of firewood, fell..
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Agnes Sampson: Women and Witch?

At this hour, when the candle burns low and the shadows of my desk creep further into the room, I think of the voices once forced to speak in darkness. Some whispered in fear, others cried out in agony.   So it was in Scotland in 1591, when Agnes Sampson, the Wise Wife of Keith,..
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Wicca: A Modern Nature Religion

Wicca is a modern pagan religion centred on reverence for nature, seasonal cycles, and the sacred as both feminine and masculine. Most Wiccans honour a Goddess and a God in many guises, mark the eight festivals of the ‘Wheel of the Year’ (solstices, equinoxes, and the cross-quarter days), and work ritual in circles for celebration,..
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Merlin

Merlin isn’t one person but a literary composite. Early Welsh tradition gives us Myrddin Wyllt, a wild prophetic figure; Latin chronicles add Ambrosius; Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th c.) fuses strands in Historia Regum Britanniae and Vita Merlini—then French and English romances turn Merlin into Arthur’s counsellor, engineer of Stonehenge in legend, and tragic victim of..
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Aleister Crowley (1875–1947)

Poet, mountaineer, ritual innovator: Aleister Crowley styled himself ‘The Great Beast 666’ and set out to remake Western esotericism as magick with a ‘k’. Trained in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, he split from it amid quarrels, founded the A∴A∴, and later reshaped the Ordo Templi Orientis, fusing Kabbalah, Enochian calls, and sex-magick..
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What is the River Styx?

The River Styx belongs to Greek myth: one of the rivers of the underworld, a boundary between worlds. The dead were ferried by Charon if they had the fare; the coin-on-the-tongue custom echoes that passage. The gods themselves swore oaths by the Styx; to break such an oath brought divine penalties. In literature the Styx..
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The Hell-Fire Caves

The Hell-Fire Caves at West Wycombe aren’t proof of a satanic order; they’re a window onto 18th-century satire, politics, and performance. Sir Francis Dashwood’s circle met below ground at Medmenham and in the man-made chalk caves, borrowing Rabelais’ “Fay ce que vouldras” and staging mock rituals to lampoon hypocrisy. Members overlapped with Parliament and the..
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The Cutty Sark and a Witch

The Cutty Sark and a Witch   Cutty Sark takes her name from Burns’s Tam o’ Shanter: cutty-sark means “short shirt,” the shift worn by the young witch Nannie. When the 1869 tea clipper was launched, she carried Nannie as her figurehead—folklore literally on the bow. She raced tea from China and later wool from..
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Why We Carve Faces in Fruit (Jack‑o’‑Lantern)

Before pumpkins, there were turnips. In Ireland and Scotland, people carved grimacing faces in roots and set a light inside to ward off mischief on the liminal night; immigrants in America found pumpkins a better canvas, and the glow grew with them. The folktale often cited is Stingy Jack — doomed to wander with an..
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Edinburgh’s South Bridge Vaults

Beneath the South Bridge runs a honeycomb of rooms: once workshops, then stores, then slums where the city hid its overflow of hunger. Close your eyes and you can count the candles, hear the damp tick on limestone. Ghost tours speak of knocks and cold spots; history speaks louder — of lives pressed thin between..
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The Screaming Queen (Hampton Court’s Haunted Gallery)

They say the sound comes first: the rush of skirts, a cry that breaks into pleading. Visitors stand aside as if for someone who will not pass — Catherine Howard running for mercy along the gallery towards the Chapel Royal. Whether footsteps are memory or imagining, the palace acknowledges the tradition; the gallery still carries..
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Jane Seymour’s Candle (Hampton Court)

A gentler haunt: a pale figure with a taper on the Silverstick Stairs, near where Jane Seymour gave Henry his son and then died days later. The story is tender, almost domestic — a mother gone, a light left burning. The palace keeps the tale alongside the history, as places do when memory and loss..
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Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror

  Henry Maddox Music Teacher Maddox was a young and talented musician, brought into the household of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk to teach her wards their music lessons. Amongst his pupils was Catherine Howard. Because of her noble birth, Catherine’s education was treated with greater importance than many of the others, as she was..
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The Phantom Bear (Tower of London)

Of all the Tower’s stories, the strangest may pad on four feet: a spectral bear by the Jewel House, an “unusual workplace risk,” as one curator deadpans. The menagerie is long gone; the Crown Jewels glitter under glass. Still, warders swap the tale — not for proof, but because old fortresses collect echoes the way..
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Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror

Suleiman the Magnificent   Suleiman I (1494–1566), known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East as Kanuni (“the Lawgiver”), ruled the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power. Crowned in 1520, he expanded Ottoman territories deep into Europe, conquering Belgrade, Rhodes, and Hungary, and laying siege to Vienna. At sea,..
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My Diary of October 2025: Ghosts at Raynham Hall

As night draws in fast in these early autumn months, the wind gusts and the rain beats against the glass. We huddle up in our homes, perhaps with a glass of wine.   My log fire burns bright, and my dogs lie lazy and quiet by the hearth. I cannot help but hark back to..
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All Things Tudor: The Six Queens: Info Extracts from The Reflection in the Mirror 

All Things Tudor: The Six Queens: Info Extracts from The Reflection in the Mirror   Where the Six Queens are to be found now: Henry VIII Queens   Katherine of Aragon — Peterborough Cathedral (d. 1536). Her tomb is honoured annually with ‘Katherine Queen of England’ tributes. (Note: her and Henry’s infant son, Henry, Duke..
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Lady Jane Rochford (Jane Boleyn), Viscountess Rochford

Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror   Lady Jane Rochford (Jane Boleyn), Viscountess Rochford Married to George Boleyn, her union proved unhappy for both. When George’s sister, Anne, returned from France, the siblings were notably close, and as Anne drew the eye of Henry VIII, the Boleyn fortunes rose sharply. After the..
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Ivan the Terrible

Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV “the Terrible” (1530–1584) was the first Tsar of all Russia — a ruler both formidable and feared. Crowned in 1547, he transformed Russia into a centralised empire. He was a man of contrasts. Ivan introduced sweeping reforms, modernised Russia’s military, expanded..
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Duke of Norfolk

Meet the Characters – From my first novel being published next month October 2025 The Reflection in the Mirror Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk — ‘Old Norfolk’ His niece was Anne Boleyn, and the Howard fortunes faltered when she met the axe. When his other niece, Catherine Howard, blossomed into a girl of about..
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Meet the characters from The Reflection in the Mirror

Meet the characters from The Reflection in the Mirror   Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester Sharp-eyed, heavy-browed, and impossible to wrong-foot, Stephen Gardiner was the king’s lawyer-theologian who preferred statute and canon to sweet talk. Trained in law at Cambridge and Paris, he could unpick an argument thread by thread, and he did not mind..
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Wolf Hall Or Wulfhall

Wulfhall was the Seymour family’s great house near Savernake Forest, Wiltshire. It was remodelled in time for Henry VIII’s visit in 1535, where Jane Seymour’s family cemented their rise. Historically, the house was always called Wulfhall (with spelling variations like Wulhall or Wolhall). The name “Wolf Hall” is not Tudor usage — it became popular..
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The Mary Rose

Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror   Few artefacts bring us closer to Tudor England than the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s beloved warship. Launched in 1511, she was a proud symbol of the king’s naval ambitions, built in the Portsmouth dockyards to guard the Channel and project English power overseas. With her..
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The Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London.

Good morning, With my first novel due for publication next month, I have been sharing posts to introduce you to some of the characters who bring its pages to life. Yet it is important to remember that people alone do not tell the whole story. The houses, palaces, artworks, ships, and remarkable objects of the..
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Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror

Dowager Duchess of Norfolk Agnes Howard (née Tilney) (c. 1477–May 1545), Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, was the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. A pious matriarch with many wards in her care, she presided from Chesworth House near Horsham, Sussex, managing a vast estate of land and household staff. The sheer scale..
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Meet the Characters – The Reflection in the Mirror

  Catherine Howard (aged about six years old) As my first book will be released next month, I thought you might enjoy getting to know some of the figures who step from the pages into the light. Today we meet the young Catherine Howard. Orphaned at around five years old, Catherine lost her mother, Jocasta..
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The Thomas More Skull Project — Exhumation of a Saint

Interview at St Dunstan’s, Canterbury, Kent 26 August 2025,   Gemma Morris-Conway meets church warden Sue Palmer at St Dunstan’s, Canterbury, to talk about stewardship, evidence, and the weight of a legacy — then traces how King Henry VIII’s might brought Thomas More to the scaffold. Part One: In conversation with the warden Canterbury in..
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Princes Murdered in the Tower: Sir James Tyrell and the Chain of Office of Edward V

Sir James Tyrell’s name has long been linked to the fate of the Princes in the Tower. Tudor writers, decades after the events, claimed he confessed to arranging their deaths. Yet no original record of such a confession survives. Tyrell was executed under Henry VII in 1502, and only after his death do stories of..
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Two young princes vanished from the Tower of London in 1483 — their fate remains one of England’s most enduring mysteries.

My fascination with the case began when I was eight years old, standing beside the Thames on my first school trip. Having come from Kent’s fields and farms, the Tower’s ancient stone walls left a lasting impression. Even now, I believe there is no building in England more capable of inspiring the sense of a..
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