Chanel 5 Inside the Tower : For the Love of a Queen
6th June 2026 by | Uncategorized
I fell in love with the Tower of London on a school trip when I was but seven years old, and my love of London, history, and the Thames has never left me. However, I do hate it when TV program makers present history to us and get it wrong.
So, sorry in advance for being a bit of a history bore, but when you write a novel and check everything to ensure the facts are correct, and then a TV program gives its audience incorrect information, it makes me cross.
I enjoy watching history on TV, as I am sure many people do, but program producers, please check your facts!
Both men were indeed convicted of high treason and sentenced to suffer the full traitor’s death. However, the sentence was not carried out equally.
On 10 December 1541, Francis Dereham suffered the full punishment of being hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn.
Thomas Culpeper, by contrast, received a royal act of mercy. Although sentenced to the same fate, Henry VIII commuted his punishment and Culpeper was beheaded instead.
Thomas was buried at St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate Church in Holborn, London
The distinction is important. Culpeper had served as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and had enjoyed the King’s favour. Even in disgrace, he was spared the most horrific punishment available under Tudor law. Dereham was not.
Contemporary accounts, including that of Thomas (Risley) Wriothesley, make this clear.
It is a reminder that Tudor history is often more nuanced than television allows, and that even small details can significantly alter our understanding of events and the individuals involved.
As always, history deserves accuracy.
Gemma Morris-Conway
Author of The Reflection in the Mirror and The Wolf of Whitehall:
My third book should be published in uly2026 : The Queens Heart Always
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Thank you for reading my posts.
Gemma
The past is never silent.
www.murderinthetower.london