Q&A with Tracy Borman

 

 

Tracy Borman is the author of the new book The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit, and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty. Her many other books include Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I. She is England's joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces. 

 

Q: Why did you decide to focus on the end of the Tudor dynasty and the consequences that followed in your new book?

 

A: My new book was inspired by a truly ground-breaking discovery by the British Library that turned everything we thought we knew about the end of the Tudor dynasty on its head.

 

For four centuries, historians (myself included) have believed that almost with her last breath, Elizabeth I named James VI of Scotland her heir. The new research proves this to be a fake. In fact, Elizabeth died without nominating a successor at all, so the whole history of the British monarchy could have turned out very differently.

 

Q: What role did William Camden (1551-1623) play in portraying the succession from Elizabeth to James?

 

A: William Camden has played a huge role, shaping our entire view of the Elizabethan succession. His Annales were the earliest account of Elizabeth's reign and have been relied upon as an accurate source.

 

But although Camden was a meticulous historian whose account was a faithful mirror of the queen and her reign, he was forced to go back and rewrite certain sections of it once James was on the throne.

 

The new king quickly started to lose his grip on the English crown and people were beginning to question his right to it so he desperately needed Elizabeth's approval of his accession from beyond the grave. He therefore ordered Camden to pick up his quill and rewrite history in his favour.

 

The British Library researchers were able to see how Camden had pasted over numerous pages of his original manuscript and they x-rayed the pages so they could see the text underneath. It quickly became clear that the deathbed nomination of James was a work of fiction.

 

Q: The writer Alison Weir said of the book, “Tracy Borman has written a powerful tale based on new research, one that will overturn our understanding of the dawn of the Stuart age for good.” What do you think of that assessment, and how did you research the book?

 

A: I couldn't be more thrilled. Alison has been a huge inspiration for my career. She's Britain's best-selling female historian and truly prolific in her writing and research.

 

As soon as I heard about the British Library research, I contacted the team there and worked closely with them in researching the Elizabethan succession afresh, setting aside everything we thought we knew and looking at the other contenders for her throne.

 

It quickly became apparent that James was by no means the only or even the strongest candidate. In fact, he was technically illegal because Henry VIII had banned any Stuart monarch from ever inheriting his throne.

 

I loved exploring the dazzling cast of characters who might have pipped him to the post, including Lady Jane Grey's sisters Katherine and Mary, the ill-fated Arbella Stuart, and even a Spanish princess: the Infanta Isabella. Almost all these claimants would find that their royal blood was more a curse than a blessing. 

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between England and Scotland at the time?

 

A: They had been bitter enemies for centuries and even though Henry VII had made the optimistically-named Treaty of Perpetual Peace with James IV in 1502, the two kingdoms still viewed each other as mortal enemies.

 

But that treaty would have huge repercussions for the British monarchy because as part of it Henry pledged his daughter Margaret in marriage to James IV and it would be their descendants who would one day claim the English throne. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: A novel called The House of Boleyn, which charts the dramatic rise and fall of the most famous (and notorious) family in Tudor England. It's scheduled for release in the UK in May 2026 and in the US shortly afterwards. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I've just embarked on a major book tour for The Stolen Crown and US audiences can catch some of my talks on line. Full details are here: www.tracyborman.co.uk  

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Tracy Borman.