A crown won in the eye of a storm. A queen who refuses to be broken... Princess Anna of Denmark sails for Scotland to marry King James VI, but storms ravage her fleet, igniting a deadly obsession with witchcraft in her new home. Arriving in a strange and paranoid court, Anna finds her new husband’s bed is a treacherous place.
After fourteen years researching and writing the twelve books which tell the story of the Tudors, it seemed natural to explore the succession in more detail and understand the rise of the Stuarts.
I discovered Anna’s story while writing about Bess and Walter Raleigh, and like most people, knew little about her life. I’ve enjoyed the year of research behind this book, uncovering primary sources – and even learning a little Danish.
With notable exceptions, Anna is largely overlooked by historians, and I found myself wondering about the image of her as shallow, with little influence. I don’t recall her being mentioned in my history lessons at school, but Anna was the daughter of a king, wife of a king and mother of a king.
I became intrigued by the idea of a fourteen-year-old Danish princess being forced by her parents into a strategic, arranged marriage with King James of Scotland. Anna had to leave her friends, her family, and everything she knew, for a strange country across a dangerous sea where she could barely speak the language.
There is also the question of her relationship with King James, and how they had so many children. As well as her daughter Elizabeth, the ‘Winter Queen’ of Bohemia, Anna was the mother of Henry, possibly the greatest king we never had, and the ill-fated King Charles I.
Prince Henry Stuart
My research took me from the Danish Court to Holyrood House in Scotland and on to the palaces of Westminster and Anna's beloved Denmark House. Her vibrant personality can be seen in her surviving letters, some of which I had translated from old French, (and include in the book in italics).
I enjoyed following Anna to England after the death of Queen Elizabeth Ist, and making a new life died as queen consort of three kingdoms. She ordered the old queen’s priceless gowns to be used as costumes in her legendary masques, and slept in the same bedchamber as Queen Jane Seymour, her favourite bed.
I found a resilient woman and a devoted mother to her children. Anna was a creative patron of the arts, and did her best to be a loyal queen consort to King James. I am now researching the second book in this trilogy, and exploring troubled the life of Henrietta Maria of France, queen consort to King Charles Ist.
Tony Riches
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