Welcome, Tom. It is good to meet you in person.
When you first met Kate, you told her that you’d been with King Richard for years, since before he was king. What did you do before then, and how did you come to be part of his household?
When you first met Kate, you told her that you’d been with King Richard for years, since before he was king. What did you do before then, and how did you come to be part of his household?
I certainly fell on my feet here. I grew up near Middleham
you see, but when my father died, well, there were no other options available.
I went to the castle, found work, and when the Duke arrived, ended up attached
to his part of the household. I’ve been with him ever since.
You noticed straight
away how the king “flirted” with Kate when he first saw her. Did this surprise you?
It did, I’ll be honest. I mean, we'd only lost Her Grace,
Queen Anne, a few months ago, and he hadn’t shown any interest in anyone since.
There’d been the official communications of course, regarding potential
marriage negotiations, but nothing with any of the ladies at court.
Were you surprised at
how quickly their relationship developed?
Yes, but I suppose, grief and romance are odd things. He was
so saddened, of course, by the loss of Edward and Anne, and Kate, well, she was
different. He needed that, something, or somebody, to bring him out of himself.
And I’m glad she came along, just like that, before... well, before. He deserved some
happiness.
You were in the very
privileged position of being the king’s confidant, and he clearly trusted
you. How did you cope with this
responsibility?
Firstly, by keeping it mostly to myself. None of the nobles
and fine ladies needed to know that King Richard confided in the likes of me,
after all. When there was somebody who needed to know, or who I felt I could
trust myself, like Kate, then I didn’t mind letting them know the position I
hold, but for the majority of the time, nobody fell into that category.
I know he was the king, but he had worries like the rest of
us, and doesn’t everyone need somebody they can be themselves with now and
then, rather than putting on a front all the time?
What did you think of
Richard the man, as opposed to Richard the king?
Like I said, he was the king, and I respected him in that
role. He was a fair ruler, and a fair master. I’m not going to go so far as to
say we were friends, I know my place, after all, but I like to think I saw the
real man: the one who had grown up in such turbulent times, had lost so many
members of his own family, and been through so much. Nobody would come through
that unscathed, and I know plenty of others, and other families, were in the
same position, but still, it isn’t easy. Richard the man had seen all of that,
and was still a good ruler. That says a lot, about both sides of him.
Do you think the king
was genuinely in love with Kate?
I don’t know. It was all so quick, and love is a strong
word. I think she made him happy, for their brief time, and I know he was
planning for the future, with her being a part of that, but who knows in what
capacity? I have a feeling, if things had gone differently at Bosworth, she
would have been an important person in his life going forward, and would
definitely have been given a place at court.
Were you in love with
her yourself? How did you feel when she
disappeared (just before Bosworth)?
No, not me. I really liked her, and liked how she made the
king feel, but there was never going to be more than friendship between us. So
yes, I was sad when she left, and surprised. It did cross my mind that perhaps
she had been an enemy to us all along, perhaps trying to find out what she
could to help the Tudor, but that thought didn’t stay with me long. She was so
genuine when she was around the king, and I don’t think you could maintain that
as well as she did. I wish I knew where she had gone, and what happened to her;
I think we could have been good friends to each other in this new reign.
Did you fight at
Bosworth?
I did, but to my eternal shame, I got separated from His
Grace, just before his final charge. A group of us had been heading towards him
when we saw what was about to happen, but by then, there was nothing we could
do. Once it was clear he was dead, we thought the best thing would be to get
ourselves away to safety, and regroup.
What did you do after
Bosworth?
A group of us stayed together, and made our way to London;
we thought that was as good a place as any to be, to see whether any resistance
might rise up against the Tudor. But there was ultimately nothing we could do.
It was pleasing to see the young Elizabeth at his side, as a York queen, but it
wasn’t the outcome any of us had truly wanted.
Some people claim that
King Richard arranged to have his young nephews killed so that he could seize
the crown for himself. Do you believe
that? If not, what do you think might have happened to them?
I don’t believe he
killed them. He had nothing to gain. They had been declared illegitimate, and given
how things were in the country at the time, we needed a strong king to take
charge anyway. I truthfully don’t know what happened to the boys, but there are
plenty more who benefited from their death, and for me, you don’t have to look
much further than the man currently wearing the crown. He and his scheming
cronies strike me as the sort of people who wouldn’t pause for a moment in the
killing of a child, whereas Richard, no, he had more heart than that.
Thank you, Tom, for a fascinating chat. And I don't for one moment believe that King Richard was guilty of those murders.
Thank you, Tom, for a fascinating chat. And I don't for one moment believe that King Richard was guilty of those murders.
Jennifer C Wilson, author of The Last Plantagenet? and the Kindred Spirits series of historical novels.
For this week only, the Kindle edition of The Last Plantagenet? is on special offer at just 99p. And Jen is also offering a prize of a free copy of Kindred Spirits: Tower of London (the first book in the Kindred Spirits series).
To be in with a chance of winning, click on the link above to go to the book's Amazon page, click on "Look Inside", and find the answer to the following question:
Why is Richard III miserable about the guided tour which he and Anne start haunting?
Message your answer to Jen directly by using the contact form on her blog:
https://jennifercwilsonwriter.wordpress.com/contact
The competition will stay open until midnight tomorrow (30 October), UK time.
The competition will stay open until midnight tomorrow (30 October), UK time.
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