Guest Post Q&A with Tony Riches
Author of 'Bess: Tudor Gentlewoman'
Today I’m thrilled to welcome historical novelist, Tony Riches! Tony has written many novels based around the Tudor period and Wars of the Roses, and the latest is the final in his Elizabethan series, Bess: Tudor Gentlewoman, based around the life of Bess Throckmorton. He wrote his Tudor trilogy and Brandon trilogy prior to moving into the Elizabethan period so I wanted to find out more.
Hello Tony, welcome to my blog and Substack – before we talk about your new novel, I just wanted to look at your back catalogue as you’ve written your Tudor Trilogy and Brandon Trilogy before your Elizabethan series, so where did the ideas for these earlier trilogies come from?
Thank you for inviting me, Helene. I was born in Pembroke, birthplace of Henry Tudor, and decided to bring his story to life. I found I’d gathered enough research for a trilogy, where Henry is born in the first book, comes of age in the second and becomes King of England in the third.
I watched the TV series ‘The Tudors’ and was disappointed at how Henry’s daughters Mary and Margaret were ‘merged’ (apparently to avoid ‘confusion’ with Mary I of England!) I began researching Mary’s life, and following the success of the Tudor Trilogy, decided to write the Brandon Trilogy. By the end of the third book, about Brandon’s last wife, Katherine Willoughby, (who knew all the wives of King Henry VIII) Queen Elizabeth was on the throne and I realised I could continue to tell the entire story of the Tudor dynasty.
How did you choose the figures you would focus on in your Elizabethan series?
I enjoyed exploring the reign of King Henry VIII through the eyes of his youngest sister, his best friend, and the daughter of his first wife (who some speculate could have become his seventh!) This gave me the idea of looking at the enigmatic Queen Elizabeth through the eyes of three of her favourite men and three of her ladies. Each had a very different relationship with the queen, as Drake was in awe of ‘Gloriana’, Essex was like the son she never had, and Raleigh was the captain of her guard. I had plenty of ladies to choose from and was intrigued by Essex’s sister Penelope Devereux (who he blamed for encouraging his ‘rebellion’). His wife, Frances, seemed an unlikely choice, but as I looked into her life as the daughter of the queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, I found she was closely involved with the key events of the Elizabethan era.
What drew you to Bess Throckmorton specifically, and her story?
Bess’ story allowed me to complete the story of Walter Raleigh (which ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth), and I was intrigued at how she remained so loyal to Walter, even living in his cell at the Tower of London to keep him company. As my research continued, I found she lived until the age of eighty-two – well past the end of the Tudors and into the Stuart era, making her one of the last true Elizabethans.
What do you think about Walter Raleigh as he was an explorer, but he was also involved in colonisation which, today, can be a controversial issue?
I was surprised to find almost everything I thought I knew about Walter Raleigh was wrong, as so many myths have grown around the facts of his life. He was a dreamer, and not a successful explorer or colonist. He helped popularise tobacco smoking, but never came close to finding his El Dorado, the lost ‘city of gold’ and never set foot in America yet encouraged others to risk everything to build the Elizabethan empire.
Do you think that Walter Raleigh and Bess Throckmorton’s marriage was a true love match, and did it remain so throughout?
Walter Raleigh had his pick of rich and influential ladies yet chose Bess. Although close to the queen as one of her gentlewomen, Bess had a controversial past through the Catholic ‘Throckmorton Plot’ – and no money or inheritance. I believe it had to be a love match, as they both knew the queen would be furious when she found they’d married in secret without her permission. I also think only love would have kept Bess so loyal to Walter for the rest of his troubled life.
I have to ask about one of the strangest legends about Bess Throckmorton – that she carried her husband’s head around with her in a bag after his death. How much of that do you think is true and where do you think it came from?
I didn’t include this story in my book because I failed to find any reliable historical account to verify it. There is allegedly a reference to Raleigh's head from the day of his execution, when it was said Lady Raleigh, and her ladies, left the scene carrying Sir Walter's head in a red bag. There are also various velvet bags, said to be the one used by Bess, but not enough evidence to be certain.
How much research do you do for your historical novels in terms of contemporary and secondary source material?
Each book is based on at least a year of research, as I like my books to be as historically accurate as possible. When I began the Tudor Trilogy there were few primary sources, but by the time I reached the Elizabethans I had accounts of every day at court and two volumes of letters and papers for Essex. I like visiting the actual locations in the books, following Owen Tudor from Wales to Windsor Castle, and it was amazing to climb the stairs in Walter Raleigh’s cell at the Tower of London as he and Bess would have done so many times. One of my most memorable research visits was following in the footsteps of Jasper and Henry Tudor to exile from Pembroke Castle to in the Forteresse de Largoët in remote Brittany and back to Bosworth Field (see https://tonyriches.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-tudors-road-to-bosworth-part-1.html).
Do you have any tips and tricks for how to write a person who lived nearly 500 years ago and trying to get inside their thoughts and feelings?
I’ve found the key to this is to find their ‘voice’, either through their letters or from accounts of the time. I spent the last fourteen years writing these twelve books, so have immersed myself deep into the world of the Tudors and Elizabethans. My first degree is in psychology, so I would like to think this helps me understand, for example, Essex’s lack of what we now call emotional intelligence.
What is your favourite and least favourite part of the writing process?
I love it when my research throws us some little detail which shines a light on the person or their world. For example, Bess finds a sharp edge on one of her silver shillings, which is ‘clipped’ on one side. One of the market traders must have passed the clipped shilling with her change, and she makes a mental note to be more careful in the future, as clipping even a shilling is an act of treason, an attack on the king. Bess knows men found guilty of clipping or ‘coining’ are hanged, drawn and quartered at the Tyburn gallows. Women, spared the horror of public mutilation, are burned at the stake as a warning to others.
My least favourite part of the process is editing, but I am fortunate that my wife, Liz, is my proof reader and I have a wonderful editor who misses nothing.
What are you currently working on?
I am now researching the life of the first Stuart queen, Anna of Denmark, who I was able to introduce in my last book when she visits Bess and Walter at the Tower of London to speak with Walter about his herbal potions. Although I covered the English Civil War in my history lessons, the Stuart queens had only a brief mention, so I would like to help restore them to the place in history they deserve by bringing their stories to life.
Author Bio
Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of best-selling Tudor historical fiction. He lives in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the history of the Wars of the Roses and the lives of the Tudors. For more information about Tony’s books please visit his website tonyriches.com and his blog, The Writing Desk and find him on Facebook, Twitter @tonyriches and Bluesky. You can find out more about his research on his popular podcast series, ‘Stories of the Tudors’.
Social Media
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Tony Riches’ Books
Owen [2015]
Jasper [2016]
Henry [2017]
Mary: Tudor Princess [2018]
Brandon: Tudor Knight [2018]
Katherine: Tudor Duchess [2019]
Drake: Tudor Corsair [2020]
Essex: Tudor Rebel [2021]
Raleigh: Tudor Adventurer [2022]
Penelope: Tudor Baroness [2023]
Frances: Tudor Countess [2024]
Bess: Tudor Gentlewoman [2025]