The Queen’s Painter
Welcome to the Wendsite! If you haven’t been here before, have a wander round the tabs. I’m a No 1 bestselling novelist whose 21 books have sold over three million copies in 14 languages worldwide. Ten of my titles have been top-ten bestsellers in hardback and paperback.
I spent fourteen years as a journalist on the Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Harpers & Queen and Tatler before becoming a novelist. My experiences on glossy magazines, and ghost-writing a Sunday Times column for socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, were the inspiration for my debut, the bestselling Simply Divine. I loved my time on Fleet Street and it helped trigger my passion for the absurd and the frankly hilarious.
I then pivoted to historical fiction with the bestselling The Governess, about Marion ‘Crawfie’ Crawford, the young Scottish teacher who brought fun and normality to the childhood of Elizabeth II. My next novel, The Duchess, explored the incredible rise of Wallis Simpson whilst its follow-up The Princess traced the young Diana Spencer’s extraordinary path to the altar. Both Wallis and Diana had troubled backgrounds, and then, like Crawfie, ran into more trouble with the royal family and suffered reputational damage. My Windsor Trilogy examines the others involved and what the real truth might be.
The Queen’s Painter, my latest and 21st novel, concerns the ultimate vilified woman, Anne Boleyn. And her friendship with Hans Holbein, the German-born genius who immortalised Henry VIII and his courtiers with his paintbrush. But did he also use his brilliance to exact a bloody vengeance?
I’ve been obsessed with Holbein for as long as I can remember. As a child I had books with pictures of his paintings. They were more real to me than my own family. Those dazzlingly colourful and glamorous portraits, so brilliantly rendered it seemed they might wink at you. So full of insight you felt you knew the people personally. Then I started to wonder about the artist, the man himself. What was he like; what did he think about the people he painted? Especially Anne Boleyn, his early patron and friend.
When I had children of my own I took them to see the paintings too. We’d go to the National Gallery and puzzle over 'The Ambassadors'. And why Holbein, the painter of truth, had made the famously pretty Christina of Milan look so plain in her portrait. This obviously led to Anne of Cleves, a plain woman he had made look attractive. Why, given the risks and catastrophic consequences? I realised the reasons were connected and would make a fantastic novel.
The Queen’s Painter is the result. A revenge drama starring Hans Holbein, ultimate insider at the most famous court in history. But whose point of view has never been explored. Until now.