Philippa Gregory
Christmas with a Tudor flavour may appeal to her – but Philippa would not have wanted to live in Tudor times!
WHAT INFLUENCED YOU TO BEGIN WRITING?
Probably reading very, very wisely! I read all of the childhood classics, starting with the Little Grey Rabbit books, then as a teenager, I read Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen and George Eliot. In between finishing my PhD and waiting to start my academic life, I wrote Wideacre. It was incredibly successful and I have been writing books ever since.
WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED TO LIVE IN TUDOR TIMES?
You would be crazy to want to live in Tudor times, especially if you’re a woman. It was a disastrous time to live, but it’s a completely fascinating time to look at the people who lived then and to see the courage they faced in daily life. I think in a way you find your courage when you’re in very, very dangerous situations – just look at our mothers and grandmothers in World War II.
WHO WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TUDOR QUEEN?
It’s hard to choose because they are so interesting for so many different reasons. Catherine of Aragon makes that enormous journey from the Alhambra Palace of Spain to Ludlow Castle going from a Princess of Spain to Queen of England. That’s an extraordinary journey and a very courageous woman. I’m really fond of the wife at the other end, Catherine Parr. I think her story is extraordinary. It’s hard to separate the Queens. Each knew her predecessor really intimately, as ladies-inwaiting, and that’s how they met Henry VIII.
YOUR LATEST BOOK, THE LAST TUDOR, IS ANOTHER BESTSELLER. WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
I have just started my first wholly fictional novel for some time – a family saga that starts in the 1640s. It will be a series that takes us up to the 1920s. It’s been fascinating to rediscover how power ful it is to not have the timeline of history forcing you down a certain path. When you’re writing a wholly fictional story as I was with Wideacre, you do have far more freedom to just be inspired and it’s very exciting to write.
WILL YOUR CHRISTMAS BE TUDOR STYLE?
One tiny bit of Tudor-style is that my husband and I celebrate Christmas in London – not in Yorkshire – and on Boxing Day we are going on a guided walk of Medieval London. We did it last year and it was just brilliant because the streets are so quiet and and you can explore places and buildings at leisure.
WHAT’S THE NICEST CHRISTMAS GIFT YOU EVER RECEIVED?
One year my husband surprised me with a piano which he kept hidden in the barn! It’s very beautiful and a joy to play.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHARITY, GARDENS FOR THE GAMBIA.
I set it up myself over 24 years ago with a Gambian headteacher. We dig wells in the schoolyards of very poor rural primary schools in the Gambia and the children use the water for watering the gardens and growing food that they can eat at lunchtime. Most of the children who come to school would go hungry otherwise.
WHAT CHRISTMAS GIFT WOULD YOU GIVE A CHILD?
Peace. I really, really wish that countries currently at war could see that when you damage the lives of children, you damage your whole future.