WHO WAS THE REAL ANNA?

The real Anna Leonowens (pictured) was born near Bombay to an English father and an Indian mother, but she claimed she was Welsh, fearing her mixed race would affect her prospects.

In 1849, aged 18, she married clerk Thomas Leon Owens (the last two names were later contracted) in India. Ten years later she was a widowed, impoverished mother of daughter Avis and son Louis. She tutored the children of Army officers stationed in Singapore and her reputation led to King Mongkut of Siam hiring her to educate his 82 children and 39 wives. King Mongkut thought education would stop his country being colonised.

Anna sent her daughter, seven, to school in England and took Louis, five, to Siam. She worked for the king for six years, teaching him English and educating his family. And as he predicted, Siam did stay independent and free from Western rule.

In 1870 Anna wrote her memoirs of her time there in The English Governess At

The Siamese Court. The royal house was unhappy with some exaggerations in the book, but she did keep good relations with them. In 1944 American Margaret Landon wrote a fictional version of Anna’s book called Anna And The King Of Siam, which was turned into a film starring Irene Dunne as Anna and Rex Harrison as the king.

It was English actress Gertrude Lawrence who convinced Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein – the team behind Oklahoma! and The Sound Of Music – to turn it into a musical. She played the first Anna, opposite Yul Brynner.