Tuesday Tea and Tomes: Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory

Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory purchased in the UK coincidentally after visiting Holyrood Palace

Our Tuesday tome is "Three Sisters, Three Queens" by Philippa Gregory and we're pairing it with English Breakfast tea from Hampton Court Palace because it's strong and hearty like the women in this page-turning historical fiction. These Tudor sisters married kings, but all suffered the losses of husbands and children and were victims of poor alliances and isolation. In addition, they endured physical pain hard to fathom, exemplified by Margaret Tudor's weeks long journey from Scotland to England on horseback while eight months pregnant with a broken hip.  

Pair this book with a hearty tea such as English Breakfast

English Breakfast may not be strong enough!

The intertwining stories of the Tudor sisters - King Henry VIII's older sibling, Margaret, his younger sister, Mary, and his wife, Katherine of Aragon - are told from Margaret's perspective. She recounts standard sibling issues - love, jealousy, competition and empathy -  but in the very non-standard environment of life at Court.

Outside Holyrood Palace, once home to Margaret Tudor

I purchased this book while vacationing in England and Scotland in May, not knowing that most of the story took place in Scotland and, a great deal at Holyrood (and Edinburgh Castle) which we visited while in Edinburgh (see June blog story, Hurray for Holyrood for more on that palace).

The Coat of Arms at Holyrood Palace

Many of us were introduced to Philippa Gregory with her very popular book, "The Other Boleyn Girl", early in the new millennium. It was clear to her fan base (of which I am one!), Gregory writes about the Royals, but she is clearly the queen of historical fiction.  After The Other Boleyn Girl,  I read another  half dozen of Gregory's books in succession. After a few years' break, and while away from home, I found comfort in an old friend and I'm so glad I did.

The Holyrood Palace Abbey where Margaret Tudor married James IV, today ruins only remain

Margaret Tudor was two years older than her brother Harry, the future King of England, but she left her home country  at the age of fourteen to marry James IV, the King of Scotland.  It was James IV who restored Holyrood in anticipation of his English Queen and they were married in the Holyrood Abbey, the frame of which still stands today.

At the opposite end of Holyrood, Edinburgh Castle is the other anchor of the Royal Mile

Mary, the younger Tudor sister,  came up from behind and was wed off to the King of France. She was eighteen and he was the advanced age of fifty-two. 

Katherine waited  her turn at a second chance to marry a future king, after her husband, Arthur, the Tudor's eldest, died within six months of their marriage.

Edinburgh Castle at night

Although the three sisters were rarely all in the same room at the same time, let alone the  palace, they exchanged letters to express their feelings and concerns. Margaret and Katherine poured their hearts out, describing fears of abandonment and infidelity, while, in shallow contrast, Mary described the latest in fashions in her childlike scrawl.

Chris stands in front of Arthur's Seat, the peak of hills in Holyrood Park.

Three Sisters, Three Queens is a fascinating account of Royal life in sixteenth century Western Europe, and one that reinforces that life was not so easy, even if spent in castles and palaces. As we were leaving Edingburgh, with our GPS mounted on the dashboard of our rented car, no matter the challenge of driving on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road, and the heavily trafficked roundabouts we navigated on a bank holiday weekend, I was not eight month's pregnant with a broken hip riding on horseback.  It may be good to be Queen, but I'll settle for 21st century non-nobility.  

Leaving Scotland to journey to England, like Margaret Tudor once did.

Challenges of driving the country roads in the UK are not as difficult as riding by horseback with a broken hip.