Of the hundreds of source books that I have used, I wish to acknowledge my particular indebtedness to the following: Simon Thurley’s The Royal Palaces of Tudor England; David Loades’s The Tudor Court; Neville Williams’s Henry VIII and His Court; David Starkey’s The Reign of Henry VIII, Henry VIII: A European Court in England , and Rivals in Power; Carolly Erickson’s Great Harry, Lacey Baldwin Smith’s Henry VIII: The Mask of Royalty, and Peter Brears’s All the King’s Cooks. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Simon Thurley and Dr. David Starkey, whose excellent books have made available to historians a wealth of unpublished contemporary sources. I must stress, however, that the conclusions in this book are entirely my own.
I wish to thank my editors, Will Sulkin and Anthony Whittome in the U.K. and Joanne Wyckoff in the U.S., and my agent, Julian Alexander, for their unfailing support and kindness. I should also like to thank my mother, Doreen Cullen, for selflessly giving up so many hours to act as my secretary, general amanuensis and counsellor; likewise—as ever—my husband Rankin, my children John and Kate, my stepfather Jim Cullen, and my cousin Christine Armour for rallying round and assisting me so readily, to help me meet my deadline.
I owe a further debt of gratitude to all the other kind and generous people who have given support and encouragement while this book was in preparation: Catherine Agnew, Moore and Jill Armstrong, Beverley Arthur, Angela Bender, Carol Bingham, Tracy Borman, Richard and Yvonne Burnett, Terrence Cahill, Lucinda Cook, Paul and Paula Danholm, Suzanne Dean, Julian L. Dexter Williams, David Driver, Paul Eaglen, Deborah Emberson, Kate Gordon, Lewis Hales, Julie Handley, Eileen Hannah, Jorg Hensgen, Bruce Heydt, Elizabeth Hines, Max Hull, Stephanie Hunt, Fraser Jansen, Roger Katz, Margaret Kirk, Louise Law-ton, T. Anna Leese, Arnold and Edna Mann, John and Pauline Marston, Lyn Mathew, Janet McL. Mackay, Mary Moore, Syd Moore, Brad Mortensen, Peter Razzell, Lily Richards, Margaret Samborn, Karin Scherer, Patrick Smith, Sue Stephens, Jerry Sullivan, Inga Walton, Kenneth and Elizabeth Weir, Margaret Weir, Ronald and Alison Weir, Martha Whittome, and Jon Woolcott.
To you all, may I say again, thank you from the heart.