The Joint Chief Curator for Historic Royal Palaces will embark on her first ever theatre tour coming to Waterside on 27 April with Tracy Borman: How To Be A Good Monarch – 1000 Years of Kings & Queens.
With the coronation of a new monarch approaching, there will be much anticipation for this tour which will run from 17 April concluding on 25 May 2023.
From William the Conqueror to Charles lll, Tracy Borman – How To Be A Good Monarch will see Tracy sharing some tumultuous tales of the good, the bad, the great and the mad, along with birth, romance, beheading, coronation, abdication, marriage, divorce, disaster, and triumph.
With the global fascination in all things royal,How To Be A Good Monarch will explore the history and evolution of the monarchy from 1066 to the present day. Tracy Borman will take audiences on an entertaining and gripping 1000-year journey from the crown’s earliest history to the institution that it is today.
Tracy is Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust, a charity that encourages children to visit and learn from historic properties. She is also Joint Chief Curator for Historic Royal Palaces which includes Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, Hillsborough Castle and the Banqueting House, Whitehall. Tracy was appointed Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln last year. Now, based in Surrey, Tracy grew up in Scothern, Lincolnshire, studied at the University of Hull and was awarded a PhD in 1997.
A regular on our TV screens, Tracy presentedThe Private Lives of the Monarchs on Yesterday, and Channel 5’s Inside The Tower of London. With an office at Hampton CourtPalace, Tracy also appeared in an episode of the television series Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Eastenders’ star Danny Dyer. With her vast knowledge of royal history and acute investigative skills, it was Tracy who revealed the headline-breaking discovery that Danny Dyer was in fact a direct descendant of Thomas Cromwell!
Aside from Tracy’s thoughts on How To Be A Good Monarch, she will also be revealing all sorts of fascinating facts about some of our favourite Monarchs through the ages – for example
Henry VIII was very different in private to his larger-than-life public image. One visitor to his private apartments described him as ‘the most timid man you could hope to meet’
– Elizabeth I’s astrologer, Dr John Dee, also doubled up as her spy and went on a number of missions abroad. In his correspondence, he used the code name ‘007’
– The weather was cold and wet on the day of the Coronation of Elizabeth II and the staff of the Royal Mews strapped a hot water bottle under her seat in the Gold Coach. During a brief recess in the long ceremony, the Archbishop of Canterbury handed round sausage rolls and a flask of brandy to the new queen and her entourage
– Queen Victoria, who spent 40 years mourning the death of her husband Prince Albert following his death in 1861, left secret instructions that on her death, a picture of her former ‘ghillie’ (Scottish servant) John Brown and a lock of his hair were placed in her left hand, hidden from view by a bunch of flowers. His mother’s wedding ring which he gave her shortly before her death was placed on one of her fingers
As an author Tracy has written several highly acclaimed books including Elizabeth’s Women and the Sunday Times Bestseller Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry Vlll’s Most Faithful Servant, which examines the life, loves and legacy of the man who changed the shape of England forever. She has also written a trilogy of novels that includes her debut, The King’s Witch, followed by The Devil’s Slave and The Fallen Angel.
Tracy’s new book Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History will be published on 18 May 2023 (Hodder & Stoughton). It is an extraordinary and revealing account of one of the most fascinating mother and daughter stories of all time – Anne Boleyn, the most famous of Henry VIII’s wives and her daughter Elizabeth, the ‘Virgin Queen’.
Tracy’s most recent title Crown & Sceptre which was published in 2021 has provided the backdrop for How To Be A Good Monarch – 1000 Years of Kings & Queens.
So, for audiences who have a fascination with the monarchy and its history and really want to understand what makes a good monarch then this show is a must!
TRACY BORMAN: HOW TO BE A GOOD MONARCH
Thu 27 Apr 19:30
£25 / £15 (students) / £13.50 (under 16s)
0161 912 5616
Waterside, 1 Waterside Plaza Sale M33 7ZF
