The King's Curse

Jacket art: King Henry VIII (oil on canvas), after Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8–1543)/ © Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, UK/ The Bridgeman Art Library; hand illustration by Marco Ventura

Endpapers: The graffito of Geoffrey Pole’s signature was found carved on a wall in the Tower of London, photographed by Johnny Ring. The plan of the Tower: “The Tower of London” from London, Volume II by Charles Knight, 1841.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gregory, Philippa.

The king’s curse / Philippa Gregory.

pages cm

1. Salisbury, Margaret Pole, Countess of, 1473–1541—Fiction. 2. Ladies-in-waiting—England—History—16th century—Fiction. 3. Henry VIII, King of England, 1491–1547—Fiction. 4. Great Britain—History—Henry VIII, 1509–1547—Fiction. 5. Nobility—Great Britain—History—16th century—Fiction. I. Title.

PR6057.R386K57 2014

823'.914—dc23

2014009261

ISBN 978-1-4516-2611-7

ISBN 978-1-4516-2616-2 (ebook)

CONTENTS

The Tudor and Plantagenet Houses in November 1499

London 1499

Tudor England

Chapter 1: Westminster Palace, London, 29 November 1499

The House of Plantagenet on 29 November 1499

Chapter 2: Westminster Palace, London, Winter–Spring 1500

Chapter 3: England, 1509

Chapter 4: England, Summer 1514

Chapter 5: Bisham Manor, Berkshire, Summer 1518

Chapter 6: The Field of the Cloth of Gold, France, Summer 1520

Chapter 7: Bisham Manor, Berkshire, 1521

The House of Plantagenet on 17 May 1521

Chapter 8: Greenwich Palace, London, December 1530

Chapter 9: Warblington Castle, Hampshire, Spring 1534

Chapter 10: Bisham Manor, Berkshire, May 1536

Chapter 11: Bisham Manor, Berkshire, October 1536

Chapter 12: Bisham Manor, Berkshire, Spring 1537

The House of Plantagenet on 9 December 1538

Chapter 13: Cowdray House, Sussex, Spring 1539

Chapter 14: The Tower, London, Summer 1539

The Tudor and Plantagenet Houses on 27 May 1541

Author’s Note

Reading Group Guide

About Philippa Gregory

Bibliography

Gardens for the Gambia