Here are the US Amazon links (regular and Blu-ray):

And the UK Amazon link:

And here is a .doc file of the Press Release for those who are interested!

Also, Alison Weir has been on a tour giving talks on the book and other related topics and will be coming to the US soon. If she’s going to be in your area and you’d like to meet up with other Tudor fans, leave a comment below!

Here’s the schedule: http://alisonweir.org.uk/events/index.asp
Thanks to TudorRose for the link for the tour!

From The Telegraph:

Prepare to be dazzled - after years in storage the V&A’s jawdropping collection of jewellery from the past 3,000 years is about to go on permanent display.
…
On 24 May the William and Judith Bollinger jewellery gallery will open at the V&A, displaying 3,500 items from the museum’s collection, which is one of the finest and most comprehensive in the world and tells the story of European jewellery over the past 3,000 years.
…
Chadour-Sampson pulls out another drawer and places in the palm of my hand a small locket, the Armada or Heneage jewel made about 1595, a gift from Elizabeth I to her vice-chamberlain, the poet and secret-service agent Sir Thomas Heneage. The locket depicts a profile portrait in gold of the queen up to her neck in a giant gold ruff, her head weighed down by wig and pearls, encircled by diamonds and Burmese rubies. Turn it over and there is a gold and enamelled portrait of an ark, representing the English church, riding through stormy seas, a cloud above raining down lightning on the frail vessel. Open it up and there’s a portrait of a much younger, more girlish Elizabeth, the real woman behind the symbol, or how she wanted to be seen - a wistful love token sent by an old woman.

Full article

Website of the Victoria and Albert Museum

And here are some images of the Elizabethan jewel described in the article (from the V&A website…. you can see larger images if you go to their image collection page and search for “Armada jewel”):

From The Yorkshire Post:

As part of the events to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Bess of Hardwick, Hidden Hardwick tours will take place at the hall, near Chesterfield, on May 13 and 19.

They are an opportunity not only to have a tour of the hall with an experienced guide but also to go off the normal visitor route and explore previously hidden areas.

“From the hidden floor which cannot be seen from the outside to the secret door between the High Great Chamber and the Long Gallery, visitors love the fact they are in places that others are not normally allowed into.”

The tour will also include areas of the roof space where visitors will be able to see the timber frame with the wattle and daub lining of the rooms and the secret servants’ floor.

Full article

Harwick Hall’s page at the National Trust

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Here’s an article from The Telegraph about the sale:

A 700-year-old castle which once belonged to King Henry VIII has been put on the market for only the second time in its history for £1.5 million.

Sheriff Hutton Castle, which was built in 1382, comes complete with a hooded ghost and bat cave but it is almost totally ruined.

Just four crumbling 100ft stone turrets and the corners of the keep remain and it has no roof or walls.

However, it boasts an impressive list of former royal owners, including Richard III, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

One thing I find interesting is that the castle was built in the 14th century and was owned by the Neville family that played a big part in the Wars of the Roses, but the title of the article is: “For sale: King Henry VIII’s haunted castle”. Playing to the popularity of the Tudors perhaps?

From The Daily Mail:

A large group of paintings from the prime ministerial retreat Chequers, including a pair of Van Dycks and a locket ring owned by Elizabeth I containing portraits of herself and Anne Boleyn, is to go on public view for the first time.
…
Individual works have been loaned over the years but this is the first group loan and the 10 works will go on display at another country mansion, Compton Verney in Warwickshire, from June.
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ther loaned works include portraits of Mary I, James I and Lady Mary Grey, a younger sister of Lady Jane Grey, who was confined to Chequers by Elizabeth I.

The special display at Compton Verney, Portaits from Chequers: Kings, Queens and Revolutionaries, will run from June 21 to September 7.

Full article

Website of Compton Verney

A rare portrait, believed to be of Shakespeare’s only known patron, has been discovered using X-ray technology.

Art historians from Bristol University have found what they believe is a picture of Henry Wriothesley which was painted over in the 16th Century.

To the naked eye, it is a portrait of his wife Elizabeth Vernon, dressed in black and wearing ruby ear-rings.

The hidden picture was uncovered when the work was X-rayed in preparation for an exhibition in Somerset.

Radiography revealed that underneath the oil portrait of Elizabeth I’s maid of honour was a ghostly male figure - an older work which had been painted over.

Full article with picture

And here is an article from the Daily Mail with a larger photo.

Until recently, an oil painting of Queen Elizabeth I had been hanging, unprotected and barely noticed, in the gift shop at The Elizabethan Gardens gatehouse.

It is believed that the portrait was painted in 1592, when Elizabeth would have been about 60 years old. It is one of the few portraits of the queen in her declining years.

If it is authentic, it could be worth millions.
…

“Since we do not have full documentation on the provenance of the portrait, there will need to be fuller examination of the portrait, its paints, its underneath surface, and other data that can be gleaned from careful analysis,” East Carolina University history professor Larry Tise said in an e-mail.

The Elizabethan Gardens, founded and supported by the Garden Club of North Carolina, opened in 1960 as a tribute to the 1584- 87 English voyagers who came to Roanoke Island. The final voyage was the ill-fated Lost Colony – 117 men, women and children last seen in August 1587.

Horace Whitfield, the gardens’ executive director, said that the portrait, along with various antiques, was acquired at a New York auction house in the 1950s by Mrs. Charles Cannon, one of the gardens’ first benefactors. It has recently been returned by the North Carolina Museum of History, where it had been on loan for an exhibit about The Lost Colony.

Full article (with picture)

I first saw this article come through my news alerts a couple of weeks ago, but I was hoping some more information would show up. Unfortunately all of the articles since then have just been quoting the first one. But, if and when anything else turns up, I’ll be sure to update!

I apologize to all the folks who have emailed me telling me how much they look forward to the podcast every month since they’re going to have a bit of a wait for the next one now! But I’ll still be updating the website and news blog as time allows, so you can still get your “Tudor fix”.

Until the fall, fare thee well!