Dr Anna Whitelock, reader in the Department of History at Royal Holloway, University of London, has won this year’s PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography for her book The Queen’s Bed: An Intimate History of Elizabeth’s Court. The award is given in recognition of excellence in the art of biography; works of exceptional literary, narrative and artistic merit, based on scrupulous research. The judges commended Anna for a narrative that is perpetually engaging, fluid, and light in tone while profound in its depth.

The judges also said “The Queen’s Bed is both a fascinating biography of one of the most powerful women in history and a spectacular portrait of an era. Full of remarkable information and rich, colorful details, Dr Whitelock’s lively text enables us to envision everyday existence in England before and during the rule of Elizabeth I, to grasp the battles between the Protestant and Catholic hierarchies, and to understand the rugged realities as well as the unfathomable glamour of being the crowned head of state.”