Set against the stunning backdrop of Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, our history festival offers a unique opportunity to step into the past whilst engaging with some of today’s most exciting historical voices.
Returning for a third consecutive year, The History Festival At Hever Castle brings together an exceptional line-up of historians and authors, each presenting their latest research and books. This is a festival for seasoned history enthusiasts and all of us eager to connect with the past in a meaningful and memorable setting.
Dr Alison Weir returns to our Festival in one of her most favourite historic houses (she has very good taste) where she will enthral us with her latest novel The Boleyn Secret (published in May 2026).
THE BOLEYN SECRET
Kate Carey is the daughter of Mary Boleyn. At the age of twelve, Kate attends her aunt, Queen Anne Boleyn, to the scaffold. Horrified by her grim end, and believing her innocent, she conceives a deep hatred for King Henry VIII, who sent his wife to a terrible death.
Kate spends much of her young life as a companion to the Princess Elizabeth, Henry and Anne’s daughter. The two become close, and when Kate marries Sir Francis Knollys for love, Elizabeth is jealous.
As time passes, Kate begins to sense that there is a secret associated with her own background. Only when her mother is on her deathbed does she find out the awful truth.
It is a secret that will follow Kate throughout her life, as she flees religious persecution with her husband and lives abroad in fear, only returning home when Elizabeth becomes queen. But the bond between the Boleyn cousins will never be the same again…
Dr Alison Weir is the top-selling female historian (and the fifth-bestselling historian overall) in the United Kingdom. She has sold over 3 million books worldwide and taken part in more than 1100 literary events.
Alison has published twenty-two history books, her most recent being Queens at War, the fourth volume of her England’s Medieval Queens quartet. Alison has also published seventeen historical novels, including the Six Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII, which was launched in 2016 to great critical acclaim; each of the six books was a Sunday Times top-ten bestseller.
She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces. In 2023, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Bishop Grosseteste University at Lincoln.
For further information, please visit Alison’s websites at www.alisonweir.org.uk and www.alisonweirtours.com
Tickets £17, £15 for Festival Friends and Members. Unallocated seats.
Castle Garden entry can be purchased £10 for this event ticket holders only.
St Peters’ Church is situated on the Hever Castle estate. All tickets are unallocated in this intimate venue.
You can park in the castle paddock car park.
There will be limited refreshments at the church.
The Hever Castle main entrance toilets will be available to you after the event, there are none at the church.