"Elizabeth was king, now James is queen"
I ask Gareth Russell, author of 'Queen James' ('The Six Loves of James I' in Canada and the US) questions about writing this book.
Hello fellow history lover!
It is 10 days until the brand-new ‘Stuart History Festival’ kicks off at The Old Palace, Worcester, and I have a series of fantastic interviews with the speakers to share with you in the run up; beginning with Gareth Russell.
Gareth Russell is an historian and broadcaster. Educated at St Peter’s College, Oxford, and Queen’s University, Belfast, he specialises in European and royal history. He is the author of "Young and Damned and Fair," "The Ship of Dreams" (A Daily Telegraph Best History Book, 2019) and "Do Let's Have Another Drink" (A Times Book of the Year, 2022). His most recent book is a biography of James VI & I, 'Queen James' (a contemporary nickname for James). It will be published in Canada and the United States as 'The Six Loves of James I'. He is the host of the podcast Single Malt History and divides his time between Belfast and London. He is also ‘Historian in Residence’ on tours for British History Tours.
In your book we learn much about James’s personal life and intimate relationships. What were the challenges of researching someone’s private life?
I suppose the challenge, if that’s the right word, is the preconception and the misconception that any biography with a focus on a private life will somehow be reductive, speculative, or both. This doesn’t tend to be a widespread concern with private lives of monarchs like Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, but, with a historical figure that had relationships with their own gender, there does seem to be a lively concern that anything which takes them in to account will be solipsistic or misleading. However, I like to think that by being aware of those valid concerns from some readers that they make you better in your research and writing. I hope so, because, in James’s case, I wasn’t dealing with a lack of evidence - the amount of first-hand evidence which has survived is surprising and thrilling, as is how unambiguous and specific that evidence is. I had dealt with similar intersections between the public and the private when I wrote a biography of Queen Catherine Howard a few years ago. With both Catherine and with James, the real challenge was to balance the private with the political, because they are fundamentally intertwined with one another in the early modern period.
Where a private life stops and a public begins is very hard to tell for a sixteenth- and seventeenth-century royal. So the greatest challenge, for me, was writing a private life that also included politics as well as the passion.
Was there any part of your research which surprised you?
Quite a few. Little things in the archives often humanise the subject - James’s kindness to his pets, the fact that he had a pet armadillo, his grief at the death of loved ones. But with James, the big surprises was how different he was in thought and body to the man we’ve all heard about. The sickly, slobbering sleeze-ball is very much a product of anti-Scottish courtiers’ spite. The other surprising thing was how complex James’s attitudes were to the witch-hunts. They were far more nuanced, but no less horrifying.
In your book you follow James down from Scotland into England, did you have a favourite place to research?
Stirling. Wonderful Stirling Castle. I fell in love with it. It was James’s childhood home and it is a must for any history lover. The restoration of the royal apartments as they would have been in the reign of James V is one of the most extraordinary pieces of historical revival or restoration that I’ve seen, as is the castle’s Great Hall. The castle is brilliantly run by its curators with Historic Environment Scotland.
Gareth will be visiting Stirling Castle in October 2026 as ‘Historian in Residence’ on ‘The Royal Scotland Tour’ with British History Tours. This tour is now fully booked but if you’d like to learn more you can visit the tour page (click here) and you can get on the waiting list by emailing office@britishhistorytours.com. Subscribe to this Substack to hear about tour news.
You can find Gareth online at garethrussell.co.uk and on Instagram @_garethrussell
The Stuart History Festival Tickets
You can see Gareth at the Stuart History Festival at the Old Palace, Worcester at 3pm on Saturday 5th July. If you wish to attend in person please purchase your tickets in advance.
In Person
Location: The Old Palace, Worcester, Worcestershire
Online
Great news! Wherever you are in the world you can attend the Stuart History Festival. An Online Pass is also available which allows you to watch live, and play back for a limited time, for just £45. Find out more by clicking the button below.
Festival Schedule
Visit https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thestuarthistoryfestival for full details and to purchase all tickets, day passes and the online pass.
Books and Book Signings
Gareth’s books will be available to buy at the festival but if you can’t make it, or are watching online you can buy them online and have them shipped anywhere in the world, at Blackwells, click on the banner below.
My Interview with the Organisers
Find out why the 17th Century is such a great topic for a festival of its own - and why we think it hasn’t already got one, in my interview with the festival’s organisers; Dr Erica Canela, Andrea Zuvich and Mark Turnbull.
Next time…
Dr JD Davies and Dr Mark Shearwood join me to discuss the ‘Dutch Menace'.’
See you soon!
Philippa 💜
Got my livestream ticket for the History Festival! Looking forward to it, especially Gareth's talk!