The Waiting Game

'Written in a lively, accessible style, The Waiting Game is full of insight' Suzannah Lipscomb, Literary Review

Every Tudor Queen had ladies-in-waiting. They were her confidantes and her chaperones. Only the Queen's ladies had the right to enter her most private chambers, spending hours helping her to get dressed and undressed, caring for her clothes and jewels, listening to her secrets. But they also held a unique power. A quiet word behind the scenes, an appropriately timed gift, a well-negotiated marriage alliance were all forms of political agency wielded expertly by women.

The Waiting Game explores the daily lives of ladies-in-waiting, revealing the secrets of recruitment, costume, what they ate, where (and with whom) they slept. We meet Maria de Salinas, who travelled to England with Catherine of Aragon when just a teenager and spied for her during the divorce from Henry VIII. Anne Boleyn's lady-in-waiting Jane Parker was instrumental in the execution of not one, but two queens. And maid-of-honour Anne Basset kept her place through the last four consorts, negotiating the conflicting loyalties of her birth family, her mistress the Queen, and even the desires of the King himself. As Henry changed wives, and changed the very fabric of the country's structure besides, these women had to make choices about loyalty that simply didn't exist before. The Waiting Game is the first time their vital story has been told.

All too often ladies-in-waiting are the extras of historical drama, a glamorous but silent backdrop for the starring queens. Nicola Clark's fascinating narrative shows that once allowed a voice, they have all sorts of tales to tell us about a history we thought we knew, upending the conventional stories of the Tudor court. Catherine Fletcher, author of The Beauty and the Terror
A compelling read, Nicola Clark's The Waiting Game tells the story of Henry VIII's reign through the eyes of the women of his court, and gives a fresh new perspective on this most important and transformative period in English history -- Elizabeth Norton author of The Lives of Tudor Women
A fresh, thoroughly researched, and empathetic journey through the Tudor court from the perspective of the fascinating women who served there -- Gareth Russell author of The Palace
The Waiting Game is a meticulously researched, fresh and evocative tale of the women who inhabited the Tudor court. Nicola Clark reveals their intrigues, desires, ambitions and machinations as never before. The Waiting Game exposes the deadly game played by the women usually relegated to the background and proves that hell hath no fury like a lady-in-waiting scorned. A stunning, vivid read -- Joanne Paul author of The House of Dudley
Written in a lively, accessible style, The Waiting Game is full of insight -- Suzannah Lipscomb Literary Review

This well-researched new volume by Nicola Clark... provides fascinating insights into the roles of these women who
"were never not there"

Country Life
Abounds with names and careers that will be unfamiliar to many readers, and dazzling little nuggets of court life. Clark's eye for detail, as well as her instinctive grasp of the 16th century's treacherous politics, makes The Waiting Game a refreshing tonic to costume drama cliches of the early Tudor Court -- Dan Jones Telegraph
I found it all fascinating -- Anne de Courcy Spectator

Nicola Clark has a PhD in Early Modern History from Royal Holloway and is a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Chichester. Her writing has featured in History Today and on the History Extra website, and she has spoken about her research at events for Historic Royal Palaces, the National Archives and academic institutions.

Who taught Catherine of Aragon English, helped Anne Boleyn get dressed in the morning, discussed sex with Anne of Cleves, or pushed religious revolution with Kathryn Parr? Every queen had ladies-in-waiting. Her confidantes and chaperones, they are the forgotten agents of the Tudor court. Ever present and yet hidden behind the scenes, these women held the secrets and the hearts of some of the Tudor period's most powerful men and women. Experts at survival, negotiating the competing demands of their families and their queen, the ladies-in-waiting of Henry VIII's wives were far more than decorative 'extras': they were serious political players who changed the course of history, and four of them became queen themselves. The Waiting Game is the first to tell their story.

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