Lady Anne Mary Carr (née Somerset, born 21 January 1955) is an English historian and writer. She is a recipient of the

Elizabeth Longford Prize The Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography was established in 2003 in memory of Elizabeth Longford (1906-2002), the British author, biographer and historian. The £5,000 prize is awarded annually for a historical biography published in t ...

, for ''Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion''.

Biography

Lady Anne Somerset was born in England, and was educated in London, Gloucestershire, and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. She read history at King's College London, graduated in 1976 and began her professional career as a research assistant to several historians. She published her own first book in 1980; it was a popular biography of

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

, which was reprinted in 1993. She has gone on to write four further works, all focused on English history, mainly in the Tudor and

Stuart period The Stuart period of British history lasted from 1603 to 1714 during the dynasty of the House of Stuart. The period ended with the death of Queen Anne and the accession of King George I from the German House of Hanover. The period was plagu ...

s. She has also written about the

Affair of the Poisons An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

's France, and a well-received biography of Queen Anne. Lady Anne is the widow of the artist Matthew Carr and daughter of

David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort David Robert Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort GCC (23 February 1928 – 16 August 2017), known as David Somerset until 1984, was an English peer and major landowner. An important figure in the world of fox hunting, he was also chairman of Marl ...

. Her mother Caroline was the daughter of

Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath Henry Frederick Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath (26 January 1905 – 30 June 1992), styled Lord Henry Thynne until 1916 and Viscount Weymouth between 1916 and 1946, was a British aristocrat, landowner, and Conservative Party politician. Bac ...

, and the author

Daphne Fielding The Hon. Daphne Winifred Louise Fielding (''née'' Vivian, formerly Thynne; 11 July 1904 – 5 December 1997) was a British author in the 20th century. Early life Daphne Vivian was born on 11 July 1904 in Westminster, London, the elder chil ...

Major works

* ''The Life and Times of King William IV'', London,

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

1980 * ''Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day'', London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1984 * ''Elizabeth I'', London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1991 * ''Unnatural Murder: Poison at the Court of James I'', London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1997 * ''The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide & Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV'', London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2003 * ''Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion'', London: HarperPress 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset, Anne 1955 births Living people English historians Alumni of King's College London Daughters of English dukes