Sudeley Castle

Sudeley Castle plays an important role in British history as a whole, but certainly reached a pinnacle during the Tudor era. It is most famously known for being the home of Katherine Parr, who moved there with her beloved, Thomas Seymour, after Henry VIII finally kicked the bucket.

Finally free of the old, pussy, disgusting Henry, Katherine was finally free to marry a man she truly loved. At the age of 36 and already having 3 marriages to older men behind her, Sudeley Castle was a beautiful retreat, and Katherine was looking forward to a bright future, in love and very soon pregnant with her first child.

If there is a chance you will be in England soon, you may want to stop by Sudeley.  There is a Quincentenary Festival planned, and it's all devoted to Katherine Parr on the 500th anniversary of her birth.




Amidst all of the wonder that took place at Sudeley, there were some dark moments in her short year there.  Seymour was a "bit" of a scamp and suspected of courting Elizabeth Tudor, (Katherine's step-daughter and the future queen, whom Parr was carefully and lovingly tutoring), and finally pregnant with her first child, she died a short seven days after giving birth to her daughter Mary who has mysteriously disappeared from historical record.

While most Tudor aficionados seem distracted by the intrigue surrounding Anne Boleyn, it would be a mistake to discount Parr as boring simply because she managed to keep her head.  In Six Dead Queens & an Inflatable Henry, you will learn all sorts of riveting details about Parr, her death, and indirectly, Sudeley Castle.  Parr's was the first Protestant funeral Britain had seen, her body miraculously didn't decompose for over 200 years after she died, and she is the only Tudor queen to have a statue of her likeness, which resides over her tomb at Sudeley.

There is so much more to dig into, so book some tickets to Piccolo's show, and then book plane tickets to England and take in what is surely going to be a delightfully interesting and lovely celebration of a grand woman and the estate she dearly loved. Say hello to Lady Ashcombe from me and let her know that if I weren't performing on stage as the captivating Queene Parr, I'd be there!

-Denita Linnertz

Playing Katherine Parr