King's Lynn couple to receive honorary doctorates
Dr Simon Thurley and Dr Anna Keay, who live in historic Clifton House, Lynn, are to be made honorary graduates at the University of East Anglia.
They are among 26 notable individuals to be rewarded for outstanding accomplishments.
The graduation ceremony will take place next year.
Dr Thurley, who will receive an honorary doctorate in letters, is an historian who has held some of the most important posts in national culture and heritage in the last 30 years.
His wife, Dr Anna Keay is also to receive an honorary doctorate in letters for her work as an historian, curator and former curator at Historic Royal Palaces and English Heritage who has written books and presented history programmes on Channel 4.
She is also well known for her work for the Landmark Trust, that preserves historic buildings nationwide including the water tower at Sandringham.
They have made their home in Lynn in Clifton House, Queen Street, which is one of the most important heritage buildings in the town.
It is an exciting time ahead for them as, in addition to new of their doctorates, Dr Thurley has written a book which is due to be released on September 16, published by William Collins, and called Palaces of Revolution.
Described as a thrilling new history of the turbulent and troubled Stuart dynasty, told through the houses they built and the art they required, it follows life in the court of the House of Stuart. Cloaked in tragedy, the first half of the century was overshadowed by bloody civil war and the execution of Charles I. The second half saw family infighting and the extinction of the house as a ruling dynasty.
These revolutionary events, triumphal and tragic in equal measure, were enacted in an array of places and spaces that criss-crossed Europe from Scotland and Denmark and across to Holland, France, Spain and, of course, England.
Based on some 20 years of research and using original documents, Dr Thurley, brings to life the story of the Stuart monarchy. The book introduces the reader to the details of the lives and loves of the Stuart monarchs as well as the big power struggles that shook Europe.
Illustrated with a unique series of plans and reconstructions that accurately recreate buildings long lost to posterity, Palaces of Revolution is an entirely new way to understand and enjoy the century that made Britain.
Palaces of Revolution will be available September 16, priced £25.
