Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 13th January 2026

Time: 7pm

Venue: Room 1.09, Park Building, King Henry I St, Portsmouth, PO1 2BZ

Description: Despite being the most powerful and visible lady in the land, comments on the lives and activities of queens can be surprisingly sparse in contemporary sources, unless they were seen to be doing something scandalous of course! This talk discusses the representation of royal women as both ‘saints’, and particularly as ‘sinners’, with examples of women such as Catherine the Great, Wu Zetian and Marie Antoinette, who had ‘black legends’ in their own time which continue to be represented in modern popular culture today.

How to book: No need to book, just turn up

Price: £4

Email: portsmouthhistorybranch@gmail.com

Organiser: Kate

Lecturer: Dr Ellie Woodacre, University of Winchester

Region: South-East England

Branch: Portsmouth