Today, I am delighted to be sharing news of the recent publication of Queen Anna, the latest historical fiction from TONY RICHES, and the first book in Tony’s new series, the Stuart Queens Trilogy.
Queen Anna is the story of Princess Anna of Denmark, who sailed to Scotland to marry King James VI, as a young woman of fifteen. Life for the young princess did not go smoothly, which I suppose was common enough for royals in the 16th century, but Anna is not a woman to be taken lightly!
Find out more about this fascinating new novel below and read an intriguing excerpt from it.
What is the book about?
A crown won in the eye of a storm.
A queen who refuses to be broken…
Princess Anna of Denmark sails for Scotland to marry King James VI, but storms ravage her fleet, igniting a deadly obsession with witchcraft in her new home. Arriving in a strange and paranoid court, Anna finds her new husband’s bed is a treacherous place.
Surrounded by whispering courtiers and shifting alliances, Anna refuses to remain a passive pawn. When the court takes her children to raise them away from her, the young queen draws her line in the sand.
From the windswept castles of Scotland to the glittering, dangerous English court, Anna is restored to her rightful place in history.
Read an excerpt
Copenhagen Castle 1589
Anna could sense something was going on. She saw it in the way they looked at her. She sent Annie Kaas, her most trusted chamberer, to learn whether her suspicions could be right. The answer made her curse her late father’s ambition. She went in search of her mother, an easy target for her many questions.
‘When were you planning to tell me?’ Anna regretted the shrill echo of her young voice. She studied her mother’s round, careworn face, framed by a stiff brocade collar and ruff, for any sign of sympathy. ‘Why am I the last to know?’
Her mother stared back in unblinking disbelief, sunlight glinting from diamonds studding her gold necklace. ‘Your poor father worked hard to secure this marriage to a king.’ Her German accent returned, a sign of her discomfort. Her mother’s attempt at a smile failed to take the edge from her voice. ‘I thought we’d missed our chance, and didn’t wish to raise your expectations.’
‘I am fourteen.’
‘I was fourteen when I married your father.’ Her mother’s voice carried a note of rebuke, but softened a little. ‘You are no longer a child, Anna.’
‘Father must have known I wouldn’t be ready to be a wife.’ Anna shook her head at the thought. ‘It can be dangerous to have children too soon. You would not wish me to die in childbirth?’
Her mother placed her hand on Anna’s embroidered silk sleeve. ‘There is no hurry to talk of children, Anna. Think of what this means for your country, and for your Protestant faith.’ She kept her voice low. ‘Be glad the King of Scotland is young, and they say he is handsome.’
‘How old is he?’ Anna held her breath, her future hanging in the balance.
‘Twenty-three, a good age for marriage.’ Again, a false smile of encouragement.
Sold to the highest bidder, like a brood mare from the royal stables. Anna always knew this moment would come. This was what they had prepared her for, all her life, but she’d never guessed they would act with such haste.
Anna knew her mother’s ways well enough to suspect she was keeping some troubling detail to herself. They’d never been close. Her parents always seemed to be away on sailing and hunting trips, while Anna’s grandparents, nursemaids, governesses and tutors cared for her, and her brother and sisters in Güstrow.
For the first time, she understood something of how it must have been for her mother, forced into marriage with her cousin. He would have been more than twice her mother’s age when she married him and became Queen Consort of Denmark and Norway.
Her mother stayed out of court politics and pursued her interests in astrology and the mysteries of alchemy, despite her many failed experiments. She’d kept her own court, but fulfilled her role to provide an heir to the throne. Anna’s elder sister Elizabeth, named after the English queen, must have been a disappointment, but after Anna came her brother Christian, the longed-for son and heir.
A chilling thought occurred to Anna. ‘You will send me away to Scotland, and I might never return.’
Her mother said nothing, but the look in her eyes told Anna all she needed to know.
Book details
Queen Anna was published by Preseli Press on 9th July 2026. It is available as an eBook for Kindle and in paperback.
It can also be read in Kindle Unlimited.
About the author
Tony Riches
Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of Tudor historical fiction. He lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the lives of the early Tudors.
As well as his Elizabethan series, Tony’s historical fiction novels include the best-selling Tudor trilogy and his Brandon trilogy (about Charles Brandon and his wives).
For more information about Tony’s books please visit his website tonyriches.com and his blog, The Writing Desk and find him on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Twitter/X.
