Fuel For Follett's Fire

Ken Follett’s third novel in the hugely successful Kingsbridge series is out this month. It’s 1558 and princess Elizabeth is at Hatfield House about to become queen. At the stately home Sandra Deeble talks to the Knebworth author about walking in Elizabeth’s footsteps, female politicians, and how to write a bestseller

- Sandra Deeble

‘I’m not very interested in the royal family.’ I’ve just asked Ken Follett if he watched the recent Elizabeth II biopic, The Crown, and he whispers his reply. It’s probably wise, given that we’re on hallowed ground – we’re in the Banqueting Hall of The Old Palace at Hatfield House. It’s where scenes from the Netflix series were filmed, and it’s the room where our queen’s Tudor predecessor and namesake held her first Council of State with William Cecil and other advisors after being told Mary was dead and she was queen of England.

Hatfield House is also one of the locations Ken chose for his latest novel, A Column of Fire, published this month. The main location is Kingsbridge, the fictional town that came to life through the story of the building of its cathedral in The Pillars of the Earth, first published in 1989. This was followed – not exactly swiftly – by World Without End in 2007. Ken has described how friends and his publishers initially questioned the logic of transferring his skills from writing war stories and thrillers to medieval tales. The Pillars of the Earth has sold 26 million copies in 30 languages and still sells 100,000 copies a year. The rest, as they say, is history.

So why Elizabeth I, and why now?