Lady Antonia Fraser, née Pakenham, (born August 27, 1932) is a British author of history and novels, best known for writing biographies. She is the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Longford (Frank and Elizabeth Pakenham), who were both eminent writers, Labour supporters and Catholic converts. Their eight children became child converts to the Roman Catholic Church. As the daughter of an Earl, Antonia Fraser is entitled to be called "Lady Antonia." lady antonia Fraser, back cover of mary, queen of scots This work is copyrighted. ... August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday. ... The Right Honourable Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, KG, PC (5 December 1905–3 August 2001) was a politician, author, and social reformer. ... Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, better known as Elizabeth Longford (August 30, 1906 - October 23, 2002) was a British author, born Elizabeth Harman. ...

Life and Career

Lady Antonia was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Her first major work was Mary, Queen of Scots (1969). She followed it up with various other biographies, including Cromwell, Our Chief of Men (1973). She won the Wolfson History Award in 1984 for The Weaker Vessel, a study of women's lives in 17th century England. She was President of English PEN from 1988 to 99, and was Chairman of its Writers in Prison Committee. College name Lady Margaret Hall Named after Lady Margaret Beaufort Established 1878 Sister College Newnham College Principal Dr Frances Lannon JCR President Joe Collenette Undergraduates 424 Graduates 148 Homepage Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Mary, Queen of Scots is a 1969 biography of Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... Unfinished portrait miniature of Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper, 1657. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... Logo of International PEN International PEN, the worldwide association of writers, was founded in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere; to emphasise the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In addition, she writes detective novels, with the most popular involving a character named Jemima Shore. A television series based on these stories was aired in the UK in 1983. Jemima Shore is a fictional character created by Antonia Fraser, and is portrayed as TVs consummately professional investigative journalist. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

More recently, Lady Antonia published Warrior Queens, the story of various military royal women since the days of Boadicea and Cleopatra. In 1992 she published The Six Wives of Henry VIII. It was published only a year after Alison Weir's book of the same title, though academics felt that Fraser's work was the more impartial. Boudicca (also written Boudica, Boadicea, Buduica, Bonduca), was a Celtic female chieftain who led the Iceni and a number of other Celtic tribes, including the neighbouring Trinovantes, in a major uprising against the occupying Roman forces in Britain in AD 60 or 61 during the reign of the emperor Nero. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Alison Weir (born 1951) is a popular British writer of history books for the general public, mostly in the form of biographies about British kings and queens. ...

Fraser later published The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605. Her most recent work is an acclaimed and in-depth biography of France's last legitimate queen, Marie Antoinette. Marie-Antoinette: The Journey is apparently being adapted for film by Sofia Coppola, with the title role being played by Kirsten Dunst. Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria (born November 1755 – executed 16 October 1793) Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XVI and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. ... Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (born May 14, 1971 in New York City) is an American Academy Award winning film director, actress, producer, and writer. ... Kirsten Dunst on the cover of ES Magazine May 2001 Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to Klaus and Inez Dunst) is an American actress of German and Swedish descent. ...

Personal Life

In 1956, Lady Antonia married Sir Hugh Fraser, a Roman Catholic MP when she found out she was pregnant with his child. They had three sons (Benjamian (Benjy), Damian and Orlando) and three daughters (Rebecca, Flora and Natasha). Sir Hugh was a Conservative Unionist MP in the House of Commons, sitting for Stafford. 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Hugh Fraser (1918-1984) was a British politician and first husband of Lady Antonia Fraser. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Conservative Party may refer to: Conservative Party of Canada (since 2003) Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942-2003) Conservative Party of Canada (historical) (until 1942) Conservative Party (Chile) (historical) Colombian Conservative Party Conservative Peoples Party (Denmark) New Zealand Conservative Party (defunct) Conservative Party of Nicaragua Norwegian Conservative Party (H... The word Unionist, simply meaning one espousing a union, has a number of connotations, depending on context: Unionists are people in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales who were historically in favour of uniting their nations into a United Kingdom, or who in modern times wish their nations to remain part... British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... Map sources for Stafford at grid reference SJ9223 Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire in England. ...

Sir Hugh and Lady Antonia, together with Caroline Kennedy who was visiting at the time, were almost blown up by an IRA car bomb on 23rd October 1975 but the bomb exploded prematurely. Unfortunately another motorist, the well-respected cancer researcher Dr. Gordon Hamilton-Fairley, died instead. Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is the daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the Ra) is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation. ...

As a Roman Catholic, Lady Antonia caused a public scandal in 1977 by leaving her husband for playwright Harold Pinter and the satirical magazine Private Eye for some years routinely referred to her as "Lady Magnesia Freelove." Pinter's then-wife, the actress Vivien Merchant, spoke publicly of her distress at his abandonment of her and made cutting remarks about Fraser in the press, including the famous comment that "she has very big feet". For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Harold Pinter Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born October 10, 1930) is a British playwright and theatre director. ...

Fraser and Pinter married in 1980, when Pinter and Merchant's divorce was finalized, and they lived in Holland Park, west London. One of Lady Antonia's daughters, Flora Fraser, is an historical biographer. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London in England. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Flora Fraser is a British writer, best known for her historical biographies. ...

Bibliography

Non Fiction Works

• Mary, Queen of Scots (1969)
• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1970)
• Dolls (1973)
• Cromwell: our Chief of Men (1973)
• King James VI and I
• The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England
• Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration (published in Britain as Charles II)
• The Weaker Vessel (1984)
• Boadicea's Chariot: Warrior Queens (1988)
• The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1992)
• Faith and Treason : The Story of the Gunpowder Plot (1996)
• Marie-Antoinette: The Journey (2002)

Jemima Shore Series

• Quiet as a Nun (1977)
• The Wild Island (1978)
• A Splash of Red (1981)
• Cool Repentance (1982)
• Oxford Blood (1985)
• Jemima Shore's First Case (1986)
• Your Royal Hostage (1987)
• The Cavalier Case (1990)
• Jemima Shore at the Sunny Grave (1991)
• Political Death (1995)

Quiet as a Nun - A Tale of Murder (published 1977) by Antonia Fraser, is a thriller that begins with the death of a nun who apparently starved herself to death in a ruined tower (The Tower of Ivory) adjoining the grounds of the Convent of the Blessed Eleanor, a nunnery... Jemima Shore at the Sunny Grave And Other Stories (published 1991) by Antonia Fraser, is a collection of nine short stories featuring series character Jemima Shore. ...

Anthologies

• Scottish Love Poems (1975)
• Love Letters (1976)

1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

External links

• 1984 audio interview of Antonia Fraser by Don Swaim of CBS Radio, RealAudio