‘Harry Potter’ Duke Lines Up For Storytelling Session

A new book by the Duke of Northumberland – peer in residence at Alnwick Castle, also hereditary home to ‘Harry Potter’s’ Hogwarts Academy – will kick off a series of literary events at the Cumbrian estate this Thursday.

Lions of the Red Rose, explores the history of the Wars of the Roses by focusing on members of the Percy family - the 2nd Earl of Northumberland, his four warrior sons, and their surviving heir - battling through some of the most brutal and violent decades of British history.

And, to mark the book’s publication, the Duke himself will deliver an exclusive talk on April 25th about his family’s historical involvement in the Wars of the Roses.

Attendees will gain out-of-hours access to Alnwick Castle's new exhibition, also called Lions of the Red Rose, with a proportion of ticket sales from the one-off book talk going to The Battlefields Trust, whose work helps preserve many of the sites described within the new publication.

The book features illustrations and maps by Peter Phillips, as well as images of surviving documents from the Alnwick Castle archive.

Other literary events planned throughout the season include:

Saturday 18 May - Book Talk with Alison Weir - Mary I: Queen of Sorrows - 19:30
Saturday 25 May - Book talk - Vital Organs with Suzie Edge (rescheduled date) - 19:00
Tuesday 9 July - Book talk with Annie Garthwaite - The King's Mother - 19:30
Thursday 29 August - Book talk with Ian Mortimer - Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter - 16:00
Friday 11 October - Book talk with Nicola Tallis - Young Elizabeth: Princess, Prisoner, Queen - 19:30

Further information about the Duke’s talk and those events above, is available on the Alnwick Castle website: alnwickcastle.com.

Alnwick Castle starred as the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the 2001 film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, filmed at the castle in autumn 2000, and later in the 2002 film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.