King Charles has appointed historian Anna Keay to write the authorized biography of Queen Elizabeth II, with reports indicating he is determined it should be a landmark book. Anna Keay will have unrivalled access to the private papers of the late Queen Elizabeth II, according to major media reports. The biography is expected to draw on extensive royal archives, though the specific scope of access beyond being described as 'unrivalled' has not been detailed. It remains unknown how long Keay will spend writing the work, what her advance payment will be, or when King Charles will officially announce her appointment.
Keay brings significant professional connections to the royal household through her current roles. She runs the Landmark Trust, a building conservation charity of which King Charles is patron, and serves as a trustee of the Royal Collection Trust, which cares for the monarch's private art collection. Her husband is Simon Thurley, a friend of King Charles who chairs the National Lottery Heritage Fund and previously served as chief executive of English Heritage. Thurley had worked with Keay at English Heritage and on the 2006 Channel 5 series Buildings That Shaped Britain before their marriage.
This appointment follows the precedent of William Shawcross, who authored the authorized biography of the Queen Mother. Shawcross took his time working on that project, which was not published until 2009, seven years after her death at the age of 101. He received a £1 million advance for his efforts and was later awarded the CVO and knighted 'for public service' in 2023. Whether Keay's biography will be published before or after Queen Elizabeth II's death, and what timeline is expected, has not been confirmed.
On a personal level, Anna Keay, 51, has twin children with Simon Thurley, 63, whom she married in 2008 after Thurley divorced his first wife, Katharine Goodison, in 2007. The couple lives in a Grade I-listed medieval merchant's house in King's Lynn, a short drive from King Charles's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Keay was educated at Bedales School in Hampshire and Magdalen College, Oxford, and is the granddaughter of former Tory minister Humphrey Atkins. Atkins was recently the subject of questionable claims that he had an affair with his boss, Margaret Thatcher.
In unrelated news, TV cook Tonia Buxton, 58, has had an Endolift, a non-surgical laser treatment, at a beauty clinic in London. The procedure costs around £3,000. Buxton has shared details of her Endolift journey on social media. She recently hailed olive oil and spices as the secret to her youthful looks.