# Kate Williams (historian)
**Kate Williams** is a British historian, author, and broadcaster who specializes in social and royal history, serves as CNN's in-house historian and royal expert, and has written historical biographies of Emma Hamilton, Queen Victoria, Josephine Bonaparte, and Queen Elizabeth II alongside a series of historical novels.[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) • [2](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Education | B.A. and D.Phil. in history at the University of Oxford (Somerville College); M.A. from the University of London[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/52096/kate-williams/) • [1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) |
| Academic post | Director of Life Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) |
| Broadcasting | CNN's in-house historian and analyst; social historian on BBC2's Restoration Home; presenter of the BBC Two documentary Young Victoria[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) |
| Biographies | England's Mistress, Becoming Queen, Josephine (Ambition and Desire), Young Elizabeth, and Rival Queens[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) • [2](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams) |
| Novels | The Pleasures of Men and The Storms of War[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) |
| Judging | Chaired the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2019[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) |
| Forthcoming | Regina: A New History of Royal Women and Power, Pegasus, 416 pages, publication date October 6, 2026[4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-williams/regina/) |
## Education and academic career
Williams studied for her B.A. at Oxford University, earned an M.A. from the [University of London](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-london), and completed a D.Phil. in history at Oxford.[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/52096/kate-williams/) Her degree and DPhil were both taken at [Somerville College, Oxford](https://www.edgepedia.org/somerville-college-oxford), and she also holds MAs from Queen Mary and Royal Holloway.[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) • [2](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams) She is a Professor of History and serves as Director of Life Writing at [Royal Holloway, University of London](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-holloway-university-of-london).[2](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams) • [1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/)
## Writing
**Biographies.** Williams is the author of England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton, a biography of Nelson's lover Emma Hamilton, and Becoming Queen, about the young [Queen Victoria](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-victoria) and her cousin Princess Charlotte.[5](https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/12195/7/Richards2021EdD.pdf) • [6](https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/kate-williams-historian-and-author-of-historical-biographies/) The Penguin Random House US edition of the Victoria biography carries the subtitle Becoming Queen Victoria: The Unexpected Rise of Britain's Greatest Monarch.[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/52096/kate-williams/) She followed these with Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte (published in the UK as Josephine) and Young Elizabeth: The Making of the Queen, an early-life biography of [Elizabeth II](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-ii) published on November 15, 2015.[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/52096/kate-williams/) • [1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) • [7](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-williams/young-elizabeth/) Her biography Rival Queens concerns [Mary, Queen of Scots](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-queen-of-scots).[2](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams) • [8](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/client/kate-williams/cv/books/?token=031ce475c7dc) Penguin Australia describes her output as five historical biographies plus a series of historical novels.[2](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams)
**Fiction and collaborative work.** Her novels are The Pleasures of Men, set in the 1840s and following a young woman's obsession with a murderer, and The Storms of War, a family saga compared by the writer Lisa Hilton to "the new Cazalet Chronicles".[6](https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/kate-williams-historian-and-author-of-historical-biographies/) • [1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) With Alison Weir, Sarah Gristwood, and Tracy Borman she wrote The Ring and the Crown on the history of royal weddings.[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) She has also written regular features for the Sunday Telegraph, the Independent, the Spectator, BBC History Magazine, and History Today.[6](https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/kate-williams-historian-and-author-of-historical-biographies/)
**Regina.** Her book Regina: A New History of Royal Women and Power, published by Pegasus with a release date of October 6, 2026, examines 3,000 years of female rulers and the role of sexism in how their power has been recorded. According to a Kirkus review, Williams argues that royal women's power is often "erased, compromised and twisted by words and images", and she considers reigns from [Cleopatra](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleopatra) and [Catherine the Great](https://www.edgepedia.org/catherine-the-great) to lesser-known figures such as Ranavalona I of Madagascar and Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaii.[4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-williams/regina/)
## Broadcasting
Williams appears weekly on television and radio, discussing social history, royal history, and general politics and culture.[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) She is CNN's in-house historian and analyst, and Kirkus identifies her as CNN's British royalty expert.[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) • [7](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-williams/young-elizabeth/) Her television work has ranged widely: she was the social historian on BBC2's Restoration Home, presented the [BBC Two](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-two) documentary Young Victoria (an episode of Timewatch from 2008 that is often repeated), presented the series The Stuarts, and has appeared on programs from [The Great British Bake Off](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-great-british-bake-off) to election coverage and comedy panel shows.[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/) • [9](https://mgmjournalism.org/pdf/History-on-Television-Routledge-%282013%29.pdf) • [2](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams) In podcasting she hosts Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things and has appeared as a guest on shows including [Dan Snow](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-snow)'s History Hit and Anderson Cooper 360.[10](https://podcastrex.com/people/kate-williams/episodes)
## Women in public history
Writing in 2008, Williams argued that television history was dominated by men, naming [Niall Ferguson](https://www.edgepedia.org/niall-ferguson), Simon Schama, Tristram Hunt, Tony Robinson, Jeremy Paxman, and [David Starkey](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-starkey), and noting that at that time [Bettany Hughes](https://www.edgepedia.org/bettany-hughes) was the only female historian regularly fronting her own series, while a prime-time history program could reach more than three million viewers against hardback sales of fewer than 5,000 copies for a widely acclaimed history book.[11](https://www.hnn.us/article/kate-williams-historys-not-just-for-the-boys-dr-st) In 2019 she chaired the Women's Prize for Fiction, the judging body for the annual fiction award.[1](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/)
## Other people named Kate Williams
The name refers to several unrelated figures. Kat Williams (Ph.D., Kentucky) is an emeritus professor of American history at [Marshall University](https://www.edgepedia.org/marshall-university) specializing in U.S. women's history and the history of sport, and CEO of the International Women's Baseball Center.[12](https://www.marshall.edu/history/profile/kat-williams/) Kate Williams is an associate professor emerita in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.[13](https://katewill.web.ischool.illinois.edu/index.html) A different Kate Williams is a sociologist and Research Fellow at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, studying research impact measurement.[14](https://cambridge.academia.edu/KateWilliams) Kathleen Williams is an Emmy-winning video producer who worked with the History Channel.[15](https://katwilliams.work/)
## References
1. [Kate Williams, Hachette UK contributor page](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/kate-williams-2/)
2. [Kate Williams, Penguin Books Australia author page](https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-williams)
3. [Kate Williams, Penguin Random House author page](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/52096/kate-williams/)
4. [Regina: A New History of Royal Women and Power, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-williams/regina/)
5. [Dr Kate Williams, University of Birmingham EdD thesis (Richards, 2021)](https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/12195/7/Richards2021EdD.pdf)
6. [Kate Williams: Historian and author of historical biographies, Australian Writers' Centre (2012)](https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/kate-williams-historian-and-author-of-historical-biographies/)
7. [Young Elizabeth: The Making of the Queen, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-williams/young-elizabeth/)
8. [Kate Williams, Books CV, United Agents](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/client/kate-williams/cv/books/?token=031ce475c7dc)
9. [History on Television, Routledge (2013)](https://mgmjournalism.org/pdf/History-on-Television-Routledge-%282013%29.pdf)
10. [Kate Williams, Podcast Rex](https://podcastrex.com/people/kate-williams/episodes)
11. [Kate Williams: History's not just for the boys, Dr Starkey, History News Network (2008)](https://www.hnn.us/article/kate-williams-historys-not-just-for-the-boys-dr-st)
12. [Kat Williams, Marshall University History Department profile](https://www.marshall.edu/history/profile/kat-williams/)
13. [Kate Williams, University of Illinois School of Information Sciences](https://katewill.web.ischool.illinois.edu/index.html)
14. [Kate Williams, University of Cambridge Academia.edu profile](https://cambridge.academia.edu/KateWilliams)
15. [Kathleen Williams, portfolio site](https://katwilliams.work/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Social and behavioral scientists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license