Katie Kennedy dishes the gossip to the Glasgow Guardian on her new book, making history accessible and being comfortable in her own accent.
Katie Kennedy, aka The History Gossip, produces informative content on the juiciest historical moments. She is also known for her hook questions and opening lines in her videos such as “Did the Georgians have a ‘Menty B’ after seeing a non-translucent person?” (that is, a mental breakdown). Her frank communication style has earned her a following of over 500,000 on TikTok and a nomination for Educator of the Year.
A victim of her own success, she spent the summer after her dissertation holed up in the library writing her debut novel, Was Anne of Cleves a Minger? and 365 other historical curiosities – newly released. Kennedy’s novel is a treasure trove of historical gossip, recontextualised for the modern reader.
Alongside completing a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford and revelling in the success of her book release, she somehow found time to answer a few of the many questions I had whilst reading her book.
I start by asking her about her roots in the North East of England – having grown up there myself I was keen to know about her background. We talk about the lack of content creators from the North East, and how refreshing it is to see someone from there in the public eye.
I ask about her experience so far studying at Oxford, and whether there were any culture shocks. Having studied at Durham for her undergraduate, she’s used to the colleges, gowns and old-worldy traditions, and finds herself drawn to them. Nevertheless, the lack of students from the local area at Durham surprised her, with awkward fresher’s experiences including being asked what school she went to, and someone walking away from a conversation after finding out she was a local.
To begin with a generic question – how did your interest in history begin?
“It started from when I was really little, my parents would drag me around a National Trust property every single Sunday, and I’d be sick of it because I’d be like, I just want to sit and play Animal Crossing or Nintendogs, I don’t want to look around these dead people’s homes! But I always ended up enjoying it, and I think it started there because it brought history to life for me. I could pretend to be Lady of the Manor, even though I probs would’ve been the scullery maid if we were back in those times. Also, watching Horrible Histories. It’s so accessible and it makes history fun.”
What is it about the format of ‘gossip’ that you think works so well to reach a wide audience? Are we all essentially just nosy?
“Yeah! I think so” She laughs. “People have turned their noses up to gossiping, especially in the past. They thought it was just women being bitchy, but I think gossip fuels us. If people didn’t gossip, didn’t keep diaries or write letters saying that this person got with this person, we’d have nothing. All we’d be learning about is this law happened on this day, or this battle happened – that’s boring as f***! It’s important to gossip I think, it bonds us together.”
That’s a really nice way of looking at it. What’s your favourite piece of historical gossip?
“Oh my god […] I did a video on this ages ago, but basically there was rumours going around that Caroline of Brunswick didn’t wash. Apparently, she had manky knickers and really, really stank. She had to marry King George IV, and he didn’t like her. He got really drunk on the wedding, and he eventually banned her from the coronation because he hated her so much. I like that one because like, they’re meant to be all regal and royal, but the woman’s not even having a bath […] You look at portraits of people in the olden days and they’re wearing all these rigid clothes and not smiling, and they look a bit like their own ar***, then you look at primary sources about all the drama that happened, and it makes them more relatable and human.”
You’re known for your opening lines, I especially love “Was Churchill a 365-party girl?”.
“And he was! He was a 365-party girl. Yeah, I just like to – not mess about but, not take it too seriously, because it is TikTok. When I started, I felt like I had to talk a certain way or present myself a certain way to be taken seriously, but then I started to loosen up and crack a few jokes. I think it was definitely “Was Anne of Cleves a minger?” that made me do a U-turn and realise I enjoy making them funny and a bit less serious, and I started having fun with it.”
Kennedy says she was “very self-conscious” at the beginning, “especially because of my accent. I do get comments still, but they’re mainly from Americans being like ‘I don’t understand what you’re saying’ and that’s fair enough because they’ve probably never heard my accent, or the word ‘minging’, so I don’t mind.”
It’s good that you haven’t changed your accent, we need more regional accents in media spaces I think.
“Thank you […] I mean I think going to Durham did make me a bit – not self-conscious, but a little bit… because everyone was southern, and I’d heard a story of one girl who had the piss taken out of her accent because she was from Middlesborough. I didn’t want that to happen to me.”
I know what you mean. I feel like my accent changes in different environments.
“Yeah, I’m exactly the same. I noticed it when I was at Durham and I notice it at Oxford. It’s not on purpose but because everyone speaks the same way you sort of adapt. But I think I have learned, especially since leaving Durham, not to be ashamed of the way I speak. And if people take the pi** it’s not worth speaking to them.”
Looking to the future, do you have any plans for after your master’s? Is there any specific area of history you’re interested in pursuing?
“I definitely want to be a historian, and I’d love to write another book. I think I’d want to do something quite similar; I found the layout of the book nice because you can read it in any order. Sometimes history books are really heavy, and you have to really concentrate, whereas this is light reading. So probably something similar, but it’s early days… This time last year I didn’t expect to be where I am now. I’d only been posting for two months, so I didn’t expect a book deal or to be talking to journalists. I feel like you can’t plan anything so I’m just taking every day as it comes, but I’m really happy with how it’s going, and if I can continue to post then that’s amazing.”
Was Anne of Cleves a Minger? and 365 other historical curiosities is available to buy now.
The Glasgow Guardian would like to thank Katie Kennedy. This interview was edited for concision.
