Kate studied her BA at Somerville College, Oxford where she was a College Scholar and received the Violet Vaughan Morgan University Scholarship. She then took her MA at Queen Mary, University of London and her DPhil at Oxford.
Kate's first book was England's Mistress: the Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton
and her second, Becoming Queen was about the passionate youth of Queen Victoria and Princess Charlotte. She was also a consultant on the movie Young Victoria which starred Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend. Kate appears regularly on television and radio, fronting Restoration Home on BBC2 with Caroline Quentin and presenting the Royal Wedding coverage for the BBC earlier this year. She has also made appearances on the Today programme, Newsnight, The One Show, Radio 5 Live and BBC1 Breakfast, in addition to presenting a programme about Queen Victoria for BBC2's Timewatch.