WORDS BY BROOKE THEIS. PHOTOGRAPHS: ELS ZWEERINK, COURTESY OF TAMARA ROJO, PAUL HARDWICK. GUGU MBATHA-RAW PHOTOGRAPHED BY RICHARD PHIBBS.HAIR BY BJORN KRISCHKER. MAKE-UP BY TANIA GRIERCONTR IBUTORS
ROWAN HISAYO
BUCHANANHILARY
MANTEL
‘I always have the feeling of him
questioning and working
against the grain,’ says Mantel
of Thomas Cromwell, the
central character in her
monumental ‘Wolf Hall’
trilogy. To mark the publication
of her much anticipated final
instalment, The Mirror &
the Light, she appears in a
photo-shoot at Hampton Court
Palace, and speaks to Erica
Wa g ner a b out s ay i n g g o o dbye
to Henry VIII’s chief minister.
A garden you love ‘Caerhays,
Cornwall: a woodland estate
with a gorgeous magnolia
display in early spring.’
What would you do if you were
queen for a day? ‘Abdicate.’
Favourite Briton ‘Cardinal
Wolsey. It would be ungracious
to say otherwise, as the pictures
[on page 208] were taken
at his house.’
North, south, east or
west? ‘North, for the light.’
Best thing about Britain
‘Her seascapes.’Buchanan has written two
acclaimed novels, Harmless Like
You and last year’s Starling Days,
and has also edited a collection
of stories by Asian-American
writers, titled Go Home!.
Ahead of the V&A’s latest
exhibition ‘Kimono: Kyoto
to Catwalk’, she describes the
meaning these traditional
garments carry for her.
A garden you love ‘Does
Highgate Wood count? I delight
in the dapple, the rush of dogs,
even the parents trying to coax
their toddlers up the hill.’
Fish and chips or a cream
tea? ‘Scampi and chips on the
beach with seagulls fighting
you for their share. Victory
makes the salt taste better.’
Favourite Briton ‘My brother,
although he doesn’t live here
anymore. Everyone’s Britain is a
different place – their own map
of memories. But his Britain is
close enough to mine t hat
passing stories between
ourselves feels like home.’
Best thing about Britain
‘I ta ke plea sure in how our
latitude exaggerates the
stretching and shrinking of
days. There is a kind of majesty
to these changes of light.’TAMARA
ROJOThe artistic director and lead
principal dancer of the English
National Ballet, who was
awarded a CBE in 2016, has
played iconic characters from
Giselle to the Sugar Plum Fairy,
while also ushering in a new
chapter for the company in
making dance accessible to
contemporary audiences.
In this issue, she tells Helena
Lee about her forthcoming
collaboration with Akram Khan.
A garden you love ‘Regent’s
Pa rk – it’s just beauti f u l.’
What would you do if you
were queen for a day? ‘Give
f ree access to t heatre, museums,
art galleries and cinemas. But
just for one day, because artists
do need to make a living.’
Fish and chips or a cream
tea? ‘Fish and chips.’
Favourite Briton
‘Nick Hytner, for so many
amazing reasons...’Page 130
Page 132
̄Page^208
Born in Oxfordshire, the actress
moved to London to study at
Rada aged 18. She has since
sta r red in telev ision ser ies such
as Netflix’s Emmy-winning
Black Mirror, and films including
Beauty and the Beast, Motherless
Brooklyn and her latest project
Misbehaviour, which sees her
play the first black woman
to win the Miss World
competition. Here, she talks to
Lydia Slater about taking
on challenging roles and
campaigning for feminism.
A garden you love ‘My mum’s
back garden in Witney, where
I first planted strawberries and
tomatoes, and we had barbecues
- there are so many happy
memories associated with it.’
What would you do if
you were queen for a day?
‘I would throw a massive party
at Buckingham Palace and let
everyone have a poke around.’
Fish and chips or a cream tea?
‘A cream tea. Cream before jam.’
Favourite Briton ‘Paddington
Bear, even though he’s Peruvian - because he’s so cute.’
GUGU
MBATHA-RAW
Page 144