Thomas Cromwell’s prayer book found in a Cambridge library

A 1532 portrait of Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein the Younger

(Image credit: IanDagnall Computing/Alamy Stock Photo)

published 15 June 2023

Thomas Cromwell’s personal prayer book has been found in a Cambridge library, where it has been hiding in plain sight for centuries. “The Book of Hours”, which features in Hans Holbein’s portrait of the Tudor statesman, was identified by historians who had discovered that both Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon owned copies of the same 1527 edition. They had learnt that Trinity College’s Wren Library also had a copy, so went to see it – and recognised its bejewelled, silver gilt binding from Holbein’s painting. Tudor historian Tracy Borman called it “the most exciting Cromwell discovery in a generation – if not more”.

Most breast cancer patients will be long-term survivors

Women diagnosed with breast cancer are 66% less likely to die of the disease than they were 20 years ago, a major Oxford University study has found. Women diagnosed with early invasive breast cancer between 1993 and 1999 had a 14% chance of dying from the disease within the next five years; but this figure fell to less than 5% for those diagnosed between 2010 and 2015. “Most [patients] can expect to be long-term cancer survivors,” write the co-authors of the research.

Humpback whale spotted off the coast of Cornwall

A humpback whale has been spotted off the coast of Cornwall. The whale was seen – and caught on camera – in Falmouth Bay by sailors Linda Cassidy and Ryan Davis, who initially mistook the creature for a jet skier. Humpback whales had been driven close to extinction by the time a global ban on hunting them came into force in 1986. They are usually only seen in Cornish waters in the winter. The sighting, on 5 June, was hailed by conservationists as an encouraging sign that their numbers are recovering.