# Thomas Culpepper — The Fifth Queen Crowned character guide

> Thomas Culpepper in The Fifth Queen Crowned by Ford Madox Ford.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** T. Culpepper, Culpepper, Master Culpepper

**First appearance:** 0002-the-fifth-queen-crowned

## Snapshot

The Queen's ragged, shouting cousin, he insists from the dust of the road that he brought her to Court and is her servant still.

## Who they are

Thomas Culpepper appears on the road in rags, flung from a litter and howling that he is the Queen's cousin and the man who brought her to Court. The Queen's guards laugh at him as a poor merchant, and Lascelles watches with a spy's patient curiosity. His claim on Katharine — part kinship, part obsession — is the loose thread that scandal will eventually pull, and his degradation makes him dangerous.

## Relationships

### [Anne Boleyn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/anne_boleyn)

_romantic_

Anne and Culpepper share a flirtatious and dangerous attraction, which becomes a tool for her enemies to destroy her.

### [Lascelles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/lascelles)

_rivalry_

Lascelles and Culpepper are rivals in the court's power games, each spying on the other and vying for favor.

### [King Henry VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/king_henry_viii)

_professional_

Henry uses Culpepper as a courtier and potential lover for his queens, but he is also suspicious of Culpepper's ambitions.

### [Anne Boleyn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/anne_boleyn)

_romantic_

Anne and Culpepper share a flirtatious and dangerous attraction, which becomes a tool for her enemies to destroy her.

### [Anne Boleyn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/anne_boleyn)

_romantic_

Anne and Culpepper share a flirtatious and dangerous attraction, which becomes a tool for her enemies to destroy her.

### [Lascelles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/lascelles)

_rivalry_

Lascelles and Culpepper are rivals in the court's power games, each spying on the other and vying for favor.

### [King Henry VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/king_henry_viii)

_professional_

Henry uses Culpepper as a courtier and potential lover for his queens, but he is also suspicious of Culpepper's ambitions.

### [King Henry VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/king_henry_viii)

_professional_

Henry uses Culpepper as a courtier and potential lover for his queens, but he is also suspicious of Culpepper's ambitions.

### [Lascelles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/lascelles)

_rivalry_

Lascelles and Culpepper are rivals in the court's power games, each spying on the other and vying for favor.

## In the story

### [Part II: The Threatened Rift](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/part-ii-the-threatened-rift)

The queen's former suitor, whose relationship with her is a source of danger.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/i)

In Edinburgh, mad with love for the Queen, escapes and rides south to find her, blackened with coal and guided by a Kern.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/iii)

Found in a mad, disheveled state near Pontefract, claiming to be the Queen's cousin. Lascelles hides his identity.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/v)

Drunk and enraged, he forces his way into the Queen's chamber, but is subdued and hidden before the King's arrival.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/i)

The Queen's cousin, who is drunk and confused, having broken into the Queen's chambers. He is appointed as the keeper of the Queen's anteroom by the King.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/ii)

Mentioned as the Queen's cousin, recovering from his ordeal, and the subject of the King's letter.

### [Part IV: The End of the Song](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/part-iv-the-end-of-the-song)

The man whose relationship with the queen leads to their mutual destruction.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/chapters/ii)

Mentioned as the Queen's cousin, with whom she allegedly met by appointment, fueling the conspiracy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters/thomas_culpepper
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_fifth_queen_crowned_se/characters