Kent's Leeds Castle Opens Major New Eleanor of Castile Exhibition Featuring World’s First Interactive AI Avatar

Leeds Castle has announced the opening of ‘Pilgrimage of Love: Eleanor of Castile’, a major new exhibition featuring the world’s first interactive historical AI avatar, that is aware of, and responsive to, its environment.

The exhibition explores the life and legacy of Eleanor of Castile (1241–1290), the formidable Queen of England and first female owner of Leeds Castle. 

Through original research, immersive interpretation, and innovative technology, the exhibition sheds new light on one of medieval England’s most remarkable yet overlooked queens, in an unprecedented showcase. 

By foregrounding her life, experiences and character, the exhibition opens up fresh perspectives on her personal narrative, values, and complexities, revealing how her story continues to resonate today.

Dr Dominique Bouchard FRHistS FSA, Heritage and Engagement Director at Leeds Castle told That's Books and More: "What's most exciting about this project is the way it brings people into a more human relationship with the past. 

"We're always striving to help people connect with the Castle's history in ways that feel alive. This new avatar gives visitors a unique chance to meet Eleanor of Castile as a person with depth and personality.

“The technology allows visitors to ask the questions they want to ask, moving beyond the questions we as curators identified and engaging with the scholarship behind the exhibition. It allows us to share a meticulously researched story in a format that feels immediate and personal, inviting visitors to explore Eleanor’s world with curiosity and confidence. That sense of connection has always been at the heart of heritage interpretation, and this exhibition opens up a new way of creating it."

The exhibition, starting in the historic Gloriette built by Eleanor in 1278, explores her politically savvy marriage to King Edward I, extensive travels on crusade, and role as a landowner and businesswoman. This narrative presents Eleanor as a powerful and complex queen in her own right, redefining what it meant to rule as a medieval woman.

Visitors will culminate their experience with An Audience with a Queen, featuring the world’s first AI avatar, developed by SKC Studios, creators of the AI platform 1956 Individuals. Unlike traditional digital interpretation, the avatar is aware of her surroundings and recognises when a visitor approaches. She responds directly to questions, creating a dynamic, unscripted conversation that bridges seven centuries of history and transforms the visitor from observer to participant.

Babita Devi, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer at SKC Studios, told us: “We're proud to partner with Leeds Castle on a project that fundamentally reshapes how history is accessed and experienced. 

Through 1956 Individuals, information moves beyond static interpretation to become intelligent, responsive and immediate, empowering visitors to ask their own questions and engage with the past in real time. 

"This marks a step change for the cultural sector. It demonstrates what forward-thinking cultural stewardship truly means: safeguarding the integrity of heritage while using pioneering technology to unlock deeper, more dynamic access to knowledge for a new generation.”

Eleanor of Castile transformed Leeds Castle into a royal symbol of refinement and luxury, establishing it as a distinctly ‘queenly’ possession. Her influence directly shaped the royal English court through the introduction of cosmopolitan European culture, including tapestries, carpets, and tableware. Eleanor also significantly enhanced the Castle’s architecture, evolving it from a Norman fortress into the elegant structure we see today.

Pilgrimage of Love: Eleanor of Castile

• Opens Monday 9 March 2026 at Leeds Castle, Kent

• Included in admission ticket

• Explores the life and legacy of Leeds Castle’s first female owner

• Features the world’s first interactive historical AI avatar

 www.leeds-castle.com

Leeds Libraries Unite for Festival

Books Up North

Home to in excess of fifty libraries, the city of Leeds has very good reason to celebrate the wide spectrum of support the information and knowledge sector offers its communities, businesses and public organisations. 

With libraries often forming health, academic, arts and heritage subgroups, the Libraries in Leeds network is a unique umbrella organisation in that the common feature of its members is their geographical location.

Not only does the city accommodate a thriving, vibrant public library service, the oldest surviving members’ Subscription Library, four universities and a Conservatoire, it's also the home of national records for DHSC, UKHSA and Royal Armouries. 

The British Library is also working towards establishing a permanent new site in Leeds city centre, powered by its existing site at Boston Spa, which is near Wetherby. Not forgetting the collections of regional and national importance preserved by the Morley team of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, librarians at the Henry Moore Institute and curators at the Thackray Museum of Medicine.

Over the past year the Libraries in Leeds network have been quietly supporting each other, sharing best practice, knowledge and information. This autumn is its first public festival. Everyone is warmly invited to learn, be inspired, get creative and have their say about the future of the public libraries in their own city.

With distinguished guests like Sue Williamson MBE, former director of libraries at Arts Council England, Emma Smith, who is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford, and Dr Nick Barratt, genealogist and consultant researcher to the popular BBC series “Who Do You Think You Are?”, the talks programme is entertaining, relevant and very informative.

Chief Knowledge Officer for NHS Knowledge and Library Services and Chair of the CILIP Board of Trustees Sue Lacey Bryant will be there, discussing how to access reliable health information and highlighting the dangers of health misinformation. 

Also, taking place on Wednesday 6th will be a talk on the University of Leeds designated Cookery Collection, supplemented by a Cheese and Drinks reception close to the current exhibition “Becoming the Brontes” which will also be open to visitors.

From Monday 4th to Friday 8th September various libraries are offering a number of Backstage Tours, where people will be able to get a sense of a librarian’s working life at some of the city’s libraries and archives. And the launch of an exciting, unique exhibition will enable some of the city’s treasures to be viewed side by side in digital collection for the first time.

Saturday 9th September will be the day for families with a range of drop-in activities at the Central Library including the special screening of “I Believe in Unicorns”, a stage performance by Danyah Miller of Michael Morpurgo’s much loved story that celebrates the power of books and the sanctuary of libraries. 

Meanwhile at the Creatorspace at the University of Leeds families will be able to sign up to a two-hour ‘Get Creative’ session and enjoy seeing their ideas become reality. The festival events are either free or listed on Eventbrite as ‘Pay What You Decide’ to encourage maximum accessibility for everyone.

Not only is the purpose of the festival to raise awareness about the rich collection of resources that are based in Leeds, but the hope is also that local people will understand that the libraries are theirs to enjoy visiting and using. The Libraries in Leeds network’s website usefully highlights each member’s opening hours, visiting policy, contact details, location and a brief description of their offers.

As diversity, equality and inclusion are key to the sector’s continued success, Leeds Beckett University will be hosting an event during #Libraries Week on Thursday 5th October called “What’s it like to work in an academic library?” where a panel of employees from three of the city’s universities will be talking about their different roles and answering questions about their work.

“University of Leeds Libraries are proud to be part of and sponsor the inaugural Libraries in Leeds Festival. The festival celebrates the thriving libraries sector in the wonderful city of Leeds, highlighting the importance of libraries as critical social, knowledge, innovation, and cultural infrastructures. I look forward to our communities making the most of this festival and enjoying the wonderful collections and experiences that our sector offers,” said Masud Khokhar, University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection, University of Leeds.

And Andrea Ellison, who is Chief Librarian of Leeds Libraries said "Libraries are pleased to have been one of the founding members of the Libraries in Leeds network. We value the opportunity that this vibrant and innovative network brings for our staff teams to meet and collaborate but also the opportunity through this festival to promote to residents and other stakeholders the rich diversity of the city’s library network.”

Sally Halper, Director of Research Services at the British Library said: “We're thrilled to be involved in the Libraries in Leeds Festival as we work towards deepening the British Library’s roots in Yorkshire and establishing a permanent new site in Leeds city centre. Libraries have a powerful unifying influence and we want to ensure as many people as possible, wherever they are, can discover and use the national collection and our services as part of the wider network of libraries and archives that make Leeds such a vibrant city.”

You can follow the latest developments on social media:

@Libs_in_Leeds

#lovelibraries

http://www.librariesinleeds.org

(Image courtesy of Lauren)