Article reproduced by kind permission of “The Burton Mail”

“The Curator of Tutbury Castle has been awarded an honorary degree for her hard work in promoting the historic site.

Lesley Smith has presided over a 12-fold increase in visitor numbers at the castle since her arrival in 2000 and has become famous for dressing as Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots during events at the Castle and elsewhere.

To reward her achievement, the University of Derby has awarded Mrs. Smith an honorary master’s degree.

Today, she told “The Mail” of her delight in getting the award. She said: “It’s a very great honour to me. This Castle was a very difficult project to take on.

“I am absolutely delighted with this award. The work I have done has been very much part of a team of people supporting me in the area.”

Simon Redfern, from the University of Derby, said: “Honorary degrees and other academic awards are given annually to people who personally and professionally inspire others.”

Aside from her work promoting the Castle, where visitor numbers have soared from 8,000 a year to 100,000 a year since her arrival, Mrs Smith has studied towards academic qualifications on the Elizabethan period and appeared on television. Her 28 television appearances have included stints on LivingTv’s “Most Haunted” and Channel 4’s “The Worst Jobs in History.”

She is also undertaking a masters degree at the University of Birmingham, focussing on her special subject of the private lives of women in the 1580s.

She has uncovered previously forgotten and colourful 16 th century methods of contraception and has lectured on her subject at the university’s Medical School.

At the Castle, she has helped to unearth a history dating back to the 11 th century, especially focusing on the time the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned there in the 16 th century.