Boudicca was the wife of Prasutagus, the ruler of the Iceni tribe. They were based in the region of Britain now called East Anglia. When the Romans settled in the south of England in 43 AD, they made an agreement with Prasutagus that he would be allowed to continue as ruler of the Iceni.

However, when Prasutagus died, the Roman attitude to the Iceni people changed. The Romans took property belonging to the most importnat Iceni tribesmen and they had Boudicca whipped. In about 60 AD, Gaius Suetonius Paullinus, the Roman governor, was called upon to lead an a Roman army in North Wales. While he was away, the Iceni tribe, led by Boudicca, rebelled against their Roman rulers. Several other tribes – such as the Trinovantes – joined the fight.

However, she became famous again in Victorian times, as Queen Victoria was keen to be associated with such a stubborn and brave warrior. Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Victorian poet, wrote a poem called Boadicea, and Prince Albert commissioned Thomas Thornycroft to create a statue of Boudicca and her daughters riding a war chariot. The sculpture was finished in 1905 and it is situated close to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge.