Lady Kate Sommerset

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Lady Kate Sommerset
aka The Pirate Queen
Kate Sommerset in My Darling Pirate.jpg
First appearance: "Convent Island"
Created by: David Bishop and
César Spadari


Lady Kate Sommerset was also known as The Pirate Queen.

Fictional Character Biography

Kate was born in 1848 and was the third child of vicar Reginald Sommerset. In 1856 her family sailed to Bengali when her father took service at a missionary station. At the end of the journey, the ship was attacked by Singh Pirates. Her father was killed, and Kate was kidnapped by Scimitar Singh despite an appearance by the 16th Phantom. Kate served as a slave on board Scimitar's ship for four years. When the 16th Phantom attacked the ship, she saw her chance and stabbed Scimitar with a krucifix he had stolen from her father. She was returned to her family, but the years at sea had changed her and after a few years soon ran away when her mother threatened to send her to a boarding school in England. Kate dressed as a boy, used the name "Kay" and took service as a sailor with the pirate Captain Maddox on his ship The Crimson Corsair. After two years it was discovered that she was a woman, but she remained as a respected member and first mate of the Corsair. In 1869, the Corsair attacked a ship that turned out to belong to Scimitar Singh, the pirate that Kate presumed that she had killed. The 16th Phantom also took part in the battle, which ended with Maddox killed, Kate killing Scimitar and then assuming command of the Corsair. She was condemned by the 16th Phantom for becoming a pirate herself, but she spared his life and threw him overboard. The Pirate Queen

As captain of The Crimson Corsair, Kate became notorious and wanted by both authorities and the Singh Pirates. Over time, Kate recruited many female crew members. When she learned that both her brothers had died of scarlet fever, she returned to her family home to reunite with her mother. However, her mother was also dying and condemned her daughter for becoming a pirate. During an attack on a ship; the 17th Phantom appeared; having recently succeeded his father. Initially surprised, Kate realised that it was not the same masked man she had met before. She and the 17th Phantom fought a duel, but due to a mutiny her ship was taken over by Singh pirates. Kate and the 17th Phantom were thrown overboard. They helped each other to survive at sea, and eventually became lovers. After seven days on a makeshift raft, they were found by a ship. Kate wanted the 17th Phantom to join her and rule the seas together, but he felt compelled by the Oath of the Skull to not marry the pirate Kate, and left her. She turned herself in to the authorities and was sentenced to death. She attempted to escape the execution by falsely claiming to be pregnant, but was surprised that she actually was pregnant after her affair with the 17th Phantom at sea. She managed to escape and reunite with the women of her pirate crew, and was contacted by the 17th Phantom who had reconsidered, and wanted to marry Kate but only if she gave up her life of piracy. To settle the matter, they fought a duel but was interrupted by a Singh pirate ship. A battle followed, that ended when Kate killed the pirate captain. The 17th Phantom left her after that, realising that he could never marry a killer. Kate never told him that she was pregnant. My Darling Pirate

Kate sailed The Crimson Corsair to the Caribbean, where she gave birth to her son Christopher Sommerset in the spring of 1870. She decided to abandon piracy, and her crew remained loyal to her when they switched to transportation of goods and passengers instead. Nine years after her mother's death, she received notification that noone had claimed the inheritance. She decided to return to Bengali, but while traveling with Chris by land from Spyglass to Morristown they were attacked by bandits. They were saved by the 17th Phantom, who by then had a wife and a son. In Morristown, they learned that in order to make Chris heir, he would have to be sent to boarding school in England until he was 21. Despite objections from Chris, Kate decided it was best to send him to England. Son of the Pirate Queen

Kate remained captain of the Corsair while Chris was in England. In 1882, Kate travelled to England to see Chris, but he refused to see her. After returning to the Caribbean, she gave Anna a ship to captain, the Scarlet Shadow. That ship was later reported missing outside Haiti. Kate travelled there with her crew to investigate, and was then reunited with her love, the 17th Phantom. He was in Haiti in pursuit of Damballa, who previously had assisted Toussaint in a reign of terror in Bengali. The Death Peddlers They discovered that Damballa was leading a Voodoo cult and was responsible for the disappearance of the Scarlet Shadow. Kate and the Phantom defeated Damballa and freed Anna and her Crew. After that, the Phantom returned to his family in Africa, and Kate never mentioned Chris to him. Destination Haiti

In 1889, the Governor of Bengali declared amnesty for all pirates, and Kate and her crew decided to return home despite still being wanted by the Singh pirates. The Corsair barely made it to Bengali after an encounter with the Singh, during which Kate saw a familiar looking Singh pirate who she later learned was her own son, Chris. She decided to ask the 17th Phantom for help, and also told him that Chris was his son. Son of the Pirate Queen

Chris was serving under the pirate captain Cyclops, who lost an eye in battle with the 17th Phantom. Kate recruited her crew to assist in the rescue of Chris. Kate and the Phantom snuck on board the pirate ship, where Kate found Chris and tried to convince him to leave the pirates. She also revealed that his father was not dead as she had said earlier, but in fact was the Phantom. The Phantom and -Kate were discovered by Cyclops, who also learned that one of his crewmen was Kate's son. During battle, the Phantom was killed when he took a bullet fired by Cyclops that was aimed for Kate or Chris. Thanks to Kate's crew, they were able to escape the pirates with the body of the 17th Phantom. Death of a Phantom

Kate and Chris brought the body of the 17th Phantom to the Skull Cave, where they met his son and his twin sister Julie. His son swore the Oath of the Skull and became the 18th Phantom. The 17th Phantom had left behind a letter to his son, explaining his relationship with Kate that resulted in the birth of Chris. Meanwhile, the Singh pirates had developed a new warship; The Dreadnought, which was almost ready to set sail. With this ship, the Singh would dominate the waters around Bengali. Chris changed his appearance and took service as a Singh pirate again, while Kate offered herself to Cyclops and explained that the Phantom was still alive, but that he had betrayed her and they were no longer partners. Chris was however discovered, and whipped so badly he lost the use of his legs. Then, the 18th Phantom attacked the ship and in the chaos, Kate killed Cyclops. While still acting in front of the other pirates as if she was on their side, she offered to fight the 18th Phantom. But the pirate ship's first mate Blackheart was offended by the idea of a woman representing the Singh, and attacked her so she was badly cut in the face and fell overboard. By then, The Dreadnought was so damaged that it sank. Kate was washed up ashore and found by the nuns of Convent Island and nursed to health. Chris was taken to England for treatment of his injuries. Of the Same Blood

Kate remained with the nuns, and by 1907 she was abbess of Convent Island. That year, the 18th Phantom was found injured at the beach and was cared for by the nuns. But he had amnesia, and had no memory of how he got there or who he was. As he pieced his past together, he suspected that Kate was hiding something. As he slowly regained his memory, he discovered that the Singh pirate Blackheart was meeting the abbess in secrecy. Blackheart was raiding ships that ran aground on Convent Island, and Kate was helping him so he would not reveal her position for other Singh pirates who wanted to see her dead, and also to protect the other nuns of the convent. The 18th Phantom had been after Blackheart, when he was defeated in battle and thrown into the sea and later ended up on the island. The 18th Phantom battled Blackheart, when Kate killed Blackheart with the same dagger he had scarred her with years ago. The 18th Phantom left Kate to think about the fact that by not trying to stop Blackheart's raids, many innocent people were killed. Convent Island

After these events, Kate began to write a chronicle of her life. This chronicle was later kept in the Skull Cave. Of the Same Blood

Appearances

This list of appearances is considered to be complete, with reservations for the possibility of mistakes.

Team Fantomen stories

Title Writer Artist Set in Comments
"The Pirate Queen" Bishop Spadari 1856, 1860, and ca 1866
"My Darling Pirate" Bishop Spadari 1869
"Destination Haiti" Bishop Spadari 1878, 1882
"Son of the Pirate Queen" Bishop Spadari 1889
"Death of a Phantom" Bishop Spadari 1889
"Of the Same Blood" Bishop Spadari 1889
"Sins of the Past, Part 1" Bishop Spadari 1892
"Sins of the Past, Part 2" Bishop Spadari 1892
"The New Abbess" Bishop Spadari 1894
"Convent Island" Bishop Spadari 1907 first appearance
"Death of a Pirate Queen" Bishop Spadari 1907