In a week when we got our first news of royal history to come (yes, I’m talking baby Sussex here) there were also plenty of tidbits from times gone to whet the appetite of even the hungriest fan of the royal past. From once in a lifetime exhibitions to the promise of majestic and princely tales as we’ve never seen them before, here’s a round up of the highlights of the past week in royal history.
A Part of Tudor History is Refound
It was where Elizabeth I held one almighty party to celebrate the defeat of the Spanish Armada and now experts think they’ve discovered traces of the exact site of this right royal knees up.
Archaeologists and history lovers, who spent last weekend digging at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, have found the traces of a Tudor garden which contains masonry as well as pottery and animal bones. And they think all the evidence points to this being the spot where the Virgin Queen spent a rollicking time in 1592, kicking up her heels to mark the anniversary of her famous victory.
Elizabeth’s celebrations at Sudeley, once home to her beloved stepmother Katherine Parr, are notorious. They went on for three days and cost the castle’s owner, Lord Chandos, a small fortune.
The Royal Highlights of a Stand Out Exhibition
Some of the treasures on display at Sudeley were bought in the famous auction at Strawberry Hill in 1842 when the collection of paintings, antiques and artefacts amassed by former Prime Minister, Horace Walpole, were sold off.
Now, over 200 of his treasures have been brought back together at the Gothic home he had built for himself in Twickenham for a special exhibition. Among the delights on display is a clock that Henry VIII gave to Anne Boleyn and a hat that Walpole swore had once belonged to Henry’s former favourite, Cardinal Wolsey.
The exhibition opens on October 20th 2018 and runs until February 24th 2019.
Royal Wedding Rewind
Everyone’s favourite historian, Lucy Worsley, gets royal wedding fever in a new programme for BBC Two where she restages the historic marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
We all know that Lucy does like a bit of period dressing and this will be the ultimate example of her bringing the regal past to life with a little light role play. She’ll be taking a close up look at the dress, cake, flowers, music and gossip of the day as well as using Victoria’s own diaries to bring her love story with Albert alive. The exact air date is still under wraps but keep an eye on Royal Central, we’ll make sure to let you know when this one hits the telly box.
Royal History Gets a Wake-Up Call
We also got news of a very different take on royal history this week with another BBC announcement. Danny Dyer, Eastenders star and all-round geezer, will be presenting a two-part series on just what our kings and queens once got up to.
Danny discovered he is a direct descendant of Plantagenet powerhouse, Edward III, in a 2016 episode of Who Do You Think You Are meaning he is actually related to every monarch to have ruled England since 1066, with William the Conqueror one of his thirty times great grandfathers. In the new show, which is yet to get a transmission date, the actor will find out how his regal forebears lived as he retraces their footsteps.
Given that his episode of Who Do You Think You Are was one of the most joyous TV experiences in years, it might just be the best fun we’ve had with long gone royals in ages.
