Features

King George III is well known to history – remembered as the monarch who lost the American colonies, the father of a large family, and a man who struggled with mental illness later in life. His early years are often recalled for his devoted family life, especially his enduring marriage to Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, which lasted 57 years until her death in 1818 and produced 15…

He was the monarch who had to fight for a throne but then relied on a mistress for advice with a queen who arrived at court to find another holding power. And in the middle of their marriage was a woman with ambition, brains and no sense of self control. Our special read brings to life a mesmerising moment in royal history. Charles II, the Merry Monarch, had several different mistresses.

It’s puzzled historians for centuries but now one of the pressing questions hanging over one of the most famous royal artefacts in the world has an answer. And it sheds a new light on the reign of the king it celebrates, William the Conqueror. The conquest that gave him a throne and a place in royal legend was commemorated in the Bayeux Tapestry. It tells the story of his decision to invade…