History CallingWHICH TUDOR CONSORT was the best and which Tudor consort was the worst? There are eight to choose from; Elizabeth of York, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr and Philip of Spain. Of these, six were the wives of Henry VIII and one was his mother. Philip of Spain was Henry VIII’s only son-in-law, having married his daughter, Mary I. In this Tudor history documentary from History Calling I give you my personal ranking of the Tudor consorts from worst to best and the reasons why I have placed them there. I’ll think about what was expected of a Tudor Queen, from producing a male heir to the throne, to engaging in charitable works, providing foreign alliances (or helping to stop the Wars of the Roses in the case of the former White Princess), looking beautiful, running the court and of course making her husband happy. I’ll also look at what was expected of Philip of Spain when he married Mary I and how far he fulfilled those expectations.
Topics discussed will include the execution of Anne Boleyn, the execution of Katherine Howard, the annulment of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII’s marriage and the popularity of the Tudor queens and Philip with the wider populace. The video is not a Tudor popularity contest however. The rankings do not reflect my opinions of how likeable each Tudor Queen was, or King Philip.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Amy Licence, Elizabeth of York: forgotten Tudor Queen (Amberley, 2013). amzn.to/4bzoQjk Chris Skidmore, Bosworth: the birth of the Tudors (London, reprint, 2014). amzn.to/3sfYcF7 Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010) amzn.to/3UfGmmx Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Gareth Russell, Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII (2017). amzn.to/2VExTgg (US link) Josephine Wilkinson, Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen (London, 2016 amzn.to/3rbFuPj Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
RANKING THE TUDOR CONSORTS | Which Tudor consort was best? Six wives of Henry VIII @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-10-07 | WHICH TUDOR CONSORT was the best and which Tudor consort was the worst? There are eight to choose from; Elizabeth of York, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr and Philip of Spain. Of these, six were the wives of Henry VIII and one was his mother. Philip of Spain was Henry VIII’s only son-in-law, having married his daughter, Mary I. In this Tudor history documentary from History Calling I give you my personal ranking of the Tudor consorts from worst to best and the reasons why I have placed them there. I’ll think about what was expected of a Tudor Queen, from producing a male heir to the throne, to engaging in charitable works, providing foreign alliances (or helping to stop the Wars of the Roses in the case of the former White Princess), looking beautiful, running the court and of course making her husband happy. I’ll also look at what was expected of Philip of Spain when he married Mary I and how far he fulfilled those expectations.
Topics discussed will include the execution of Anne Boleyn, the execution of Katherine Howard, the annulment of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII’s marriage and the popularity of the Tudor queens and Philip with the wider populace. The video is not a Tudor popularity contest however. The rankings do not reflect my opinions of how likeable each Tudor Queen was, or King Philip.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Amy Licence, Elizabeth of York: forgotten Tudor Queen (Amberley, 2013). amzn.to/4bzoQjk Chris Skidmore, Bosworth: the birth of the Tudors (London, reprint, 2014). amzn.to/3sfYcF7 Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010) amzn.to/3UfGmmx Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Gareth Russell, Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII (2017). amzn.to/2VExTgg (US link) Josephine Wilkinson, Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen (London, 2016 amzn.to/3rbFuPj Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#SixWivesOfHenryVIII #TudorQueens #TudorConsortsALL THE BRITISH MONARCHS 1603-NOW | History of the British monarchy | Royal history documentaryHistory Calling2025-02-24 | This is the ULTIMATE LIST of all the British monarchs from 1603 to the present day, starting with James I of England whose accession saw the Scottish and English crowns finally combine to form a single, British monarchy. This is the story of the House of Stuart (including the Jacobites), the House of Hanover, the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the House of Windsor. I’ll be telling you which King was executed, which Kings were exiled, which King met Pocahontas and who oversaw the invention of the Union Jack flag. You’ll also learn about the only case of joint monarchy in British history, which monarchs hated their sons (and fathers), mad King George, who the first King of the United Kingdom was, the Prince Regent who became a King, why Queen Victoria wasn’t Electress of Hanover, which King abdicated and why, which 20th century King was murdered, who the longest reigning King in British history and the longest reigning Queen in British history were, plus which of them was also the longest reigning monarch in British history.
Please enjoy this documentary from History Calling on the history of the British monarchy and remember to check out last week’s video on the history of the English monarchy from 1066 to 1603.
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#Englishmonarchs #BritishMonarchs #britishmonarchyALL THE ENGLISH MONARCHS FROM 1066 TO 1603. Timeline of English monarchs. English & British monarchsHistory Calling2025-02-17 | This list of all the English monarchs from 1066 to 1603 will take you from WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR to ELIZABETH I. I’ll tell you when every English monarch was born (assuming we know), when every English monarch reigned and when every English monarch died, as well as some fascinating factoids about each one. This is the story of 550 years of royal history in the British Isles and is a brief summary of the entire history of the English monarchy from the time of the Norman invasion and the fall of the Anglo-Saxons to the end of the Tudor era and the point when the English and Scottish crowns joined to become Britain. I’ll reveal which Kings were murdered, who the first Queen regnant was (spoiler alert, that question is disputed), which Kings ruled twice, which Kings were deposed and which King was forced to abdicate. I will not be looking at the Kings and only Queen of Scotland nor will this cover the Kings of Ireland and the Welsh Princes of Wales. You will hear about Richard the Lionheart, bad King John, the Princes in the Tower and the murderous Henry VIII. This is the story of the House of Normandy, the House of Plantagenet and the House of Tudor.
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#Englishmonarchs #britishmonarchs #britishmonarchyWAS CHILDBIRTH REALLY THAT DANGEROUS? History of childbirth | Maternal mortality | Medical HistoryHistory Calling2025-02-10 | WAS DEATH IN CHILDBIRTH ACTUALLY COMMON for aristocratic women in England in the past? Some very famous women in English history have died as the result of pregnancy or childbirth, including Queen Elizabeth of York, Queen Jane Seymour, Queen Catherine Parr, Princess Charlotte of Wales and the author, Charlotte Bronte, but equally many women had huge numbers of children and lived to tell the tale, even if not all of their children did. See for example Queen Anne, Queen Caroline of Ansbach, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Queen Victoria. So what’s the deal here? Was childbirth really that dangerous, or have its risks been blown out of proportion by those who only focus on the stories that had tragic endings? In this medical history documentary from History Calling, we look at the history of childbirth including statistics for maternal mortality in the early modern period. I’ll also compare them to modern statistics covering England to try to get to the truth. We’ll discuss the question of why women died in childbirth or shortly afterwards and whether being rich actually put a woman at greater risk because she was more likely to face the intervention of early-modern doctors. Along the way I’ll tell you some of the stories of women who tragically passed away during or shortly after labour and others of women who survived many childbirths.
Judith Lewis, ‘“Tis a Misfortune to Be a Great Ladie”: Maternal Mortality in the British Aristocracy, 1558-1959’ in Journal of British Studies 37 (1998), pp 26-53.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#HistoryOfChildbirth #MaternalMortality #DeathInChildbirth #ChildbirthInHistoryThe BIZARRE story of OLIVER CROMWELL’S HEAD | Where is Oliver Cromwell buried? @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2025-02-03 | WHAT HAPPENED to Oliver Cromwell’s head? It’s a completely bizarre, not to mention gruesome tale spanning three hundred years and today on History Calling, I’m going to tell you all about it.
Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 and after being embalmed he was quickly buried in Westminster Abbey in the Chapel of Henry VII (something which had to be done before his elaborate funeral because his body had decayed so badly). Less than two and a half years later, he was disinterred on the orders of the newly restored Charles II, hung in chains, decapitated and his head set on a spike above Westminster Hall alongside those of his son-in0law, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw. This was done in retribution for their part in the execution of Charles I in 1649. Cromwell therefore holds the dubious honour of having been buried first, then executed. The head remained on its spike until it was apparently blown down in a storm during the reign of James II (though the dates for its removal from the Hall vary). It then disappeared. It showed up again as a curiosity in the 1700s and was displayed many times over the next two centuries, being repeatedly drawn, painted and eventually photographed, though no one could be sure if this really was the head of Oliver Cromwell and no one really knows what happened to Oliver Cromwell’s body.
In this Oliver Cromwell documentary, I’ll tell you why I believe the head in circulation in the 20th century really was and is his and show you some pictures of the head of Oliver Cromwell. It’s no longer on view though, leading to the question where is Oliver Cromwell’s head now? The answer? It’s buried in a secret location which I’ll tell you everything we know about it in this video.
Antonia Fraser, Cromwell: Our Chief of Men (1973) amzn.to/3ZchPPQ
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#OliverCromwell #OliverCromwellsHeadThe DISGUSTING treatment of the body of KATHERINE OF VALOIS | the unburied Queen @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2025-01-27 | BURIED, DISINTERRED, ABUSED and used as a dark tourism attraction for nearly 300 years, this is the disturbing story of the appalling treatment of the body of Katherine of Valois, Queen of England, wife of Henry V, mother of Henry VI and grandmother of Henry VII through her scandalous second marriage to Owen Tudor.
The death of Katherine of Valois, Princess of France and one-time Queen of England occurred on 3 January 1437 at Bermondsey Abbey and she was respectfully buried in Westminster Abbey. She is still there in fact (or at least some of her is) but today, she does not have one of the most famous graves in Westminster Abbey. Yet for centuries this body of a Queen was one of its greatest attractions and the afterlife of Katherine of Valois was like something out of a nightmare.
In 1503, during the reign of her grandson, Henry Tudor (Henry VII) she was disinterred so that he could build his famous chapel in the Abbey. The original coffin was disintegrating and so Katherine’s well-preserved body was placed in a new one which was not sealed and was laid next to the tomb of Henry V, elsewhere in the building. There the unburied Queen would remain until the 1770s. During that time her corpse was viewed as a macabre tourist attraction and repeatedly abused, broken up and mutilated by countless visitors. Many parts of the body were likely even stolen. One of the most disgusting stories comes from the diary of Samuel Pepys, who visited the Abbey on his birthday in 1669 and took great delight in kissing the desiccated remains.
In this English royal history documentary from History Calling I take you through the story of what happened to the corpse of Katherine of Valois, from the time of her death until her eventual interment during the Victorian period. A Queen who was buried three times, I’ll explain how this happened and provide detailed, contemporary accounts of how she was mishandled during the time she was on display and descriptions of the condition of her remains over the centuries, including in 1878 when she was reinterred for (presumably) the last time.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Thumbnail: photos of tomb and effigy: Westminster Abbey
#KatherineOfValois #CatherineOfValois #KathrynOfValoisWACKY PORTRAIT OF EDWARD VI. Crazy Tudor portrait. Optical illusion in famous painting of Tudor KingHistory Calling2025-01-20 | This INSANE looking portrait of Edward VI was most likely painted by William Scrots in 154? when the future King of England and only surviving son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour was still the Prince of Wales. It contains an anamorphic optical illusion which makes it appear distended and bizarre looking from the front, but when viewed from just the right angle to the right of the image, it resolves into a normal looking bust portrait of the once and future King.
In today’s Tudor history documentary from History Calling, I take you through the incredible feat of artistry that is this painting, explaining how and why it was created, how we know that Scrots painted it, what the text around the edge says and how we know that the background isn’t original. I’ll also tell you about its journey from the ownership of the last Tudor King, Edward VI, to the present day, including accounts of those who saw it in Whitehall Palace during the Tudor era and how it was sold off by the Parliamentarians after the English Civil War, but managed to survive the ravages of time. I’ll tell you a little more about Anamorphosis too, including the reference to it in William Shakespeare’s play, Richard III.
This video about a famous Tudor painting is especially appropriate for anyone with an interest in art history, the history of the Tudor family or in understanding how optical illusions work. It will also include some details about the life of Edward VI.
LEARN MORE: 60 second video from National Portrait Gallery showing how the portrait was created youtube.com/watch?v=MyWoY4-NVZM Tarnya Cooper, Searching for Shakespeare (2006) amzn.to/3QOBq5F Roy Strong, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits (1969) amzn.to/4dj6Pql Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#EdwardVI #TudorHistory #TudorartALL THE PRINCESSES ROYAL | What is a Princess Royal? Who will be the next Princess Royal?History Calling2025-01-13 | WHAT IS A PRINCESS ROYAL and why have there been so few of them? That’s the basis of this documentary from History Calling in which I’ll take you through the origins of the title and why it has only been bestowed upon seven women in history. I’ll also explain why Princess Charlotte is not the Princess Royal at the moment and why she might never be and tell you why the title is similar to the title Prince of Wales and to the extinct French title, Madame Royale.
As part of this video we will look at the lives of all the Princesses Royal, specifically Princess Mary, daughter of Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria of France; Princess Anne, daughter of George II and Queen Caroline of Ansbach; Princess Charlotte, daughter of George III and Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Princess Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; Princess Louise, daughter of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and Princess Anne, daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. I’ll also cover the Jacobite Princess Royal, Princess Louise, daughter of James II and Mary of Modena (who actually shouldn’t have been Princess Royal at all) and her older sisters Mary II and Queen Anne, who were entitled to be Princesses Royal, but never were, as was Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. We’ll look too at the Kings and Queens who never had a daughter who could become Princess Royal and at the delays in bestowing the title upon some princesses and why some of these delays lasted decades. Please enjoy this video on the history of royal women who have held this distinguished title.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#PrincessRoyal #HistoryCalling #RoyalWomenDON CARLOS OF SPAIN, Prince of Asturias | Why inbreeding is bad. Mary I’s stepson. Spanish HabsburgsHistory Calling2025-01-06 | WHAT HAPPENS when the heir to the Spanish throne is badly inbred and crazy and even physically deformed? That was the situation faced by Philip II of Spain with regards to his eldest son, Don Carlos of Spain, Prince of Asturias. Carlos was the child of Philip’s first wife, Maria Manuela of Portugal and he was a product of Spanish Habsburg family’s royal inbreeding policy, for his parents were double first cousins, making their marriage the equivalent of a marriage between half siblings. He was born in 1545 but as he grew up, he displayed signs of mental instability, cruelty and physical deformities, including unequal leg lengths. He was also emotionally neglected. His teenaged mother died days after his birth and his father was often absent, not least when he was married to Mary I of England and was away, staying in that country. A serious fall and head injury in 1562 led to a coma and almost killed him. When he recovered his behaviour was even worse to the point that he threatened his own father. In the end Philip had to take the dramatic step of having his son locked up in solitary confinement, essentially depriving himself of a male heir to his throne. Carlos starved himself and died just six months later at the age of 23. In this week’s royal history documentary from History Calling I take you through the life of Mary I’s crazy stepson, giving details of Carlos’s erratic behaviour and discussing the effects of inbreeding on the Habsburg royal family and basically, why inbreeding is bad!
Henry Kamen, Philip of Spain (1998). Available at amzn.to/3X13vZE
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#DonCarlos #RoyalInbreeding #Habsburgs #HistoryCallingDISCOVER YOUR IRISH ANCESTRY | Find your Irish ancestors online @HistoryCalling #shortsHistory Calling2025-01-02 | Do you have IRISH ANCESTRY that you’d like to learn more about, but without having to leave your home, let alone set foot in an archive? If so, I have good news. You can now buy my book, Find Your Irish Ancestors Online in both e-book and paperback format from Amazon. Details are in the description box. The book is a directory of websites divided up into 17 chapters which cover key genealogical topics including births, marriages and deaths; headstone and burial records; wills; census returns; military documents and emigration records. It is suitable for those new to genealogy and for veterans and sites for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are included. The book provides short reviews of each, discussing their costs and their pros and cons, plus tips and tricks for navigating and getting the best out of them and guidance as to which ones to use to either avoid payments, or keep your expenses down. If you buy the e-book you can click the links and go straight to the websites. If you buy the paperback, you can type the website addresses into your chosen device and access them that way.
I’ve also created a free download for you on how to interview your family members about your genealogy which you can access by signing up to the mailing list on my website, www.historycallingofficial.com. Again, there are more details below and you can of course unsubscribe at any time.
I hope the book helps you to trace your Irish family tree and if you do make a purchase, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Thank you and good luck in your genealogy journey.
To BUY THE BOOK, ‘Find Your Irish Ancestors Online’ by R.L. Weston, copy and paste amzn.to/3Z2ChnG into your browser, or go to your country’s Amazon page and type in the title.
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#IrishAncestry #genealogy #familytree #FindYourAncestors #IrishGenealogyThe CRAZY STORY of the JACOBITES | Who were the Jacobites? | Old Pretender | Bonnie Prince CharlieHistory Calling2024-12-30 | WHO WERE THE JACOBITES and how did they lose the throne, then try to regain it? This is the crazy story of Britain’s other royal family; the male-line descendants of James II of England/James VII of Scotland, known to history as Jacobites.
In this Stuart royal history documentary from History Calling, I’ll take you through the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when King James was deposed in favour of his daughter and son-in-law/nephew, Mary II and William III then explain what happened to James II and his wife, Mary of Modena, plus their infant son, Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales. We’ll look at why and how the Hanoverians got the throne after the death of Queen Anne in 1714 (get ready to learn about the Act of Settlement of 1701) and the 1715 uprising, when Prince James (by then recognised as James III by Catholic Europe and known to history as the Old Pretender and the King across the water) tried to retake the throne. I’ll also dicuss his later marriage to Maria Clementina Sobieska and the lives of their sons, Prince Charles Edward Stuart (known to history as the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie and even King Charles III) and Prince Henry Benedict Stuart, who became a Catholic cardinal and is informally known as King Henry IX by some. We’ll then examine the 1745 Rebellion and the Battle of Culloden in 1746 (made even more famous by Outlander), before finishing with the story of Charles’s illegitimate daughter, the last Stuart, Charlotte Stuart, Duchess of Albany. I’ll explain too why this branch of the Stuart family were called the Jacobites. I hope you enjoy hearing about this epic royal family drama.
Desmond Seward, The King Over the Water: A Complete History of the Jacobites (2019), available at amzn.to/3U23nbF
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#Jacobites #OldPretender #YoungPretender #BonniePrinceCharlie #KingAcrossTheWater #BattleOfCullodenTrailer for History Calling | @HistoryCalling | History documentary channelHistory Calling2024-12-23 | Why should you watch History Calling? It’s all answered within this short trailer for the channel. Enjoy!
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Music: Video Game Blockbuster by Raphael Crux. Accessed on Canva. Free/commercial use allowed.
Additional video credits (all other photos & footage are my own or are cited within the video):
President Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy The Last Two Days, November 1963, 21-22, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, JFKWHF-WHN17, public domain
Wreck of the Titanic Video courtesy of the RMS Titanic Team Expedition 2004, ROI, IFE, NOAA-OE
First Lady Nancy Reagan and HRH The Princess of Wales, 9 Nov. 1985 Courtesy Ronald Regan Presidential Library, 55159923, no access or use restrictions.
Reading old document with magnifying glass: Pexels
#HistoryCalling #ChannelTrailer #Education #HistoryThe life of HANS HOLBEIN the younger | The Tudor court painter. Famous Tudor artist. @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-12-16 | He was the MOST FAMOUS TUDOR court painter of the entire era, whose pictures of everyone from Henry VIII to Jane Seymour to Anne of Cleves to Christina of Denmark are instantly recognisable the world over and even helped to shape history in some cases, but what do we know about the life of Hans Holbein the Younger?
In today’s art history documentary from History Calling I give you a full biography of Hans Holbein, from his youth in Augsburg with his father, Hans Holbein the Elder and brother Ambrosius, to how the Reformation affected his work, his marriage and children, his time in England (where he was introduced to Thomas More by way of Desiderius Erasmus), his famous royal patrons, and his eventual death in London and the scandalous details his last will and testament revealed. We’ll also look at some of his most famous works, including his drawings of Tudor courtiers, the Whitehall Mural and The Ambassadors and at how he created such lifelike images, with some behind the scenes peeks at Hans Holbein’s technique. You’ll hear too how the Haus of Holbein song has made an appearance in the musical Six and by the end of the video you’ll understand what made Hans Holbein such a good artist and why Hans Holbein is famous.
Heine, Florian, Holbein: Masters of Art (Prestel Verlag, Munich, New York, London, 2022). amzn.to/3Vxdd5Q Roy Strong, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits (1969) amzn.to/4dj6Pql Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#HansHolbein #HansHolbeinTheYounger #TudorPaintingsTHE EXECUTION OF THOMAS CROMWELL | The death of Thomas Cromwell | Tudor history documentaryHistory Calling2024-12-09 | Was the execution of THOMAS CROMWELL botched? In this Tudor history documentary from History Calling I’m going to tell you why. Why was Thomas Cromwell executed why some think he met a grisly end, even by Tudor standards and why this story may or may not be true.
We’ll start with the question who was Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, then move on to why Thomas Cromwell fell from favour. In particular we’ll look at why this son of a blacksmith and self-made man, who had climbed to the top of the Tudor political hierarchy, was unpopular with many of the nobles at Henry’s court and blamed for the King’s unpopular policies. We’ll also look at the real nail in his coffin, which his support of the marriage of Henry VIII to Anne of Cleves, which turned out to be a disaster. I’ll tell you about the arrest of Thomas Cromwell, the imprisonment of Thomas Cromwell in the Tower of London and read you part of the final letter he wrote to Henry VIII in which he famously begged for ‘mercy, mercy, mercy’, only to receive none. I’ll then describe the finals hours, last words and the death of Thomas Cromwell on 28 July 1540 on Tower Hill and finish by telling you what the sources say about the manner of his death and what was done with the remains of his head and the rest of his body.
This is the story of the gruesome end of one of Henry VIII’s most cunning servants who is often credited as the man who took down Anne Boleyn and who has been made even more well known by his portrayal in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall book series and the subsequent TV adaptations (most recently The Mirror and the Light) where he is played by Mark Rylance.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#ThomasCromwell #WolfHall #TheMirrorAndTheLightHISTORIAN REACTS TO NEW PRINCES IN THE TOWER EVIDENCE | Channel 5 documentary | @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-12-06 | Is NEW EVIDENCE connected to the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower in 1483 really the smoking gun that it has been called in a Channel 5 documentary co-presented by Tracy Borman? Does it suggest that Richard III killed his nephews (or had them killed) and that Thomas More’s account of what happened to Edward V and Richard, Duke of York (also known as Richard of Shrewsbury) is true; that they were killed by a John Dighton and Miles Forest on the orders of Sir James Tyrell who was himself acting on the orders of King Richard, formerly the Duke of Gloucester?
In this episode of History Calling I review the documentary to see if its claims that Henry VII and Elizabeth of York went to the Tower of London to hear Tyrell’s confession in 1502 and that Thomas More knew Forest’s son hold up to scrutiny and if the discovery of the 1522 will of a Margaret Capel, sister-in-law of James Tyrell, in which a chain is mentioned that supposedly belonged to Edward V, are evidence that More was correct in his assertion that Tyrell arranged the murder. I’ll also consider the documentary’s discussion of bones found at the Tower of London in 1674 (which are believed by many to be the Princes and are now in an urn in Westminster Abbey) and whether a modern assessment of a description of them from the 1930s can shed any further light on their origins. It’s one of the biggest royal mysteries of all time, but are we finally one step close to solving the likely murder of the Princes in the Tower?
The White Queen (2013). [Depicts the story of the Wars of the Roses from Elizabeth Woodville’s point of view. Gets the broad strokes of history correct, but definitely not completely accurate amzn.to/2VcbQO5
The White Princess (2018). [Covers the marriage of Henry Tudor to Elizabeth of York. Again, gets the broad strokes of history correct, but definitely needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.] amzn.to/3C1NLdl
Britain’s Bloody Crown Presented by Dan Jones (2016) [Documentary covering the Wars of the Roses. Historically accurate] amzn.to/2TPep8i
The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. amzn.to/3C0loMF
READ
Susan James, Women's Voices in Tudor Wills, 1485–1603: Authority, Influence and Material Culture (Routledge, 2015). Available at amzn.to/3Zo5vMD
John Ashdown-Hill, The Mythology of the Princes in the Tower (Amberley, 2018). amzn.to/2XQn3Fr
[FREE] Tim Thornton, ‘Henry VII and the Tower of London: the context of the ‘confession’ of Sir James Tyrell in 1502’ in Historical Research, xcvii (2024), pp 218–25. Available at academic.oup.com/histres/article/97/276/218/7429360
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#PrincesInTheTower #EdwardV #RichardOfShrewsburyTHE ROYAL CHRISTMAS BROADCAST | The King’s Christmas speech | Monarch’s Christmas MessageHistory Calling2024-12-02 | The monarch’s CHRISTMAS MESSAGE is a uniquely Windsor family tradition and has been a staple of a British Christmas almost without pause since 1932. It is also broadcast in many other Commonwealth counties around the world and nowadays, on the internet. The first royal Christmas broadcast was delivered by George V and was in audio form only. It marked a first in the history of radio. In 1957, there was a first in the history of television too, when the Queen’s speech was televised by his granddaughter, Elizabeth II and transmitted live from her home at Sandringham on Christmas Day. Beginning in 1959 the messages were pre-recorded so that they could be aired at more convenient local times around the world and no doubt taking much of the stress out them for the monarch and TV crews (though George VI had also pre-recorded his of 1951 as a one-off). Starting in 2022 King Charles III has maintained the tradition with his own version of the King’s speech. The only monarch since his great-grandfather not to make a Christmas speech to the British people and the Commonwealth was Edward VIII, whose reign was less than a year long and terminated before he had been King over Christmas.
In today’s royal history documentary from History Calling, we look at the history of the royal Christmas message, including its beginnings, the years it has been missed, its content, its evolution over the decades and its current form. I’ll share some snippets of older broadcasts with you along with the technical challenges faced over the years in making the broadcasts happen and why they were originally scheduled for 3pm. I’ll even discuss the significance of the family photographs seen on the monarch’s desk during the message.
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#Christmasmessage #Christmasbroadcast #KingsSpeech #QueensSpeechPROS AND CONS OF DNA TESTING KITS | researching your family tree | tracing your ancestryHistory Calling2024-11-25 | What are the PROS AND CONS OF DNA testing kits bought from the likes of Ancestry and MyHeritage and are DNA tests accurate for ancestry, or is it not worth researching your family tree in this way? In this video from History Calling I consider the advantages and disadvantages of these kits and ask, are DNA tests worth it?
As well as looking at how reliable DNA results are from these kits, I’ll discuss how expensive DNA tests are, how quickly you get your DNA results, how safe DNA tests are and how easy DNA tests are to use. I’ll also think about what DNA tests tell you about your family history and what might happen to your genetic data once the company you’ve used has it. I’ll consider too the emotional ramifications of taking these tests, from finding long lost relatives and filling in gaps in a person’s family tree, such as an unknown parent or grandparent, to discovering family secrets such as affairs and adoption. There are even people whose DNA journey has led them to discover appalling crimes committed by family members and fertility clinics, while others have been able to use their results to claim citizenship of a country they didn’t previously know their family hailed from.
Hopefully this video will help you decide if you want to take a DNA test to reveal your family heritage, or if you’d rather discover your heritage the old-fashioned way, by using archives and headstones.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
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#DNAtesting #AncestryDNA #MyHeritage #DNAkitsREAL ROMAN GLADIATORS | Life in Ancient Rome | What were real gladiators like? @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-11-18 | What was the life of a REAL ROMAN GLADIATOR like? Who were the gladiators of ancient Rome and were there female gladiators as well as men? Those are just some of the questions I’ll be discussing this week’s ancient history documentary from History Calling, released to coincide with the new Ridley Scott movie starring Paul Mescal, Edro Pascal and Denzel Washington, titled Gladiator II, a sequel to the 2000 movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe.
We’ll be looking inside the Colosseum in Rome to understand better what a gladiator fight was like, how gladiators were trained and why gladiator fights were so popular in Rome and beyond for so long, despite their brutality. Some of these battles included pitting gladiators against wild animals or against each other and they could be incredibly elaborate, even involving mock sea battles. We’ll also look at the origins of the word gladiator, how many were slaves and prisoners of war versus volunteers, why someone would volunteer to become a gladiator, what kind of armour gladiators wore and why it was often designed to make them look like Rome’s enemies, the standing of gladiators within Roman society, how gladiator fights were linked to funeral customs, what Christians thought of gladiator fights and why gladiator fights were stopped after around 700 years. Also, did a thumbs down from the Emperor really mean death for a gladiator, or was it the other way around and what’s the story behind the real Spartacus, whose revolt against Rome was made famous by a Kirk Douglas movie?
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#Gladiator #Gladiators #GladiatorIIThe life of JANE SEYMOUR | Third wife of Henry VIII | Tudor Queen | Six wives documentary. Wolf HallHistory Calling2024-11-11 | The life of JANE SEYMOUR took her from relative obscurity at her family’s home at Wolf Hall, to lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, to the Queen of England as the third wife of Henry VIII, the mother of Edward VI and then a place as one of the most famous women in history. What do we know about the real Jane Seymour though?
In this six wives documentary from History Calling we look at this Tudor Queen who is remembered as the meek and mild one and as a rather plain, comparatively uneducated woman who displaced Anne Boleyn in Henry’s affections, gave him his longed for male heir, then died tragically from childbirth complications just twelve days later at Hampton Court Palace. She is also the only one of Henry VIII’s wives to be buried with him at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, cementing her reputation with some as the favourite wife of Henry VIII. She chose the phrase ‘bound to serve and obey’ as her motto, but was Jane really as simple or as nice as some historians and TV shows would have you believe, or was she a calculating, home wrecker Queen who helped to destroy Henry and Anne’s marriage and send Anne to the scaffold? What was she like as a Queen as well and how successful was her marriage to Henry VIII? I’ll answer these questions as well as looking at how Jane was remembered by Henry after death through her inclusion in the famous Whitehall Mural and The Family of Henry VIII portrait. I’ll also look at her Hans Holbein portrait to see what the real Jane Seymour looked like.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#JaneSeymour #QueenJaneSeymour #AnneBoleyn #HenryVIII #Henry8th #TudorHistory #royalhistoryTHE MURDERS THAT STARTED WW1 | Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. What caused world War 1?History Calling2024-11-04 | They were the MURDERS THAT CHANGED HISTORY. The double assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Countess Sophie Chotek, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 was the spark that caused World War 1 to break out just a month later.
In this World War 1 documentary from History Calling we look at that fateful day, over a century ago when the entire path of history was changed by the actions of a nineteen year old terrorist called Gavrilo Princip and his associates. While conflict may have begun at some point anyway, the death of Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic wife was the immediate cause of the Great War which would rage for four years and cost the lives of tens of millions of people.
This video will look at the forbidden romance between Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, at why she was not his Archduchess, at why they were in Sarajevo that day, at why Franz Ferdinand was murdered, at how Franz Ferdinand was murdered (including how he and Sophie survived one attempt on their lives earlier in the day, only to be shot later on) and at why the assassination of the heir to Austro-Hungarian throne had such wide-ranging consequences. You’ll see the car in which Franz Ferdinand was shot and hear what happened to the Gavrilo Princip and the other would-be assassins afterwards.
Greg King and Sue Woolmans, The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Murder that Changed the World (2013). Available at amzn.to/3TD1Bh0
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#FranzFerdinand #ArchdukeFranzFerdinand #CausesOfWorldWar1 #AssassinationofFranzFerdinandDOES KATHERINE HOWARD’S GHOST haunt Hampton Court Palace? Six wives documentary @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-10-28 | Is KATHERINE HOWARD HAUNTING Hampton Court Palace? According to this famous ghost story, the fifth wife of Henry VIII is occasionally seen running and screaming through the haunted gallery at Hampton Court Palace, wearing a white dress and re-enacting the scene of her arrest there in 1541 on charges of treason and adultery which ultimately led to her execution at the Tower of London in February 1542. As well as these reports, people have said they had strange feelings in the Gallery and have fainted there, while reports of other spooky sightings in the building have also been made, including infamous CCTV footage of what looked an awful lot like a ghost throwing open some fire doors back in 2003.
But is Hampton Court Palace haunted by this most tragic Tudor Queen and does the story of her running through its halls begging for mercy from Henry VIII even match up with historic accounts of her arrest? In this Halloween special video from History Calling, we look at the evidence for these spooky goings on and ask if there’s any substance to this story, or if it’s just a good yarn to get the tourists in and something that some people report seeing to get attention? I’ll discuss the earliest instance of this story that I can find in the written record, tell you the results of a scientific study made of this alleged haunting back in 2000 and include some other reasons why people might think they’ve met a ghost.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#KatherineHoward #CatherineHoward #HamptonCourtPalace #HauntedGalleryHOW DID CHARLES II ESCAPE CROMWELL’S FORCES? The tree that saved a King | History of the Royal OakHistory Calling2024-10-21 | How did an oak tree SAVE THE LIFE OF A KING? That’s just one of the questions I’ll be answering in today’s royal history documentary from History Calling as we look at the story of the Royal Oak and more generally, at how Charles II escaped Oliver Cromwell and his forces (known as the Roundheads or the Parliamentarians) in 1651 after the then exiled King made a failed attempt to take back his throne and ended up running through the English countryside as Cromwell’s troops hunted for him. It was a terrifying ordeal and though Charles would ultimately make it back to France in safety, it would be years before he was able to reclaim his birthright.
The story starts with the English Civil Wars, the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the seizure of England by Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians. With the old King dead, the throne passed to his eldest son, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, who technically became Charles II, thought at that point it was his title in name only, at least in England and Wales. Already in exile in the Netherlands at that time, though he was often also in France, the home of his mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, Charles would spend over a decade trying to get his inheritance back during a period called the Interregnum, because it was the time between the two Kings. After going to his northern kingdom to take advantage of support there he was ultimately crowned in Scotland on New Year’s Day 1651 and later that year, in September, he fought and lost the Battle of Worcester against the Roundheads and had to flee. It was after this that he found himself hiding up a tree (this is how the Royal Oak got its name) near the White Ladies Priory and Boscobel House. It was an incredibly close-run thing. As he would later tell famed diarist Samuel Pepys in 1680, twenty years after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, enemy soldiers passed directly underneath him as he hid. This is the tale of the great escape of the merry monarch and of how the House of Stuart managed to survive the interregnum. I’ll tell you about all the places Charles II hid, how the King was reduced to poverty, the stories of many of the people who helped him get away and why roundheads are called roundheads! I’ll also look at the history of Royal Oak Day, a national celebration of Charles’s miraculous getaway.
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#RoyalOak, #CharlesII #Interregnum #Boscobel #HistoryCallingREDISCOVERING OLD ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL. Lost buildings of London. Architectural history. Lost historyHistory Calling2024-10-14 | TRAGICALLY LOST during the Great Fire of London in 1666, the building known now as Old St Paul’s Cathedral was one of the most incredible and famous medieval churches in the world. In this architectural history documentary from History Calling I take you back in time and show what Old St Paul’s looked like, inside and out during the more than 300 years that it stood in England’s capital. I’ll tell you about its history, from the time it was founded, explaining why it took so long to build, some famous events that occurred in it (including the marriage of Prince Arthur Tudor and Catherine of Aragon), what happened to its spire during the reign of Elizabeth I and also who was buried in Old St Paul’s. I’ll also share the heartbreaking story of how this magnificent piece of church history was destroyed in 1666 when fire raged through the capital during the reign of Charles II and show you some of the few items saved from the ruins of this famous lost building of London and now kept in the ‘new’ St Paul’s Cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built in the late 17th century on the same spot as its predecessor. Sit back and enjoy the story of what happened to Old St Paul’s Cathedral and my recreation of a little piece of lost London.
Virtual St Paul’s Cathedral project https://vpcathedral.chass.ncsu.edu/
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#OldStPauls #StPaulsCathedral #LostLondon #HistoryCallingTHE LIFE OF LADY KATHERINE GREY | Henry VIII’s niece | Lady Jane Grey’s sister | @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-09-30 | The life of LADY KATHERINE GREY began with so much promise. The daughter of Lady Frances Brandon and Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, she was the younger sister of Lady Jane Grey, older sister of Lady Mary Grey, the granddaughter of Princess Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and as such, a niece of Henry VIII and in the line of succession to the English throne after the Act of Succession of 1544 and Henry’s subsequent will of December 1546. In short, she was one of the great ladies of the land. Whilst still a child though, it would all fall apart. Her parents’ botched attempt to put Jane on the throne in 1553 ended in disaster and the execution of Katherine’s father, sister and brother-in-law. Katherine inherited Jane Grey’s claim to the throne and would spend time at the court of Mary I, despite the fact that the Queen had had her older sister killed. When Elizabeth I became Queen, Katherine was the heiress presumptive to the throne, a maid of honour to the Queen and a potentially valuable royal bride. Again though, everything fell apart. In today’s episode from History Calling we look at this young woman’s tragic and short life and ask, could Lady Katherine Grey have become Queen?
Among other things I’ll talk about her betrothal or marriage at the age of about 13 to Henry Herbert, son of the Earl of Pembroke, which ended in annulment; her illegal and scandalous marriage to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, which led to them both being locked in the Tower of London where their two sons were born; what the annulment of their marriage in 1562 meant for Katherine; why Elizabeth hated Lady Katherine Grey so much, how Katherine Grey nearly became Queen herself when Elizabeth I caught smallpox and the final years of her life, which were spent in prison before she died in 1568, aged only 27, possibly due to ano**x*a. I’ll also explain how she and Hereford vindicated nearly 60 years after her death.
Leanda de Lisle, The sisters who would be Queen: the tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey (2010) amzn.to/3xNnX7O
Eric Ives, Lady Jane Grey: a Tudor mystery (2011) amzn.to/4bCUCul
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Thumbnail: Photo from Victoria and Albert Museum, London
#LadyKatherineGrey #LadyCatherineGrey #GreySistersTHE ROYAL BABY RACE | the birth of Queen Victoria | how Victoria became Queen | @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-09-23 | How did the DEATH OF PRINCESS CHARLOTTE lead to the BIRTH of Princess Victoria? This is the story of the royal baby race, instigated in 1817 after the tragic death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte, heir to the throne, along with her baby son. With Charlotte and her child gone, there were no legitimate grandchildren of George III left and the succession to the throne of the United Kingdom looked to be in peril. If no legitimate children were born to any of the King’s offspring, the crown would have to pass from one elderly sovereign to the next, possibly for decades; hardly a recipe for a popular monarchy. In response to this crisis, George’s unmarried sons (a series of generally unpopular bachelor Princes) began to seek emergency marriages in an effort to become the father of the future King or Queen. His third son, Prince Edward, Duke of Clarence, dumped his long-term mistress and married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a sister-in-law of the deceased Princess Charlotte through Charlotte’s husband, Prince Leopold. Nine months later, Princess Victoria was born. Her route to the throne was not cleared yet though. It was only thanks to the death of her father before he and her mother could produce a brother to displace the little Princess and the failure of Edward’s older brothers to produce any surviving, legitimate offspring that Victoria finally rose to the top of the pile as the first in line to the throne. Disaster was averted as the crown went from tragedy to triumph.
Stewart Richards, Curtain Down at Her Majesty's: The Death of Queen Victoria in the Words of Those Who Were There (2018). amzn.to/4c90MTE
Tony Rennell, The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria (2001). amzn.to/3Vscjbo
Michaela Reid, Ask Sir James: Sir James Reid, personal physician to Queen Victoria and physician-in-ordinary to three monarchs (1987) amzn.to/3XeqUZc
Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria: A Personal History (2001). amzn.to/4ea31rS
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
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#QueenVictoria #RoyalBabyRace #PrincessVictoriaDID ANNE BOLEYN ATTACK JANE SEYMOUR? Tudor history | Six wives documentary @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-09-16 | Did Anne Boleyn ATTACK Jane Seymour while Jane was a lady-in-waiting to Henry VIII’s second queen? There is a story that while Jane was Henry’s mistress, Anne seized a necklace the King had gifted Mistress Seymour from around her throat which contained a portrait of the monarch and wounded her own hand in the process. This story was even depicted in the Showtime series, The Tudors. Did this Tudor royal catfight ever occur though? In this Tudor history documentary from History Calling, we look at the tumultuous period of time during early 1536 when Anne Boleyn was falling from favour and Jane Seymour was on the rise and at the source for this story (which I will quote to you in full). I’ll discuss why that source (which is a book written by an Englishman called Thomas Fuller called The Worthies of England and published after his death in 1662) is not to be trusted and look at errors within its contents (including Jane Seymour’s dates of death) and at the supposed provenance of the story about these two Tudor queens. This video will also include details about the life of Jane Seymour, such as what we know about her court career, the start of her relationship with Henry VIII and at how we know she responded to receiving gifts from the King at other times. It will look at stories of tensions between her and Anne reported by Nicholas Sander and Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria and at how trustworthy those people are as source. It will consider too the dangers of trusting traditions surrounding famous historical figures, when there are no contemporary sources to support them. So let’s take a look at the royal love triangle between Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#JaneSeymour #AnneBoleyn #HenryVIII #Henry8th #TudorHistory #RoyalHistoryYOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBERSHIPS NOW AVAILABLE | @HistoryCalling | How YouTube channel memberships workHistory Calling2024-09-13 | You can now become a YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBER here on History Calling, but how do YouTube channel memberships work? Well, it means that for a set fee each month, you gain access to perks including members-only community posts which provide extra history content and behind-the-scenes info., custom badges featuring ancient runes next to your name in comments which will change depending on how long you’ve been a member (try Googling ancient runes to find out what they mean) and member-only emojis to use in comments. There is also member recognition underneath videos and on the channel homepage, but this is automated by YouTube, so I won’t be picking certain people to appear or not appear. YouTube will notify you when I publish new posts.
You can become a member by first signing into your Gmail account, then clicking the Join button underneath videos, or on the channel homepage. The cost is £2.99/month (or the equivalent in your local currency) and you can cancel at any time.
YouTube channel memberships do not replace my Patreon site, where even more bonus material is available, nor will my regular YouTube content be going anywhere. My long form videos will still be released each week and will still be 100% free, as will some other community tab posts. Memberships are just a fun little extra for those willing and able to join, but if they’re not for you, please don’t worry, you can still get extra free content from me by signing up to my newsletter on my website, historycallingofficial.com. Thank you for your support.
Website (with FREE DOWNLOAD): historycallingofficial.com Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling10 GOOD THINGS ABOUT HENRY VIII | Was Henry VIII all bad? Tudor history documentary @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-09-09 | Was Henry VIII ALL BAD, or did he have some redeeming qualities? That’s the question which inspired this Tudor history documentary from History Calling in which I’ll take you through my list of 10 good things about Henry VIII.
We’ll consider what Henry VIII looked like (most especially in his youth), the love life of Henry VIII, including how he treated his mistresses and wives when he wasn’t having their heads cut off and what Henry VIII was like as a father. I’ll share primary sources with you written by people who actually saw and interacted with the most famous Tudor King and show you some of his own love letters to Anne Boleyn. Henry is often presented as an old, bloated, murderous King, a cookie-cutter villain if you will, but he was a multi-dimensional person who had his good qualities as well as his bad and who could inspire great love and devotion in his family and subjects. The question of ‘was Henry VIII a good king?’ is very much open to debate, but I’ll demonstrate that the question of whether he had positive personality traits is more easily answered.
As we go through the video, we’ll also be looking at the six wives of Henry VIII and at the childhoods of Mary I, Elizabeth I, Edward VI and their half-brother, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
David Starkey, Henry: Virtuous Prince (Harper Press, 2008). amzn.to/39y2jVK Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010) amzn.to/3UfGmmx Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Gareth Russell, Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII (2017). amzn.to/2VExTgg (US link) Josephine Wilkinson, Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen (London, 2016 amzn.to/3rbFuPj Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#HenryVIII #Henry8th #TudorHistory #RoyalHistorySECRETS OF QUEEN VICTORIA’S COFFIN | What was buried with Queen Victoria? Royal history documentaryHistory Calling2024-09-02 | WHAT’S IN QUEEN VICTORIA’S COFFIN (apart from her of course)? The death of Queen Victoria occurred on 22 January 1901 at Osborne House. She was 81 years old and was buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore within Windsor Great Park. Before her coffin was sealed however a large number of items were placed in it with her according to her last wishes, as expressed in a document written in 1897. Some of them were romantic, some were tragic and some of them were downright scandalous. In this royal history documentary from History Calling I take you though what Queen Victoria was buried with, using her own handwritten instructions, plus an eye witness account from Sir James Reid, Victoria’s doctor and one of the people who saw the Queen in her coffin and was responsible for placing many of the items she had requested in there with her. You’ll hear about the references to her long-dead and much missed husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the heartbreaking item she wanted interred with her which referenced her daughter, Princess Alice and the items which hinted that she had engaged in a love affair in her later years and perhaps even a secret marriage to John Browne. I’ll also tell you who put Queen Victoria in her coffin and it’s probably not who you might think.
As well as giving you the list of items in Queen Victoria’s coffin, I’ll be discussing her reasons for wanting these items with her, what it says about her religious beliefs and the performative aspect of coffin goods, especially when one is royal.
Stewart Richards, Curtain Down at Her Majesty's: The Death of Queen Victoria in the Words of Those Who Were There (2018). amzn.to/4c90MTE
Tony Rennell, The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria (2001). amzn.to/3Vscjbo
Michaela Reid, Ask Sir James: Sir James Reid, personal physician to Queen Victoria and physician-in-ordinary to three monarchs (1987) amzn.to/3XeqUZc
Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria: A Personal History (2001). amzn.to/4ea31rS
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#QueenVictoria #QueenVictoriasCoffin #RoyalburialsSECRETS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE TUDOR PORTRAIT | Art history documentary | Tudor history documentaryHistory Calling2024-08-26 | What are the HIDDEN MEANINGS in this impossible Tudor portrait, entitled An Allegory of the Tudor Succession: The Family of Henry VIII? Why does it show four of the five Tudor monarchs (Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I), plus Mary’s husband, Philip II of Spain, even though in reality the five never met at the same time and their ages and clothing as shown in the picture are mostly incompatible with true history?
In this art history documentary from History Calling I set about decoding the secrets of this impossible picture. Why are the Tudors positioned in this way, with Henry in the centre, even though Elizabeth was on the throne at the time it was painted? Why is the then Queen on his left, at the far side of the picture, arguably the place of least honour? Why is Edward still a young child here, instead of the boy of fifteen he was when he died? Why are none of Henry VIII’s wives present? Who are the classical figures standing to the left and right of the image? What do they represent, what is the significance of the sword Henry VIII is passing to Edward VI and what does the inscription around the picture’s border mean?
I’ll also look at a near copy of the picture. The original was painted in 1572 supposedly by Lucus de Heere and now hangs at Sudeley Castle, having originally been a gift from Elizabeth I to Sir Francis Walsingham. The copy was painted by an anonymous artist in c. 1590 and now hangs on the wall of the Yale Centre for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut. How do they compare to each other and to other famous Tudor portraits including the Family of Henry VIII which is held at Hampton Court Palace? I’ll discuss the vandalism to the copy too and how it has been conserved over the years.
Thumbnail: An Allegory of the Tudor Succession: The Family of Henry VIII, Yale Centre for British Art, public domain
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Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesTHE DEATH OF PRINCE ALBERT | Queen Victoria and Prince Albert | famous royal death | History CallingHistory Calling2024-08-19 | The worst day of Queen Victoria’s life came on 14 December 1861 with the death of Prince Albert, her adored husband of twenty-one years and father of their nine children. The death of the Prince Consort was all the more shocking as he was only 42 years old and it sent Victoria into an emotional spiral from which she never fully recovered, leading her to withdraw from public life and wear black for the rest of her days until her own death in 1901.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were first cousins and one of the great love matches in royal history, with no reports of adultery on either side. In this royal history documentary from History Calling we look at what killed Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and at his wife’s response to his loss. I’ll take you through the Prince’s final illness, the reason his wife would always blame their oldest son, the future Edward VII, for Albert’s untimely death and Prince Albert’s funeral and final resting place. We’ll examine the theory that Prince Albert died of typhoid, plus some of the other theories as to what killed this royal Prince whose passing has become one of the most famous royal deaths in British history thanks to the impact it had on his wife.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
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#PrinceAlbert #QueenVictoria #RoyalDeathsWAS JACK THE RIPPER A ROYAL PRINCE? Was Prince Albert Victor Jack the Ripper? Whitechapel MurdersHistory Calling2024-08-12 | Was PRINCE ALBERT VICTOR Jack the Ripper? There have been many theories put forward over the years regarding the identity of Jack the Ripper, but perhaps none so outlandish as the story that it was none other than the heir to the throne, Prince Albert Victor, eldest son of the future Edward VII and grandson of Queen Victoria. Was Jack the Ripper a royal prince though and where did this story originate? In today’s video from History Calling I share with you the details of how this rumour started and what the real evidence about Albert Victor’s movements during the period in question tell us. I’ll start with a summary of the crimes themselves, explain who the Prince was, then track his known locations during the crime spree to find out if he was in or around London when the five canonical victims of Jack the Ripper (Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Kelly) died.
The reason the Prince is connected with this case at all is largely thanks to an article in The Criminologist magazine in 1970 written by a medical doctor called Dr Thomas E.A. Stowell and I’ll consider what he said in that article and elsewhere about who the infamous Victorian serial killer (whose famous unsolved crimes are also known as the Whitechapel murders) really was and if he truly accused Albert Victor, who was known as Eddy to family and friends. I’ll also look at other stories which focus on Albert Victor, including tales of a secret marriage to a Catholic shopgirl, a baby daughter and a killer doctor with Freemason links called Sir William Gull. I hope you enjoy this brief history of Jack the Ripper and exploration of the one of the wilder solutions offered to the mystery of his real name, plus the explanation of why it’s all pseudo-history and why there was no royal ripper.
[book] Colin Wilson and Robin Odell, Jack the Ripper: Summing Up and Verdict (1988). Available at amzn.to/3JYTXrL [movie] From Hell (2001). Starring Johnny Depp. Available at amzn.to/4baoajH
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#JacktheRipper #PrinceAlbertVictor #WhitechapelMurdersThe MURDER OF GEORGE V | Regicide of George V | How did George V die? Was George V killed?History Calling2024-08-05 | Was GEORGE V KILLED by one of his attendants? The King died at Sandringham House on the night of 20 January 1936 and for fifty years, it was believed he had passed away purely as the result of natural causes. Indeed bulletins published at the time said as much, warning people that ‘the King’s life is moving peacefully towards its close’ before later informing them that ‘Death has come peacefully to the King at 11.55pm’. That seemed to be that. There was a grand funeral and soon the country was caught up in a royal scandal of epic proportions surrounding the abdication of the new monarch, Edward VIII, so that he could marry Wallis Simpson.
The world moved on from George but then, in 1986, the diaries of his doctor Bertrand Dawson, Viscount Dawson of Penn were published and revealed a shocking secret; nothing less than the murder of George V, followed by a fifty-year cover-up. The monarch had been given a fatal overdose by Lord Penn, supposedly to ease his suffering and quicken his end so that the death of George V could be announced in the morning papers, rather than the evening ones. So is this a modern case of regicide and how have the royal family responded to the revelations? In this royal history documentary from History Calling, we look at the final hours of George V, at his cause of death and at whether or not he was killed for convenience’s sake.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
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Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesBRIEF HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES | History of the Olympics. 2024 Paris Olympics. Sporting historyHistory Calling2024-07-29 | The history of the OLYMPIC GAMES starts in Greece no later than 776 BC and probably earlier, but no one is quite sure how they came about. In this Olympics documentary from History Calling, made in honour of the 2024 Paris Olympics, I look at the origins of the games which are surely the most famous sporting event in the world. I’ll discuss some of the myths surrounding their creation (including the idea that they were founded by the hero Hercules) and at if the Olympics were abolished by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I in 393 CE or if they fell out of use after a fire at the stadium during the reign of Emperor Theodosius I. I’ll then move forwards in time to the modern rebirth of the Olympics in 1896, discuss the involvement of English doctor W.P. Brookes and Baron Pierre de Coubertin in their re-establishment and discuss how they have developed since then.
This video will answer questions including why are the Olympics called that (hint, it has something to do with the ancient Greek phrase Olympiakoi agones)? How many events are there in the Olympics? How many countries take part in the Olympics? How many Olympic Games have there been, why are the Olympics held every four years and what do the Olympic rings mean? I’ll also look at some Guinness World Records set by Olympians and at some of the most famous Olympic Games in modern history. I hope you enjoy this brief history of the Olympic games!
Sofie Remijsen, The End of Greek Athletics in Late Antiquity (2015) amzn.to/3Wv71MP David C. Young, A Brief History of the Olympic Games (2004) amzn.to/3y9HLCw
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Thumbnail: Simone Biles, 2016, Wikimedia Commons, Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil, CC BY 2.0
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#Paris2024 #OlympicGames #OlympicsHistory of PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATIONS and assassination attempts. Reaction to Donald Trump shootingHistory Calling2024-07-22 | HOW MANY TIMES has a US President or former President been assassinated or nearly assassinated and what are the details of those incidents? In the wake of the shooting of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania I take a brief look at the previous murders of sitting or former US Presidents and the attempts on their lives which came the closest to killing them. In chronological order I will discuss the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth in 1865, the assassination of James A. Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau in 1881, the assassination of William McKinley by Leon Czolgosz in 1901, the shooting of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 by John Schrank, the assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963 and the shooting of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. in 1981. I will finish by very briefly looking at the events in Butler in 2024.
In this American history documentary from History Calling I will also discuss some of the supposed motivations behind presidential assassinations and assassination attempts, from the political to the deranged, including Hinckley’s claim that he was trying to impress the then very young actress, Jodie Foster.
I will not be looking at attacks which did not result in injury to the Presidents or at attacks on Presidential candidates, such as Robert Kennedy, who were not former Presidents as well. This video will NOT show any injuries or gore.
Sarah Bradford, America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (2013) amzn.to/3Lzg5YK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/35HLFnL (US LINK)
Robert Dallek, John F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life 1917-1963 (2013) amzn.to/3LJapLL (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3x7ytUy (US LINK)
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Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesHISTORY LOVER’S GUIDE TO LONDON | Best tourist attractions in London | Top 20 things to do in LondonHistory Calling2024-07-15 | What are the TOP 20 THINGS TO DO IN LONDON if you’re a history lover? In this video from History Calling, I take you around what I consider to be the best tourist attractions in London for those of us who love to time travel on our holidays. I’ve been to virtually everything on the list, from the Tower of London, to Westminster Abbey, to St Paul’s Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace and I’ll share with you how long these attractions take and give you a mix of both free and paid for options to while away your holidays. I’ll also make some suggestions about where you can stay in London on the cheap, the usefulness of things like membership of Historic Royal Palaces and the London pass and I’ll even include a bonus attraction you can visit which isn’t in London, but which can be done on a day trip from England’s capital city. If you love Tudor history, Hanoverian history, royal history, medieval history, art history, World War Two history or any combination thereof and you’re hoping or planning to visit London, then this is the video for you. Alternatively, if you just want to travel vicariously through your screen, you’re going to love this too. So sit back and enjoy the history lover’s guide to London as I become your historical tour guide for the day.
Disclaimer: you click links and use these sites at your own risk. I’m not vouching for any of them. I’m just providing the links for convenience. You should always do your own research.
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.Who was BESSIE BLOUNT? Henry VIII’s mistress | Elizabeth Blount | Tudor history documentaryHistory Calling2024-07-08 | Henry VIII’s MOST SUCCESSFUL MISTRESS (in my view) was a teenage girl called Elizabeth Blount, also known as Bessie Blount. A lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon, she had a relationship with the King in 1518 which resulted in a pregnancy. In June 1519 she gave birth to their son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Henry did not resume his relationship with her and she was quickly married off to Gilbert Tailbois, Baron Tailbois, by whom she had three additional children. When he died in 1530, she was a sought-after bride but refused at least one suitor and ultimately married (between 1532 and early 1535) a much younger man named Edward Fiennes de Clinton, Baron Clinton and Saye, later Earl of Lincoln. She had another three daughters by him and died herself between 1539 and 1541, several years after the death of her illegitimate son, who had passed away in 1536.
Why do I think she was so successful as a mistress to Henry VIII? There are several reasons; because she gave him a son, because Henry didn’t marry her, because she remained on good terms with him for the rest of her life and because she escaped his clutches with her head on her shoulders, two favourable marriages of her own and a comfortable existence. As she saw how Henry VIII treated the other women in his life, she must surely have been grateful for that.
In this week’s Tudor history documentary I tell you all about the life of this elusive figure, from her background, to her time at the royal court, her relationship with her eldest son, her marriages, her interactions with Henry after their relationship had concluded and finally, her death. This is the story of the mistress who got away.
LEARN MORE: Elizabeth Norton, Bessie Blount: Mistress to Henry VIII (2013) amzn.to/3xMQhXu Beverley A. Murphy, B**stard Prince: Henry VIII's Lost Son (2004) amzn.to/43P9TWH Robert Hutchinson, Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII (W&N, 2012). amzn.to/3mu5liP David Starkey, Henry: Virtuous Prince (Harper Press, 2008). amzn.to/39y2jVK Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010) amzn.to/3UfGmmx Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr
[FREE] Norton, Elizabeth, ‘Elizabeth Blount of Kinley: an image of Henry VIII’s mistress identified’ in Shropshire History and Archaeology: Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society, lxxxiv (2011), pp 21-6. This is an article on the tomb monument to Bessie’s parents and includes images of a likely statue of Bessie. shropshirearchaeologyhistory.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/shropshire-transactions-vol.-84_sm.pdf
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.The life of HENRY FITZROY, Duke of Richmond and Somerset | illegitimate son of Henry VIII | TudorsHistory Calling2024-07-01 | He was the ILLEGITIMATE SON OF HENRY VIII, the brother of Elizabeth I, Mary I and Edward VI and a boy who many thought might be placed in the line of succession for the English throne, but what do we really know about the life of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, who died at the age of just seventeen?
In this week’s Tudor history documentary from History Calling, we go back to the middle years of the reign of King Henry VIII to look at the life of his only acknowledged illegitimate child (not counting the fact that he delegitimised his daughters at different points). You’ll hear about the relationship between Fitzroy’s mother, Elizabeth Blount and Henry VIII, what we know about Henry Fitzroy’s birth and childhood, why his upbringing was overseen by his godfather, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and when and why he was given the extraordinary honour of a double Dukedom. I’ll also tell you about the other positions heaped on this young child, including being made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and describe his relationship with his father, even showing you a letter written by the Duke of Richmond to his royal parent. We’ll discuss his marriage to Mary Howard, who was a cousin of Anne Boleyn and the only daughter-in-law of Henry VIII and look at some of the famous moments in Tudor history which this boy was present for, including the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536. Richmond would outlive his step-mother by only a couple of months and the video will conclude by taking you through the sudden death of this illegitimate Tudor on 23 July, plus his funeral, burial and what happened to his grave later on.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Beverley A. Murphy, B**stard Prince: Henry VIII's Lost Son (2004) amzn.to/43P9TWH Robert Hutchinson, Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII (W&N, 2012). amzn.to/3mu5liP David Starkey, Henry: Virtuous Prince (Harper Press, 2008). amzn.to/39y2jVK Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010) amzn.to/3UfGmmx Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#HenryFitzroy #HenryFitzroyDukeOfRichmond #TudorHistoryDocumentary #ForgottenTudorLife of CHARLES BRANDON, Duke of Suffolk. Henry VIII’s brother-in-law. Tudor bad boy @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-06-24 | He was one the bad boys of the Tudor regime. Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk was born a relatively lowly aristocrat in around 1484, but his father’s death at the Battle of Bosworth as standard bearer for Henry VII and his uncle’s court connections brought him into the orbit of Henry VIII and from there, his ascent was remarkable, becoming a knight, then Viscount Lisle, then the Duke of Suffolk in 1514, one of the only dukes in England at the time. A successful military leader, he took part in numerous campaigns across Henry’s reign.
He had a chequered marital career, running through woman after woman and producing several children until he made a spectacularly advantageous union with Princess Mary Tudor, Queen of France in 1515. She was the widow of Louis XII and the sister of Henry VIII and Charles was lucky that marrying the French Queen and making himself Henry VIII’s brother-in-law without that King’s permission didn’t cost him his life. After paying heavy fines though, the Duke managed to get back into the King’s good graces and stay there. He and Mary had two surviving children, Lady Frances Brandon (mother of Lady Jane Grey) and Lady Eleanor Brandon and their father’s career is a handbook in how to survive in Tudor England and especially at the court of Henry VIII.
When his royal wife died in 1536, he married again within months to his former ward, the 14-year-old Katherine Willoughby, who had been engaged to his son. Together they had two sons. Charles knew all of the six wives of Henry VIII (all of whom were his sisters-in-law of course). He was made to mistreat Catherine of Aragon on Henry’s orders, disliked Anne Boleyn whose execution he witnessed, welcomed Anne of Cleves to England only to later help to arrange her divorce, accompanied Katherine Howard to the scaffold and saw Catherine Parr become great friends with his final wife. Charles Brandon died in 1545 and was buried in St George’s Chapel at Windsor.
In this Tudor history documentary from History Calling we look at the life of Charles Brandon, Henry VIII’s best friend.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Steven Gunn, Charles Brandon: Henry VIII’s closest friend (Amberley, 2016) amzn.to/4a7MTVk S.B. Chrimes, Henry VII (New Haven & London, 2013). amzn.to/3cc59Bh Robert Hutchinson, Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII (W&N, 2012). amzn.to/3mu5liP David Starkey, Henry: Virtuous Prince (Harper Press, 2008). amzn.to/39y2jVK Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010) amzn.to/3UfGmmx Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Eric Ives, Lady Jane Grey: a Tudor mystery (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). amzn.to/3EiF012
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#CharlesBrandon #DukeOfSuffolk #TudorHistoryThe short life of KATHERINE HOWARD | Henry VIII’s fifth wife | The most tragic Tudor QueenHistory Calling2024-06-17 | The life of Katherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, was short and tragic. A first cousin of Anne Boleyn, she was a minor member of the Howard family who was orphaned at a young age and largely raised at the home of her step-grandmother, Agnes, dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Whilst there she was involved with three men, her music teacher, Henry Manox, Agnes’s secretary Francis Dereham and a distant relation, Thomas Culpepper. Then, in 1540, she became a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves and her life changed forever. Still just a teenager she caught the eye of the King and by that July she was his wife and the Queen of England. The pair seemed to get along well. Katherine was Henry’s ‘rose without a thorn’ and her presence appeared to reinvigorate him in the later part of his life. Her relationship with her step-daughter Mary (who was older than her) was tense at times, but she was kind to Prince Edward and Princess Elizabeth, even making little gifts of jewellery to the girl. Her queenship lasted less than 18 months however. In November 1541 her previous transgressions with Manox, Dereham and Culpepper came to light, as did accusations of adultery with Culpepper and all were arrested, along with Katherine’s lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford. The men were executed that December, while Katherine and Jane were found guilty by Act of Attainder and executed on 13 February 1542 at the Tower of London. They are presumed to have been buried in the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula, though Katherine’s bones could not be located by the Victorians. In today’s six wives documentary from History Calling, I take a deep dive into the life of the most tragic Tudor Queen, #KatherineHoward.
LEARN MORE Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Gareth Russell, Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII (2017). amzn.to/3xldHhi (UK link) OR amzn.to/2VExTgg (US link) Josephine Wilkinson, Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen (London, 2016). amzn.to/3x7MxdO (UK link) OR amzn.to/3rbFuPj (US link) David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3k9uD4Z (UK link) OR amzn.to/3wImKIh (US link) Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/3atiEfi (UK link) OR amzn.to/36IqD5r (US link) Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It doesn't affect the price you pay.
#CatherineHoward #Tudorhistory #KatherineHowardWhat BRIDGERTON gets right and wrong about history. Is Bridgerton historically accurate? Regency eraHistory Calling2024-06-10 | Is BRIDGERTON historically accurate? In this week’s episode of History Calling I’m going to share with you 10 things Bridgerton gets right and 10 things Bridgerton gets wrong about history and teach you about the real Regency era in which the Netflix show, created by Shonda Rimes is set. As part of this Hollywood vs history approach we’ll look at topics like the costumes of Bridgerton, the real Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and her place within British society, the importance of chaperones for young ladies to protect their reputations, the double standard of behaviour for men and women, the ways in which aristocratic titles worked and who could inherit them, the Regency marriage market, whether gossip columns like Lady Whistledown’s really existed (and how likely it is that Penelope Featherington could get away with her side hustle), the Grand Tour of Europe which Colin Bridgerton has just returned from at the start of season 3 and the place of black people within British society in the nineteenth century, including how likely it is that the Duke of Hastings would be black, or any of the other aristocratic characters. I’ll ask if corsets really were torture devices for women, what shape were undergarments for ladies in this period, what happened to all the bonnets, did people really talk like that in the early 1800s and what kind of education did women have in reality? Could they really sing, dance, speak four languages, do needlework and be widely read too, or has Bridgerton invented its clever female characters?
I hope you enjoy this review of Bridgerton and its historical (in)accuracies.
[FREE] Interview with Bridgerton season 3 costume designers youtube.com/watch?v=6FT_2c0wwKc Janice Hadlow, The strangest family: the private lives of George III, Queen Charlotte and the Hanoverians (2014), available at amzn.to/43XfdqG Jeremy Black, The Hanoverians: the history of a dynasty (2004), available at amzn.to/3mRbGd6
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
THUMBNAIL: Bridgerton season 3 promotional image. Netflix, 2024. Used under fair use.
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
#Bridgerton #Bridgerton3 #Bridgertonseason3 #RegencyThe Kings with their own time zone | What was Sandringham time? Royal history documentaryHistory Calling2024-06-03 | What was SANDRINGHAM TIME, who were the two Kings who had their own time zone at this famous royal estate in Norfolk and why on earth did this occur? In this weeks’ royal history documentary from History Calling, we look at the phenomenon known as Sandringham Time, a bizarre little quirk that you could only find in the British royal family by which time on the Sandringham estate was 30 minutes ahead of the rest of the UK time zone between at least the 1870s and 1936. I’ll explain why Edward VII, then the Prince of Wales, invented Sandringham Time, whether it had anything to do with the famous lateness of his wife, Queen Alexandra or with his love of hunting, why Sandringham Time was abolished by their grandson, Edward VIII, during his short reign and why this abolition was considered scandalous by an Archbishop. I’ll also share some fun little stories with you about how Sandringham Time could confuse those visiting the estate as they struggled to remember that they were in a time bubble, separate from the rest of the country (and indeed every other country in the same time zone). I’ll even explain why it has led to confusion over when George V died.
This is the story of Sandringham Time, from its invention to its eradication!
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesGermany’s KILLER TOILET! Erfurt latrine disaster | Heinrich VI Holy Roman Emperor | @HistoryCallingHistory Calling2024-05-27 | HOW DID A TOILET KILL a bunch of nobles in 12th century Germany? This is the story of the Erfurt latrine disaster, which occurred in 1184 in the town of Erfurt. Heinrich VI, King of Germany , son of Frederick Barbarossa and the future Holy Roman Emperor, stopped off in the town of Erfurt and held a meeting in its local church, St Peter’s, to settle a land dispute between Konrad, Bishop of Mainz and Ludwig, Landgrave of Thuringia Unfortunately, while they were all there (along with numerous other nobles), the wooden beams supporting the upper storey room they were in buckled under the weight and collapsed. The room was built over the top of the latrine pit (a latrine is a very basic kind of toilet, with no proper plumbing) where all the monks’ waste was. At least five nobles died either from the fall, or from drowning in excrement, or suffocating in the noxious fumes. Several only survived because they were standing or sitting at the edge of the room when the disaster occurred and were able to cling onto things like window grills until they were rescued. The dead included Heinrich de Swartzberg, Frederick de Abinberg, Frederick de Kerchberg, Gozmar de Ziegenhain, Burchard de Wartberg and Beringer of Meldingen. King Heinrich survived.
In this week’s royal history video from History Calling we look at this story, at the primary sources associated with it and at how trustworthy they are. I’ll also tell you what eventually became of Kaiser Heinrich VI.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Prime video or Audible trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.RANKING THE TUDORS | Who was the best Tudor? Who was the worst Tudor? Royal history documentaryHistory Calling2024-05-20 | How would you go about RANKING THE TUDORS, specifically the Tudor monarchs? There are five to choose from; Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I (no Lady Jane Grey I’m afraid, as she wasn’t really a Tudor and I don’t see her as genuine monarch either). As members of what I think is England’s most famous royal dynasty, much ink has been spilt on all of them, but who’s your favourite Tudor monarch and who’s your least? Do you think Henry VIII was just misunderstood, or that Gloriana was the worst thing to happen to England this side of 1066?
In today’s royal history documentary from History Calling, I’m going to take you through my personal ranking and explain why I’m putting them in this order. I’m sure there will be cries of treason in the comments from people who disagree with my choices, but you can share your own ranking with everyone there as well.
I’ll be thinking about how hard these Tudor Kings and Queens had to work to get and keep the throne, how they treated their subjects (and sometimes their family members) while they were there, any mitigating factors which might explain their bad behaviour and their posthumous reputations. Events discussed will include the end of the Wars of the Roses, the six wives of Henry VIII, Edward VI’s experiences of being a child monarch with a Lord Protector, the gruesome fate of his two uncles, Thomas Seymour and Edward Seymour, Mary I’s habit of burning Protestants at the stake and Elizabeth I’s famous jealous streak, temper tantrums and refusal to marry.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Amy Licence, Elizabeth of York: forgotten Tudor Queen (Amberley, 2013). amzn.to/4bzoQjk Chris Skidmore, Bosworth: the birth of the Tudors (London, reprint, 2014). amzn.to/3sfYcF7 S.B. Chrimes, Henry VII (New Haven & London, 2013). amzn.to/3cc59Bh Robert Hutchinson, Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII (W&N, 2012). amzn.to/3mu5liP David Starkey, Henry: Virtuous Prince (Harper Press, 2008). amzn.to/39y2jVK Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010) amzn.to/3UfGmmx Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Gareth Russell, Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII (2017). amzn.to/2VExTgg (US link) Josephine Wilkinson, Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen (London, 2016 amzn.to/3rbFuPj Eric Ives, Lady Jane Grey: a Tudor mystery (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). amzn.to/3EiF012 Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh Anna Whitelock, Mary Tudor: England’s First Queen (Bloomsbury, London, 2009) amzn.to/3dUgYwN David Starkey, Elizabeth: apprenticeship (2001) amzn.to/3upA1Eu Anne Somerset, Elizabeth I (2003): amzn.to/3MQUU4v
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesWhat is the KING’S SURNAME? Why are the royal family called Windsor? What is the royal surname?History Calling2024-05-13 | Why is the surname of the British royal family Windsor? Why is it no longer Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which was the surname of Queen’s Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert and their son, Edward VII, as well as his descendants up until 1917? Furthermore, why is it not Mountbatten-Windsor, after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II? The answer lies in the family’s Germanic roots and the problems they caused during World War 1, when the United Kingdom was at war with Germany and the family’s German surname became an embarrassment. As a result, George V took the unusual step of changing the entire dynasty’s name to something quintessentially British and chose to use Windsor Castle as his inspiration, as it is one of the oldest royal residences in Britain. This royal rebranding exercise took place in 1917 and the House of Windsor was born.
In this week’s royal family documentary from History Calling, I take you through the history of the family’s surnames and the decision to change it. I also explain the difference between Windsor and Mountbatten-Windsor, why the House is called one thing, while many of its members are called another (on the rare occasions that some of them need surnames at all) and when the surname was changed. This will include an explanation of why Prince Philip had the surname Mountbatten when he was a Prince of Greece and Denmark by birth and why he and Queen Elizabeth changed their family name in 1960.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesD.B. Cooper mystery | what happened to D.B. Cooper? Famous skyjacking | Dan Cooper mysteryHistory Calling2024-05-06 | The mystery of D.B. Cooper, who was perhaps America’s most famous skyjacker has fascinated the world since 1971. On 24 November that year a man calling himself Dan Cooper (the name D.B. Cooper was a later press error) bought a one-way ticket at Portland International airport for a trip to Seattle-Tacoma International airport. He boarded Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305, which was being serviced by a Boeing 727 plane and proceeded to hijack it after take-off. Claiming to have a bomb, he demanded that $200,000 and four parachutes be brought onboard when the plane landed in Seattle. This was done and having refuelled, the plane took off again. Somewhere en route to Reno-Tahoe, where another refuelling was planned for an onward trip to Mexico, Cooper had the crew leave him alone in the cabin, lowered the 727’s distinctive back staircase and jumped out of the plane with the money. He was never seen again. Over eight years later, on 10 February 1980, an eight-year-old boy named Brian Ingram was playing on a beach known as Tina Bar and discovered three packets of the Cooper ransom money, totally $5,800. No further evidence has ever come to light regarding what happened to Cooper or the rest of the money and he has since become an almost mythic figure.
In this D.B. Cooper documentary from History Calling, I take you through the events of the night of 24 November 1971 in detail, using crime scene photographs and witness statements taken by the FBI from the plane’s flight crew to tell you what Dan Cooper looked like, what he said and how he acted. I’ll also discuss what the few remaining items left behind by the skyjacker tell us about who D.B. Cooper really was and what the discovery of the money might mean. I’ll finish by telling you what happened to D.B. Cooper in my opinion, why he has proved so elusive to the FBI’s NORJAK investigation and why this is my favourite historical mystery.
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.The QUEENSHIP OF ELIZABETH OF YORK | first Tudor Queen of England | Women of the Wars of the RosesHistory Calling2024-04-29 | In 1486 Elizabeth of York became the FIRST TUDOR QUEEN of England as the wife of Henry VII. It was a match made in dynastic heaven. It brought together the two warring branches of the Plantagenet family (the Yorks and the Lancasters) and effectively ended the Wars of the Roses. It also turned out to be a remarkable good marriage, with no rumours of affairs on either side (a true rarity for a medieval King) and the evolution of genuine love between the pair. In this documentary from History Calling I take you through the Queenship of Elizabeth of York, starting with the rumours that she was a pregnant royal bride. I’ll also look at her coronation, the children she had and her relationship with them (including Prince Arthur Tudor and the future Henry VIII), her bond with her husband and how she dealt with the pretenders to his throne, such as Perkin Warbeck who claimed to be her brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. I’ll consider the stories that she had a difficult relationship with her mother-in-law, Lady Margaret Beaufort and look at how she dealt with her daughter-in-law, the Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon. Finally, I’ll tell you how she responded to the death of Prince Arthur and how his demise ultimately led to her own, less than a year later on 11 February 1503, her 37th birthday. Elizabeth was the daughter, sister, niece, wife, mother and grandmother of Kings, but in this video, she will take centre stage.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Amy Licence, Elizabeth of York: forgotten Tudor Queen (Amberley, 2013), available at amzn.to/4bzoQjk David Baldwin, Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower (2002). amzn.to/3bdPAuO Britain’s Bloody Crown Presented by Dan Jones (2016) [Documentary covering the Wars of the Roses] amzn.to/2TPep8i The White Queen (TV show, 2013) amzn.to/3dm7kBL (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/2VcbQO5 (US LINK) The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. amzn.to/3C0loMF (UK LINK)
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesElizabeth of York, the real White Princess | women of the Wars of the Roses | the wife of Henry VIIHistory Calling2024-04-22 | Elizabeth of York was THE REAL WHITE PRINCESS and her life was just as dramatic as what you’ve seen on TV. Born in 1466 she was the daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, the sister of the Princes in the Tower and the niece of Richard III. Elizabeth’s life was shaped by the Wars of the Roses, the conflict between different branches of the Plantagenet family (the Yorks and the Lancasters) over who would hold the English throne. As a result she would see her father exiled, she and her mother and siblings would have to flee into exile in Westminster Abbey not once but twice, she would be declared illegitimate, her little brothers (Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York) would disappear at the hands of their uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and she would find herself married to the enemy; Henry Tudor, the man who defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and knocked the male members of the York family off the throne for good. All this took place before her 20th birthday and had times been different, she would have become Queen Regnant as Elizabeth I, rather than just the wife of Henry VII. In this documentary from History Calling on the women of the Wars of the Roses, we look at the first half of the life of this extraordinary woman, from her birth, to her education, to the dangers she faced from her own extended family, the boys she was betrothed to in her youth, the rumours that she was going to marry her uncle Richard and how she became, against all odds, the first Tudor Queen of England.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
Amy Licence, Elizabeth of York: forgotten Tudor Queen (Amberley, 2013), available at amzn.to/4bzoQjk Britain’s Bloody Crown Presented by Dan Jones (2016) [Documentary covering the Wars of the Roses] amzn.to/2TPep8i The White Queen (TV show, 2013) amzn.to/3dm7kBL (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/2VcbQO5 (US LINK) The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. amzn.to/3C0loMF (UK LINK)
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesA portrait of ANNE BOLEYN or JANE SEYMOUR? Does the Nidd Hall portrait show Anne Boleyn?History Calling2024-04-15 | Does the NIDD HALL PORTRAIT show Anne Boleyn or Jane Seymour? At first glance, the woman in the picture wearing an AB brooch must surely be Anne for those were her initials and she’s wearing the famous Tudor consort necklace, seen in another image of her and in portraits of three of Henry VIII’s other wives. This portrait pattern also reappears in a 1618 engraving by Renold Elstrack and published by Henry Holland in a book called Baziliwlogia, where it is also identified as Anne. Further weight seemed to be added to the argument in 2015 when numerous media outlets reported that facial recognition software had matched the Nidd Hall portrait to the famous portrait medal of Anne Boleyn created in 1534 and held by the British Museum. As this medal (known as ‘the moost happi’ medal because it bears Anne’s motto) is the only confirmed, contemporary likeness of her, if this was true it would have been an important factor in identifying the sitter.
Unfortunately, there are numerous problems with associating the Nidd Hall portrait, which is now owned by the Mountgarret family and kept in Bradford Art Galleries and Museums, with the mother of Elizabeth I. She looks nothing like Anne’s other portraits in which the Queen usually wears her famous B pendant and instead more closely resembles Jane Seymour (assuming the AB brooch was a later addition to the picture). The engraving seems to be a copy of Jane’s portrait in the famous Whitehall Mural by Hans Holbein and the researchers behind the facial recognition software have stated that their findings were misrepresented by the media. So what can we make of all this? In today’s six wives documentary from History Calling we look at this piece of Tudor art history and ask, is the Nidd Hall portrait Anne Boleyn or Jane Seymour, or is she simply a mystery woman, whose name is lost to time?
Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) amzn.to/3xLivgr Susan Bordo, The Creation of Anne Boleyn: In Search of the Tudors' Most Notorious Queen (One World Publications, 2014) amzn.to/3zznLY1 Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger, In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn (2013) amzn.to/2W9oJct Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
BUY OR RENT:
The Tudors, season 1 amzn.to/2VCwQ0j The Tudors, season 2 amzn.to/2VMPnHw The Tudors, season 3 amzn.to/3BijsPB The Tudors, season 4 amzn.to/3z16S58 Henry VIII and his Six Wives (2016 docu-drama) amzn.to/3jiCkag Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (2016 docu-drama) amzn.to/3wH2mr2 Thumbnail: Nidd Hall portrait. Image from Wikimedia Commons. NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licensesCOULD HARRY AND MEGHAN LOSE THEIR TITLES? Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry and Meghan MarkleHistory Calling2024-04-08 | Could Prince Harry be STRIPPED OF HIS ROYAL TITLES, or lose them in some other way and what would that mean for his wife and children?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a title which was bestowed on Harry just before his wedding in 2018 and which Meghan holds as his wife. Their children, as the grandchildren of a monarch, are HRH Prince Archie of Sussex and HRH Princess Lilibet of Sussex (they previously used the surname Mountbatten-Windsor). However, since the couple’s decision to step back from royal duties and move to America in 2020 and their very public criticisms of the royal family, there have been calls to strip them of their titles and reduce them to Mr and Mrs Mountbatten-Windsor. Could this be done though. While it is true that they no longer for use their HRH titles (His/Her Royal Highness), they had to agree to do that and they still technically hold those titles. They were never forcibly removed.
In this royal documentary from History Calling I look at the historic precedents for removing a titled individual’s titles, the law as it stands at the moment and the current efforts by one Conservative MP, Bob Seeley, to have the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 updated so that it can be used against Harry and Meghan. I’ll also look at what would happen if Prince Harry became a US citizen and how that would affect his and his family’s titles and compare his situation to that of actress Grace Kelly (Princess Grace of Monaco) in the 20th century. Finally I’ll consider what a change to the law might mean for Prince Andrew, Duke of York and how likely I think it is that Harry and Meghan will lose their titles.
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.