Painting of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castille

Kings and queens

Queen of hearts: When Catherine's husband Tsar Peter III alienated his people, they instead turned to his wife, and she was proclaimed the rightful ruler.

General Early Modern

Catherine the Great: your guide to the famed Empress of Russia

Portrait of Marie Antoinette in deep mourning, while in prison

The final days of Marie Antoinette

1651, Charles Prince of Wales (1630 - 1685) (later King Charles II of England) meets Sir Henry Lee near Oxford during the Civil War, while escaping after the Battle of Worcester.

How Charles II put Britain back together after the Civil War

War criminal? William the Conqueror shown on horseback in the Bayeux Tapestry. The king's Harrying of the North was a military success but a human catastrophe – one that even appalled chroniclers traditionally sympathetic to the Norman regime. (Photo by Bridgeman)

Was William the Conqueror a war criminal? The brutal story of the Harrying of the North

A portrait of George V's wife, Queen Mary, who was born Princess Mary of Teck.

Was Queen Mary, wife of George V, a kleptomaniac?

Ramesses II holding prisoners

Was Ramesses II really that great?

The daughter and great-niece of Henry VIII respectively, Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots didn't feel strong family ties when it came to their relationship. (Photo by Getty Images)

Queens at war: Elizabeth I vs Mary, Queen of Scots

King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and their daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret of United Kingdom. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The Windsors at war: what did the royal family do during WW2?

A portrait of Queen Victoria and her family

Q&AWho were Prince Albert's family, the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas?

Archduchess Ileana’s great grandmother, Queen Victoria, whose birth certificate Ileana desperately needed to get hold of (Getty)

Queen Victoria and the Nazis: the strange tale of the search for the royal family's Aryan origins

The portrait of Queen Elizabeth I known as the Ditchley portrait

What did Queen Elizabeth I really look like at 60?

Henri III: Elizabeth I’s unlikely ally

A 16th-century portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Mary, Queen of Scots: the real history behind the film

Queen Victoria, her husband Prince Albert, and their nine children.

Q&ACould Queen Victoria have prevented World War I?

Portrait of Prince Albert

8 fascinating facts about Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert

Ladies-in-waiting

General History

Q&AWhat did a lady-in-waiting actually do?

Mary, Queen of Scots and her ladies-in-waiting. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Mary, Queen of Scots: what happened to her ladies-in-waiting?

A portrait of Sir Walter Ralegh

Q&ADid Sir Walter Ralegh really lay down his cloak for Elizabeth I?

Professor Dame Janet L Nelson

Charlemagne: medieval empire builder. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark. The BBC television drama is putting Cornwall’s coastline at risk of "over-tourism” as visitors flock to the area to visit the show's scenic filming locations, tourism chiefs have warned. (Photo by BBC/Mammoth Screen/Mike Hogan)

Poldark, Peaky Blinders and 6 other historical TV shows that have tourists flocking to Britain

Professor Dame Janet L Nelson has published extensively on early medieval Europe. She is professor emeritus at King's College London, a fellow of the British Academy and a former president of the Royal Historical Society. Her previous books include 'Charles the Bald' (1992) and 'The Frankish World' (1996). (Photograph by Frank Monks)

Books interview with Janet Nelson: "The only way this huge regime could work was by Charlemagne trusting his own instincts". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The ruins of Dunluce Castle, which sit on the coastal cliffs of North Antrim in Northern Ireland. They are thought to have been the inspiration for CS Lewis’s castle Cair Paravel in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ (1950–56). (Photo by Andrea Ricordi/Contributor/Getty Images)

9 of Britain’s best castles. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Charles I. (Photo by World History Archive/Alamy)

King killers in America. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

At home with the royals. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

9 eccentric monarchs through history

A portrait of Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Woodvilles

A Tudor rose on a wooden ceiling beam.

Monarchy and faith in Tudor England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The first state visit by American President George W Bush in 2003 was highly controversial, attracting protesters opposed to the involvement of the United States and Britain in the Iraq War. Here the president is pictured with the Queen in 2008. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

From pageantry to controversy: a brief history of state visits

What was it like meeting Queen Victoria? 6 royal encounters as told by famous Victorians

After her recovery from smallpox, Queen Elizabeth I started using a ceruse foundation on her face, neck and chest. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

5 weird habits of royals through history