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Queens and Kings
- Author
- Lucy Worsley
- Narrator
- Lucy Worsley
- Publisher
- Hodder & Stoughton
- Publish Date
- 3 September 2026
- Run Time
- 13 hours 41 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'Fabulously enjoyable... a great big treat of a book.' SUNDAY TIMES
'Filled with nuggets of historical delights... highly readable and thoughtfully curated.' DAILY MAIL
'A glorious, glorious book, full of brilliant detail and behind-the-scenes wit and humour.' KATE MOSSE
When it comes to royal history, Lucy Worsley holds all the cards
Lucy Worsley has lived and breathed royal history for more than twenty years. As Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, she worked in some of Britain's most famous royal sites, from Hampton Court to the Tower of London, and even lived in one of them herself. Now she takes us behind closed doors to reveal some of the monarchy's best-kept secrets.
In Queens and Kings, Lucy brings to life the rulers who have shaped Britain over the last thousand years, from Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II. What emerges is a royal world far stranger, funnier and more surprising than we might think: of intimate love letters, phantom pregnancies, unruly pet monkeys and fatal betrayals. Venturing through haunted staircases and into private bedchambers, she finds the details that make history feel gloriously human.
With her trademark warmth and incisive scholarship, Lucy explores the full splendour, scandal and sorrow of royal life. The result is a wildly engaging history of the monarchy from one of our most beloved historians.
'A history of the British monarchy that only Lucy Worsley could have written.' TOM HOLLAND
'Warm, insightful, and full of heart, Worsley has distilled a lifetime of experience into this crowning achievement of a book.' HALLIE RUBENHOLD
------
Queens and Kings was a Sunday Times bestseller in the w/c 07-09-2026.
Critics Review
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Fabulously enjoyable... Worsley takes us behind the red velvet rope to reveal those hidden parts of her kingdom that the public never get to see. The stories come thick and fast... Queens and Kings is a great big treat of a book, written in Worsley's easy prose and informed by her very real scholarship. It is doubtless aimed at the Christmas market... but it is far more than a seasonal gift book.
SUNDAY TIMES
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'Lucy's Worsley's fantastic new book is filled with such nuggets of historical delights...This highly readable and thoughtfully curated history is a testament to Worsley's skill as a communicator, and to the fact that history is never as straightforward as it might seem'
DAILY MAIL
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Rich in fascinating detail and told with warmth, wit and enthusiasm, this is an engaging, accessible history that makes even the most complicated royal family trees easy to follow
WOMAN MAGAZINE
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An engaging and unexpectedly funny romp through the monarchs who lived and died in the five palaces that Worsley oversaw in her 21 years as chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
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What a glorious, glorious book, full of brilliant detail and behind-the-scenes wit and humour. Her scholarship, passion for her subject and deep knowledge is lightly worn - this is history writing at its best. So moreish, I read it in one glorious sitting.
KATE MOSSE
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A history of the British monarchy that only Lucy Worsley could have written: as puckish as it is scholarly, and informed throughout by the experience of having actually lived in a palace.
TOM HOLLAND
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Queens and Kings is history with a uniquely personal touch. Warm, insightful, and full of heart, Worsley has distilled a lifetime of experience into this crowning achievement of a book.
HALLIE RUBENHOLD
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Lucy Worsley is our National Treasure, the Jewel in our royal crown. In this delightful book she traces the story of our royal dynasties and relives her time at Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and the Tower of London. A real gem.
A.N. WILSON
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Lucy Worsley
- Narrator
- Lucy Worsley
- Duration
- 13 hours 41 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9781399748438
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Hodder & Stoughton
- Genre
- European history, Biography: royalty, Memoirs
Synopsis
The wildly engaging new history of the British monarchy from bestselling historian Lucy Worsley.'Fabulously enjoyable... a great big treat of a book.' SUNDAY TIMES'Filled with nuggets of historical delights... highly readable and thoughtfully curated.' DAILY MAIL'A glorious, glorious book, full of brilliant detail and behind-the-scenes wit and humour.' KATE MOSSEWhen it comes to royal history, Lucy Worsley holds all the cardsLucy Worsley has lived and breathed royal history for more than twenty years. As Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, she worked in some of Britain's most famous royal sites, from Hampton Court to the Tower of London, and even lived in one of them herself. Now she takes us behind closed doors to reveal some of the monarchy's best-kept secrets.In Queens and Kings, Lucy brings to life the rulers who have shaped Britain over the last thousand years, from Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II. What emerges is a royal world far stranger, funnier and more surprising than we might think: of intimate love letters, phantom pregnancies, unruly pet monkeys and fatal betrayals. Venturing through haunted staircases and into private bedchambers, she finds the details that make history feel gloriously human.With her trademark warmth and incisive scholarship, Lucy explores the full splendour, scandal and sorrow of royal life. The result is a wildly engaging history of the monarchy from one of our most beloved historians.'A history of the British monarchy that only Lucy Worsley could have written.' TOM HOLLAND'Warm, insightful, and full of heart, Worsley has distilled a lifetime of experience into this crowning achievement of a book.' HALLIE RUBENHOLD------Queens and Kings was a Sunday Times bestseller in the w/c 07-09-2026.
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