The Tudor Chest Podcast

Elizabeth I in Film - A look back and Review

She's been played by everyone from Bette Davis to Glenda Jackson, Cate Blanchett to Helen Mirren. Elizabeth I is a staple for both the big and small screen, but which of the many depictions of her is the best? Which comes closest to telling the truth of this most iconic of queens and which fail to capture the essence of the last Tudor sovereign?

Tudor Myths and Legends versus the Facts

Anne Boleyn had six fingers and was a witch, Henry VIII had syphilis, Anne of Cleves was ugly - lies, lies lies, so where did they start and why? In this weeks episode of the Tudor Chest podcast I examine some of the common myths and legends from Tudor England and where possible, refute them!

Elizabeth of York - The First Tudor Queen

Born to the captivating Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York was the greatest heiress in England and sister to the "Prince's in the Tower". Her marriage to Henry Tudor brought the Wars of the Roses to its close and established the new Tudor dynasty, but who was the real woman and why is her story seldom explored at any length?

Becca Segovia - Royalty Now - The Studio bringing the past back to Life

Becca Segovia is a graphic designer who has taken the history world by storm thanks to her truly magnificent digital recreations of some of histories most iconic characters, from Anne Boleyn to Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc to Edward IV, Becca's work is a stunning example of using technology to bring to life faces from our past!

Christmas with the Tudors with Dr James Taffe

It's the most magical time of the year for millions around the world, but how did the Tudors spend Christmas? What food did they eat? How did they exchange gifts? Well to answer these questions plus much more, I am thrilled to welcome Dr James Taffe, historian and author of his brand new book "Christmas with the Tudors". 

Queen Catherine Parr with Dr Elizabeth Norton

Thomas Cromwell: King Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant

He is one of the most controversial and often villainised figures from Tudor England, but irrelevant of what people may think, Thomas Cromwell was a staggeringly effective statesman's who totally transformed the landscape of English politics and governance. He oversaw the downfall of Queen Anne Boleyn and the dissolution of the monasteries, only to suffer his own fall from grace in 1540, but who was the real man, and why was he one of the very few people who King Henry VIII freely admitted regret at destroying?

Ursula Pole, Baroness Stafford - The Forgotten Plantagenet Daughter

She was the sole daughter of a royal countess, Margaret Pole, and thus a great-niece of two of England's kings, Edward IV and Richard III, and yet Ursula Pole, Baroness Stafford's life is seldom explored at length. She would manage to avoid involvement in the scandal that tore her family apart, living twelve years into the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but who was she, this long forgotten daughter of the house of Plantagenet?

Hans Holbein - The Window into the Court of Henry VIII

He is the man to whom all historians and fans of Tudor England owe an enormous debt. Without the work of Hans Holbein, we wouldn't know what practically all the key players of King Henry VIII's court looked like. As a fabulous new exhibition is launched at the Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace, featuring many of Holbeins original sketches, portraits and creations, there is no more apposite time than to look back at the life of this most iconic Tudor artist, the man who gave us a front row seat to the court of King Henry VIII.

The Life and Death of Queen Katheryn Howard

She was the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. Plucked from relative obscurity, Katheryn Howard would reign for just eighteen months before a scandalous affair engulfed the court and ended with the teenage queen becoming the second of Henry VIII's queens to lose her head on the executioners scaffold, but is Katheryn really the airhead history has led us to believe, or was she a victim, brought down by power politics and salacious gossip?