Kings and Queens

Before the rise of democracy, kings and queens ruled the world, their legitimacy to rule resting on blood and God's divine authority.

King Edward VIII's monogram
Edward VIII abdicates

Kings and Queens
A young Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth becomes Queen

Kings and Queens
The British Crown Jewels
Queen Mary I Dies

Kings and Queens
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King James learns of gunpowder plot

Kings and Queens
Painting of Anne Boleyn

8 strange facts about Anne Boleyn

The Mall in London adorned with Union Jacks

Why do British monarchs celebrate Jubilees?
False colour image of Queen Victoria

How different British monarchs celebrated their Jubilees
Windsor Castle under blue sky

10 little known facts about Windsor Castle
Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II smiles during the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Unusual facts about the Queen
Queen Victoria in her official Diamond Jubilee photograph

The 'Godmother of Europe': Queen Victoria's family ties across the continent
Queen Elizabeth II official portrait for 1959 tour

The longest reigning monarchs in history
The Queen's carriage procession makes its way to Buckingham Palace during the Jubilee on June 5, 2012

A history of British Jubilees
King Henry VIII

The 'spare heirs' who were never meant to be king
King Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson on holiday in Yugoslavia, 1936.

6 scandalous royal heirs and playboy princes
KIng William

Surprising facts about England's lesser-known kings and queens
King James I and VI - Portrait attributed to John de Critz, c. 1605

Popery, puritans and witches: The reign of King James I and VI
Invasion of Sicily, 1943

Prince Philip and the Invasion of Sicily
Queen Elizabeth II

15 historical moments in the life and reign of the Queen
Prince Harry

A History of 'common marriages'

Equestrian portrait of Catherine in the Preobrazhensky Regiment's uniform, by Vigilius Eriksen | Public Domain

Catherine the Great and the coup that made her Empress
The 'Darnley' portrait of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I and the Tudor succession crises: 1558 - 1603
The House of Bonaparte: How Napoleon used his family to build an empire

How Napoleon used his family to build an empire
Portrait of Henry VIII of England by Hans Eworth

The killer king: How many people did Henry VIII execute?
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George VI
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George IV
A photograph of a British postage stamp showing Anne of Cleves, one of King Henry 8th's many Wives

Anne of Cleves: Biography
A photograph of an actor in medieval clothes playing the role ofAnne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn: Biography
Charles II

Charles II