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Sir Thomas Wyatt was more than a courtier with a gift for words. He was a man whose life unfolded against the turbulent backdrop of Henry VIII’s reign — a world of shifting alliances, dangerous intrigue, and sudden reversals of fortune. Though best remembered today for introducing the sonnet into English literature, Wyatt was also a diplomat, a one time prisoner of the Tower of London, and a figure whose personal story has long been entangled with that of Anne Boleyn. Thomas’s life shows us a vivid window into the volatile world of Tudor England, so lets explore his story!

Owen Tudor was a Welsh courtier whose marriage to Queen Catherine of Valois—widow of Henry V—quietly reshaped English royal history in a way that he could never have guessed, for through that union, Owen became the grandfather of the Tudor dynasty. His son Edmund would marry a daughter of the house of Lancaster, uniting the Tudors with the house of Plantagenet, so what are their stories?

Queen Mary I is England’s first true queen regnant, and yet her reign is invariably considered a mere blip in the wider Tudor story, a short lived window in which an intolerant zealot went around burning people alive with undiluted pleasure. The truth is, of course, far more complex. Many misconceptions surround Queen Mary I, and so to unpack them I am pleased to welcome back Dr Peter Stiffell onto the podcast. From his annoyance at the term Mary Tudor, to Mary’s own commitment to the good treatment of her household, to one of the most controversial topics, Mary’s pregnancies, in this episode we will uproot much of what people think they know of Mary’s reign, and so prepare to hopefully have some of your opinions altered!

I have spent a great deal of my time in the past few years enmeshed among the Pole family, a family who experienced great highs and colossal lows during the reign of the Tudors, and yet within that family there are two quieter figures, a mother and daughter, who managed to not only avoid scandal directly, but thrive. They were Lady Ursula Stafford, nee Pole and her eldest daughter Lady Dorothy Stafford, so what was Ursula's story and how, in the end, did Dorothy manage to honour the great family they were born to, in a way their noisier male counterparts failed to do?

Given the brevity of her time as queen of England, we often overlook the fact that Anne of Cleves was indeed that, a queen, and thus her tenure came with all of the benefits, mores and facets of queenship just as much as it did for the many other queens of Henry VIII. We seldom explore what kind of queen she was, how did she spend her money, was she a good landlady, was she a good queen?! Well to discuss all of this and more, I am pleased to welcome back James Taffe onto the podcast for a discussion based on his latest book, Accounting for Anne, The Tudor Queen who could have been, so, settle in to find out precisely what kind of queen she was!

Last week I explored the life of Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter. Well today, I turn my attention to his son, a man who spent most of his life waiting for a destiny that never came. He was the great-grandson of a king. A cousin to three monarchs. And yet, he would spend fifteen years locked in the Tower of London… only to die in exile, far from home. This is the story of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon — a man born too royal for safety, and too dangerous to be trusted.

The Tudors are perhaps our most famous royal dynasty, everyone knows that Henry VIII had six wives and that he had two of them made a head shorter, we all know Lizzie the first loved fashion and spent loads, or did she, was it in fact another queen for whom the term shopaholic would apply? Today, I am pleased to welcome back historian Elizabeth Goff onto the podcast for a discussion based around her very first book, coming out next month, Bloody Brilliant Tudors, 100 tales of gowns, gossip and gory ends. Sadly we can’t cover 100 stories, and so I hand picked 20 to discuss, from the surprising role the groom of the stool performed to two of Jane Seymour's ladies in waiting turning up for work in completely the wrong clothes to Elizabeth I stuffing her cheeks with silk, all will be discussed, so settle in for a thoroughly fun jaunt through some of the more random or overlooked parts of our favourite and often bonkers royal dynasty!

Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter — a man who was not merely Henry VIII’s subject, but his blood-kin, his childhood companion, and in a quiet, deeply dangerous sense, his rival. For Courtenay was every bit, if not more royal, than Henry VIII. This would eventually be his undoing, and like so many others, Courtenay would lost his life on the executioners scaffold, ostensibly for little more than the blood in his veins, so, what was his story?

In this, the first episode of the year I am pleased to be welcoming Craig Lightoller onto the podcast for the first time. Craig is a historical re-enactor and a playwright. He is here today to speak about his upcoming play, The Falcon’s Last Flight, in which Craig will play King Henry VIII. This play dares to ask the question, what would a conversation between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn on the eve of Anne’s execution have looked like. Playing Anne Boleyn opposite Craig is Karen L Davies. In this chat, Craig explains the basis for the play, what viewers can expect to see, how it strips away king and queen, refocusing them as two human beings whose legendary relationship altered the course of history.

Hello and welcome back to my subscriber episodes for 2026. First out of the gate, I explore the examinations that Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury underwent which eventually led to her arrest and later execution. Margaret was questioned repeatedly and at times, aggressively, but the tough old broad bested her captors at every corner, shutting their nonsense down while remaining a drain on her captors resources. So, what was Margaret actually asked, how did she respond and what can we learn about her from this terrifying window of her life?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and so it was for the Tudors as well. Yes, its Christmas, and so I thought it would be the ideal opportunity to examine how the Tudors spent the most festive time of year. To join me, I am pleased to welcome back Tudor food and gardening historian, Brigitte Webster onto the podcast. She and I examine how the Tudors decorated the home, from the poorest of subjects right up to the royal family, we look into some of the major foods popular across the Tudor period, explore some traditions and also delve into what aspects of Tudor Christmas are still very much part of the way we celebrate today!

To Protestants, he was a monster. To Catholics, a servant of order. To the Tudor state, a useful instrument. History remembers him by a nickname: “Bloody Bonner.” But who was Edmund Bonner really? A sadistic persecutor? A loyal bureaucrat caught in an age of violence? Or a man whose reputation grew darker than his deeds?

Most of us can agree that Anne Boleyn was perhaps the most controversial woman to ever sit on the throne of England, but, her life has rarely been examined through a legal lens, until now. Today, historian Heather explains why religious reform and the break from Rome not only predate Anne Boleyn but the Tudors all together, why and how Anne Boleyn regularly broke the law and, perhaps most interestingly of all, why Heather firmly believes that even if Anne Boleyn had given birth to a son, that Henry would still have got rid of her, and that it would have been death. Controversial I know, but carry on listening to find out why.

Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus was head of the mighty Douglas family, and one of the most influential, polarizing, and complicated Scottish nobles of his era. A man whose marriage to Queen Margaret Tudor, the widowed queen of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII, would embroil him in a tangle of royal politics, betrayal, and near constant danger. A man who spent decades navigating the treacherous waters of Scottish factionalism, English interference, and the shifting loyalties of kings, so, what is his story?

Reginald Pole started out as a man who Henry VIII sponsored and celebrated, but soon turned on the king, becoming an outright and vocal critic of his all too bloody reign. To discuss Reginald with me, I am pleased to welcome historian Dr Helen Hyde onto the podcast for a discussion based around her recent book, The King’s Traitor, Reginald Pole and the Tudors. We explore Reginald's early life, his position as an arch enemy of Henry VIII, his very close bond to Queen Mary I and even his friendship with none other than Michelangelo himself!