Curated playlist
Knights of the Garter
- Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway in 2023 after 13,981 performances.
- William, Prince of WalesAt 9:03 pm on the 21st of June 1982, William Arthur Philip Louis was born at St Mary's Hospital in London. He was the first direct heir to the British throne to be born in a hospital. Today he is William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to…
- Henry VIIIHenry VIII broke England from Rome after the pope would not annul his first marriage.
- Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill escaped a prisoner-of-war camp in Pretoria by hiding on freight trains. It made him famous.
- Charles II of EnglandCharles II was received in London on the 29th of May 1660, which happened to be his 30th birthday. The crowds met the returning king with public acclaim. He would go on to rule England, Scotland and Ireland until 1685. Contemporaries found…
- Richard III of EnglandRichard III's skeleton was found under a car park in Leicester. The king had been buried there in 1485.
- Harold WilsonAt ten, Harold Wilson told his mother he would be prime minister. He went on to win four general elections.
- Edward VIIIEdward VIII, King of the United Kingdom, ended his reign with a voice on the radio. On the night of the 11th of December 1936 he spoke to listeners around the world. He told them he had found it "impossible to carry the heavy burden of…
- George VIGeorge VI, known to his family as Bertie, wrote an anguished line in his diary about the day before his brother gave up the crown. He had gone to London to tell his mother, Queen Mary, what had happened. His entry read: "When I told her…
- Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of NorthumberlandThomas Percy refused to renounce Catholicism to save his life on a York scaffold in 1572.
- John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandJohn Dudley's "wicked Duke" label was largely built because Queen Mary needed a villain.
- Charles V, Holy Roman EmperorCharles V was born during a ball in Ghent in 1500. He ruled more of the world than any Christian monarch before.
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonWellington's mother called him her "awkward son Arthur." He later defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
- William III of EnglandWilliam III of England was born eight days after his father died. He was already a prince from his first breath.
- Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetA king's marriage to his sister made Edward Seymour ruler of England. He governed for a nine-year-old king.
- William Cecil, 1st Baron BurghleyWilliam Cecil signed a document barring Elizabeth from the throne, then served her as chief adviser.
- James VI and IJames VI and I was already a king at thirteen months old. His mother was forced out and his father was murdered.
- Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of LeicesterQueen Elizabeth I kept a letter from Robert Dudley until she died. She labeled it "his last letter" in her own hand.
- Edward IIIEdward III seized power at 17 by capturing Roger Mortimer at Nottingham Castle. Mortimer was executed.
- Benjamin DisraeliBenjamin Disraeli bought a controlling stake in the Suez Canal within days in 1875.
- Edward VIIEdward VII was barely a month old on the 8th of December 1841 when he was created Prince of Wales. He would carry that title until the 22nd of January 1901, a span of 59 years and 45 days. No heir in British history had waited so long, and…
- Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha never wore a crown, yet the clerk of the Privy Council, Charles Greville, once wrote of him: "He is King to all intents and purposes." Albert was the husband of Queen Victoria, and Greville's line…
- Francis I of FranceFrancis I became king of France because three men ahead of him died without sons. He was crowned in 1515 at age twenty.
- Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexOne account says the Earl of Essex walked in on Queen Elizabeth not yet properly wigged or gowned.
- Maximilian I, Holy Roman EmperorMaximilian I was Holy Roman Emperor for years but was never crowned by a Pope. He held the title from 1508 to 1519.
- Clement AttleeClement Attlee told the King, "I've won the election," and the King replied that he already knew.
- Henry II of FranceHenry II of France died from a splinter of wood. A shattered lance drove a fragment into his eye at a 1559 tournament.
- Bernard MontgomeryBernard Law Montgomery lay in an open field at Méteren on the 13th of October 1914, shot through the right lung by a sniper. The village sits near the Belgian border at Bailleul. Montgomery was a young officer of the Royal Warwickshire…
- George IIIGeorge III was born on the 4th of June 1738 at Norfolk House in St James's Square, London, two months too early. Nobody expected the baby to live, so a bishop baptised him within hours, on the very day he was born. The infant nobody…
- Henry V of EnglandHenry V of England was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the 9th of April 1413, in the middle of a terrible snowstorm. Onlookers could not decide whether the weather was a good omen or a bad one. That uncertainty suited a king whose…
- Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of SalisburyDying Queen Elizabeth I scolded Robert Cecil for telling her she must go to bed. She called him "little man" in 1603.
- Henry Carey, 1st Baron HunsdonHenry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, was dying when Queen Elizabeth I offered to make him Earl of Wiltshire. He refused, and his reply carried a sting: "Madam, as you did not count me worthy of this honour in life, then I shall account myself…
- John Russell, 1st Earl RussellLord John Russell was barely five feet five, and cartoonists mocked him for it. He still reshaped British democracy.
- Sigismund, Holy Roman EmperorSigismund wore six crowns, yet the male line of his family died out with him. He was Holy Roman Emperor.
- Charles I of EnglandCharles I wore two shirts to his own execution. It was bitter cold, and he feared shivering would look like fear.
- Nicholas Carew (Henry VIII courtier)Sir Nicholas Carew grew up inside the royal household, placed there at the age of six to share the education of the future King Henry VIII. For three decades he would remain one of the most recognizable figures at the Tudor court, a knight…
- Richard II of EnglandRichard II of England was born in the Archbishop's Palace of Bordeaux on the 6th of January 1367. Contemporary sources claimed that three kings were present at the birth: "the King of Castile, the King of Navarre and the King of Portugal".…
- Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of NorfolkThe Duke of Norfolk sentenced his own niece Anne Boleyn to death. Thomas Howard presided at her 1536 trial.
- John Howard, 1st Duke of NorfolkA note pinned to his tent warned John Howard not to fight at Bosworth. He rode into battle for Richard III anyway.
- William Paulet, 1st Marquess of WinchesterWilliam Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, was once asked how he had come through so many storms at court not merely unhurt but climbing the whole time. His reply was five words long: "By being a willow, not an oak". The question was…
- Thomas CromwellHenry VIII beheaded Thomas Cromwell, then called him his most faithful servant.
- Henry Percy, 5th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, died in debt despite being one of England's richest nobles.
- Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of SouthamptonShakespeare dedicated two poems to the Earl of Southampton. The earl was sentenced to death in 1601 but freed in 1603.
- Austen ChamberlainAusten Chamberlain won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 but never became prime minister. His half-brother Neville did.
- Manuel I of PortugalManuel I of Portugal was the ninth child of a minor royal branch. Deaths and executions still made him king in 1495.
- Arthur, Prince of WalesPrince Arthur died six months after his wedding, and England's church later split from Rome.
- William KingstonWilliam Kingston helped crown Anne Boleyn, then guarded her in the Tower. He took custody of her on the 2nd of May 1536.
- Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon died on the 60th anniversary of the battle that killed his father.
- Lord MountbattenLord Mountbatten sat alone in his study at the Viceroy's House as midnight arrived on the 15th of August 1947. India and Pakistan were becoming independent nations, and he reflected that for a few minutes more he remained the most powerful…
- Henry Percy, 6th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Percy sat on Anne Boleyn's jury in 1536 and collapsed at the verdict. He had once been betrothed to her.