Skip to content
Curated category

Knights of the Garter

  • Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber walked into Her Majesty's Theatre on the 11th of February 2012 to mark a milestone that no Broadway show had ever reached: the 10,000th…
  • Henry VIIIHenry VIII once dressed all in yellow, with a white feather in his bonnet, the day after he learned that Catherine of Aragon had died.
  • Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill was born on the 30th of November 1874 inside Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home his family had held for generations in Oxfordshire.
  • Richard III of EnglandRichard III was born on the 2nd of October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the youngest of twelve children to survive infancy, and he died…
  • Harold WilsonHarold Wilson was born on the 11th of March 1916 on Warneford Road, in the mill town of Huddersfield, to a family that already breathed politics.
  • Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of NorthumberlandThomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, stood on a scaffold in York on the 22nd of August 1572 and refused to save his own life.
  • John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandJohn Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, died on the 22nd of August 1553 with a curious phrase on his lips: "I have deserved a thousand deaths." He had just…
  • Charles V, Holy Roman EmperorCharles V was born during a ball in Ghent on the 24th of February 1500, and before he drew his last breath he had ruled more of the world than any Christian…
  • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was born in Dublin in 1769 as the sixth of nine children, and died in 1852 holding the rank of Field Marshal and…
  • William III of EnglandWilliam III of England was born eight days after his father died. That timing shaped everything. When stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange died of…
  • Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, rose from a minor English noble family to become the effective ruler of England for two years, all because his sister…
  • William Cecil, 1st Baron BurghleyWilliam Cecil arrived in the world on the 13th of September 1520 within the quiet village of Bourne, Lincolnshire. His father Sir Richard Cecil owned the…
  • James VI and IJames VI and I was born on the 19th of June 1566 inside Edinburgh Castle, the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
  • Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of LeicesterRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, was buried with a letter. Queen Elizabeth I had received it six days before his death on the 4th of September 1588, and…
  • Edward IIIEdward III was born at Windsor Castle on the 13th of November 1312, and a contemporary prophecy described him as "the boar that would come out of Windsor".
  • Benjamin DisraeliBenjamin Disraeli climbed what he called "the top of the greasy pole" to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, not once but twice, despite arriving at…
  • Francis I of FranceFrancis I of France was born on the 12th of September 1494, in a château in the town of Cognac, and from the moment he arrived, his path to the throne was…
  • Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexRobert Devereux entered the world on the 10th of November 1565 at Netherwood in Herefordshire. He was the eldest son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex…
  • Maximilian I, Holy Roman EmperorMaximilian I was born at Wiener Neustadt on the 22nd of March 1459, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III and Eleanor of Portugal.
  • Clement AttleeClement Attlee walked into Buckingham Palace on the 26th of July 1945 to be appointed Prime Minister. King George VI stood waiting.
  • Henry II of FranceHenry II of France died from a splinter of wood. On the 30th of June 1559, a jousting tournament was held near the Place des Vosges to celebrate a hard-won…
  • Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of SalisburyRobert Cecil stood barely five feet tall with a spine curved by scoliosis. Queen Elizabeth I called him my pygmy while King James I nicknamed him my little…
  • Henry Carey, 1st Baron HunsdonHenry Carey entered the world on the 4th of March 1526 as the second child of William Carey and Mary Boleyn. His mother was the sister of Anne Boleyn, who…
  • John Russell, 1st Earl RussellJohn Russell, 1st Earl Russell stood barely five feet five inches tall, and his political opponents never let him forget it.
  • Sigismund, Holy Roman EmperorSigismund of Luxembourg was born on the 15th of February 1368 and died on the 9th of December 1437 -- a man who wore so many crowns that keeping track of…
  • Charles I of EnglandCharles I walked to his own execution on the morning of the 30th of January 1649 wearing two shirts. He had chosen them deliberately: the day was bitter…
  • Nicholas Carew (courtier)Nicholas Carew entered the household of the future King Henry VIII at six years old. He shared his education with the boy who would become England's most…
  • Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was born on the 10th of March 1473 and died on the 25th of August 1554, outliving four of the six wives of King Henry…
  • John Howard, 1st Duke of NorfolkJohn Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, rode into the Battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd of August 1485 knowing something was wrong.
  • William Paulet, 1st Marquess of WinchesterWilliam Paulet emerged from the manor of Paulet near Bridgwater in Somerset around 1483 or 1485. His father Sir John Paulet held command against Cornish…
  • Thomas CromwellThomas Cromwell was a blacksmith's son from Putney who died on Tower Hill with his head set on a spike above London Bridge.
  • Henry Percy, 5th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Algernon Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, died in debt at Wressle Castle on the 19th of May 1527 - yet he ranked among the richest magnates in…
  • Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of SouthamptonHenry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, was born on the 6th of October 1573 at Cowdray House in Sussex, and before he turned eight his father was dead…
  • Austen ChamberlainAusten Chamberlain won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, yet never became prime minister. He served in Parliament for 45 years, led his party, and shaped…
  • Manuel I of PortugalManuel I of Portugal died on the 13th of December 1521, with Lisbon gripped by an outbreak of the Black Plague. His court had stayed inside Ribeira Palace as…
  • Arthur, Prince of WalesArthur, Prince of Wales was born on the night of the 19th-the 20th of September 1486 at about one in the morning, and he was dead before he turned sixteen.
  • William KingstonWilliam Kingston received one of the most dangerous commissions a Tudor courtier could be handed: on the 2nd of May 1536, he took Anne Boleyn into his…
  • Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon entered the world in 1484, born into a family defined by loyalty and blood. His father, Sir William Brandon, served as Henry Tudor's…
  • Henry Percy, 6th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Percy entered the household of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey as a young page, learning the ways of aristocratic society in the early 1500s.
  • Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of WiltshireHe was born in about 1477 at Hever Castle in Kent. His father Sir William Boleyn had purchased Blickling Hall in Norfolk from his own father Sir Geoffrey…
  • Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and SomersetHenry FitzRoy entered the world in June 1519, born to Henry VIII and his mistress Elizabeth Blount. The timing of this birth was calculated with precision to…
  • Frederick II of DenmarkOn the 1st of July 1534, a boy named Frederick was born inside Haderslevhus Castle. His father Christian III had just become King of Denmark three days…