Queens and Kings

Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781399748407

Price: £25

ON SALE: 3rd September 2026

Genre: Biography: Royalty / European History / Memoirs

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THE BRAND-NEW BOOK FROM SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR LUCY WORSLEY: AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW

‘What a glorious, glorious book, full of brilliant detail and behind-the-scenes wit and humour. Her scholarship, passion for her subject and deep knowledge is lightly worn – this is history writing at its best. So moreish, I read it in one glorious sitting.’
KATE MOSSE

‘A history of the British monarchy that only Lucy Worsley could have written: as puckish as it is scholarly, and informed throughout by the experience of having actually lived in a palace’
TOM HOLLAND

Queens and Kings is history with a uniquely personal touch. Warm, insightful, and full of heart, Worsley has distilled a lifetime of experience into this crowning achievement of a book.’
HALLIE RUBENHOLD

‘Lucy Worsley is our National Treasure, the Jewel in our royal crown. In this delightful book she traces the story of our royal dynasties and relives her time at Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and the Tower of London. A real gem.’
A.N. WILSON


For twenty years Lucy Worsley had what she calls ‘the best job in the world’: Chief Curator at Hampton
Court, the Tower of London and Kensington Palace, ‘leading the presentation, appearance, development and appropriate use of the palaces including their contents and grounds’.

Now, in her most personal book yet, she takes us behind those palace walls into a thousand years of history, sharing how she became familiar with the princesses and princes, courtiers and servants who’d walked those corridors and cloisters before her, from Anne Boleyn to Princess Margaret.

With her trademark warmth and scholarship, Lucy gives us a different perspective on royal life over the centuries, introducing us not only to its pageantry but also its pain, particularly for women.

Prepare to be enthralled and enlightened as Lucy reveals the plots, passion and power at the heart of Britain’s royal past.

Reviews

What a glorious, glorious book, full of brilliant detail and behind-the-scenes wit and humour. Her scholarship, passion for her subject and deep knowledge is lightly worn - this is history writing at its best. So moreish, I read it in one glorious sitting.
KATE MOSSE
A history of the British monarchy that only Lucy Worsley could have written: as puckish as it is scholarly, and informed throughout by the experience of having actually lived in a palace.
TOM HOLLAND
Queens and Kings is history with a uniquely personal touch. Warm, insightful, and full of heart, Worsley has distilled a lifetime of experience into this crowning achievement of a book.
HALLIE RUBENHOLD
Lucy Worsley is our National Treasure, the Jewel in our royal crown. In this delightful book she traces the story of our royal dynasties and relives her time at Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and the Tower of London. A real gem.
A.N. WILSON