Royal Family

Anne Boleyn was the only Tudor figure beheaded with a sword instead of an ax.

Why Henry VIII Orchestrated Every Detail of Anne Boleyn's Execution

The Tudor king had his disgraced queen killed by beheading rather than burning

17-year-old Reece Pickering found one of just three surviving silver pennies dated to Harold II's reign.

Two British Teens Using Metal Detectors Discovered 1,000-Year-Old Coins

One of the coins is a silver penny dated to Harold II's brief reign in 1066. The other dates to the time of Henry I

The second season of "The Spanish Princess" presents a highly dramatized version of the Battle of Flodden. In actuality, the queen (seen here in a c. 1520 portrait) never rode directly into battle.

When Catherine of Aragon Led England's Armies to Victory Over Scotland

In 1513, Henry VIII's first queen—acting as regent in her husband's absence—secured a major triumph at the Battle of Flodden

The Golden Coach, as seen during Budget Day celebrations in 2011

Why Is the Dutch Royal Family's Golden Carriage So Controversial?

Critics say the coach, which is set to go on view at a museum next June, features racist, colonialist imagery

L-shaped foundations of the medieval Great Sacristy, as seen from the roof of Westminster Abbey

Lost Medieval Sacristy, Burial Grounds Unearthed at Westminster Abbey

Demolished in the 1740s, the 13th-century structure once housed the church's altar linens, chalices and other sacred items

George IV commissioned architect John Nash to design Buckingham Palace's picture gallery as a home for his art collection.

Buckingham Palace's Art Collection to Be Exhibited in Public Gallery for First Time

The 65 works set to go on view include masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Titian

Henry VIII likely commissioned this painting of the Field of Cloth of Gold toward the end of his reign.

When Henry VIII and Francis I Spent $19 Million on an 18-Day Party

Five hundred years ago, the English and French kings proclaimed their friendship—and military might—at the Field of Cloth of Gold

One of the interior passages of the 5,000-year-old Irish megalithic tomb of Newgrange. In this photo, sunlight enters the monument's main chamber at dawn on the winter solstice.

DNA Extracted From Ancient 'Irish Pharaoh' May Reveal Royal Incest

New analysis of elite man buried in Stone Age monument suggests he was the product of either a brother-sister or parent-child pairing

A Labrador retriever, but you probably knew that already, given that this pooch is America's most popular breed

Labrador Tops Most Popular Dog Breed List for 29th Year in a Row

The rankings stay much the same from year to year, but in 2019, Pembroke Welsh corgis broke the top ten for the first time

Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward outside of Government House in Nassau, the Bahamas, circa 1942

Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson's Sprawling Bahamas Estate Is Up for Sale

After abdicating the British throne, Edward was appointed governor of the Bahamas, where he temporarily lived in a lavish home in Nassau

That Mary consigned some 280 Protestants to the flames is both indisputable and indefensible. But as historians have increasingly argued, this number is just one element of a much larger story that warrants contextualization.

The Myth of 'Bloody Mary'

History remembers the English queen as a murderous monster, but the real story of Mary I is far more nuanced

Researchers conducting excavations near Bath Abbey have uncovered the remains of an apse dated to between the late eighth and late tenth centuries.

Newly Unearthed Anglo-Saxon Monastery May Have Hosted England's First Coronation

In the millennia since Edgar the Peaceful's 973 coronation, the content of the royal ceremony has remained largely the same

The tangled history of Scottish independence features such figures as William Wallace, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Mary, Queen of Scots.

A Not-So-Brief History of Scottish Independence

This primer covers Scottish sovereignty from the Roman era to the Jacobite revolts, the 2014 referendum and Brexit

Marcus Gheeraerts II, Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1620

The Evolution of Pregnancy Portraits, From Tudor England to Beyoncé

A new show at the Foundling Museum in London highlights artists' depictions of pregnant women over the past 500 years

Featuring Richard III, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, George III and more

Ten Things We've Learned About Britain's Monarchs in the Past Ten Years

From Richard III to Mary, Queen of Scots, and George III, these were the royal revelations detailed during the 2010s

Researchers analyzed 75,688 convict tattoos cataloged in the Digital Panopticon database.

The Victorian Tattooing Craze Started With Convicts and Spread to the Royal Family

A new series of data visualizations offers insights on the practice's historical significance

A portrait (by Juan Carreño de Miranda) of Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburg kings, and his father, Philip IV (painted by Diego Velázquez, of whom the king was a patron). Both men had prominent jaws, which a new study concludes is most likely the result of the family's inbreeding.

The Distinctive ‘Habsburg Jaw’ Was Likely the Result of the Royal Family’s Inbreeding

New research finds correlation between how inbred rulers of a notoriously intermarrying dynasty were and the prominence of their jutting jaw

Helpers fill sandbags on the tip above the shattered Pantglas Junior School to divert a spring and avert the risk of further landslides at Aberfan, South Wales.

The True Story of the Aberfan Disaster

The 1966 Welsh mining tragedy claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults and features heavily in the third season of Netflix's "The Crown"

One of the three Armada portraits of Queen Elizabeth I

Three Portraits of Victorious Elizabeth I to Be Displayed Together for the First Time

The paintings were created in the wake of England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada

Henry V's nine-year reign saw a flourishing of royal authority and military action but ended abruptly with his untimely death in 1422

The True Story of Henry V, England’s Warrior King

The new biopic “The King” finds Timothée Chalamet tracing Henry’s evolution from wayward prince to heroic warrior

Page 3 of 7