The Private Lives of Monarchs

When most people think of Queen Victoria, they think of a woman that's straight-laced and slightly removed from the empire she presides over. But in truth, the queen was a very passionate woman—witty, rebellious, and flirtatious—who defined the Victorian Age. Uncover details from her private life, from her racy medicine cabinet to her delinquent son’s sexual escapades to her alleged trysts with her servants in the years after her beloved Albert passed away.

King Louis XIV was the longest-reigning monarch in European history and built the Palace of Versailles. But what do we really know about the self-proclaimed Sun King? Host Tracy Borman gives us a peek inside the king’s private life, including the sumptuous dishes that were part of his daily 20-course meals, the portraits that served as acts of political propaganda, and the affairs that led to his 18 children.

Charles II is better known for his sexual adventures than for his kingly duties, fathering 17 children with eight different mistresses. He never found true love, but he remained popular with his people for 25 years and ruled through The Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666. Host Tracy Borman takes you behind closed doors, examining the era’s extravagance, mealtimes filled with ritual and ceremony, and a secret tunnel used for royal liaisons.

After mental illness sent George III into a steep decline, Parliament handed power down to his son, the Prince Regent, a lascivious, hard-drinking, heavy-gambling bully. Soon afterwards, England’s Georgian Era came to a disastrous end. What is the true story behind these two kings? We uncover new analyses that are changing long-held theories about “Mad” King George’s condition and reveal how George IV’s redesigns of Buckingham Palace made it the royal residence we know today.

The popular image of Henry VIII is that of an overweight tyrant with multiple wives and an obsession with fathering a son and heir. But there’s another side to his story— that of a youthful, chivalrous king capable of great tenderness and love. Host Tracy Borman reveals the real Henry VIII, a Renaissance man who made England fantastically wealthy before a tragic accident transformed him into the infamous monarch we know today.

Princess Margaret, famed younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, was a fashion icon, a drinker, a smoker, and someone who broke the royal mold. The British tabloids loved her, but they also gave a false impression of the princess. She was also a compassionate woman, a lover of music, and the patron or president of over 80 organizations and charities. We go behind closed doors examine the private life of Margaret, detail the real reasons her marriage to Lord Snowden broke down, and uncover a secret that was only revealed after her death.