A pleasant surprise (2006)

In a UKTV History (now Yesterday) programme My Famous Family, presented by Bill Oddie, the nurse Rachael Corfield was revealed to be of Plantagenet descent, via Margaret Countess of Salisbury, whose great-granddaughter Catherine Hastings married Henry Clinton, the second Earl of Lincoln. She was, therefore, shown to be a cousin of Queen Victoria.

Medieval (sic) Murder Mysteries

This is a six-part series, first shown on “Yesterday” (a UKTV channel) in 2015 but is available to view on their website here. The producers used pathologists, coroners, historians, barristers and other writers to form their conclusions, some of which are more reliable than others. The first episode, which surely misses the mediaeval timescale, is…

“World’s Greatest Palaces” …

… is another excellent series on the “Yesterday” Channel. Last night I watched the fourth episode, about Kensington, the influence of architects such as Wren and Hawksmoor, the evolution of the building, the creation of the Serpentine Lake and the monarchs and their relatives who have lived there. These include William III and Mary II,…

Hey, Richard II and St Edward the Confessor are one and the same…!

  I have just watched a truly aggravating documentary from this 2014 series. In particular the episode called “Secrets of Westminster”. It starts with the tomb of Edward the Confessor…for which they show the correct tomb, yes, but then include a lot of lingering close-ups of the tomb effigy of Richard II. The implication is, it seems,…

The treacherous Welshman who supposedly killed Richard III….!

  A few days ago I watched a TV documentary about Rhys ap Thomas, The Man Who Killed Richard III. It made my Welsh blood boil! The man was a bullying, thieving snake, not a hero! Anyway, here is the TV company’s blurb:- “Who killed Richard III? http://www.historychannel.com.au/shows/man-killed-richard-iii/ “This is a story of conspiracy and…