Josephine Wilkinson

Dr Josephine Wilkinson is a historian with a particular interest in 17th-century France, Her books include Louis XIV: The Real King of Versailles (Amberley, 2019) and The Man in the Iron Mask: The Truth about Europe's Most Famous Prisoner (Amberley, 2021)

Simon Ward as the Duke of Buckingham and Faye Dunaway as Milady de Winter in the 1973 film 'The Three Musketeers', 1973

The mystery of the ‘real’ Milady de Winter of The Three Musketeers

Athénaïs de Montespan, one of the official mistresses of Louis XIV, was a suspect in a scandalous plot to murder the French king (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The Affair of the Poisons: who plotted to kill King Louis XIV?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Three Musketeers sitting at a table

The real three musketeers: the historical Athos, Porthos and Aramis (and d’Artagnan) revealed

Illustration of the man in the iron mask standing by the window of his cell and guarded by two musketeers

Unmasking the 'man in the iron mask': do we know the identity of the famous prisoner?

Vaux-le-Vicomte: the inspiration for Louis XIV’s Versailles. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Catherine Howard. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Catherine Howard: The death of innocence. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.