What myths do we tell about royal women?

Kate Williams peels back the layers of myth and misconception which shroud the history of royal women - from Cleopatra to Grace Kelly

Published: June 15, 2026 at 11:44 AM

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Have royal women's stories been misconstrued? Speaking to Charlotte Vosper, Kate Williams argues that many of them have been, tracing the lives of a whole host of queens – from Hatshepsut to Queen Victoria – to explore how and why these women have so often been viewed through a particular lens.

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If you’d like to hear more from Kate Williams about the real lives of royal women, check out her HistoryExtra Academy series, in which she takes us on a tour of queens through time across six videos

Authors

Charlotte VosperContent producer

Charlotte Vosper is a content producer at HistoryExtra

Professor Kate Williams

Professor Kate Williams is a historian, author, and broadcaster, and professor of Modern History at Reading University

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