Royal children

Pregnant woman before giving birth in the 13th century

16 things you (probably) didn’t know about the rituals behind royal births, from the medieval era to the present day

Brothers in arms Louis IX on his way to the Seventh Crusade, 1248. The French king kept his three brothers onside – preventing any potential family infighting – by providing them with huge lordships. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

How to run a medieval dynasty: survival secrets of ruling royal families

Josephine Baker with her adopted children. She called them the ‘Rainbow Tribe’. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Memorable mothers: history’s most remarkable mums

Charles and Camilla, 1979

Prince Charles and Camilla: a history of their romance

Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown S4 E8 real history: why did Margaret Thatcher & the Queen clash over apartheid in South Africa?

Diana, Princess of Wales, played by Emma Corrin in Netflix's 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E6 real history: Charles and Diana’s 1983 royal tour of Australia & the start of ‘Dianamania’

Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II and Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown S4 E4 real history: mothers in the spotlight and the ‘favourite’ royal child

Emma Corrin as Princess Diana on her wedding day in 'The Crown' S4. (Photo by Netflix)

Historian Sarah Gristwood reviews The Crown season 4: “We’ve reached the issue of how fiction influences opinion in the real world”

Prince Charles in 1969

In profile: Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales

Making a splash: Diana relishes taking her sons on a water ride at the Thorpe Park theme park in 1993. William has since recalled how his mother loved

Princess Diana: a “modern” mother who ripped up the rule book

c1952: Queen Elizabeth II with a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne in the grounds of Balmoral Castle, Scotland. (Photo by Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II: mother, monarch, matriarch

Diana and Charles in Canada, 1986

Charles and Diana: a history of their marriage

Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo by PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

The lost heirs of Henry VIII: Alison Weir on Katherine of Aragon’s failed pregnancies

Queen Victoria with her children and grandchildren

The marriages of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren: how the dynasty shaped Europe

Cast of the Crown vs their real life counterparts. Top (right to left): actors Gillian Anderson, Olivia Colman, Emma Corrin. Bottom: Margaret Thatcher, Elizabeth II, Princess Diana. (Photos by Netflix/Getty Images)

The Crown S4 cast: which real historical figures feature in season four of Netflix’s royal drama – and what did they really look like?