HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-03-13T17:31:05.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: What did Anne Boleyn REALLY look like? Our new research could change everything
items: Could this civil war have toppled England? The battle for Dover Castle
items: What Was Life REALLY like in a Medieval Castle? The truth about castle living
items: Windsor Castle | Royal residences: secrets and scandals
items: From tragic Tudor queens to restless Roman soldiers: Britain's 8 most haunted houses
items: Is this England’s MOST GRUESOME castle?
items: Why you should avoid hair-pulling, and cannibalism, at royal banquets
items: Whitehall Palace | Royal residences: secrets and scandals
items: Buckingham Palace | Royal residences: secrets and scandals
items: Hampton Court | Royal residences: secrets and scandals

What did Anne Boleyn REALLY look like? Our new research could change everything
type: item
date: 2026-03-13T17:30:55.000Z
creator: Dr Owen Emmerson
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: British queens
subject: Henry VIII's wives
subject: Royal weddings
subject: Tudor kings and queens
description: Dark or brunette? Fair or swarthy? A paragon of beauty or a refined charmer? Our picture of Henry VIII’s ill-fated second queen has become distorted over five centuries – but new research by Owen Emmerson and others comes closer to revealing her true appearance
encoded: Close your eyes and picture Anne Boleyn. Chances are you can conjure up a pretty clear and detailed image in your imagination – because few figures in English history seem as visually familiar as Henry VIII’s second queen. Representations of her face appear everywhere: in films, television dramas and novels, in museum gift shops and digital reconstructions. She is often depicted in popular culture as an elegant brunette whose sophistication distinguishes her from others at court. Over time, this image has hardened into something close to fact. Anne Boleyn, we are told, was devastatingly beautiful. Yet this certainty is built on fragile foundations, and surviving evidence provides a less concrete understanding of Anne’s appearance. No formal painted portraits from life survive today, though images in a number of smaller, more intimate formats – particularly miniatures – are candidates for having captured her true likeness based on contemporary encounters. The more-familiar portraits featuring the now-iconic ‘B’ pendant necklace, meanwhile, were likely created decades later, influenced by politics, artistic convention and hindsight. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/03/DXFXNM-38bec64-e1773309603951.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A woman with long dark braids, wearing a white period-style gown, sits on a cushioned bed and gently holds a baby wrapped in richly patterned blue and gold fabric. Dark wooden furniture and white bedding frame the intimate, historical-feeling scene" title="Natalie Dormer played Anne Boleyn in the television series The Tudors, which perpetuated modern ideas of the ill-fated queen as a dark-haired beauty (Image by Alamy)" /> For generations, historians assumed that any accurate representations created during Anne’s life had been lost altogether, erased after her execution in 1536 on the orders of Henry VIII. That story is compelling, but it is wrong. My research – which underpins Capturing a Queen: T…

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Could this civil war have toppled England? The battle for Dover Castle
type: item
date: 2026-01-23T12:07:51.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove, FSA
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: Bad kings, backstabbing barons and the battle for Dover Castle. Find out more about the siege that saved medieval England
encoded: Is the battle for Dover Castle the siege that saved medieval England? Often called 'the forgotten invasion', life for the average English person would look very different now if this fortress had fallen to the French in 1216–17. In 2024, English Heritage opened an interactive exhibition, Dover Castle Under Siege. HistoryExtra’s David Musgrove spoke to senior properties historian Paul Pattison to find out more. View Green Video on the source website

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What Was Life REALLY like in a Medieval Castle? The truth about castle living
type: item
date: 2025-11-27T08:59:42.000Z
creator: Elinor Evans
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: Moats, murder holes and massive feasts – the HistoryExtra team visited Farleigh Hungerford Castle to find out more about life in a medieval castle
encoded: Was life in medieval castles as luxurious as the films and TV shows imagine? The HistoryExtra team travelled to Farleigh Hungerford, a historical site managed by English Heritage in southwest England, to find out. View Green Video on the source website

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Windsor Castle | Royal residences: secrets and scandals
type: item
date: 2025-11-19T12:21:52.000Z
creator: Professor Kate Williams
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
description: In the eighth episode of Royal Residences: Secrets and Scandals, Professor Kate Williams explores the history of Windsor Castle – a site of imprisonment, civil war, royal marriages, and tragic deaths
encoded: How did a Norman fortress become the world’s most iconic royal residence? King John retreated here before signing Magna Carta; Henry VIII dismissed Catherine of Aragon from Windsor as he began his break with Rome; and Queen Elizabeth I hid out from plague and political threats. Join Professor Kate Williams, historian and broadcaster, as she explores Windsor’s significance through the ages. A site of imprisonment, civil war, royal marriages, and tragic deaths, it housed the crown jewels in a biscuit tin during WWII, and served as a safe haven for princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, who once even used George IV’s sedan chair as a prop in their production of a pantomime. Windsor Castle isn't just a building; it is the setting for a thousand stories of British royalty, power, pride, tragedy, and reinvention. Find all episodes with Professor Kate Williams View Green Video on the source website

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From tragic Tudor queens to restless Roman soldiers: Britain's 8 most haunted houses
type: item
date: 2025-10-30T15:00:03.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: British queens
subject: Castles
subject: Death
subject: Henry VIII's wives
description: From tragic Tudor queens to restless Roman soldiers, Caitlin Blackwell Baines introduces us to the terrifying cast of phantoms said to dwell within the nation’s spookiest homes
encoded: 1. Stirling Castle, Scotland From elusive sea monsters to shrieking banshees, Scotland is home to a host of supernatural beings – including, of course, ghosts. One of their best-known spectral celebrities is the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots, who is said to haunt a staggering 10 properties, making her, perhaps, the best-travelled ghost in the nation. Among her main haunts is Stirling Castle, her childhood home in central Scotland. Perched atop a volcanic crag, surrounded by cliffs overlooking the River Forth, Stirling Castle was constructed in the early 12th century, originally as a military stronghold, acting as a strategic line of defence during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357). However, almost from the very beginning, Stirling was also a favourite royal residence. By the time a young Mary Stuart lived there in the 1540s, it was as much a palace as it was a fortress: her father, James V, had transformed it into one of the most opulent homes in Renaissance Britain. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/10/Stirling-Castle-Bannockburn-1-8d83973.jpg" width="1200" height="960" alt="A large brown castle stands on a tree-covered hill, against a dark grey cloudy sky" title="Stirling Castle is one of several historic buildings said to be haunted by the ghost of Mary, Queen of Scots – the ill-fated monarch who was imprisoned – and executed – upon the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth I (Image by SpookyScotland.net)" /> Whatever happy childhood memories Mary may have had of Stirling would be tainted by the events of 21 April 1567. It was here on this day that the embattled queen would see her infant son (the future King James VI & I) for the last time. Soon after, she was forced to abdicate, flee the country, and eventually, in 1587, she was executed for treason under the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth I. Perhaps it is for this reason that the melancholy monarch returns to the castle, perpetually searching for her long-lost ch…

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Is this England’s MOST GRUESOME castle?
type: item
date: 2025-10-30T09:39:08.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: Ellie Cawthorne visits Farleigh Hungerford castle in southwest England to hear more about the stories that lurk in the site’s long history
encoded: Cared for by English Heritage, Farleigh Hungerford castle in southwest England is the perfect place for a picnic and a stroll. But behind the ruins lie many fascinating, dark tales. HistoryExtra’s Ellie Cawthorne visits the castle – home to the Hungerford family for over 300 years – to hear more from site manager Frances Russell about the stories that lurk in the site’s long history. She also gets closer to Britain's best collection of human-shaped lead coffins, artefacts which drew many Victorian visitors with a taste for the macabre. With stories ranging from foul deeds to bloodthirsty goblins, Ellie asks: is this a contender for the English castle with the most gruesome history? View Green Video on the source website

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height: 1080

Why you should avoid hair-pulling, and cannibalism, at royal banquets
type: item
date: 2025-09-17T14:42:02.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove, FSA
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Historical people
subject: US presidents
description: And other tips from history to avoid banquets going bad, in advance of King Charles III's state dinner with President Trump this week
encoded: There won’t be any cannibalism happening at the state banquet this week in Windsor Castle, in honour of the 47th US president, Donald J Trump. I haven’t seen the menu, but I think that’s a reasonable guess. I also suspect that Prince Harry won’t be in attendance, despite his recent trip to the UK and reconciliatory tête-à-tête with his father, King Charles III. However, if you believe this piece in The Times, while the king and his youngest son might be mending their relationship, Prince William cannot forgive his brother Harry for his apparent betrayal of trust in recent years. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/09/GettyImages-1147873570-25735a9.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="Donald Trump, dressed in a black suit, stands alongside Queen Elizabeth II, Melania Trump, Prince Charles, and Camilla. The women are all dressed in white dresses, and Elizabeth, Charles and Camilla are all wearing blue sashes" title="President Trump and the late Queen Elizabeth II at the last state banquet, during the president’s first term of office (Image by Getty Images)" /> That’s where the cannibalism comes in. Back in the 11th century, two brothers – one of them destined for the throne of England – had a pretty big falling out. It led to an event at a feast that most people would find very hard to forgive. I’m talking about Harold and Tostig Godwinson. Harold, of course, went on to become Harold II of England, after the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066. He had to defend his crown against Tostig, who had joined the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada in an attack on the country from the north. Harold beat Hardrada and Tostig at the battle of Stamford Bridge, and both of the would-be invaders were killed. The root of the brotherly tiff went back a few years before that. In 1063, according to the 12th-century historian Henry of Huntingdon (who is unique in offering us this account, so we ought to be sceptical about its veracity), at the royal hal…

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Whitehall Palace | Royal residences: secrets and scandals
type: item
date: 2025-04-07T14:08:50.000Z
creator: Professor Kate Williams
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
description: In the seventh episode of Royal Residences: Secrets and Scandals, Professor Kate Williams explores the history of London's Whitehall Palace, once the pleasure palace of Henry VIII and Charles II
encoded: In this episode, Professor Kate Williams explores the history of London's Whitehall Palace, once the pleasure palace of Henry VIII and Charles II View Green Video on the source website

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width: 620
height: 413

Buckingham Palace | Royal residences: secrets and scandals
type: item
date: 2025-03-27T14:15:16.000Z
creator: Professor Kate Williams
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
description: In the fifth episode of Royal Residences: Secrets and Scandals, Professor Kate Williams explores Buckingham Palace, which has served as the administrative headquarters of the British monarch since 1837
encoded: In the fifth episode of Royal Residences: Secrets and Scandals, Professor Kate Williams explores Buckingham Palace, which has served as the administrative headquarters of the British monarch since 1837 View Green Video on the source website

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height: 413

Hampton Court | Royal residences: secrets and scandals
type: item
date: 2025-03-18T11:03:05.000Z
creator: Professor Kate Williams
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
description: In the fourth episode of our video series on royal residences, learn more about the origins of Henry VIII’s vast leisure complex, Hampton Court Palace
encoded: In the fourth episode of Professor Kate Williams' video series Secrets and Scandals, step inside Henry VIII’s vast leisure complex, Hampton Court Palace – a medieval manor transformed into a lavish Tudor palace that witnessed some of England’s most dramatic episodes View Green Video on the source website

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