Kings and queens

Marble bust of Emperor Caligula. (DEA / A. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

The 8 bloodiest Roman emperors in history

Queen Victoria pictured c1862 during her period of mourning after the death of her husband, Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Prince Albert: the death that rocked the monarchy

Mary, Queen of Scots craved the throne occupied by her cousin Elizabeth I (pictured). Theirs was a relationship defined by plots, massacres, assassinations and ultimately, the executioner's sword. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

Deadly Rivals: Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots

Engraved portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

In profile: Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542–67) was “absolutely useless as queen of Scotland”, says historian Sean Lang. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

9 of the worst monarchs in history

Queen Victoria, c1860s. Victoria attended her son's wedding in March 1863 wearing full mourning dress – her husband, Prince Albert, had died some 15 months earlier. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Troublesome royal in-laws through history

Battle of Culloden. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

General prehistory

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Scottish history

James I of Aragon, depicted in a 15th-century portrait. A king dubbed 'the Conqueror' invested enormous energy in projecting an image of power and authority. But behind the facade lay an insecure ruler who feared failure. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

James I of Aragon: inside the mind of a medieval king

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Illustration by Luke Waller for BBC History Magazine.

Æthelwold Alfred the Great's rebel nephew

A 20th-century fresco 'Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens' by Henry Payne. It depicts a scene by Shakespeare, showing Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset being challenged by Richard, 3rd Duke of York to choose between the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. (Photo by Artefact / Alamy Stock Photo)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the houses of Lancaster and York

Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in 'The Favourite'. (Photo by Twentieth Century Fox/Entertainment Pictures)

The real history behind Queen Anne film, The Favourite

Alfred the Great (849–899). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Who was King Alfred the Great?

Anne, queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1702. (Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

In profile: Queen Anne

Wall painting from The House of the Faun, built during the 2nd century BC in the Roman city of Pompeii, depicting an erotic satyr and nymph. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

In bed with the Romans: a brief history of sex in Ancient Rome