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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipHow to Watch Lucy Worsley's Royal Palace Secrets
Lucy Worsley's Royal Palace Secrets is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
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About the Show
Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Lucy Worsley, takes us behind closed doors to explore the Tower of London, Hampton Court and Kensington Palace. Every year millions flock to visit these extraordinary royal palaces, but in 2020 the global pandemic saw their doors shut and their treasures locked away. Luckily Lucy's job means she's got the keys.
From William the Conqueror to Henry VIII, Queen Victoria to Princess Diana, these palaces reveal the history of almost a thousand years of British monarchy. Lucy tells the story of some of the palaces' most famous inhabitants, like the doomed Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, who was tried, executed and buried at the Tower of London, or Queen Victoria, who grew up at Kensington Palace and met her future husband Prince Albert there.
Lucy shows off some of her highlights from the palace collections, including the special railings installed at Hampton Court to prevent courtiers from peeing in quiet corners, and Princess Diana's stunning evening dress, which she wore to dance with John Travolta at the White House. She'll also take viewers into parts of the palaces, which the public never get to see, like the bedroom at Hampton Court where Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour gave birth to his son and heir and where she also died, just a fortnight later. Along the way Lucy will reflect on how these palaces have evolved over the centuries, from high security fortress to pleasure palace, official royal residence to family home.
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- BBC Studios