From Catherine Howard’s affairs whilst she was with Henry VIII, to Charles II’s mistress staging a lesbian wedding as part of a threesome… Hampton Court has seen it all. 

Today’s guest is Gareth Russell, historian and author of The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court, to explore a selection of the sex and scandal that’s taken place there at the hands of its royal residents. 

Who were some of the most popular and powerful mistresses to live there? What was Catherine Howard’s downfall with Henry VIII? Why was it more beneficial for James I to have mail mistresses? 

Let’s go Betwixt the Sheets to find out. 

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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