WHAT IF... THE GUNPOWDER PLOT SUCCEEDED?
The state opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605 was going to be a grand event of pomp, ceremony and a who’s who of the English establishment. King James VI and I would attend with his queen and eldest son, his heir Henry, while ministers, MPs, bishops, judges and the bulk of the aristocracy would fill the building – all gathered in one space, not knowing that underneath them sat up to 36 barrels of gunpowder, smuggled in as part of a Catholic plot. The man tasked with lighting the fuse was Guy Fawkes, who would flee just in time
