Audiobook9 hours
Royal Bastards: Illegitimate Children of the British Royal Family
Written by Peter Beauclerk-Dewar and Roger Powell
Narrated by John Lee
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Since 1066 when William the Conqueror took the throne, English and Scottish kings have sired at least 150 children out of wedlock. Many were acknowledged at court and founded dynasties of their own; several of today's dukedoms are descended from them. Others were only acknowledged grudgingly or not at all. In the twentieth century this trend for royals to father illegitimate children continued, but the parentage, while highly probable, has not been officially recognized. This book is a genuinely fresh approach to British kings and queens, examining their lives and times through the unfamiliar perspective of their illegitimate children. Interviewees include many of their descendants. But beyond personal narratives it also sheds light on the perennially fascinating topic of sexual habits; the links between politics, power, and patronage; the class system, scandal, and celebrity; and the different expectations we have of men and women.
Related to Royal Bastards
Related audiobooks
The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ring and the Crown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Children of Henry VIII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King in Love: Edward VII's Mistresses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lost Heirs of the Medieval Crown: The Kings and Queens Who Never Were Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princes in the Tower: The History of the Mysterious Disappearances of King Edward V and the Duke of York Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Elizabeth of York Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patriot or Traitor: The Life and Death of Sir Walter Ralegh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lancaster and York Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monarchy: From the Middle Ages to Modernity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Richard III and the Murder in the Tower Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Victoria's Daughters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queen Victoria's Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women: A Social History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Six Wives of Henry VIII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lives of the Queens of England Volume 4 Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Real Queen Charlotte: Inside the Real Bridgerton Court Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of British History at Hampton Court Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLives of the Queens of England Volume 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
European History For You
Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The War on the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ghost Map Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reformation: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History that Inspired Game of Thrones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chernobyl 01:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Napoleon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Mythology: An Extensive Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Worship, Rituals and Beliefs of Ancient Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Teutonic Knights: A Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Royal Bastards
Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
10 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting book but it is more of an encyclopedia than a long form non-fiction narrative. I was hoping for more a more in depth discussion of royal bastardy than page length entries on each of the known (and possible) children.