In fact, Henry VIII’s fourth marriage, like his first, ended in annulment, not divorce. Henry is remembered for his marital exploits but, explains Linda Porter, there was considerable precedent for ending royal marriages through annulment and it was not always the husband who took the lead. On this day 480 years ago, Anne of Cleves,

Social isolation as a means of protecting oneself from a deadly epidemic is nothing new. The rich and powerful have long been desperate to abandon London when death was stalking the streets of the capital, though they seldom went as far away as the 264 miles travelled by Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s chief advisor who

Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife, by Alison Weir, reviewed by Linda Porter

In 1681, when Charles II’s mistress Nell Gwyn travelled to see the king in Oxford, an angry crowd jostled her coach. In response, Nell pointed out to the crowd that, despite her scandalous relationship with the monarch, she was at least a Protestant. Renowned as a comic actress of considerable skill, Nell’s remark exposed two