London's Strangest Tales: Historic Royal Palaces

London's Strangest Tales: Historic Royal Palaces
Author: Iain Spragg
Publisher: Portico
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2014-05-23
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1849941890

London's Royal Palaces are still some of the most visited places in England. A great deal of their official histories are well known. But London's Strangest Tales: Historic Royal Palaces reveals the bizarre, funny and surreal events and episodes that have occurred over the centuries on the grounds of these beautiful buildings. It gives an alternative history: from the wandering inebriated zebras at the Tower of London, the cricket ball that probably killed a king, and the mystery of Kew's disappearing mosque. This is a wonderful collection for anyone with an interest in the history and heritage of our palaces and in London life generally.

London's Strangest Tales

London's Strangest Tales
Author: Tom Quinn
Publisher: Anova Books
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2008-03-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781861059765

Following in the bestselling footsteps of the Strangest series, London is now available in a beautiful gift format – the perfect present for the London obsessive in the family! This fascinating volume is packed with amazing things you didn't know about the capital, such as the fact that it’s still forbidden to run, carry an umbrella or whistle in Burlington Arcade. Did you also know, for example, that there is a tiny, working jail cell that looks like a fat lamppost, situated at the southeast corner of Trafalgar Square, that still has a direct phone link to Scotland Yard? Or indeed, that the entrance to Buckingham Palace that faces down the Mall is actually the back door, not the front? Whether you're a visitor to the capital, a dailuy commuter or one its 7.5 million inhabitants, this book is an alternative, and often bonkers, guide to the city.

London's Strangest Tales: Historic Royal Palaces

London's Strangest Tales: Historic Royal Palaces
Author: Iain Spragg
Publisher: Portico
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014-05-01
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9781909396470

London's Royal Palaces are still some of the most visited places in England. A great deal of their official histories are well known. But London's Strangest Tales: Historic Royal Palaces reveals the bizarre, funny and surreal events and episodes that have occurred over the centuries on the grounds of these beautiful buildings. It gives an alternative history: from the wandering inebriated zebras at the Tower of London, the cricket ball that probably killed a king, and the mystery of Kew's disappearing mosque. This is a wonderful collection for anyone with an interest in the history and heritage of our palaces and in London life generally.

Down, Dirty and Divine

Down, Dirty and Divine
Author: Stephanie Clarke
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2012-08-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780882998

Down, Dirty and Divine is an invitation to readers to go on a meaningful and transformational journey through the undergroundof London, and to assist in healing the City whilst also cleansing their own soul and the soul of the planet.Murder and madness, death and disease, crime and corruption, pain and punishment, ghouls and ghosts – this is London’s morbid history. But it is humanity’s history too. Rev. Stephanie Clarke answers the question: how can we heal? Selecting 12 London Underground Tube Stations as the physical and spiritual entry points into the City’s underbelly, she offers readers some historical information, some personal reflection and an affirmative prayer to heal the particular trauma associated with the site of each Tube Station. In a dream-state, the author was told that the 2012 Olympic Games would stimulate an unprecedented convergence of the masses upon the City of London and would be a powerful catalyst to usher in global transformation. Serendipitously, many of London’s great citizens, including Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral, have long held the vision of London as the New Jerusalem, a celestial city of light and a universal centre of peace and reconciliation.Down, Dirty and Divine is a spiritual tour guide, inviting readers to be active instruments in the fulfillment of this grand planetary vision in 2012 and beyond.

London's Strangest Tales

London's Strangest Tales
Author: Tom Quinn
Publisher: Portico
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2016-02-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1911042300

London’s Strangest Tales takes a walk on London’s weirder side with an absorbing collection of curious tales from one of the world’s greatest cities. This fascinating book is packed with amazing things you didn’t know about Britain’s capital, like the fact that it’s still forbidden to run, carry an umbrella or whistle in the Burlington Arcade, and the fat lamppost at the corner of Trafalgar Square that is secretly a tiny prison cell. And did you know that the entrance to Buckingham Palace you see from the Mall is actually the back door and not the front? The stories within these pages are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for a new generation of London-lovers, this book is a brilliant alternative guide to the city, whether you’re a visitor, a daily commuter or one of its 8 million inhabitants. Word count: 45,000

A Treasury of Royal Scandals

A Treasury of Royal Scandals
Author: Michael Farquhar
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2001-05-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780140280241

From Nero's nagging mother (whom he found especially annoying after taking her as his lover) to Catherine's stable of studs (not of the equine variety), here is a wickedly delightful look at the most scandalous royal doings you never learned about in history class. Gleeful, naughty, sometimes perverted-like so many of the crowned heads themselves-A Treasury of Royal Scandals presents the best (the worst?) of royal misbehavior through the ages. From ancient Rome to Edwardian England, from the lavish rooms of Versailles to the dankest corners of the Bastille, the great royals of Europe have excelled at savage parenting, deadly rivalry, pathological lust, and meeting death with the utmost indignity-or just very bad luck.

London's Truly Strangest Tales

London's Truly Strangest Tales
Author: Tom Quinn
Publisher: Portico
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2017-03-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1911042874

More extraordinary but true stories from London’s history. In this fascinating follow-up to his bestselling London’s Strangest Tales, Tom Quinn makes a further foray into the weirder side of the capital, bringing us a splendiforous collection of bizarre-but-true stories that explore a thousand years of London’s history. Discover the ghosts that stalk West End theatres, the mysterious mummy who lives in a City church cupboard, and secret tunnels under the Thames. Find out why there’s a TARDIS at Earl’s Court, why frogs once rained from the skies, and why the mulberry tree in the gardens at Buckingham Palace isn’t quite what it was supposed to be. A dip-in-and-outable treasure trove of London lore, London’s Truly Strangest Tales is both an ideal gift for dyed-in-the-wool Londoners who want to find out more about the great city they live in, and the perfect souvenir for people just passing through. Word count: 58,000

Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace
Author: Tom Quinn
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2021-01-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785905910

For more than 300 years, Kensington Palace has played host to a colourful cast of kings, queens and assorted aristocratic hangers-on. A stone's throw from the bustling streets of central London, this grand building has served as the stage for some of the most dramatic and bizarre events in the history of the royal family. It was here that the young Queen Victoria was held a virtual prisoner for eighteen years; and it was here that George II installed both his wife and his mistress, giving the latter rooms so damp that there were said to be mushrooms growing on the walls. More recently, the palace has witnessed an extraordinary series of scandals, from Princess Diana's bombshell TV interview with a journalist smuggled into the palace disguised as a salesman, to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's shock departure – first for Frogmore Cottage, and then for America – amid rumours of a rift with William and Kate. With exclusive interviews with palace staff past and present, fascinating historical details and a fully updated postscript considering what life after Kensington holds for Harry and Meghan, Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle offers a rare behind-the-scenes insight into one of Britain's most iconic residences.

The Courtiers

The Courtiers
Author: Lucy Worsley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2010-08-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0802719872

An 18th-century portrait of the palace most recognized as an official home of several British royal family members focuses on the Hanover family during the reigns of George I and II, describing the intrigue, ostentatious fashions and politicking that marked court life. By the author of Cavalier.

Mrs Keppel

Mrs Keppel
Author: Tom Quinn
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2016-09-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1785901532

For Alice Keppel, it was all about appearances. Her precepts were those of the English upper classes: discretion, manners and charm. Nothing else mattered - especially when it came to her infamous affair with King Edward VII. As the King's favourite mistress up until his death in 1910, Alice held significant influence at court and over Edward himself. But it wasn't just Edward she courted: throughout her life, Alice enthusiastically embarked on affairs with bankers, MPs, peers - anybody who could elevate her standing and pay the right price. She was a shrewd courtesan, and her charisma and voracity ensured her both power and money, combined as they were with an aptitude for manipulation. Drawing on a range of sources, including salacious first-hand eyewitness accounts, bestselling author Tom Quinn paints an extraordinary picture of the Edwardian aristocracy, and traces the lives of royal mistresses down to Alice's great-granddaughter, the current Duchess of Cornwall. Both intriguing and astonishing, this is an unadulterated glimpse into a hidden world of scandal, decadence and debauchery.