And if you want to know more about the Orléans title used for spares, see my latest blog post dukesandprinces.org/2026/02/12/t...

Oh, by the way, our international listeners can now enjoy the hugely enjoyable You’re Dead To Me episode about Philippe Duc d’Orleans (Louis XIV’s extraordinary brother) Our excellent guests are expert historian @jspan.bsky.social and comedian Tom Allan — available globally on all podcast apps

My episode of BBC's You're Dead to Me, featuring Philippe d'Orleans and sexuality at Versailles, is now available outside the UK. And for more on the history of the Orleans title and family, I've written a two-part blog on #dukesandprinces (see comments for link). www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Excited to see this book arrive today, just in time to discuss this topic of French genealogical histories further next week at #RSA2026! @rsaorg.bsky.social

If anyone ever had doubts that Reform and/or Cruella were evil AND stupid... Well,

Discover our newest titles in #Medieval Studies with this newsletter. Go to: bit.ly/3NFLizM #Medievalsky #MiddleAges #Medievalists #History #Religion #Theology #Literature

On Monday 26 January, Matthew Howles (Science Museum) will delight us with his lecture on “Curating Versailles: Science and Splendour at the Science Museum”. 18:00 GMT – Online via Zoom Register for free using this link: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/matthew-ho...

A nice little video we recorded after the recording! #YoureDeadToMe

🚨New episode alert! This week’s YOU’RE DEAD TO ME is all about King Louis XIV’s fascinating, impressive, and sometimes scandalous brother, Phillipe Duc d’Orléans! My guests are the amazing comedian Tom Allen and the fab historian @jspan.bsky.social Listen now on BBC SOUNDS, or wait 28 days

I'm pleased to share a new episode of BBC's You're Dead to Me where I chat with @gregjenner.bsky.social and comedian Tom Allan about Philippe d'Orleans, sexuality and general shenanigans at Versailles! Available today on BBC Sounds and broadcast tomorrow at 10 on BBC 4. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

#History Philippe, Duc d’Orléans: in the shadow of the Sun King You're Dead to Me Sat 10:00 BBC Radio 4 @gregjenner.bsky.social is joined by @jspan.bsky.social and Tom Allen to learn all about Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, Louis XIV’s younger brother. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Are you fond of frangipane cake for New Years Day? How about Dalmatian princes with a name so unpronouncable (Krčki) that they borrowed another to become Frankopans? This family battled for independence against Venetians, Hungarians, Turks and Austrians, and are a symbol of Croatian nationhood today

Happy New Year to all! I am looking forward to 2026: a big podcast release, a new research project, a new *big* book, and a keynote in Prague!

Lecture on Carnival and violent festivities for my second years tomorrow. As I've long lost any dreams of possibly being The Cool Lecturer, I'm absolutely throwing in my love for the most excellent of exhibition adverts:

Reading for a rainy Sunday: dukes of Manchester, dukes of Montagu; Kimbolton, last residence of Katherine of Aragon; Boughton, the Versailles of Northamptonshire; the British Museum and the Wallace Collection; American heiresses; debt and prison...it's all here! dukesandprinces.org/2025/12/07/l...

Very excited to see this new book fresh off the presses: a variety of approaches to writing narratives of history, including a chapter on noble genealogy by yours truly! iterpress.org/978164959143...

Here's an interesting blog I wrote earlier this year about Prussian princes, including the fascinating homosocial tale of Prince Eulenburg and the Kaiser. Part of of a new research blog at MMU: check it out and follow! rgsi.mmu.ac.uk/2025/04/29/e...

Very pleased to see You're Dead To Me has roared back into the Top 25 UK podcasts, following our very well-received 10th series! Series 11 is in production right now and will launch in early January podnews.net/press-releas...

Next Tuesday! If you're in London, come along to hear about the medieval jewels of an English queen! It is free, but please sign up now so we know what numbers to expect. #CourtStudies #HIstoricRoyalPalaces

Plantagenet jewels! You know you want them! A hybrid SCS event! Charles Farris “Of Wonderful Beauty: An Inventory of the Jewels of Margaret of France in 1302”. 9 Dec. 18:00 GMT If you like to attend (for free) in-person at the Royal Anthropological Institute, email [email protected].

Exciting book launch in Madrid earlier this week. In fact two! The first to appear in Brepols Court Cultures series, co-efited by me (for whom the empty chair)

A hybrid SCS event! Charles Farris “Of Wonderful Beauty: An Inventory of the Jewels of Margaret of France in 1302”. On 9 Dec. 18:00 GMT. If you would like to attend in-person at the Royal Anthropological Institute, email [email protected]. Pre-booking essential

Polish princes who were grandparents of the Queen of France--and given the rare right to be called 'cousin du roi'. Defenders of Polish independence, then Russian and Austrian princes: Jablonowski. dukesandprinces.org/2025/11/10/j...

To follow on from last week’s post on the new Grand Duke of Luxembourg, here’s a new post on the family of the new Grand Duchess, Stephanie de Lannoy: dukesandprinces.org/2025/10/09/l...

Check out the latest 'The Court Observer' blog post titled "Theirs For Ever: Marie Antoinette and The Hand Over Ceremony" by Elizabeth Jane Timms! Read on to discover how Marie Antoinette officially became the Dauphine of France in May 1770. courtstudies.hypotheses.org/1570

Ohvthe trauma of being a royal child at a public event! #Luxembourg 🇱🇺

Today, 3 October, the Grand Duke of #Luxembourg abdicates in favour of his son #Guillaume. Here's the story of a 'double dynasty', both #Nassau-Weilburg and Bourbon-Parma. How did they come to be joined together? #abdication #monarchy dukesandprinces.org/2025/10/03/n...

Today at 10am on BBC Radio 4 you can hear the 28 minute radio edit of You’re Dead To Me about Queen Marie Antoinette of France, featuring comedian Jen Brister and our expert Professor Kate Astbury @100days1815.bsky.social The 57 minute version is also on BBC SOUNDS

Today's news is about the death of the Duchess of Kent. Here's a bit of context of this very ancient English county and titles associated with it, from the Saxon and Norman conquests to Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. dukesandprinces.org/2025/09/05/k... RIP Katherine Kent, lover of tennis and music!

Excited to share the first volume in a new series by @brepols.net , organised by Fabian Persson and me. This book survived Covid and two pregnancies...!

Very excited to get this book in the mail today! I'm looking forward to reading it. Congrats to Zita! #queenship #france

SCS is happy to announce it has awarded the 2025 Early Career essay prize to Dr Elizabeth Hines. Her essay, “How to Pawn the Crown Jewels” demonstrates how Charles I was able to use his networks with agents in the Dutch Republic to raise badly needed funds by pawning items

Today #dukesandprinces revisits Raby Castle in County Durham, home to the Dukes of Cleveland of the Vane family, a title previously held by a son and grandson of King Charles II and Lady Castlemaine (the FitzRoys). dukesandprinces.org/2025/07/30/d...

Clan Leslie may only have one duke (of Rothes), but its history spans from medieval Scottish lords in Garioch and Fife, to an Austrian field marshal who murdered Wallenstein, to a Russian general, an Irish 'fighting bishop', and the actress Rose Leslie. dukesandprinces.org/2025/06/23/t...

Today in St Andrews, conference on Louis XIV and the provinces. Here, Stanislas Zagun looks at the Duc de Gramont as provincial governor. #FrenchHistory

For #dukesandprinces Sunday evening, read how Ireland has native princes too: the MacCarthy princes of Desmond, Carbery and Muskerry. Even an ephemeral 'duc de Montcashel' in the Jacobite peerage? dukesandprinces.org/2025/06/02/t...

Wouldn't it be great to have a historical drama set in early 17th-century Spain with Bella Ramsey playing Queen Margarita? The resemblance is uncanny--she definitely has a Habsburg lower jaw.

Wouldn't it be great to have a historical drama set in early 17th-century Spain with Bella Ramsey playing Queen Margarita? The resemblance is uncanny--she definitely has a Habsburg lower jaw.

The registration deadline for the @kingjamesconf.bsky.social is quickly approaching! It promises to be a great conference with lots of Royal Studies scholars presenting and in attendance! All information is below 👇

I'm writing a short piece about medieval Irish native nobility. Anyone on here a specialist? I'd like to confirm usage of some specialist words.

Pleased to share that the first books of the new 'Courts and Courtiers' series from Brepols will soon emerge! Oskar Rojewski's monograph about Sittow, court painter to Isabella of Castile; and a collection of essays about Habsburg royal brothers, wives and bastards! www.brepols.net/products/IS-...

Inspired by my Andalusian adventure: Dukes of Medina Sidonia, oldest ducal title in Spain: includes a commander of the Armada in 1588, a queen of Portugal in the 1650s, a Carlist diplomat in the 1830s, and an anti-francoist 'Red Duchess' in the 1960s. dukesandprinces.org/2025/05/05/d...

So....naturally the main attraction for me at Seville Cathedral, the royal chapel with royal tombs, looks like this, no explanation, nothing. Thanks a lot.

Today we visit the Casa de Pilatos, residence of dukes of Medinaceli

A second ducal palace on one afternoon: the Palacio de San Telmo, home of the Duke of Montpensier (son of Louis-Philippe) and his wife Infanta Luisa Fernanda (sister of Isabel II)

I'm about to visit the palace of the Dukes of Alba in Seville. Most exciting!

A week of inspiring insights into ongoing research projects at #esshc2025 in Leiden, not least the fascinating (and challenging) realm of sources. Historic research is indeed often about drinking an ocean and peeing a cupfull. This morning's session very much illustrated the point.

Fabian Persson discusses how new monarchs dressed in 'traditional' forms to impress new subjects in the later 19th century, in Leiden @esshc.bsky.social @courtstudies.bsky.social

Who are the Seymours? Edward and Thomas in The Mirror and the Light, tonight on @pbs.org @wolfhall.bsky.social. The dukes of Somerset spent a lot of time in the Tower...but are still around today, still in Wiltshire. Here is their story: dukesandprinces.org/2025/03/23/s...