Lucy Worsley
@lucyworsley.bsky.social
Hello! I'm Lucy, I'm a historian, I write books like biographies of Agatha Christie and present a VERY GOOD @BBCSounds podcast called #LadyKillers. For ages I was Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, now an Ambassador for the charity.
I once threw a book on the floor and stamped on it. A critic had dismissed GAUDY NIGHT as a 'woman's novel'. Dorothy L. Sayers, spent her life being told a clever woman was too much. But she it turns out she was hiding something bigger than a bad review… lucyworsley.substack.com/p/harriet-va...
Harriet Vane got her happy ending. Dorothy L. Sayers didn’t.
The creator of Lord Peter Wimsey gave her fictional self everything she was denied, and kept a giant lifelong secret
lucyworsley.substack.com
In or out? I've been playing this game with some of history's most extraordinary monarchs — and you might notice I look suspiciously familiar in a few of these pictures. Purely a coincidence, I'm sure. My new book QUEENS AND KINGS is my love letter to the rulers who fascinated and frustrated me.
I think the world needs to know about these SOCKS WITH BERTIE THE CAT’S FACE ON THEM! Thanks to my friend Katherine for a wonderful gift.
A Victorian ‘lady detective’ once shed her crinoline mid-chase, and kept right on going. Meet the scandalous 1860s pulp novels — sold for sixpence at railway stations — that invented the female sleuth, decades before Miss Marple ever picked up her knitting. lucyworsley.substack.com/p/the-first-...
The Scandalous Victorian Novels That Invented the Female Detective
Long before Miss Marple, two 1860s heroines were solving crimes, dropping their crinolines, and shocking readers for sixpence a go
lucyworsley.substack.com
A special round of Which Cathedral for you, which is in fact not a cathedral but ‘Which Church?’ and doubly hard because I’m showing it you in the form of chocolate. Also a reminder of my livestream tomorrow, 2.30 pm London time!! Link to join me here: www.fane.co.uk/my-royal-lif...
The great Anthony Delaney of the massive hit podcast AFTER DARK interviewed me about my new book QUEENS AND KINGS for subscribers to my weekly history newsletter MY LIFE IN THE PAST! Hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did - watch and listen here 👇 lucyworsley.substack.com/p/is-it-a-dr...
If I were Queen, my first order of business: every school in Britain, bussed to a castle by 9am. Some kids would learn how life in a Victorian factory might beat a Georgian farm. Others that a bucolic village might be a hard place to be gay. New, free post😊 lucyworsley.substack.com/p/if-i-were-...
What I'd Do With One Day of Absolute Power
Hint: it involves school buses, not beheadings
lucyworsley.substack.com
People often ask me just how I've managed to write fifteen history books. The honest answer: commuting, finding fun in footnotes, and an encounter with an inspiring historian in his eighties. Forgetting quality just for now - here's a post on productivity! lucyworsley.substack.com/p/how-to-wri...
The Secret to Writing Fifteen Books Is a Bad Commute
Pomodoro timers, obsessive footnoting, and one very inspiring man in his eighties — a working historian’s productivity tips.
lucyworsley.substack.com
A syphilitic duke, his mistress and an architect nicknamed Pipi built the strangest villa in Renaissance Italy, & filled it with the kinkiest wallpaintings you've ever seen. It even made Henry VIII's Hampton Court look behindhand. Step inside the Palazzo Te! lucyworsley.substack.com/p/you-asked-...
The Kinkiest Palace in Renaissance Italy
A syphilitic duke, his mistress and the villa that broke every rule of taste
lucyworsley.substack.com
From the sublime to the wholesome. Last night your no 2 Sunday Times bestselling author was having a grand time at the Tower of London, celebrating. This morning she was ribbed by family members for being big-headed, picked lots of tomatoes, then went back to bed. bio.to/QueensAndKings
I’ve had some really lovely news in today’s Sunday Times. My lil ole book, QUEENS AND KINGS, is no. 2 in the bestsellers list! And I’m tremendously grateful to every single person who supported me and bought a copy. THANK YOU! bio.to/QueensAndKings
I’ve spent a fair bit of time talking about this wonderful object in the last week or so at my various book events for QUEENS AND KINGS, anyone know what it is?
Ever wondered what it actually felt like to live inside a house like Hardwick Hall? I have. I spent years in the family papers finding out. Short answer: there's nowhere to hide. Not for the servants, not for the mistress, not even for the king! lucyworsley.substack.com/p/nowhere-to...
Nowhere to Hide
What it actually felt like to live inside a great house like Hardwick Hall, where nobody — housemaid or duchess — was ever truly alone.
lucyworsley.substack.com
This time, dear friends, I've got a new twist on our usual game of 'Which Cathedral?' or 'Which Castle?' It's 'Which College?' I have history here: I used to run past this college in the early morning darkness, going to the river for rowing training when I was a student in this particular town.
Newsflash: I’ve discovered something even better than roasting a chicken. It’s having your friend come round to your house to roast a chicken for you 😍
Behind every finished book there’s a week that nobody gets to see apart from the humble author and her long-suffering family! I’m glad to be home and resting now it’s Sunday, but welcome behind the scenes of my busy publication week 😳 bio.to/QueensAndKings
Friends, I have a Saturday round of ‘which cathedral?’ #WhichCathedral for you to play. (If you’ve been to a certain one of my QUEENS AND KINGS book talks this week, you might have an unfair advantage!) What do you think? Do you recognise which one it is?!
It’s a 🎂BOOK BIRTHDAY🎂! Welcome into the world QUEENS AND KINGS, a history of the monarchy as seen from my ringside seat while working for 20 years behind the scenes at the historic royal palaces. Here’s an order link - & thank you so much, dear followers, for your support🙏 bio.to/QueensAndKings
Thanks to everyone who came to the start of my 👑QUEENS AND KINGS👑 book tour in Bath! Pic 4: my tour manager motivates me to complete each book talk with a big bar of chocolate. We are doing 20 events. That’s going to be an AWFUL lot of chocolate😍 Some tickets left here👇 www.fane.co.uk/lucy-worsley
It's PUBLICATION WEEK for QUEENS AND KINGS, AN UNUSUALLY PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE MONARCHY! So much work - and we're so nearly there!! (Apologies to everyone who's heard quite enough about this darn book already thank you. I'll pipe down soon!) bio.to/QueensAndKings
I’ve accidentally set my phone to tell me the state of the moon, which is how I know that on Tuesday in Sussex it was Waxing Gibbous. A very happy accident indeed.
Just a week to go before publication day for QUEENS AND KINGS, AN UNUSUALLY PERSONAL HISTORY, and I’m working nine to five to get all your signed copies ready!! Ordered yours yet? bio.to/QueensAndKings
I wanted to let my lovely followers have a sneaky peek publication peek at what’s included in my book QUEENS AND KINGS before it comes out next week! So join me online for free live video chat on Sunday - 7pm London time - see you then! Just subscribe here 👇 lucyworsley.substack.com
I know I should meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same, but even so I am UTTERLY THRILLED SURPRISED and DELIGHTED with the review of my new book in today’s Sunday Times 😍 I’m taking it very calmly, it’s just low-key business-as-usual chez moi bio.to/QueensAndKings
Hey - EARLIER I got to hang out with Jools Holland on BBC Radio 3! And to talk about some of my favourite pieces of music😍 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
One eighteenth-century princess was so desperate to escape palace life she said she’d even have married a baboon. The fiancé she ended up with had such bad breath it was apparently an even worse fate. New post is up! Read it via the link to MY LIFE IN THE PAST👇 lucyworsley.substack.com
Childhood me appears to be forcing everyone go to the library
It’s not my birthday but it IS a special day! I’ve got a finished BOOK to show off to you, with: - an embarrassing photo of young me - a cheeky image of a playing card - and a very personal dedication I hope you’ll let me know what you think! bio.to/QueensAndKings
