iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Every 19th May, roses arrive at the Tower of London for Anne Boleyn. Nobody puts their name to them, & they've been coming for well over a century. I have a theory, involving a lawyer's office and an admirer who’s been dead for a long time. NEW POST😊 lucyworsley.substack.com/p/who-sends-...

lucyworsley.substack.com

Who sends Anne Boleyn red roses every year?

Every 19 May, a mysterious wreath arrives at the Tower of London for the queen Henry VIII beheaded. This is the story of the woman who said ‘no’

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I’ve been in Cambridge (thanks so much for your time if you came to my talk!) which means I have a Cambridge version of ‘Which College?’ for you to play. It’s a college whose archives I visited for my PhD research back in the day. Do you know … which college … this is?!

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I’m slightly nonplussed by a family member asking me if I can please keep my witch’s hat somewhere other than the corner of our living room. Doesn’t everyone keep their witch’s hat in the corner of the living room?

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Two strangers at Notre-Dame told me they’d come because of my programmes and hoped I’d be there. As if I live in the bell tower! It was my first time back since the reopening, and it’s glorious. But one thing about it bothers me. lucyworsley.substack.com/p/an-old-lad... substack.com/home/post/p-...

lucyworsley.substack.com

An old lady arises from her sickbed

I went back for the first time since the reopening. It was overwhelming, glorious, and just a little bit uncanny.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

After a very sloooow start, my tomatoes are finally getting down to business and going red. I’ve been told they might have been tardy because I watered them too assiduously during the hot spell.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

A very great treat to be on Saturday Live on @bbcradio4 today, talking about QUEENS AND KINGS, AN UNUSUALLY PERSONAL HISTORY. I’ve been on this show many times over the years, and it’s always a been privilege to meet the other contributors. Listen here via the link👇 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Live, Clare Balding, Lucy Worsley, Dr Liz O'Riordan and the Inheritance Tracks of Lucy Porter

Adrian Chiles with extraordinary stories and remarkable people.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

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...

lucyworsley.substack.com

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

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.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

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.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

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-...

lucyworsley.substack.com

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

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...

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

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...

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

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-...

lucyworsley.substack.com

What I'd Do With One Day of Absolute Power

Hint: it involves school buses, not beheadings

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

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...

lucyworsley.substack.com

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.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

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-...

lucyworsley.substack.com

The Kinkiest Palace in Renaissance Italy

A syphilitic duke, his mistress and the villa that broke every rule of taste

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

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?

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

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...

lucyworsley.substack.com

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.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

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.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

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 😍

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

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?!

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

TRIFLE That’s it. That’s the post.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

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.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

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/...

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Childhood me appears to be forcing everyone go to the library

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

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

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

A lot of people think George Washington had wooden false teeth - but the reality, I think, is even weirder. This week at MY LIFE IN THE PAST, my weekly history newsletter, it’s the crazy history of dentistry! lucyworsley.substack.com/p/what-was-r...

lucyworsley.substack.com

What Was Really In George Washington's Mouth

Cuttlefish, gunpowder, and a black market in human teeth: the strange history of keeping — or replacing — your smile.

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Pinhole camera made from box worked really well Apparently it was necessary to drink up the beer inside the box first This post is #not #sponsored by Stella Artois #Stellaeclipse

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Ok in a twist on our usual game, let’s play a round of Which Railway Station? #WhichRailwayStation, dear friends, is this?

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Are you coming to see me on my tour this autumn? Here's a sneak peek of what it's all about 😀 And here's where to get your tickets if you fancy it👇 www.fane.co.uk/lucy-worsley

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

‘oh no, is she dead drunk again?’ ‘Yes, some idiot let her have two pints of strawberries and cream’

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Candidates, are you ready? It's time to TAKE MY TUDOR TEST! To sit the test, click here 👇 lucyworsley.substack.com/p/take-my-tu...

lucyworsley.substack.com

Take my Tudor Test

Are you ready, candidates? Your time starts now!

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Are you good at cooking? I bet not as good as my French friend. #France #food #greed #indigestion #heaven

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I'm in the South of France , where I was introduced to a French person with the words 'and this lady is from England.' 'Yes,' said the French person, dryly, 'I can see that for myself.'

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Is that ... is that ... a body in the library? ⚰️AGATHA CHRISTIE POST ALERT⚰️this week at MY LIFE IN THE PAST! Link to read the full story here👇 lucyworsley.substack.com/p/the-best-a...

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

If your government asked you to fight in a war, would you do it? This is the case that stayed with me from our new BBC Radio 4 series, #LadyonTrial. The new episode's out now! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

The best Whatsapp group I'm in is called Tomato Appreciation Society. Here are the last four pictures shared it's so wholesome (the only picture of a thing I grew myself is the rather sickly looking chilli)

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

It's the morning after the night before. Which means: LEFTOVER PUDDING FOR BREAKFAST

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Dear friends, let's play a round of #WhichCastle. Which castle is this?? You can join me and 60,000+ fellow history lovers by subscribing to my weekly history newsletter, MY LIFE IN THE PAST. And there's a 🔥summer sale 🔥on at the moment! 25% off during July🙏 lucyworsley.substack.com

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Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This, to me, was a completely unexpected story from the Second World War! The first conscription for women meant the first female conscientious objectors - and one of the first to go to prison was a housemaid from Newcastle, Connie Bolam. A brand-new post😃 lucyworsley.substack.com/p/the-woman-...

lucyworsley.substack.com

The Woman Who Wouldn’t Knit Socks To Defeat Hitler

She was twenty, a parlourmaid from Newcastle, and prepared to go to prison

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