Imagine the scene. You're the king but through tragic circumstances you have no legitimate male heirs. To maintain the lineage, you agree with those in power that your daughter would become Queen on your death. They all agree. Jobs a good 'un.

That is until you die and your daughter's pesky cousin, a bloke, nips in and steals the crown.

Farfetched? Not at all and in this episode, Charlie Higson uncovers the life of the woman who had the throne pinched from under her, Empress Matilda.

To assist Charlie, he is joined once again by best-selling author and historian Helen Castor, author of She Wolves and last year's acclaimed The Eagle & The Hart - The Biography of Richard II.

Oh and if you haven't listened to Episodes 5 & 6 of the first series of Willy Willy Harry Stee, you might want to start there, it tells the story of Matilda's father, Henry I and her throne-stealing cousin, Stephen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special Medieval guest-fest, Charlie Higson welcomes not one but THREE fabulous historians to the show, recorded live in front of an audience at the British Library, as part of Medieval Fest! which took place in December 2024.

The discussion was 'How To Depose A Medieval Ruler', and Charlie was joined by a star-studded team of experts – Nathen Amin (Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor), Helen Castor (The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV) and Lubaaba Al-Azami (Travellers in the Golden Realm: How Mughal India Connected England to the World)

It's a chance to take a deep dive into medieval plots, conspiracies and power.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.