Insights and behind the scenes from our palaces
'They had to be there': Hillary Clinton and the 'Vital Voices' of Northern Ireland's women
11 December 2025
Hillary Clinton's speech at Hillsborough Castle in 2023 marked a 30-year relationship with the women of Northern Ireland, which started over tea in South Belfast.
'Castles of the air': Defending the Tower of London during the Second World War
10 November 2025
When London faced the fury of the Blitz during the Second World War, the Tower of London found a new way to protect the city from the sky – a huge hydrogen-filled 'barrage balloon'.
Sideron and Cupido: Two untold lives at Hampton Court Palace
20 October 2025
In 1795, two remarkable men arrived at Hampton Court Palace in the entourage of the Prince of Orange. Enslaved as children and given to the Prince as 'gifts', Sideron and Cupido now accompanied the Dutch Prince as he fled invasion.
Life, death and worship in the Tower of London, Part I
21 July 2025
Curator of Historic Buildings Alfred Hawkins explains the results of continued analysis of a 2019 excavation at the Tower of London, and what they can tell us about the Tower community.
The rise and fall of Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset
09 May 2025
Historian Gareth Russell picks up the tale of a scandal that no one had foreseen when the inoffensive Robert Carr arrived at James VI's court.
Mary, Marchioness of Downshire: A Life in Miniature
07 June 2024
Research and Interpretation Producer Emma Lawthers takes a brief glimpse into the lives of the Mary and the Hill family of Hillsborough Castle, as seen through the lens of a very unique object.
Searching for the Young Black Man in the Portrait of William III, Part II
24 May 2024
The next step in our search was to look at sources and pictures on William III's life before he arrived in England, and his first court, to attempt to discover more about this young man, and why he might have been painted with the King.
Searching for the Young Black Man in the Portrait of William III, Part I
17 May 2024
A young Black man dressed in blue and gold holding a helmet stands beside William III in a portrait that is a focal point of our exhibition: Untold Lives: A Palace at Work. Who was he? Where did he live and when? Why is he in the painting with William III? And how can historians unravel the mystery surrounding him?
'Washing the Lions': A Famous April Fools Hoax at the Tower of London
01 April 2024
The Tower of London is home to Britain’s earliest recorded April Fool’s prank – the so-called 'Annual Ceremony of Washing the Lions'.