Worsley was born in Reading, Berkshire, to Peter and Enid (née Kay) Worsley.^[2] Her father taught geology at Reading University, while her mother was a consultant in educational policy and practice. Before going to university, Worsley attended The Abbey School, Reading, St Bartholomew's School, Newbury, and West Bridgford School, Nottingham. She studied Ancient and Modern History at New College, Oxford,^[2] graduating in 1995 with a BA First-class honours degree. In 2001, she was awarded a DPhil degree from the University of Sussex.^[3]

As a child Worsley played piano from the age of four, took lessons for 15 years and passed all of her piano grades. Of her teacher, Miss Beaumont, she later said: "At the time I was terrified of her but in retrospect she gave me a great gift of self-discipline and self-reliance. She made me strive for excellence and work hard. To help somebody to get better and really to challenge them, that's a rare and valuable thing."^[4]

Curator and academic edit

Worsley began her career as a historic house curator at Milton Manor,^[5] near Abingdon, in the summer of 1995,^[6] before working for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. From 1996 to 2002, she was an inspector of historic buildings for English Heritage in the East Midlands region. During that time, she studied the life of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle and wrote the English Heritage guide to his home, Bolsover Castle. In 2001, she was awarded a DPhil degree from the University of Sussex for a thesis on The Architectural Patronage of William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle, 1593–1676.^[7] The thesis was later developed into Worsley's book Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion and Great Houses published in 2007.^[8]

During 2002–2003, she was the major projects and research manager for Glasgow Museums^[9][10] before becoming chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity responsible for maintaining the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace State Apartments, the Banqueting House in Whitehall and Kew Palace in Kew Gardens. She oversaw the £12 million refurbishment of the Kensington Palace state apartments and gardens completed in 2012.^[11][12]

In 2005, she was elected a senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London; she was also appointed visiting professor at Kingston University in west London.^[13]

Television edit

In 2011, Worsley presented the four-part television series If Walls Could Talk, exploring the history of British homes, from peasants' cottages to palaces; and the three-part series Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency. In 2012 she co-presented the three-part television series Antiques Uncovered, with antiques and collectibles expert Mark Hill,^[14] and (broadcast at the same time) Harlots, Housewives and Heroines, a three-part series on the lives of women after the Civil War and the Restoration of Charles II.^[15] Later that year she presented a documentary on Dorothy Hartley's Food in England as part of the BBC Four "Food and Drink" strand.

Her BBC series A Very British Murder (and the accompanying book, also released as The Art of the English Murder) examined the "morbid national obsession" with murder. The series looked at a number of cases from the 19th century, beginning with the Ratcliff Highway murders which gained national attention in 1811, the Red Barn Murder of 1826 and the "Bermondsey Horror" case of Frederick and Maria Manning in 1849.^[16]

In 2014, the three-part series The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain explored the contributions of the German-born kings George I and George II. The series explained why the Hanoverian George I came to be chosen as a British monarch, how he was succeeded by his very different son George II and why, without either, the current United Kingdom would likely be a very different place. The series emphasises the positive influence of these kings whilst showing the flaws in each. A Very British Romance, a three-part series for BBC Four, was based on the romantic novels and sought to uncover the forces shaping our very British idea of 'happily ever after' and how our feelings have been affected by social, political and cultural ideas.^[17]

In 2016, Worsley presented the three-part documentary Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley in January and Lucy Worsley: Mozart's London Odyssey in June.^[18] In September 2016, she was filming an upcoming series A Very British History for BBC Four.^[19] In December she presented and appeared in dramatised accounts of the three-part BBC series Six Wives with Lucy Worsley. In 2017, she presented a three-part series entitled British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley, debunking historical views of the Wars of the Roses, the Glorious Revolution and the British occupation of India.^[20]

In 2019, Worsley presented American History's Biggest Fibs, looking at the nation's founding story and American Revolution, the American Civil War, and the Cold War.

During February and March 2020 the first series of Royal History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley was shown on BBC Four; the three-part series discovers how the history of The Reformation, The Spanish Armada and Queen Anne and the Union have been manipulated and mythologised.^[21]

In November 2020, the second series of Royal History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley aired on BBC2, covering the myths behind The French Revolution, George IV and The Russian Revolution.^[22]

In 2022 Lucy Worsley Investigates began running. The one hour programme investigates major events in British History, including The Black Death, The Madness of King George, and The Princes in the Tower.^[23]

On 22 June 2023, she presented the The Krypton Factor-style quiz show Puzzling, which made its debut on Channel 5 and there are 13 episodes.

Writing edit

Worsley has published a number of books, many guides to houses and the like. Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court (2011) is her most recent work on history. In 2014, BBC Books published her book, A Very British Murder, which was based on the series.^[24] In April 2016, Worsley published her debut children's novel, Eliza Rose, about a young noble girl in a Tudor Court.^[25][26] In 2017, Worsley published a biography of Jane Austen titled Jane Austen at Home: A Biography.^[27]

Worsley also wrote the young-adult book Lady Mary,^[28] a history-based book that details the life of Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon; it follows her as a young Princess Mary during the time of the divorce of Mary's parents.

Worsley lives in Southwark^[29] by the River Thames in south London with her husband, architect Mark Hines,^[1] whom she married in November 2011.^[30] With reference to having children, Worsley once said she has been "educated out of normal reproductive function",^[31] but she later said her statement had been "misinterpreted and sounded darker than I'd intended."^[32]

As a television presenter, she is known for having a rhotacism, a minor speech impairment^[1] which affects her pronunciation of "r". When she made the move from BBC Four to BBC Two for the series Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History, she worked with a speech and language therapist to help with her pronunciation, but to no avail.^[33]

In her teens, Worsley represented Berkshire at cross country running and, as a pastime, is still a keen participant in the sport.^[34]

• In February 2015, the Royal Television Society nominated Worsley (best presenter) and The First Georgians (best history programme) in its annual awards.^[35]
• In July 2015, she was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Sussex (where she completed her doctorate).^[36]
• She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to history and heritage. The investiture by Charles, Prince of Wales, took place at Buckingham Palace on 16 November 2018.^[37]

Television programmes edit

Podcasts edit

• Lady Killers With Lucy Worsley (2022)^[65]
• Lady Killers With Lucy Worsley (2023)^[66]

Bibliography edit

Guidebooks edit

• Hardwick Old Hall (English Heritage Guidebooks, 1998, ISBN 9781850746959)
• Bolsover Castle, with Louise Wilson (English Heritage Guidebooks, 2001, ISBN 9781850747628)^[67]
• Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire (English Heritage Guidebooks, 2001,ISBN 9781850747475)^[68]
• Hampton Court Palace: The Official Illustrated History, with David Souden (Merrell Publishers, ISBN 9781858942827)
• The Royal Palaces of London, with David Souden and Brett Dolman; foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales (Merrell, 2008, ISBN 9781858944234)

Other nonfiction edit

• Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion and Great Houses (Faber & Faber, 2007, ISBN 9780571227037)
  • Cavalier: The Story of a 17th Century Playboy (paperback edition, Faber & Faber, 2008, ISBN 9780571227044)
• Henry VIII: 500 Facts, with Brett Dolman, Suzannah Lipscomb and Lee Prosser (Historic Royal Palaces, 2009, ISBN 9781873993125)
• Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court (Faber & Faber, 2011, ISBN 9780571238903)
  • The Courtiers: Splendor and Intrigue in the Georgian Court at Kensington Palace (US edition, Walker Books, 2010, ISBN 9780802719874)
• If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home (Faber & Faber, 2012, ISBN 9780571259540)
• A Very British Murder: The Story of a National Obsession (BBC Books, 2013, ISBN 9781849906340)
  • The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock (US edition, Pegasus Books, 2015, ISBN 9781605989099)
• Jane Austen at Home (Hodder & Stoughton, 2017, ISBN 9781473632189)
• Queen Victoria: Daughter, Wife, Mother, Widow (Hodder & Stoughton, 2018, ISBN 9781473651388)
  • Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life (US edition, St. Martin's Press, 2019, ISBN 9781250201423)
• Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman (Hodder & Stoughton, 2022, ISBN 9781529303872)

Young adult fiction edit

• Eliza Rose (Bloomsbury Children's, 2016, ISBN 9781408869437)
  • Maid of the King's Court (US edition, Candlewick Press, 2017, ISBN 9780763688066)
• My Name Is Victoria (Bloomsbury Children's, 2017, ISBN 9781408882016)
• Lady Mary (Bloomsbury Children's, 2018, ISBN 9781408869444)
• The Austen Girls (Bloomsbury Children's, 2020, ISBN 9781526605450)

Forewords and introductions edit

• Lost World: England 1933-1936, by Dorothy Hartley (Prospect Books, 2012, ISBN 9781903018972)
• The Times – Great Women's Lives: A Celebration in Obituaries, edited by Sue Corbett (The History Press, 2014, ISBN 9780750962346)
• Chocolate Fit for a Queen (Ebury Press, 2015, ISBN 9781785031243)
• Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen (Folio Society, 2017, OCLC 1107990187)
• Fabulously Feisty Queens, by Valerie Wilding, illustrated by Pauline Reeves (Wren & Rook, 2020, ISBN 9781526361905)

Tours edit

• Lucy Worsley: A Very British Murder (2021)^[69]
• An Audience with Lucy Worsley on Agatha Christie (2022–2024)^[70]

• BBC Historian Lucy Worsley explores her own past
• Lucy Worsley on Twitter  
• Historic Royal Palaces Official Website
• Lucy Worsley BBC Blog Page
• Lucy Worsley at IMDb
• 'Lots of historians are sniffy about re-enactors' The Guardian 27 March 2011.