The Kings and Queens of England

Product Information

Perhaps his most ridiculous moment came in 1205 when, having lost most of his French lands, he organised a massive expedition to try to get them back which, at the 11th hour, the entire English aristocracy refused to join. He hurried to Westminster and got himself crowned, then had one of the most unsuccessful reigns in English history, entirely dominated by a savage civil war. All the mouldering bones of their hundreds of dead relatives, clustered at Westminster and Windsor but also dotted all over the place – Gloucester, Worcester, Reading, various places in Normandy, that car park in Leicester – must all be revolving with such vigour that, as a subterranean energy source, it represents a viable alternative to fracking. Four years later, when Harold himself was dead, the new king, his half-brother Harthacnut, took revenge on Alfred’s behalf: he had Harold’s body dug up, beheaded and then chucked in a ditch. Anyway, I know you’re really busy, what with being Queen… but… Please can you send my dad home from the war?

Kings and Queens - National Portrait Gallery Kings and Queens - National Portrait Gallery

The modern royals may provide a few scandals and embarrassments for the public to enjoy or condemn or both, but it’s just a muted and low-key coda to the centuries of humiliation, incompetence, criminality and failure exhibited by their far more powerful predecessors.This popular history of the kings and queens of England is the only book of its kind to address the colourful story of the English monarchy from the Celtic chieftains to the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A fascinating account of Britain's kings and queens, this children’s reference book shows how Britain's history has been shaped by the lives, loves, triumphs and tragedies of its kings and queens from Alfred the Great to the Windsors. You’ve helped me become more organised with the schedule of things, but without the pressure I was putting myself under before. But when mean Jack Frost steals the True Love Crown, the Fairyland royal wedding is sure to be a disaster.

books about kings and queens for kids - Penguin Books UK 8 books about kings and queens for kids - Penguin Books UK

The perfect choice for newly confident readers, this is an Early Reader edition of a classic Horrid Henry story (with brilliant colour illustrations from Tony Ross). I’m not on social media but just wanted to reach out and say I have been recommending you to everyone I know, with kids of course! I particularly loved your handwriting sections and the ‘Learning Journey’ links that you have created. There are not many services I would pay to subscribe to, and even less I would recommend, but yours is one which I did!Nobody’s quite sure of the number and it’s not clear whether that fact has been lost in the intervening centuries or whether the king himself didn’t know.

Let’s hear it for England’s royals – and centuries of

King Alfred, the first king to lay claim to ruling the English as a people and the only English king to have been issued with the epithet “Great”, nevertheless spent a large part of his early reign hiding from the Vikings in a bog – by which I mean a marsh. But the real nightmare was when they seemed briefly to succeed, as happened under Edward III and Henry V. But this ruthlessness, while showing ambition and vigour, was no barrier to incompetence or vainglorious delusion. Angelina Ballerina and Princess Sophie are to be bridesmaids at the Mouseland Royal Wedding, but when the big day arrives they are so busy dancing and exploring that they get stuck in the old tower in the Palace Gardens!Throughout the middle ages, our rulers supposedly had the endorsement of God, which made their failures all the more humiliating. Packed full of recipes and tips for organising your own street party, George and Flora’s Big Party is all about cooking and community. The intensity of intra-familial hatred in many periods of royal history makes the William and Harry rift look like a tersely raised eyebrow over a Boxing Day game of Trivial Pursuit. I live in Merchant Stanton near Leeds, which is all right, but it’s not as nice as Buckingham Palace, I bet. In the same way, a victory such as Agincourt fatally skewed English expectations of military success with repeatedly bleak consequences.