Our 5th Online History Festival is on sale!
Hear talks from some of your favourite historians and attend a live Q&A with them
Hello fellow history lover,
I hope you have head a great week and have some great plans for the weekend. Later on I will be taking a trip to Worcester where, this evening, I will be watching a performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Worcester Cathedral!
That’s one exciting thing going on today but unfortunately I can’t take you there with me BUT the other exciting thing happening today I can very much invite you along to! My 5th Online History Festival goes on sale today and it has an impressive line up of speakers and topics. I have lots more detail on that below but first of all a big “Congratulations” to Frances C who has won a 6-month paid subscription to my Substack, for free, after taking part in my survey to help improve what I do for both free and paid subscribers.
This week:
The Wars of the Roses Online History Festival is on sale now!
Anniversaries this week
Edward VIII abdicates
Mary, Queen of Scots is born
On History After Dark this week we were joined by the ever intelligent and wildly funny Julian Humphrys
In case you missed it here is what I covered last week:
Electronic Travel Authorisations - what you need to know if you are travelling to the UK.
I hit over 10,000 subscribers on Youtube but what has happened to Tea Time History Chat Live?
History After Dark rounds up the year
Grab the last room on The Anne Boleyn Tour, May 2025
Read last week’s newsletter by clicking here.
Wars of the Roses Online History Festival goes on sale today!
Join 6 eminent historians for talks about various aspect of the Wars of the Roses plus a live Q&A session and a just-for-fun quiz to review what we learned from the talks.
Early Bird discount for the first 30 tickets sold!
For full event details please visit the event page on Eventbrite by clicking the following button.
Talk Titles
Gareth Russell The Butlers versus the Fitzgeralds: How the Wars of the Roses split Ireland and paved the path for Perkin Warbeck
Nathen Amin The House of Beaufort
Matthew Lewis Richard, Duke of York: King By Right
Julian Humphrys The Fog of War: Battles of the Wars of the Roses
Dr Elizabeth Norton She Wolves, Upstarts and Ciphers: Queenship in the Wars of the Roses
Dr Euan Roger Treason in the Wars of the Roses
Members of my Patreon always get discounted tickets for my events, regardless of when they buy them.
Featured History Anniversaries this Week
On the 10th December 1936 the only British king to willingly abdicate, Edward VIII, did so at Fort Belvedere within Windsor Great Park.
The following day the now Duke of Windsor addressed the nation via a BBC radio broadcast in which he said “…you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.” He confirmed that he had been succeeded by his brother, the Duke of York, and signed off with “God save the King!”
The woman to whom Edward was referring was Mrs Wallace Simpson a, still married, American socialite. She divorced her second husband, Ernest Simpson, in May 1937 and she and Edward married on 3rd June at the Château de Candé. The date would have been his father, George V’s 72nd birthday, which his mother, Queen Mary saw as a deliberate insult. There were no family members present at the wedding.
Also in this week, Mary, Queen of Scots was born, 6 days before her father James IV of Scotland died and she became Queen. The topic of my article, published earlier this week here on Substack and within my Patreon community, was James’ reaction to his daughter’s birth. I looked at what he said, what he meant and why he was both wrong, and right!
If you missed it, you can read the article by following the link below. I read the article in full so you can listen to it, and that is available for all free subscribers. To see the full written article and all of its supporting images please consider becoming a paid subscriber if you are not already.
This week on History After Dark
….it’s not for the faint hearted!
The girls and I will be live again on Wednesday night for our ‘Perfect Christmas Gifts for Dead People’ episode (that’s not yet the agreed title but I kind of like it) where we will decide what the perfect gift would be for our History Heroes and Deceased Gits who have featured over the past 2 years.
Come along and bring your headphones…we wont judge, but other might.
Until next week, take care and have fun!
Philippa x