Lucy Worsley

Lucy Worsley's new show re-investigates 4 dramatic episodes in British history. Uncovering witch trials, Black Death, King George III and the princes in the ...

Doctors were at a loss to understand the King’s illness and the country was on the brink of a constitutional crisis. Using a 21st-century understanding of George III’s condition as bipolar disorder, Lucy follows the clues and accounts of his hallucinations. George recovered – temporarily – and the country celebrated. However, Margaret Nicholson, would remain incarcerated at Bethlem asylum for the rest of her life. For centuries it was unclear what caused the pestilence of 1348 until a vast plague pit was uncovered in Smithfield, London, in the 1980s. Workers were in short supply and could demand higher wages, shifting the balance of power. Lucy is pictured here viewing the bones of victims of the 14th-century pandemic. Edward IV had appointed his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to be the young King’s protector, but not everyone was happy with this arrangement. Lucy begins her investigation in North Berwick, a seaside town near Edinburgh where the first witch hunts began. George, himself only two years away from his major mental health crisis, declared, ‘Poor woman, she is mad, do not hurt her’ and these words became iconic. Behind the clichés of pointy hats and broomsticks lies a terrifying history that’s been largely forgotten. Edward was just 12 when his father died, and he was considered too young to rule.