Empress Matilda

Imagine the scene. You're the king but through tragic circumstances you have no legitimate male heirs. To maintain the lineage, you agree with those in power that your daughter would become Queen on your death. They all agree. Jobs a good 'un.

That is until you die and your daughter's pesky cousin, a bloke, nips in and steals the crown.

Farfetched? Not at all and in this episode, Charlie Higson uncovers the life of the woman who had the throne pinched from under her, Empress Matilda.

To assist Charlie, he is joined once again by best-selling author and historian Helen Castor, author of She Wolves and last year's acclaimed The Eagle & The Hart - The Biography of Richard II.

Oh and if you haven't listened to Episodes 5 & 6 of the first series of Willy Willy Harry Stee, you might want to start there, it tells the story of Matilda's father, Henry I and her throne-stealing cousin, Stephen.

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