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Hugo Vickers: 'Wallis Simpson enjoyed being the King’s friend, but in no way did she want to become his wife, or to cause a major constitutional crisis'Why everything we've been told about ‘the woman who stole the King’ is wrong, by toyal biographer Hugo Vickers.
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Lady Anne Glenconner: ‘Princess Margaret and I were quite naughty then, Elizabeth always had an eye out for us’The Baroness and British socialite tells Lotte Brundle about growing up with Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, her tumultuous relationship with her late husband and being a ‘gay icon’ aged 93.
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The real passion of polo is found in its ordinary playersAs pony-laden lorries line up like dominos along stretches of emerald turf up and down the country, Rupert Uloth explores the lure of non-professional or 'low-goal' polo.
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Royalty, racing drivers and the Riviera’s most charming reprobates: Inside Monaco's fabulous partiesZachary Weiss takes a look back at some of the most epic evenings (and daytimes) in Monaco history.
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Few historical figures have sat at such a rich juncture between power, empire and progress than this East London princessWill Hosie celebrates the legacy of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh who campaigned strongly for women's independence.
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Keep calm and carry on because the triumphant return of British landscape painting is hereCarla Passino picks out five of her favourite paintings from a new and ambitious exhibition that charts the rise and evolution of landscape painting.
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Dame Prue Leith: ‘I won't say we were rolling drunk, but we were definitely tight’The former ‘Bake Off’ star tells Lotte Brundle about growing old, her burgeoning friendship with Blake Lively and the advice Mary Berry gave her about Paul Hollywood.
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'She said it was the most haunted place she had known and asked if we’d seen all the ghosts': Alexander Armstrong on his first house in the countryThe actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong fondly remembers his first house in the country, in an Oxfordshire village.
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The enduring English vision of Midsomer Murders still captivates the worldNick Hendrix, who stars in the show as Detective Sergeant Jamie Winter, tries to figure out why a show about little England holds such sway with an international audience.
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'The Luftwaffe created plenty of space in the city that is ideal for a game': How the game of boules is taking over BritainThe game of boules was unfairly maligned by Henry VIII for inducing the deplorable state of English archery, but, in its modern incarnation, it continues to thrive in Britain, discovers Harry Pearson.
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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: ‘Nettles, grey squirrels and the occasional placenta? I’m relaxed about that’Lotte Brundle talks to the celebrity chef about getting sacked from his job at the River Cafe, chowing down on some placenta and what she’s done wrong with her tomatoes.
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‘My first introduction to her was to do with her death, which is a strange way to meet a character’: Our obsession with OpheliaThe lead in Shakespeare’s best-known play, Hamlet, may soon be eclipsed by the fame of his female counterpart, courtesy of Taylor Swift and others, argues Lotte Brundle.
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‘We thought they could be a lovely gift for our daughter-in-law’: How an unsuspecting couple found £11,000 worth of cat paintings in a skipTwo works by 19th-century artist Louis Wain are heading for auction, after being rescued by a couple in South Wales who had no idea of their value.
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What is everyone talking about this week: The secret life of planktonPlankton generates at least five times more oxygen than tropical rainforests. Yet its various subspecies remain opaque and poorly understood. That could soon be changing.
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Cariad Lloyd: ‘What I would like people to get from me is a Moomin vibe’The writer, actor and comedian talks about discussing grief on the toilet, raunchily re-writing Jane Austen and the importance of championing women’s writing with Lotte Brundle.
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Bountiful maiden or Virgin Queen: The many faces of Elizabeth I paint a compelling portraitElizabeth I forged her own myth through portraiture, as a new exhibition at the Philip Mould Gallery in London reveals.
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The mysterious case of one of the most important British artists of the 1990s who is back with a bang after more than 25 yearsCathy de Monchaux was part of the YBA generation and nominated for a Turner Prize, but, despite living in Hoxton for the last 35 years, has hardly shown in the UK. Charlotte Mullins discovers how she feels about her retrospective being in France and not home.
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Which club is right for you?As the Season gets underway this month, our Lifestyle Editor rounds up the ten clubs shaping life across town and country.
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An opportunity to inspect even one of the gargantuan pages of Audubon's Birds of America shouldn't be missedAfter discovering a volume of the one-time world's most expensive book under a dust sheet, a museum in Glasgow is offering visitors the chance to view it up close.
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Have you considered a dog? A snob's guide to heartbreakSophia Money-Coutts on how to make it through the early days of a break up.
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Where to eat, where to drink and where to shop in Chelsea, according to the Country Life teamThere's more to Chelsea than just the Flower Show so we've rounded up some of the best places to eat, stay and shop.
