Across a thousand years of manuscripts and over five hundred years of publishing, English Cookbooks are full of extraordinary food and extraordinary illustrations from medieval illuminated manuscripts to the coffee table books of today. This lecture tells the story of the development of the cookbook.

Elsa Schiaparelli is seen as the undisputed queen of fashion of the Roaring Twenties and her artistic collaborations with many of the surrealist artists of the day had an impact on her designs. Schiaparelli wanted to shock, and she did!

We explore the careers of some seriously funny women who carved a path through a man’s world and gave us some of the very best in British comedy. From Joyce Grenfell to Victoria Wood, from Thora Hird to Penelope Keith – and all the stops in between!

The former director of Music of the Coldstream Guards takes a light-hearted look at the ceremonial events that take place at Christmas time. From carol services to concerts, to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.