Author, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, and BBC presenter Lucy Worsley has made a name for herself as one of the UK’s chief historians, bringing history to life for the millions that regularly tune into her shows. Her latest offering, A Very British Romance, promises to uncover the steamy secret lives of the Georgians and Victorians. If her past successes are anything to go by, it’s one you won’t want to miss. Find out more about its presenter with these ten little facts.
1. She’s scared of heights
Worsely might be prepared to go to great lengths in unburying the buried secrets of the past, but if a task involves scaling any heights, forget it. As she revealed to The Lady, the historian has a deep-seated fear of heights- a fear that’s occasionally, and in more ways than one, been her downfall. “I have tried to conquer it because my work as a curator of historic buildings means I often have to climb up scaffolding,” she shared. “Once I went green and had to be carried down over a builder’s shoulder.”
2. Her parents didn’t have high hopes for her
Worsley, who was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1973, grew up in an academic family: her father was a lecturer in Geology at Reading University while her mother is a consultant in educational policy and practice. After excelling in her studies at Abbey School, Reading, St Bartholomew’s School, Newbury, and West Bridgford School, Nottingham, she won a place at Oxford University, Despite being no doubt proud of their daughter’s accomplishments, her parents were somewhat dubious of her choice of subject, with her father telling her that she would end up “cleaning toilets for a living” by studying history.
3. She began her TV career in 2011
In 2011, Worsley made her first appearance on TV in If Walls Could Talk, a series focusing on the history of British homes. Her presenting skills obviously impressed BBC bosses, as a year later she was invited back to co-present Antiques Uncovered alongside antiques and collectibles expert Mark Hill. Since then, she’s been an almost permanent fixture on our screens, with her credits including Harlots, Housewives and Heroines, A Very British Murder, The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain, Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley, Lucy Worsley: Mozart’s London Odyssey, British History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley, Six Wives with Lucy Worsley, and American History’s Biggest Fibs,
4. She’s a published author
After her TV appearances made her a household name, Worsley took her career one step further by putting pen to paper. In 2014, she published her first book A Very British Murder (based on the series of the name) with BBC Books. Since then, she’s released several further publications, including a biography of Jane Austen called Jane Austen at Home: A Biography, a historical book for teens titled Lady Mary, and the children’s novel, Eliza Rose.
5. She’s not afraid to go against popular opinion
Historically, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, has been viewed as a great husband, great father, great polymath, and a great supporter of the arts and sciences. In May 2019, Worsley voiced a very different interpretation of the man, telling the audience at Hay festival that rather than getting involved in the politics of the country “he should have been fulfilling the more traditional role of a Queen or a princess, which was single-minded to support his spouse, which he didn’t do.”
6. She’s got beef with David Starkey
In 2011, BBC historian David Starkey got tongues wagging with his comment that his female counterparts tend to be “usually quite pretty” with work that resembles “historical Mills and Boon”. Despite her as-then relatively unknown status, Worsley didn’t hesitate in going up against the BBC stalwart, retorting “If it wasn’t insulting and degrading to judge historians by their looks, I would point out that Dr. Starkey looks like a cross owl in the pictures on his own books.”
7. She never planned on becoming a TV star
Worsley’s TV career may have catapulted her career to new heights (not to mention help ignite a passion for history among millions of Brits) but her transition from curator to TV presenter happened purely by accident. “I’m just a historian who has happened to wander into television as an extension of what I do,” she told The Telegraph. “In recent years, the BBC woke up to the fact that they weren’t using women historians and I’m lucky to have been caught in the slipstream of Amanda Vickery, Mary Beard, and Bettany Hughes.”
8. She’s got an extra-long tongue
Anyone who’s seen Worsley on TV will know the presenter has a distinct speaking style. Despite efforts to correct her speech impediment through training and therapists, sounding her “R’s” remains a problem — something that, by her own account, can be blamed on her very long tongue. “Apparently my problem is my enormously long tongue — its great length means that it rather lazily won’t take the trouble to curl up and form the letter ‘R’ properly,” she revealed on her blog. “But I promise you it’s not for want of trying on my part! I have even consulted a specialist speech therapist, and she said that to cure the problem I’d have to say ‘R’ correctly as many times as I have said it incorrectly in the past. So, I’m sowwy, but I don’t think there’s much I can do about it.)”
9. She’s an OBE
In the 2018 Birthday Honors, Worsley was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to History and to Heritage. Although it’s probably her most prestigious accolade to date, it’s by no means her first: in February 2015, the historian was nominated as best presenter by the Royal Television Society, while in July of that same year, she was awarded the title of honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Sussex.
10. She’s a keen runner
In her youth, Worsley represented Berkshire at cross country running. It’s a passion she’s maintained, as she explained to The Lady. “I like running,” she shared. “I trot along quite slowly but I can go a long way. I’ve been told that it’s because I have unusually large nostrils, like a horse. I can take in the air exceptionally well.”
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