Smithsonian Channel slips into the bedchambers and back rooms of Britain and France's royal palaces to discover the Private Lives of the Monarchs. Hosted by Tracy Borman, joint Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces, this five-part series forgoes dates and diplomacy for foibles and fetishes to reveal the real-life human beings behind the pomp and pageantry. Borman visits the royal palaces and castles of these monarchs to seek out rare documents and artifacts that tell the hidden secrets and illicit stories of their reigns - their affairs, ailments, drug use and more. Among those profiled in the series are Queen Victoria (who was especially fond of chewing gum – laced with cocaine!); King Henry VIII (who favored astrology as a means of controlling his increasing weight); King Louis XIV (who was said to have bathed three times in his entire life); and Charles II (a man who was called “too randy to rule”).

In addition to her role as joint Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces, Tracy Borman is the best-selling author of The Private Lives of the Tudors and Henry the VIII and the Men Who Made Him. A regular TV broadcaster, Tracy has presented three television series inspired by her research into the private lives of historical figures.

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