Royal Court Life Behind the Gold Leaf

You have walked through the gilded halls on a tour, and something about it rang false. Nobody tells you where the courtiers relieved themselves, what the queen's white face paint was doing to her skin, or why the royal physician was often more dangerous than the illness.

This audiobook opens eight palaces, one per chapter, from Versailles and the Forbidden City to Topkapi, Hampton Court, the Escorial, the Hofburg and Edo Castle. Each begins inside a real recorded moment with a real cook, courtier, doctor or chamber servant, then follows a single day through the smells of the kitchens, the poison tasters at the table and the etiquette battles over who may sit. You hear how historians know this from household accounts, ambassadors' letters and inventories, and where they still argue.

By the last chapter, gold leaf will never look the same to you. Press play and step past the guards.