Love Life of King James VI & I

Historic Royal Palaces Podcast

Historic Royal Palaces

London, Palace, Tower, Historic, Conservation, Royal, Lecture, Learning, Kensington, Hampton, Kew, Banqueting, History, Court, Of, House, Palaces

4.6 • 635 Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

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Summary

Understanding the love life of James VI & I can give us a better picture of the man himself in his entirety, and not simply through the lens of his kingship, or the politics of the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

So in this episode, Chief Historian Tracy Borman is once again in the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace, joined by Gareth Russell to discuss the subject of his latest book 'Queen James; the life and loves of Britain's first King'.

To take part in our survey and be in for a chance to win a £100 voucher, visit:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HRPPodcastSurvey/

Please be aware this episode contains themes of homophobia, grooming, and child abuse, that some listeners may find distressing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the Historic Royal Palaces podcast, the podcast that tells the history and stories of our six palaces.
0:09.1	I'm Tracy Borman. I have the exciting new title of Chief Historian here at the Palaces.
0:15.4	And today we are exploring the love life of King James the 6th of Scotland and First of England.
0:23.9	Now, the role of a monarch's favourite has long been part of the narrative around both Elizabethan
0:30.4	and Stuart monarchy. Yet King James's personal relationships have often been eclipsed in favour of big events such as the witch craze,
0:41.6	the gunpowder plot, and even the fact that he commissioned a formative English translation of the Bible,
0:49.2	all of which are significant factors to the life of James I. But in reality, James' love life was pivotal in shaping who he was and how he approached his personal rule and role as an early modern monarch.
1:08.0	In understanding James' relationships with the men he loved, we can learn more
1:14.2	about the man behind the monarch. So, to help explore this topic, I spoke to Gareth Russell,
1:21.9	who has just released a new book called Queen James, the life and loves of Britain's first king.
1:31.3	Loyal listeners, you're in for a treat with this episode.
1:35.0	But before we jump into it, I wanted to let you know that we're running a survey
1:38.6	to help make this podcast better for you.
1:41.1	So, if you'd like to say your piece, we've popped the link in our show notes.
1:45.0	Now, back to the show.
1:51.1	Gareth, thank you so much for joining me here. Once again, we find ourselves in the Great Hall
1:57.8	at Hampton Court Palace to talk about James the sixth and first.
2:01.7	But this time, we're not talking about witches, are we? We're going to talk about his private life.
2:08.5	And why do you think that's important? I think partly it's important because it's fascinating
2:13.7	and the attraction of history is its interest, but also, as you mentioned, it shapes him
2:18.9	fundamentally. The six loves of James, the sixth and first will shape him as fundamentally as the
2:24.6	six wives, shaped Henry the 8th, or the mistresses will shape the reign of Charles II, James's grandson.
	...

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