Palace Retreats

This time, we uncover secret stories of palace retreats, as Sandringham is rocked by a mysterious shooting, we unearth the secrets of the ultimate seaside palace and we reveal how the late Queen's war-time escape led to one of Windsor's best kept secrets.

But first we tell the story of the royal retreat that made the Queen cry: her floating palace, Britannia. It was the only home the Queen ever chose for herself and its loss prompted the only public tears most royal watchers ever saw Her Majesty shed. We explore the yacht's hidden history and unravel why its loss caused such public sorrow on its decommissioning at Portsmouth dockyard.

Staying by the sea, we reveal the secrets of George IV's magnificently weird seaside palace, Brighton Pavilion, including how it was inspired by a stable-block in the garden and why the palace's finest showpiece room was reserved for the servants.

Historian Prof Kate Williams reveals some of the darkest secrets of the royal retreats including the astonishing story of how King George V's doctor hurried the dying monarch to his death at Sandringham without consulting the King, in order that his death could be reported in the morning's Times rather than (heaven forbid!) in a lower-class evening paper.

Still at Sandringham, we investigate another mysterious death, or rather deaths, after the shooting of two highly endangered Hen Harriers, a crime carrying a six-month prison sentence. The police officially named Prince Harry a suspect, to huge royal embarrassment, yet with no carcasses recovered no charges were ever brought and the crime remains unsolved…

Finally we tell the story of one of Windsor's best-kept secrets, prompted by the future Queen Elizabeth II's escape to the palace during the second world war. With the historic paintings cleared from the walls for fear of bombing, a local teenage student was called on to create some decoration for the Waterloo Chamber – all to fit with the pantomimes the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret staged there. To this day the charming pantomime pictures hide behind the grand oil-paintings in this grandest of rooms.