Crown

The current season of Shakespeare on the BBC is proving to be a revelation, particularly so for managing to make the history plays intelligible at last. I don't read nearly enough Shakespeare, and never get round to seeing it on stage, which is a pity. And the history plays always seem especially difficult, or certainly did when I was at school, what with my shaky knowledge of which king came after which (although admittedly the numbers are a great help), and the plethora of characters named after towns and counties. It was slightly daunting to meet the present Duke of Gloucester recently; not that he was particularly intimidating, or waved a sword at me, or spouted reams of blank verse, or anything of that sort; but just to realise the historical link going back over the centuries. Mind you, they do say that you don't have to go back many generations before we all start to have one or more ancestors in common; though in my case I don't imagine there is much chance of a direct connection to the present Royal Family. Which is probably a great relief to them.