As a child Worsley played piano from the age of four, took lessons for 15 years and passed all of her piano grades. Of her teacher, Miss Beaumont, she later said: "At the time I was terrified of her but in retrospect she gave me a great gift of self-discipline and self-reliance. She made me strive for excellence and work hard. To help somebody to get better and really to challenge them, that's a rare and valuable thing."[5]
Career
Curator and academic
Worsley began her career as a historic house curator at Milton Manor,[6] near Abingdon, in the summer of 1995,[7] before working for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. From 1996 to 2002, she was an inspector of historic buildings for English Heritage in the East Midlands region. During that time, she studied the life of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle and wrote the English Heritage guide to his home, Bolsover Castle. In 2001, she was awarded a DPhil degree from the University of Sussex for a thesis on The Architectural Patronage of William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle, 1593–1676.[8] The thesis was later developed into Worsley's book Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion and Great Houses published in 2007.[9]
In October 2024 Worsley announced that she would be stepping down from her role at Historic Royal Palaces at the end of the year to focus on her Lady Killers podcast.[15]
Television
In 2011, Worsley presented the four-part television series If Walls Could Talk, exploring the history of British homes, from peasants' cottages to palaces; and the three-part series Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency. In 2012 she co-presented the three-part television series Antiques Uncovered, with antiques and collectibles expert Mark Hill,[16] and (broadcast at the same time) Harlots, Housewives and Heroines, a three-part series on the lives of women after the Civil War and the Restoration of Charles II.[17] Later that year she presented a documentary on Dorothy Hartley's Food in England as part of the BBC Four "Food and Drink" strand.
Her BBC series A Very British Murder (and the accompanying book, also released as The Art of the English Murder) examined the "morbid national obsession" with murder. The series looked at a number of cases from the 19th century, beginning with the Ratcliff Highway murders which gained national attention in 1811, the Red Barn Murder of 1826 and the "Bermondsey Horror" case of Frederick and Maria Manning in 1849.[18]
In 2014, the three-part series The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain explored the contributions of the German-born kings George I and George II. The series explained why the Hanoverian George I came to be chosen as a British monarch, how he was succeeded by his very different son George II and why, without either, the current United Kingdom would likely be a very different place. The series emphasises the positive influence of these kings whilst showing the flaws in each. A Very British Romance, a three-part series for BBC Four, was based on the romantic novels and sought to uncover the forces shaping our very British idea of 'happily ever after' and how our feelings have been affected by social, political and cultural ideas.[19]
In 2016, Worsley presented the three-part documentary Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley in January and Lucy Worsley: Mozart's London Odyssey in June.[20] In September 2016, she was filming an upcoming series A Very British History for BBC Four.[21] In December she presented and appeared in dramatised accounts of the three-part BBC series Six Wives with Lucy Worsley. In 2017, she presented a three-part series entitled British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley, debunking historical views of the Wars of the Roses, the Glorious Revolution and the British occupation of India.[22]
In 2019, Worsley presented American History's Biggest Fibs, looking at the nation's founding story and American Revolution, the American Civil War, and the Cold War.
During February and March 2020, the first series of Royal History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley was shown on BBC Four; the three-part series discovers how the history of The Reformation, The Spanish Armada and Queen Anne and the Union have been manipulated and mythologised.[23]
In 2022, Lucy Worsley Investigates began running. The one hour programme investigates major events in British History, including The Black Death, The Madness of King George, and The Princes in the Tower.[25]
On 22 June 2023, she presented The Krypton Factor-style quiz show Puzzling, which made its debut on Channel 5 and there are 13 episodes.
Writing
Worsley has published a number of books, many guides to houses and the like. Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court (2011) is her most recent work on history. In 2014, BBC Books published her book, A Very British Murder, which was based on the series.[26]
In April 2016, Worsley published her debut children's novel, Eliza Rose, about a young noble girl in a Tudor Court.[27][28] In 2017, Worsley published a biography of Jane Austen titled Jane Austen at Home: A Biography.[29]
Worsley also wrote the young-adult book Lady Mary,[30] a history-based book that details the life of Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon; it follows her as a young Princess Mary during the time of the divorce of Mary's parents.
Personal life
Worsley lives in Southwark[31] by the River Thames in south London with her husband, architect Mark Hines,[2] whom she married in November 2011.[32] With reference to having children, Worsley once said she has been "educated out of normal reproductive function",[33] but she later said her statement had been "misinterpreted and sounded darker than I'd intended."[34]
As a television presenter, she is known for having a rhotacism, a minor speech impairment[2] which affects her pronunciation of "r". When she made the move from BBC Four to BBC Two for the series Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History, she worked with a speech and language therapist to help with her pronunciation, but to no avail.[35]
In her teens, Worsley represented Berkshire at cross country running and, as a pastime, is still a keen participant in the sport.[36]
Awards and honours
In February 2015, the Royal Television Society nominated Worsley (best presenter) and The First Georgians (best history programme) in its annual awards.[37]
The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock (US edition, Pegasus Books, 2015, ISBN9781605989099)
