The story of Britain's royal builders and collectors. Told by Huw Wheldon

Trooping the Colour was first performed, Kew Gardens planted and the Royal Academy founded under the first three Georges.
Encouraged by George I and George II, Handel composed his greatest music and Gainsborough was George III 's portrait painter. The Gold State Coach in which George III rode to open his first parliament reflects the confidence of the 18th century, yet across its ordered landscapes hung the shadow of rebellion and, for the king, personal tragedy.

"Never a dull moment and matched at every point by a wealth of authoritative pictorial material." (Yorkshire Post)

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