Dr Ian Mortimer introduces you to the world of the Elizabethan rich and privileged.

Money alone is not enough to allow you to blend in with the royal court. There is much to learn about how the wealthy dress, greet and behave. The high classes operate with their own secret codes of manners, dress, hygiene and dancing. Even something as simple as the size of your ruff may be enough to betray an out-of-date outfit and have you excluded from the upper levels of society. This is quite literally a cut-throat world; spies circle the great and good and one false word from you or your servants could cost you everything. Then there is the Queen herself, including the horrifying cost of hosting a royal progress.

These are dangerous days and those who have the most also have the most to lose. Show less