The Story of Britain's Royal Builders and Collectors in nine films
Told by Huw Wheldon

All his life King Charles I stammered. Only when he reached the scaffold at the end of a gilded but difficult reign did he speak with clarity and eloquence.

'I go' he said 'from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown where no disturbance can be, no disturbance in the world.'

In the words of the supporter of Cromwell 'he nothing common did, nor mean upon that memorable scene.'

Charles I was the greatest patron of the arts to occupy the British throne. With paintings by Titian, Raphael, Caravaggio, and many other masters of the Italian Renaissance Charles I enriched the Royal Collection. As patron of Inigo Jones he encouraged a new architecture two centuries in advance of its time. In Van Dyck he had a painter who reflected the majesty of his court, the tender relationships in his family and the exalted aloofness which helped lead to his execution.

The Queen's Pictures, £15.00 from bookshops from 9 May