We go back to one of Britain’s most fascinating dynasties (or perhaps one that has been talked a lot of in recent times, what with Henry VIII’s wives and his daughters) to look at their private lives.

For some reason, I thought that The Private Lives of the Tudors would be a book about the lives of people in the Tudor times. However, I was wrong (also, I clearly didn’t read the subtitle) because this book focuses on the Tudor dynasty – Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth and how they lived their private lives.

That said, their private lives and their public lives are very intertwined, which is why this book initially felt like an account of the Tudor dynasty, starting with Henry VII. I actually didn’t really think that I was reading about their private lives until Chapter Five, when we talked about Henry VIII’s “royal person” and we had a look into his clothing, his colour preferences, and how Henry tried to take care of himself. Otherwise, Borman’s insistence on following chronological order makes the book feel less about their private lives and more like a general account of their dynasty.

Otherwise, what I learnt from this book was that linen is supposed to be quite effective at keeping people who don’t bathe clean and relatively odourless. Apparently, linen can wick away sweat which keeps both the person and the outer clothes that cannot be washed. This was a great thing in a time when people thought that taking baths was dangerous for their health.

It was also pretty interesting to see how clothes marked status in Tudor society. That reminded me a bit about the discourse in Dress Code, on how fashion interacts with society on a larger scale. Here, clothes served as a marker of status and gifts of clothes could convey meaning. I also thought that it was interesting how when Elizabeth I was Queen, women’s dress became more elaborate and expansive than men’s, while the reverse was true during the reign of Henry VIII.

The Private Lives of the Tudors is fairly interesting. If you’re unfamiliar with the Tudor dynasty in general, you might appreciate how events of the time are explained alongside exploration into their living habits. However, if you’re already familiar with the Tudors, you may find a lot of the chapters unnecessary and might prefer to just skip to the parts about their clothes and personal hygiene, since that is where most of the new information (for me) is.