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Republicans and anti-monarchists have long grumbled that Buckingham Palace is riddled with fossils from a bygone era. And now scientists have shown that, in one respect, it’s true. A new study led by the Australian National University (ANU) has found that the building blocks used in the...

Six women from the British Army have become the largest all-female group to ski coast-to-coast across Antarctica. The Ice Maiden team began the 1,000-mile expedition on 20 November - each pulling an 80kg sledge behind them. After 62 days on the ice, the six soldiers crossed the finish line at...

The earliest known use of the term "prisoner of war" in England has been discovered by a historian at the University of Southampton. Court documents from 1357 show the term was first used for the Count de Ventadour, captured at the Battle of Poitiers. England's first 'prisoner of war'...

No one will be more grateful to President Macron for allowing the Bayeux Tapestry to cross the Channel than Britain’s schoolchildren. No longer will they have to endure pitching and tossing ferries, ghastly French youth hostels and the gloom of Normandy in order to see one of the most...

France and the UK have signed a treaty to speed up the processing of migrants in Calais, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on his first UK visit. After talks with UK PM Theresa May at Sandhurst Military Academy, he said the treaty would offer a "more humane approach" and be...

Boris Johnson has raised the prospect of a bridge across the English Channel after top-level talks between the UK and France. The Foreign Secretary said ‘good connections’ were important to the relationship between the two countries and wondered whether the Channel Tunnel should merely be...

A TV historian believes he may have discovered the real location of the Battle of Brunanburh on a humble lay-by off the A1. The battle is long believed to have saved England from Viking invaders over 1,000 years ago. It pitted a West Saxon army against a combined horde of Vikings, Scots and...

The programme that will likely gather the most viewers on British TV tonight is The Coronation on BBC1 in which the Queen, who never does interviews, has a converation with Alistair Bruce, the Royal, Religious and National Events Commentator for Sky News. The programme will see Her Majesty...

A Royal Navy medical officer who saved the lives of hundreds of British and Argentine troops during the Falklands War has died, aged 71. Working amid terrible conditions in the field, Surgeon Capt Rick Jolly, from Torpoint, Cornwall, saved the life of every British troop he treated. He is the...

This is the dramatic moment a group of Trump supporters tried to arrest Sadiq Khan while quoting the Magna Carta. The men stormed the left-wing Fabian Society conference in London moments after the mayor took to the stage and accused him of 'subverting the English constitution'. Mr Khan's...

The French chateau where Richard the Lionheart died after being hit by a bolt from a crossbow has quietly been put on the market with a small ad offering this remarkable piece of Anglo-French history for well under a million pounds. The castle of Châlus-Chabrol, about 110 miles...

An eight-year-old boy has made a new friend thousands of miles away after finding a message in a bottle washed up on a Cornish beach. Noah Crooks was helping to clear plastic debris from Storm Eleanor at Stanbury Mouth near Bude with his brother and father earlier this month. His father...

A 373-year-old bill with "one of the earliest" mentions of tea in England has been unearthed in an archive. A curator from Temple Newsam House, near Leeds, found the 1644 bill for medicinal ingredients bought by the estate. Rachel Conroy found mention of bottles of China drink, the old name...

Four British amateur rowers are believed to have set a new world record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Friends George Biggar, Dicky Taylor, Peter Robinson and Stuart Watts spent 29 days and 15 hours at sea during the 3,000-mile crossing from the Canary Islands to the...

A butcher who became trapped in a walk-in freezer escaped thanks to a frozen black pudding. Chris McCabe, 70, said he got trapped after the freezer door in his shop in Totnes, Devon, blew shut behind him. Black pudding saves butcher trapped in freezer 11 January 2018 BBC News Chris McCabe...

On 13 November 1553, the 17-year-old Lady Jane Grey became the youngest royal woman to be condemned for treason in British history. Her trial – staged at Guildhall in the heart of the City of London – was a very public humiliation. For Jane, its outcome was a personal catastrophe. How had...

The RAF - the world's oldest airforce - celebrates its 100th birthday on 1st April, so it's time to celebrate the plucky little aircraft that helped win the war... The plucky little plane that won the war! As the RAF celebrates its centenary, Robert Hardman salutes the Spitfire that sent...

New movie Darkest Hour follows Britain's great wartime leader Winston Churchill in his early days as Prime Minister as Hitler closes in on Britain and highlights the pivotal role of his wife Clementine. Their granddaughter Emma Soames says it's about time that Clementine's role was recognised...

Gemstones from the Crown Jewels were hidden in a biscuit tin at Windsor Castle for safekeeping during World War Two, a BBC documentary will reveal. It was buried below a secret exit on the orders of King George VI to prevent the jewels falling into Nazi hands. Crown Jewels hidden in biscuit...

Morris dancers have celebrated the ancient pagan custom of wassailing by donning black make-up and leading a procession in a bid to prepare orchards for the New Year. The tradition through the villages of Much Marcle and Dilwyn in Herefordshire involves people pouring cider over tree roots...