Plot Synopsis

Hosted by Tracy Borman, joint Chief Curator of the Royal Palaces, this five-part series uncovers the nitty-gritty, down and dirty and outright strange about the most iconic rulers of our history books -- from the infamous Henry VIII to the "mad" King George III and up to Queen Victoria's long-lasting reign. PRIVATE LIVES OF THE MONARCHS takes Borman through the royal palaces and castles of these monarchs to seek out rare documents and artifacts that tell the hidden and illicit stories of their reigns -- their affairs, ailments, drug use and more.

Season 2 of PRIVATE LIVES OF THE MONARCHS premiered on Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 8pm ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel. The season opener features Napoleon Bonaparte, who was a workaholic and a military genius who rose up the ranks to become Emperor of the French. Through a series of wars, he acquired an empire on a scale not seen since ancient Rome. But a string of military failures, first in Russia and lastly in Waterloo, decimated France as well as his legacy. To understand Napoleon the man, we visit the palaces from where he ran his empire, uncover his private relationships, and reveal how the "man of destiny" coped with humiliating defeat.
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On Sunday, June 7, 2020 at 8pm ET/PT, Smithsonian Channel premiered "Peter the Great," the season finale of PRIVATE LIVES OF THE MONARCHS. As a ruler, Peter the Great's achievements were clearly remarkable, but a look behind closed doors reveals that the man who made them happen was equally extraordinary. Join host Dr. Tracy Borman as she uncovers the Russian emperor's private life to show how his unconventional childhood would go on to produce a very unconventional man. He was a person of contradictions -- an enlightened modern thinker and a cruel tyrant -- and used both extremes of his personality to transform Russia into the powerful nation it remains to this day.