In this episode Philip Mansel takes us inside the court of King Louis XIV at Versailles, probably the most lavish, extraordinary royal palace ever built.

Versailles was a place where the fun never stopped. There were parties, plays, banquets, firework displays and concerts. Life at court was a giddy carousel of extravagance, culture, beauty, wit, sophistication and intrigue.

As the decorated historian Philip Mansel tells us in this sparkling episode, Versailles was the centre of power, politics and pleasure. It was the home of the royal family and the nobility, a hotbed of conspiracy and scandal.

The characters and stories that feature in this episode of Travels Through Time form part of Mansel’s award-winning book, King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV.

Scene One: 17 November 1700. Louis XIV presents his seventeen-year-old grandson to assembled diplomats and courtiers as Philip V King of Spain, by the will of God and the will of the nation.

Scene Two: 1700. Military review of Louis XIV’s guards, the special regiment of cavalry nobles whom he loved and who formed the foundation of his power.

Scene Three: 1700. A procession in front of Louis at the Palace of Versailles of freed white French slaves, who had been captured by Algerian pirates in the Mediterranean.

Memento: One of the magnificent books from the Royal Printing Press.

Presenter: Violet Moller

Guest: Philip Mansel

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Ace Cultural Tours

Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan

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