and changing her name to Catherine, she married Grand Duke Peter, grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the Russian throne. The marriage was unhappy, but the couple did produce one son, Paul.

Often referred to as the “Russian Hamlet”, Paul is a tortured figure who struggles to cope with his father’s death and his mother’s new lovers. Taken from Catherine at birth and raised by his great ...

In 1501, at the age of 16, Catherine arrived in England after a treacherous three-month sea voyage. She was married to Prince Arthur – now 15 – in old St Paul's Cathedral. They moved to Ludlow ...