Private Lives - Episode Guide

If ever the image of a monarch was fixed in the public imagination, it's that of Queen Victoria. She gave her name to an age not readily associated with fun and laughter, and with some justification. In this episode Tracy explores two of her most important relationships in her private life: those with her husband Prince Albert - with who things may not have been quite as they seemed - and her eldest son Edward, who she came to utterly despise.

Tracy reveals the story behind not one but two of history's most infamous private lives, which are forever intertwined - the tragic 'mad' King George III and his son, the Prince Regent. They could hardly have been more different as men and the two hated each other. Here, Tracy explores their fractious relationship, which was made worse by the King's 'madness' - a condition that has attracted recent fascinating theories. The suggestion that it was made much worse by his almost inhuman treatment makes a sad story sadder. This terrible father-and-son relationship dominated the life of the Prince Regent and eventually created one of England's most controversial Kings.

It's off to Paris then, where Tracy gets to hear about the private life the 'Sun King' - the man who believed that the rest of France revolved around him. She hears the truth about the Palace of Versailles - outwardly sumptuous and glorious, actually filthy and stinking. What were the real reasons for the King's love of clothes and perfumes and wigs? Tracy finds out. She also discovers more about King Louis' tangled love life, extravagant lifestyle and extraordinary vanity....

In this episode, Tracy is transported back to Reformation England and the decadent, licentious court of Charles II. The 'Merrie Monarch' let nothing get in the way of a good time and so Tracy is introduced to a world of mistresses, pimp-masters, secret tunnels, sumptuous feasts... and merkins. She also hears more about the King's favourite mistress Nell Gwynn - perhaps a little more than the simple orange seller-turned-actress of popular image.

And so finally, Tracy explores the private life of England's most famous monarch - the handsome, athletic prince who eventually became the archetypal tyrant king. But why and how did it happen? Tracy explains as she tells of Henry's turbulent romances and marriages, the less than glamorous but highly sought after job as Groom of the Stool and the king's journey into obese and foul-smelling old age. She also reveals that Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife who was so cruelly labelled the 'Flanders Mare', might actually have been a rather attractive young lady - and that their marital problems were probably down to Henry.

Dr Tracy Borman discovers the real reason the Princess Margaret's relationship with Peter Townsend came to an end, uncovers her disastrous marriage to the manipulative, unfaithful Lord Snowden, and discovers more about her love of music and devotion to duty, revealing a woman very different to the picture the press would have us believe.

Dr Tracy Borman explores Edward's childhood as he grappled with his overbearing father, reveals how the First World War saw him grow up in more ways than one, and his desire for married women. She also uncovers the truth about Edward's abdication of the throne, and Wallis' infidelity, and reveals how Edward was a fashion icon of the day, examining his clothes in Kensington Palace.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a workaholic and a military genius who rose through 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.

Dr. Tracy Borman travels to Paris to reveal Napoleon's relationships, from nervous first encounters with a prostitute to his all-consuming love for Josephine, and visits their former home, Malmaison. She also visits the Palace of Fontainebleau to see Napoleon's throne room and reveal the secrets to his extraordinary success, and calamitous downfall.

Dr Tracy Borman travels to Germany to uncover Adolf Hitler's abusive childhood and artistic aspirations. She reveals how he was shaped by the First World War and uncovers his relationships with much younger women, including his own niece, discovering how the personal motivations that came from his private life unleashed so much destruction.

Dr Tracy Borman travels to St Petersburg to reveal how Peter's unconventional childhood produced a very unconventional man - from the debauched drinking society that governed Russia, to his collection of oddities in the Kunstkamera - discovering how the enlightened yet brutal Peter dragged Russia into the modern age.

Dr Tracy Borman heads to Chicago to discover how Al Capone rose to infamy, from club bouncer to the most notorious gangster in history. She uncovers the two sides to his personality as the man who ordered deaths on a whim doted on his family. And reveals how his carefully curated public image gave birth to a legend.