A TOUR of Britain has placed Tintagel Castle as the ‘original royal residency’, presented in new book Bognor and Other Regises.

Written by Caroline Taggart, the bestselling author of Around Britain by Cake, Bognor and Other Regises took Caroline on a rumbustious, regal pilgrimage, all over Britain. Opening along the rugged Cornish coast with the dramatic Tintagel Castle, the legendary home of King Arthur, Caroline weaves in and out of British history, showing how the stories of monarchs are written across the landscape, including the regal residence of Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands, the gothic interiors of Cardiff Castle and the exotic galleries of Brighton Pavilion.

Written in an amusing, accessible style, Bognor and Other Regises puts the spotlight on some of Britain’s quirkiest royals and uncovers fascinating facts and anecdotes about them all. Right through from Ethelred the Unready to Elizabeth II, from the Isle of Skye to Glastonbury Abbey, author Carole Taggart taps into the nation’s fascination with royalty past and present.

Whether glamorous or sordid, merry or morose, our monarchs and their families have led lives very different from ours — and all too often they have held the fate of the nation in the palms of their hands. They have married for diplomatic reasons and created diplomatic incidents when they divorced. They have borne a dozen children and still left no one to succeed them. They have got themselves excommunicated and created their own religions. They have waged war against their neighbours and their cousins, built frivolous summer palaces and formidable fortresses. In so doing, they have left their mark all over Great Britain, in castles and churches, on battlefields and stained-glass windows. Their stories are written all across the landscape, if people know where to look for them.

Discover the chocolate kitchens at Hampton Court, built to serve William III and Mary II’s levees; why the anniversary of the death of Katherine of Aragon is celebrated in Peterborough every January, and the 20 varieties of thyme that Prince Charles grows at Highgrove. In this amusing and fast-paced tour of Britain, Caroline Taggart is the guide to all the weird and wonderful places connected with royalty over the last 1,500 years.