Beneath the power, the glamour, and the splendour of European royalty there has always been scandal, mystery and skullduggery. Dark History of the Kings & Queens of Europe peels away the glory and the glitz to take a wry look at what has really gone on in the corridors, bedrooms and dungeons of European power from the middle ages up to the present day. With a broad scope and illustrated throughout, Dark History of the Kings & Queens of Europe features Vlad the Impaler’s stakes, Elizabeth Bathory’s razor blades, Philip IV’s starvation of the Knights Templars, Louis XV’s womanising, the man in the iron mask, many mad monarchs from Juana I the Mad of Spain to Ludwig II of Bavaria, the suicide pact of Crown Prince Rudolf and the troubled life of Princess Grace of Monaco.