Is this strangest threesome in royal history?!

We're endlessly fascinated with the lives of royal mistresses, and this has to be one of the most notorious.

It takes place in 16th century France between Henry II, his wife Catherine de Medici and his much older mistress, Diane de Poitiers.

How does this three-way power dynamic play out, inside and outside the bedroom? And how does Diane claim more power than the Queen?

Joining Kate is the fantastic historian and author, Estelle Paranque, to take us back to this time and fill us in on the details.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  

You can take part in our listener survey here.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.