Built to astonish the masses and to celebrate the magnificence of the most powerful families in the world, royal palaces and house are the reminders of a bygone era. This book tells the mysteries and legends of the buildings, and the official and secret versions of the history of their occupants. The text is complemented by a series of splendid photographs that together transport the reader on a visit to a place where the lives of royal families and their courts burned bright, and where beauty was mixed with power.