A real-life princess, a literary lord, one of the most popular children's authors now living - and a panel discussion on '600 years of beating the French'. What's not to like about this year's Harrogate History Festival?

The princess in question is Princess Michael of Kent, who as well as being a member of the British royal family also happens to be an author.

She'll be at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate on October 24 as part of the four-day history festival (from October 22-25) to discuss the third book in her Anjou trilogy of novels set in the 1400s.

The literary lord, meanwhile, is Melvyn Bragg, whose new novel Now Is The Time is set during the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, when the ordinary people of England marched on London to protest against unfair taxes and corruption.

And that popular children's writer? None other than warhorse author Michael Morpurgo, whose most recent novel, Listen To The Moon, centres on the sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania in 1915.

York Press:

Michael Morpurgo

All three will be featuring in this year's festival - along with the likes of Ken Follett, Kate Mosse and Neil Oliver.

This year, as usual, there will also be a series of panel discussions for history buffs to get their teeth into.

These include ‘600 Years of Beating The French’, marking the anniversaries of victory at Agincourt and Waterloo; ‘Not Just Bullets and Bombs’, a lively panel discussing the legacy of the Second World War; and ‘My Era's Better Than Yours’, in which period writers argue over whether the Romans, Tudors, Vikings or Ancient Greeks would be the best era for time travellers to return to in a Tardis.

All this plus A Million Years In A Day author Greg Jenner discussing who invented beds and how old underpants are - and the festival's annual debut writers panel, New Blood.

A weekend not to be missed.

  • The Harrogate History Festival, Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, October 22-25. For more details visit harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/history