Coming soon...In the gripping first episode to our People and Power mini‑series, we explore two medieval documents that reshaped ideas about power in society, Magna Carta and the 1265 summons list for Simon de Montfort's parliament.

Love letters might not be what you'd expect to find in a government archive, yet The National Archives holds an extraordinary collection spanning over 500 years of devotion, longing, sacrifice and passion. From heartfelt declarations to calculated proposals, intimate notes and secret exchanges, these records reveal the deeply human emotions captured in the nation's documents.

As we open Love Letters, a free exhibition at our Kew site, running until 12 April 2026, showcasing correspondence from royalty, parliamentarians, relating to literary icons and to everyday people, this episode shares some of the stories behind these captivating records.

Featuring specialists Sean Cunningham, Vicky Iglikowski-Broad and Mollie Clarke, we explore how these letters survived, what they reveal about relationships shaped by power, distance and circumstance.

Read the full episode transcript here.

In our next episode of On the Record, we explore 500 years of devotion, longing and forbidden love from our new Love Letters exhibition at The National Archives in Kew running until 12 April 2026, uncovering the intimate stories preserved in the nation's archives.