Invitation to a Royal Wedding

Ian Hislop takes an amused look at one of the most peculiar offices in the British establishment, that of Poet Laureate. Its 341-year history produces a gloriously eccentric picture of who we are, how we are ruled, what we want to say about ourselves and just how hard it is to do that in verse.

Ian Hislop asks when and why we British have bottled up or let out our feelings and how this has affected our history.