Emotional Ties with historian Lucy Worsley, Mail on Sunday You Magazine 22 October 2011 by Clare Geraghty

Lucy, 37, is chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces – looking after the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace. Here she shares her treasures

I inherited my grandmother’s 1936 tea service (above) when she died. There’s heaps of it but we tend to only use it when my architect partner Mark and I have guests. The green pattern is so beautiful; my grandmother always said it was the most fashionable colour of the 30s.

These books represent my life’s work. I started writing Cavalier when  I worked and lived at Hampton Court Palace – it was an amazing experience although the heating systems left a lot to be desired! On one particularly memorable occasion Johnny Depp was filming at the palace and asked me to give him an after-hours tour.

I loved to learn as a child and was fascinated by history. This Queen Elizabeth I book was one of my absolute favourites. It came from the library of my school, the Abbey in Reading. I presume I just never got round to returning it!

This sign was a gift from my university friend Katherine. We have been friends ever since we met on our first day at Oxford. She lives in the US state of Michigan now. This sign comes from the local football stadium, marking the cheerleaders’ exit.

I've grown up with Blue Rabbit after liberating her from my cousin’s house when I was six – she’s my favourite childhood toy. 

 My mother made lots of our clothes when we were young – her tailor father taught her to sew – and also made an entire wardrobe for Blue Rabbit.

The bigger pen is my father's and the smaller one my mother’s. My father’s pen writes with blue ink and my mother’s red. I used them all through my time at university, and still much prefer fountain pen to Biro.