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Sathnam is an author, broadcaster and journalist.

Sathnam was born to Punjabi parents in the West Midlands in 1976. He entered the education system unable to speak English but, after attending Wolverhampton Grammar School, graduated from Christ’s College, Cambridge with a first-class degree in English Language and Literature.

He has been shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards twice, for his memoir The Boy With The Topknot and his novel Marriage Material, the former being adapted by BBC Drama in 2017 and named Mind Book of the Year in 2009. His third book, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Been Shaped Modern Britain became an instant Sunday Times bestseller on release in 2021, was named a Book of the Year at the 2022 British Books Awards, and resulted in Empire State of Mind, the acclaimed two-part documentary for Channel 4 for which he earned a Best Documentary Presenter shortlisting at the 2022 Grierson Awards.

The book also inspired a sequel, Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe, which became an instant Sunday Times bestseller on release in 2024, and Stolen History: The Truth about the British Empire and How it Shaped Us, which went to No 1 on several children’s books charts when it was released in 2023 and was shortlisted for a British Book Award and Children’s Book of the Year by Foyles. His work has been recognised with the awarding of numerous honorary doctorates and journalism prizes, including Young Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2002, Media Commentator of the year in the 2015 Comment Awards and the Edgar Wallace Trophy for Writing of the Highest Quality at the 2017 London Press Club Awards. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2016, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in recognition of his contribution to historical scholarship in 2023.

Before becoming a writer Sanghera (among other things) worked at a burger chain, a hospital laundry, a market research firm, a sewing factory and a literacy project in New York. Between 1998 and 2006 he was at The Financial Times, where he worked (variously) as a news reporter in the UK and the US, specialised in writing about the media industries, worked across the paper as Chief Feature Writer, and wrote an award-winning weekly business column. Sathnam joined The Times as a columnist and feature writer in 2007 and is a regular contributor on national radio and TV, having appeared on programmes including Have I Got News For You and BBC Front Row Late and presented a range of television documentaries, including The Massacre That Shook The Empire on Channel 4, which was shortlisted for best Factual TV show at the 2019 Asian Media Awards, and Empire State of Mind, described by The Daily Telegraph as “necessary”, The Mail on Sunday as “riveting and moving”, and The Sun as “personable, funny, measured and… extremely powerful”.

Sathnam has presented many programmes for BBC Radio 4 including Empire of Tea, Open Book, and Mercury (An Archive on Freddie Mercury).
He was a studio guest for ITV’s coverage of the Coronation of King Charles III. During Covid he presented a film for Channel 4 News about the effect of the virus on diverse communities.

Sathnam’s first book, The Boy With The Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton, was shortlisted for the 2008 Costa Biography Award, the 2009 PEN/Ackerley Prize and named 2009 Mind Book of the Year. It was adapted for BBC2 by Kudos/Parti Productions, was BBC TWO’s highest-rated single drama of the year, featured Bafta-nominated and EEACTA-winning performances, won a Mipcom Diversify TV Excellence Award, was named Best TV Programme at the 2018 Asian Media Awards and Best Single Drama at the RTS Midlands Awards, and was described by The Radio Times as a “smash hit”. His novel, Marriage Material, has been shortlisted for a 2014 South Bank Sky Arts Award and a 2013 Costa Book Award, been longlisted for the 2014 Desmond Elliot Prize, picked by The Sunday Times, The Observer and Metro as one of the novels of 2013, and cited as one of the Guardian Readers’ Books of the Year in 2014. It is being adapted for the stage by award-winning playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. Amongst other awards, Empireland was named Non-Fiction Book of the Year in Eastern Eye’s 2022 Arts, Culture and Theatre Awards (ACTAs), longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje and Parliamentary Book Awards. It was also named History Book of the Year by The Independent (“10/10”) and one of the Books of the Year by The Financial Times, The Times, The New Statesman, The Observer, The Daily Express, The Sunday Express and The Week.

Among the other prizes for his journalism, there has been the accolade of Article of the Year in the 2005 Management Today Writing Awards, Newspaper Feature of the Year in the 2005 Workworld Media Awards, and HR Journalist of the Year in the 2006 and 2009 Watson Wyatt Awards for Excellence. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters for services to journalism by The University of Wolverhampton in September 2009 and received an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 2023 in recognition of his “distinguished contribution to the social sciences” through his “writing on race, identity and shared British history”, and was given a President’s Medal by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2010. He was bestowed with the Pride of Pothohar Award in 2018 for his contribution to the Sikh community, while in 2013 writer Jonathan Coe named him one of “The Men of Next 25 years” in GQ Magazine saying that “whether he’s writing autobiography or fiction, Sathnam is busy carving out his own literary niche – in the multicultural British Midlands – which he explores with incredible grace, generosity and humour”.

The Boy With The Topknot, was originally published by Penguin in hardback as If You Don’t Know Me By Now. In the USA, Marriage Material is published by Europa Editions, Empireland by Pantheon and Empireworld by PublicAffairs. He has been a judge for The Wellcome Book Prize and The Costa Book Awards, was formerly a trustee for mental health charity Rethink and chair of media charity Creative Access, and is a patron for Writing West Midlands. He lives in London.

Best-selling author Patrick Jephson is a consultant, broadcaster and award-winning journalist based in Washington DC. He writes, presents and advises on factual and drama programmes, appearing on every major US network as well as cable and international platforms worldwide.

In a notable recent assignment, he advised on several seasons of the acclaimed Netflix drama The Crown. His byline has appeared in every major UK newspaper and international titles as varied as TIME magazine, Vanity Fair, People, The Spectator, Paris Match, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the National Catholic Reporter. He is also a published authority on corporate and personal branding, addressing conferences on all six continents as well as events at the US State Department, the American University and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Patrick owes much of his practical communications experience to Princess Diana, who chose him to be her equerry and only private secretary/chief of staff. He served the Princess for eight years (1988-96), responsible for every aspect of her public life, worldwide humanitarian initiatives, and private organization. Under relentless media scrutiny, his tenure covered the period of Princess Diana’s greatest popularity as well as the constitutional controversy of her divorce from Prince Charles.

In 2022 he received an unreserved apology and substantial damages from the BBC when it was revealed that Panorama journalist Martin Bashir falsified documents to deceive Princess Diana that Patrick had betrayed her. He donated all the damages to the Ty Hafan Children’s hospice, the final patronage he arranged for Diana.

Patrick was born and raised in Ireland and holds a Master’s degree in political science from Cambridge University. A keen amateur historian, his ancestors include notable courtiers to Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and William III. As an officer in the Royal Navy, he served all over the world before being selected for royal duty. In March 2015 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Patrick is currently working on a variety of publishing and television projects in the UK, USA and Australia. A qualified private pilot, he has recently added travel writing to his portfolio.

He is married to Mary Jo Jacobi, formerly special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and Assistant Secretary of Commerce to President George H W Bush.

Nicholas Owen is one of news broadcasting’s best-known faces. He re-joined BBC News in 2007 as a Presenter on the News Channel and BBC One bulletins. For well over a decade before that he hosted all ITN’s major bulletins, including Channel Four News and News at Ten. He has appeared too in a wide range of other TV and radio programmes, including BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2006. On radio, he presented shows on Classic FM for many years. He regularly appears on both the Camilla Tominey show and Mark Dolan Tonight on GB News.

From 1994 to 2000 he was Royal Correspondent for ITV News. In that capacity he played a major role in reporting on the death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, for which ITN won an RTS Award. He compiled a book on her life entitled “Diana: The People’s Princess”.

He was a regular contributor to ITN’s Budget programmes, having joined ITN originally as Channel Four News Business and Economics Correspondent. During the first Gulf War Nicholas presented the highly-acclaimed Midnight Special Programmes when they were launched on Channel Four. He also anchored The Parliament Programme, Channel Four’s first daytime political series.

Nicholas began his journalistic career on the Surrey Mirror in 1964, moving to national newspapers in 1968. He worked for the Evening Standard and the Daily Telegraph before spending seven years with the Financial Times.

In 1981 Nicholas switched to television reporting, joining the BBC in the North of England, covering general and industrial stories for both regional and national news and current affairs programmes. He moved to ITN in 1984.

Nicholas Owen was born in 1947. He has a close interest in transport matters, especially railways and light rail schemes. His publications include a history of the British trolleybus. His memoirs “Days Like This” were published in 2012. He is married to a newspaper journalist, lives in Surrey, has four children – and a dozen grandchildren.

Camilla Tominey is Associate Editor covering Politics and Royals at The Daily Telegraph in London.

She is also the resident royal expert on ITV’s This Morning and appears frequently on royal documentaries on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. She currently presents her own Sunday
morning political programme on GB News.

Camilla often takes part in the BBC’s Question Time and Politics Live in her capacity as a member of the Westminster Lobby.

Camilla was formerly Political Editor, Royal Editor and columnist for the Sunday Express. She first started reporting on the British Royal Family in 2005, when she covered the King’s marriage
to Camilla Parker-Bowles at the Windsor Guildhall, watched by millions around the world.

Since then she has reported on all the major Royal stories, including Prince William’s engagement to Kate Middleton, their subsequent marriage and the births of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Her world exclusive scoops include breaking the news of Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan Markle, which was nominated for Scoop of the Year at the 2016 British Press Awards.

Camilla co-anchored both recent Royal Weddings for NBC’s Today Show, contributing to programming across the network that was watched by 55 million viewers.

An authority on Royalty, Camilla has spent the past decade shadowing the Royals at home and on tour. A seasoned interviewer, Camilla has been granted exclusive access to interview many
members of the Royal Family including Prince Harry, Zara Phillips, the Duchess of York and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

Internationally, as well as NBC she has worked with CBC, CTV and Global in Canada, Nine Network Australia, Germany’s ZDF and ARD, RTL in France and countless more broadcasters.

In 2019, she was awarded Journalist of the Year by the McLean-DB Recovery+ Awards, the ‘Oscars’ in the field of recovery from addiction for her work highlighting the plight of children of alcoholics.

She was nominated Multimedia Journalist of the Year at the 2021 London Press Club Awards, and Journalist of the Year at the Digital Publishing Awards 2023.
Camilla lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and three children.

Angela Rippon has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for nearly 60 years. She is an award-winning journalist who has embraced an impressive variety of programmes on both radio and television for both commercial and BBC channels in Britain, America and Australia.

Helen Carr is an award nominated writer, historian and podcaster specialising in medieval history and public history.

Author of the Times best-selling, The Red Prince: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, published in spring 2021 and listed in the Times and Sunday Times best books of 2021. The Red Prince was shortlisted for the prestigious 2022 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography.

Co-author and editor of What is History, Now? (W&N): A follow up to What is History? (1961) by her great-grandfather, the historian, E.H Carr.

Helen’s next book, This England, will be published by Hutchinson Heinemann (Penguin Random House) in 2024.

Helen writes a monthly column for BBC History Magazine, contributes to the TLS, The Spectator, Unheard and The New Statesman. She has appeared as an expert on television and radio and has also produced and hosted the chart-topping podcast, Hidden Histories as well as hosted podcasts for BBC History.

Helen has broadcast for CNN, NBC, Sky and CityTV covering the British Royal Family.

Helen is an elected fellow of the Royal Historical Society and currently with Queen Mary University London.

Broadcaster and journalist Jennie Bond appears regularly on a wide range of television and radio programmes – from news reports and documentaries to light entertainment. Her expertise and long experience of reporting on the Royal Family over the past 35 years is internationally recognised.

She’s also known to young and old for her exploits in the jungle of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here when she was buried in a coffin full of rats and had to eat a variety of live insects.

Most recently Jennie has reported on the death of Queen Elizabeth and the Coronation of King Charles. She has appeared on Richard Osman’s House of Games, The Weakest Link, and numerous documentaries including The Day I Met The Queen. Other projects include Channel 4’s Drugs Live, Royals at War, Masterchef, Too Many Cooks, Stars in their Eyes, Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman, Christmas of My Lifetime with Len Goodman, The Big Call and Jennie’s own personal account of her time as a royal correspondent in a three-part documentary series for Channel Five, Jennie Bond’s Royals.

As the BBC’s Royal Correspondent during 14 of the most turbulent years the monarchy has endured, Jennie was at the heart of events that made headlines around the world: from the fairytale marriages to the adultery, the divorces and the deaths.

Jennie still enjoys commentating and writing about royalty today and likes to share her experiences and often hilarious adventures with audiences at home and abroad. She loves to make people laugh and to show them that she is quite different from how people imagined her when she stood outside the Palace.

For many years Jennie was also a regular news presenter on BBC Television and presented the main bulletins as well as Breakfast.

She has been a presenter on two of the BBC’s most popular shows: Cash in the Attic and Rip Off Britain. She also presented the highly successful BBC2 series Great British Menu.

She began her career in journalism after graduating from Warwick University in 1972. She worked on local papers as a reporter for five years before joining BBC Radio News. During the next few years, she gained a thorough grounding in radio news, editing the main bulletins. She also worked as a producer on current affairs shows, including the very popular Woman’s Hour, and in light entertainment, with Noel Edmonds.

She returned to full-time reporting in 1986 with BBC Radio, covering major news stories, for example in Northern Ireland. She also began her career as a presenter, anchoring among other programmes, the top current affairs show in the UK, Today, on Radio 4.

Jennie Bond has written a book Reporting Royalty that tells in detail of her years keeping tabs on Britain’s Royal Family. It was published in September 2001 by Headline. In the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Year, Carlton Books published her Elizabeth: 50 Glorious Years, a commemoration of the Queen’s reign. She updated this book for the Queen’s 80th birthday. Married with a daughter, she lives in Devon and thoroughly enjoys getting away from it all at her seaside home.

Jennie also chairs conferences and seminars and is a highly skilled conference facilitator and after dinner speaker. She has a wealth of experience hosting events and award ceremonies, both at home and abroad.

Award winning broadcaster and writer Fiona Armstrong has been a familiar face on national and regional news for many years. Her work ranges from news, to features, to sport. She is currently presenting on ITV’s Border Life in Scotland which received an ITV award for Best Current Affairs programme for her report on the Lockerbie air disaster.

Fiona has been a national newscaster and reporter for ITV and the BBC. She has covered the plight of Aids orphans in Africa, the removal of landmines in Cambodia, and the work of the Mercy Ships in West Africa. Closer to home she fronted a series looking at domestic abuse. Other lighter projects include the countryside series, River Journeys, and Reivers, which featured clan history. Under the Hammer saw her filming in Scottish auction houses whilst Fantastic Facts took her round Europe. She has also produced more than 20 films and videos on Scottish clans. As one of the UK’s best-known female anglers, Sky TV’s Tight Lines programme saw her fishing at home and abroad.

Fiona started her broadcasting career with Radio 210 in Reading and the BBC in Manchester. She has since worked for ITV Border, ITN, GMTV, BBC World News, the BBC News Channel, Sky TV and the Carlton Food Network, where she presented the series Easy as Pie. for the American network, NBC, she fronted several series of the business programme, Executive Lifestyles. She has also contributed to programmes for Radios 2 and 4.

Away from work, Fiona likes to swim, fish, cook, and garden. She is kept busy as the Lord-Lieutenant of Dumfries, the King’s personal representative in her area. Married to a Scottish clan chief, she writes about her tartan life in columns for magazines and newspapers. She has penned fishing books and quirky cookbooks and is working on a biography about a family member who was literary confidante to Queen Victoria.

Fiona was given an Outstanding Contribution Award at the Royal Television Society North-East and Border Awards. She has a Doctorate in history from the University of Strathclyde and is a Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Cumbria. She also received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Glasgow.