The British Empire expanded from the sixteenth century and by 1921 ruled over a quarter of the Earth's land and population. By the 1940s, however, the Empire was in rapid decline.

Empire's Children tells the story of the end of the British Empire and the effects of its legacy through revealing the imperial backgrounds of various British celebrities, each a "child of the Empire".


The Empire's Children website allows you to view and comment on these Empire stories, as well as watch clips from the show after each episode has aired.

You can also explore the historical events that shaped the Empire, enter our competition and trace and tell your own Empire story.


The first episode is due to be broadcast on July 2 and will feature Dame Diana Rigg, 1960s icon of TV, film and stage, is best known for playing Emma Peel in the Avengers and Tracy Di Vicenzo, the only woman whom James Bond married. What is less well known about her is that she grew up in India, the daughter of a railway engineer in the final days of the British Raj.