Some writers are so enthusiastic about their chosen subjects that they are able to draw their readers into the very heart of the world that fascinates them — historian Lucy Worsley is one such writer.

She displays a rare gift for bringing to life not just the architecture and fashions of the period she writes about, but also the minutiae of court life – the gossip, the politicking, the beauty spots and the fans that whistled open like flick-knives.

In her latest book Courtiers, she takes her readers up the Kings Grand Staircase leading to the state apartments at Kensington Palace, pointing out a dozen of the 45 portraits of the servants that stare down from the wall. The result is a peep behind the scenes of Kensington Palace’s Great Drawing Room during the 18th century, when ambitious visitors crowding into this room were unaware that they were under constant observation by the palace servants, who monitored every move made in court.

Lucy’s interest in history began in childhood when she read children’s historical fiction. Although her father encouraged her to follow a career in science, her love of history won through, which is why, on gaining a place at Oxford, she chose New College, seeing it as the most architecturally complete and perfect of the Oxford colleges. She still remembers the images of the past that the college evoked as she walked among its ancient buildings.

Faced with the task of finding her first job after graduating, she wrote to all the historic houses in Oxfordshire seeking work experience. Anthony Mockler-Barrett, of the 18th-century Milton Manor, near Abingdon, offered her a job as guide for the summer. It was a period she remembers with great fondness. Lucy describes Milton Manor as the sort of place that shouldn’t really exist. With its Gothic library and stables filled with horses and ponies, it was like no other stately home she had ever seen before. Her duties included feeding the animals.

“I fed the llamas, and also looked after the little black lamb called Sooty, who was so tame he would join us for a cup of tea and a biscuit in the kitchen — it was all wacky but wonderful,” she said.

At the end of the summer, she went on to help Anthony with his archives and they have remained friends ever since. Lucy is now Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces. She also appears on television and radio shows, including BBC1’s The One Show and Timewatch. This autumn she will present her own history series on BBC4 and BBC2. Earlier this year she was chosen for the inaugural list of 50 Women to Watch, compiled by the Cultural Leadership Programme.

Lucy got the idea for Courtiers after climbing the King’s Grand Staircase at Kensington Palace several times a week.

“Looking at those faces painted alongside the staircase, I found myself getting increasingly curious. Who were these people, what were their names and what was their place in the palace?” She checked all the guidebooks, but found that they contradicted each other. Opinions differed, even among those working at the palace.

It took her more than five years to find the answers she was seeking but she could only come up with 14 positive identifications.

She checked other portraits painted during this period to help her identify the faces. Sometimes the colour of their eyes helped, and sometimes she was able to confirm a name by jewellery or accessories such as a walking stick, as she did with Dr Arbuthnot, the satirist and medical doctor, who was known to walk with a limp. She then used the National Archives, the British Library and the Suffolk Record Office for further information.

Lucy describes Kensington Palace, which is famous as the home of Diana, Princess of Wales, as “one of the great-undiscovered secrets of London”, mainly because most people don’t realise it is open to visitors. She says the palace is a curiously feminine place. “Many of the princesses who have lived there have been mad, sad or sometimes bad. I am fascinated by the job of princess: duty and pleasure in constant conflict.”

Lucy will discuss Courtiers at the Woodstock Literary Festival at 12.30pm on September 19. For details, see www.woodstockliteraryfestival.com or call 01865 305305.