Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things
Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things is a history podcast that explores the scandalous, surprising, and often overlooked stories of the British monarchy. Hosted by royal biographers Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams, it delves into the schemers, lovers, and plotters who have shaped the crown. The podcast covers everything from power struggles and royal scandals to the personal lives of monarchs, offering a mix of expert analysis and entertaining gossip. It presents history with a slightly irreverent twist, focusing on the human drama behind the throne.
Episodes
The Aragon Girls
We’ve had the Boleyn girls. Now meet the Aragon girls: two sisters born into perhaps the most powerful royal family in Europe, whose lives would take very different but equally extraordinary turns.Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams head to Renaissance Spain to meet their formidable mother, Isabella of Castile: warrior queen, patron of Christopher Columbus and, with Ferdinand of Aragon, arc
Tudor Season: The Bloody End
Wives, bloodshed, war: the end is approaching for Henry VIII, but England’s most notorious king is not going quietly.In the final part of our epic journey through Henry’s life, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams meet his doomed fifth wife, Catherine Howard, and discover how a convenient change in the law helped send another queen to the scaffold.Then comes wife number six: the clever, glam
Tudor Season: Monstrous Henry
Henry VIII finally has his longed-for son. So why isn't he happy?Continuing our Tudor season, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore one of the most dramatic chapters of Henry's reign. Within days of Anne Boleyn's execution, he's married Jane Seymour. At last, the Tudor dynasty has its male heir, but the triumph is heartbreakingly short-lived.Then comes Henry's next great gamble: the d
Tudor Season: The Queen Killer
He broke with Rome. He defied the Pope. He turned England upside down to marry Anne Boleyn. Just three years later... he sent her to the executioner's block.In this gripping third episode of our Henry VIII series, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams unravel the extraordinary rise and devastating fall of England's most fascinating queen, Anne Boleyn.From the birth of the future Elizabeth I a
Tudor Season: Anne Boleyn
One king. One controversial romance. One decision that would change England forever.In the second episode of our Henry VIII series, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams chart the extraordinary rise of Anne Boleyn, the brilliant, charismatic courtier who refused to become the king's mistress and instead demanded a crown.As Henry's obsession deepens, Catherine of Aragon fights to save her marr
Tudor Season: Rise of a Tyrant
Six wives. Beheadings. A tyrant on the throne. You think you know Henry VIII... but that's not where this story begins.In the first episode of our Tudor season, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams go back to the making of England's most infamous king. Discover why Henry was never supposed to wear the crown, how the death of his older brother changed history forever, and why Catherine of Ara
Rebel Princess: The Patty Hearst Story
Kidnapped, blindfolded, locked in a cupboard for weeks and then caught on camera during a bank robbery. In the second part of our look at America's closest thing to a royal dynasty, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams unravel the astonishing story of Patty Hearst, the newspaper heiress whose abduction by a revolutionary gang became one of the most sensational crimes of the twentieth century
The Real Citizen Kane: Inside America's Most Scandalous Castle
America's newspaper magnate who built himself a palace worthy of a king!In this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the extraordinary world of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper titan whose vast fortune, political ambition and spectacular California castle earned him a reputation as America's uncrowned monarch.At the heart of the st
America & the Monarchy
What do Royals and hot dogs have in common?Both are part of the most remarkable diplomatic relationships in modern history.In this special Independence Day episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams mark America's 250th birthday by exploring the often surprising story of the relationship between the British monarchy and the United States.From King Geo
The Royal X-Files
A wonderfully strange-but-true episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things with Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams.From a mysterious sighting over Lord Mountbatten's estate at Broadlands to Prince Philip's fascination with UFO reports, the story takes in royal astronomers, Victorian visions of life on other worlds, Cromwell-era plans for a gunpowder-powered "space chariot", and the curio
Secrets of a Stately Home
Secrets hidden behind the walls of one of England's greatest country houses!In this special episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams step inside Badminton House with its chatelaine, the Duchess of Beaufort, to uncover the extraordinary royal and historical stories that lie beyond the immaculate lawns. Spoiler alert: Prince Harry once demonstrated some very poor judgment after a party th
The Death of Queen Cleopatra
Love and death: Queen Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and the truth about that asp.In this second episode on Cleopatra, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams follow the Egyptian queen through the final and most famous chapter of her life.After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra found herself navigating a dangerous new world of Roman power struggles. Her alliance with Mark Antony would beco
Queen Cleopatra: Her Rise to Power
The Queen who captivated Rome and changed the course of ancient history: Cleopatra.In this episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams begin a two-part exploration of Cleopatra, separating the woman from the myth, and tracing her rise in one of history’s most dangerous political worlds.Born into the turbulent Ptolemaic dynasty, Cleopatra inherited a kingdom rich in power but riddled with f
The Fall of Roman Britain
Celebrating the extraordinary Roman legacy that continues to shape Britain.In this episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the final centuries of Roman Britain, from the construction of Hadrian’s (Game of Thrones style) Wall to the collapse of imperial control in AD 410.As Roman rule matured, Britain became one of the empire’s most important frontier provinces. Emperors came in
Boudicca: Britain's Warrior Queen
Celebrating Britain’s warrior queen who led a revolt against Rome.In this episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams examine the uprising of Boudicca in AD 60–61 — why it began, how it unfolded, and what it reveals about life under Roman rule.After the death of her husband, the Romans annexed his kingdom, publicly flogged Boudicca, and assaulted her daughters. In response, she united seve
Julius Caesar's British Invasions
Did Julius Caesar really conquer Britain — or did he simply say he did?In this opening chapter of our Romans in Britain trilogy, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams step back to the edge of the known world: Iron Age Britain. A land of tribal rivalries, painted warriors, and swirling myths — and, to Roman eyes, a place as strange and distant as the moon.Twice, Caesar crossed the Channel in s
Queen Catherine Howard: Vixen or Victim?
Henry VIII’s fifth wife - was she a reckless flirt or a tragic pawn in Tudor history? In this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Professor Kate Williams is joined by the brilliant historian Professor Suzannah Lipscomb to unravel one of Tudor history’s most debated figures. Was Catherine a naïve teenager caught up in deadly court politics, or a young woman who made all the wrong choices
Queen Elizabeth and Sir David Attenborough: Global Pioneers
Frogs, foxes, fossils—and four generations of royalty.In part two of this special celebration, we continue our exploration of the remarkable parallel lives of Queen Elizabeth II and Sir David Attenborough—two figures born just weeks apart in 1926 who went on to shape how we see the modern world.From wartime childhoods to global influence, we trace how both became defining voices of the 20th and 21
Queen Elizabeth and Sir David Attenborough: A Royal Friendship
What do Queen Elizabeth II and Sir David Attenborough have in common? More than you might imagine.In this third episode, celebrating the Centenary of Queen Elizabeth, we explore the remarkable parallel lives of two icons born just weeks apart in 1926 — figures who would go on to shape not just Britain, but the very way we see the world. One inherited a throne; the other helped invent television as
Elizabeth II: The Inside Story (Part 2)
What made Queen Elizabeth II smile?In this special centenary episode, we look back at some of the happiest moments in the life of Queen Elizabeth II — the flashes of humour, the unexpected freedoms, and the small, human pleasures behind the crown.Rather than the grand set-pieces of state, we focus on something more elusive: what actually made her smile. From dancing anonymously into the crowds on
Elizabeth II: The Inside Story (Part 1)
Celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s life - her character, the scary look she gave those who displeased her, and what President Trump really thought about her majesty. It’s a packed first episode of a mini series of exclusive revelations.Journalist and historian Robert Hardman opens up to Professor Kate Williams about his research and private recollections as a royal reporter, in celebration of her 10
Elizabeth I: Love & Death (Part 3)
When you receive more than twenty-six proposals from Europe’s most powerful men, why should you refuse them all?In this final episode of our trilogy on Elizabeth I, we step into the most personal — and most politically dangerous — question of her reign: marriage. From the moment she becomes queen, Elizabeth is treated as a prize. Kings, princes and emperors line up to claim her, each proposal prom
Elizabeth I: Warrior (Part 2)
When the most powerful empire in Europe sends an Armada to invade your country, what do you do?In this episode of our trilogy on Elizabeth I, we reach the moment everyone associates with England’s most famous queen: the looming threat of the Spanish Armada. But the great showdown of 1588 did not arrive out of nowhere. It was the result of years of political intrigue, espionage, religious tension —
Elizabeth I: Survivor (Part 1)
She was born a princess and declared a bastard before she could walk.In this episode, we go back to the beginning of Elizabeth I: a child of extraordinary promise, born into splendour, then cast into uncertainty by the fall of her mother, Anne Boleyn. Courtly favour turned to suspicion. Affection turned to danger. And survival became a skill learned early.From the shadow of Henry VIII’s volatile c
Hamnet: The Truth Behind The Oscar-Winner
Shakespeare, Hollywood, the Oscars, the plague, and a little boy called Hamnet.In this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams are joined by historian Alice Loxton to explore the extraordinary new film Hamnet — the Oscar-tipped adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel.Set in late 16th-century Stratford-upon-Avon and plague-stricken London
The Kennedy Curse - Part 3
The Kennedy Curse didn't end with the assassination of JFK - far from it!In this final episode of our Kennedy trilogy, we ask what happened after Camelot fell. With John F. Kennedy gone and Robert Kennedy gunned down just five years later, the dynasty’s hopes shifted once more — to the younger generation. Could the flame stay lit? Or was tragedy now woven into the Kennedy name itself?From Ted Kenn
The Kennedy Curse - Part 2
The assassination of JFK - an unforgettable moment in a changing and volatile world: the Berlin Wall rising, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and then came the shocking events of Dallas.In this second of three special episodes, we move from ambition to power, and from power to catastrophe. With John F. Kennedy now President, the Kennedys became global royalty: glamorous state visits, televised debates,
The Kennedy Curse - Part 1
JFK’s assassination, plane crashes, scandals, and untimely deaths. Is there really such a thing as a Kennedy curse?In this first of three special episodes, we go back to the beginning — to the making of a dynasty, forged in ambition and driven by a patriarch who expected greatness and tolerated nothing less. In the Kennedy household, sons were groomed for the presidency, daughters for perfection,
Royal Love: The Gaveston Affair
For Valentine’s Day, Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things goes full royal romance-with-a-body-count.Robert Hardman and Prof Kate Williams delve into the whispered love story of Edward II and his dazzling courtier, Piers Gaveston — a friendship (or something more) so intense it detonates the English court. Why did the barons loathe Gaveston so much? Who gets the stuffed-crust portion of medieval “p
The Royal Vampire
Welcome to royal history with bite.In this episode of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams head east to Transylvania to unravel one of the strangest threads in modern royal history. King Charles III’s long-standing fascination with Romania turns out to involve more than rural preservation and beautiful churches — it also leads back, genealogically, to Vl
The Last King of America - Part 3
Royals, hot dogs, Hollywood, and the making of the “special relationship”Robert and Kate conclude their deep dive into Britain and America’s long and complicated partnership. Joined once again by historian, broadcaster, and Gilded Age expert Julie Montagu, Countess of Sandwich, they trace how glamour, war, royalty, and politics combined to create the modern Anglo-American world.From Edward VII’s f
The Last King of America - Part 2
Revolution, the American divorce, and the true history of the sandwich! Robert and Kate return to the American War of Independence as the story moves beyond declarations and slogans, and into the long, uncertain struggle of what independence actually meant. Joined by a special guest, historian, broadcaster, and Gilded Age expert Julie Montagu, Countess of Sandwich, they explore the years after 177
The Last King of America - Part 1
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of American Independence - unfolding the momentous history.Robert and Kate kick off a three-part deep dive into one of history’s significant break-ups: how George III went from being “King of America” to the monarch who lost an entire continent. From the earliest English colonies - Jamestown’s swampy gamble, and the Puritans braving the Mayflower crossing - to the
Eleanor: England's Lost Queen
Love, loss, and a queen who deserves to be famous again.This week, Kate is joined by historian and broadcaster Alice Loxton, whose new book follows a wonderfully bonkers idea: walking 200 miles in December to retrace the funeral route of Eleanor of Castile, England’s “lost queen.”Eleanor was no mild medieval consort. She introduced carpets and forks, built dazzling Castilian-style gardens, amassed
The Royal Pantomime
Behind every coronation, balcony wave and solemn procession lies a simple truth: royalty is theatre.In this sparkling, story-packed episode of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams pull back the velvet curtain on the royals’ surprisingly long, and often hilarious, love affair with pantomime.From Henry VIII discovering Anne Boleyn through a masked performa
What's So Royal about Christmas?
A seasonal cracker from the podcast that loves Royals and history - listen now.In this special edition of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams unwrap the surprisingly rich, and frequently eccentric, festive legacy of the monarchy. From a 10th-century duke reinvented as a Victorian Christmas hero, to Henry VIII moonlighting as a carol writer, to the Tudor
Wars of the Roses: Rise of the Tudors (Part 2)
The real-life Game of Thrones continues - listen now.In the second part of our deep dive into the Wars of the Roses, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams pick up the story at England’s bloodiest moment: the Battle of Towton. From boy kings and warrior queens to vanishing princes and spectacular betrayals, this is the era when the crown changed hands with alarming regularity.We follow Edward
Wars of the Roses: The Fighting Begins (Part 1)
The Wars of the Roses is the real-life Game of Thrones - the conflict that inspired George R. R. Martin’s world of rival houses, contested thrones, formidable queens, and sudden, shocking reversals of fortune. But long before fantasy claimed it, this struggle was one of the pivotal turning points in British history.In the first of a two-parter, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Will
The Execution of Anne Boleyn
A queen knelt, a sword flashed, a dynasty shifted. This episode looks at how and why the execution of Henry VIII’s second wife became one of the most iconic, mesmerising moments in British history.Professor Kate dives straight into the charged final minutes of the execution, peeling back the myths, the melodrama, and the emotions of that fatal walk to the scaffold.Anne hoped, right up to the
Royals in Crisis: The Diana Years - Part Three
What is Princess Diana’s legacy?In our final episode on the Princess of Wales’s life, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams pick up the story at the turning point: the Royal separation that launched the most consequential chapter of her life, her emergence as a global humanitarian supernova.Diana shakes hands with patients in AIDS wards, embraces children with leprosy, confronts the
Royals in Crisis: The Diana Years - Part Two
The fairytale is starting to fall apart ... In the second part of our Diana deep dive, Kate Williams and Robert Hardman pick up the story just after that balcony kiss, and follow the new Princess of Wales through the most dazzling and difficult years of her royal life.From the Riviera honeymoon aboard Britannia to the birth of Prince William, from the Australian tour that electrified a nation to t
Royals in Crisis: The Diana Years - Part One
The first episode in our deep-dive exploration of the most influential figures in modern royal history - Diana, Princess of Wales.It begins as the greatest love story of the age: a shy nursery assistant, a lonely prince, and a glittering wedding watched by nearly a billion people. But before the heartbreak, the revenge dresses and the headlines, there was the young Lady Diana Spencer - awkward, fu
The Royal Woof!
OMRG*, we’ve got a genuinely Royal corgi in the studio, a four-legged, waggy-tailed world exclusive on Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things. Listen NowJoining Kate and Robert is Lee, a champion pedigree Welsh corgi descended directly from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s own beloved dogs, alongside her breeder, Mary Davies, who once met the Queen herself to arrange an aristocratic “blind dat
Rotten Spares: The Prince Andrews & Harrys of History - Part 2
Are Princes Andrew and Harry the most troublesome ‘spares’ in royal history?You might think so — but buckle up, because history is littered with spares who partied harder, plotted darker and pushed the Crown to breaking point.Welcome to Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things, where royal biographers Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams take you inside the palace doors to meet th
Rotten Spares: The Prince Andrews & Harrys of History - Part 1
Prince Harry may have put the word spare on the map, but he and his uncle Prince Andrew are not the first royal to grumble about being second in line. In this week’s episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams dig into centuries of royal runners-up — from Elizabeth I to George V — the siblings who weren’t meant to rule, yet somehow stole the show.From party-loving princes to quie
Churchill & The Queen
Was Churchill her favourite PM — and who did the Queen secretly loathe?Find out in this week’s royally revealing episode of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things! Robert Hardman is joined by royal biographer Andrew Morton — yes, the man behind Diana: Her True Story — to spill the palace secrets behind Queen Elizabeth II’s fifteen Prime Ministers, from Winston Chur
Spies & The Crown - Part 2
Royals in taxis, Groucho Marx glasses on ski slopes, and a Soviet mole hiding in the Queen’s drawing room — this episode has it all. Listen Now.In their second episode of Spies & The Crown, Kate Williams and Robert Hardman go full cloak-and-dagger as they unmask Anthony Blunt — the Queen’s own art adviser turned KGB spy — and dig into the bizarre world of undercover royals. From Princess Eliza
Spies & The Crown - Part 1
From the Tudors to King Charles III, the royals have always been close to spies. Listen to find out!Today’s monarchs get discreet MI5 briefings — but back in Elizabeth I’s day, her spymaster Francis Walsingham was inventing the modern secret service with beer-barrel dead drops, forged letters, and a plot that sent Mary Queen of Scots to the block.This episode of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Thing
Can Royals Be Jailed?
“Off with his head!” may be the most famous royal sentence ever passed — but what happens before the axe falls? Can kings and queens actually be locked up like the rest of us? Listen to find out!On today’s episode of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things, Kate Williams and Robert Hardman dig into the murky history of royal captivity — where velvet cushions meet iron bars, and sovereign immunity doe
Trump Royale
Trump’s coming to town — welcome to the towers of Windsor Castle. Hope you like ghosts!Royal biographer Robert Hardman and Prof. Kate Williams whisk us through the protocols of a state visit, Windsor-style: Air Force One → helicopter → the quadrangle, where (yes) the guest correctly walks in front of the monarch for the Guard of Honour. We peek into that turret guest suite with the Long Walk view,
Monstrous Royals: Bloody Mary v The Serpent Queen
Who was the most monstrous queen — England’s Bloody Mary or France’s Serpent Queen? Listen to find out!This week on Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things, royal historian Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams pit two formidable women against the seven deadly sins.Mary I of England, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, fought her way onto the throne and set out to restore Catholicism
Monstrous Royals: King John v Richard III
Who was the most rotten king of all — treacherous John of England or Shakespeare’s wicked Richard III? Listen to find out!This week on Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things, royal historian Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams drag two of England’s most notorious monarchs into the dock of history.Armed with the seven deadly sins as their scorecard, they weigh up pride, greed, lust, envy, glutt
Monstrous Royals: Henry VIII v Louis XIV
Who was history’s most monstrous monarch — Henry VIII of England or Louis XIV of France? Listen to find out!This week on Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things, royal historian Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams sharpen their quills and their wits.Armed with the seven deadly sins as a scorecard, they put these two titans of royal misbehaviour through their paces. Pride? Henry struts about in
Help! The Royals are Coming for Tea - Part 2
From meat mountains to one lonely kiwi fruit — the royal appetites that shocked history. Listen Now!What’s worse than one demanding royal houseguest? A whole history of them — and in Part Two of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Kate Williams dig even deeper into the guest lists from hell. From Henry VIII arriving with a thousand-strong entourage and an appetite for entire h
Help! The Royals are Coming for Tea - Part 1
Royal visits gone wrong: the tantrums, the takings, and the tartest tongues in history.This week, Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things throws open the palace doors to a line-up of monarchs and princes who’ve turned “popping in for tea” into a full-scale ordeal. From Princess Margaret’s legendary put-downs (“How unfortunate”) to Queen Mary’s habit of going home with your best chairs, Robert Hardman
Dragons & The Royals - Part 2
Pull up a velvet throne and grab your alchemy kit – in this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams swirl together Arthurian legends, royal superstition, and some seriously dodgy medieval science. Listen now!Is the Holy Grail real? Can gold be made from stones? Did Diana really have a psychic on speed-dial? And why exactly did Queen Victoria try to
Dragons & The Royals - Part 1
Welcome to the only podcast where royal scandal meets fire-breathing lizards. Listen Now!In this hilarious and history-soaked episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Daily Mail columnist Robert Hardman and history wiz Professor Kate Williams team up to explore the very real roots behind the blood-soaked fantasy TV series Game of Thrones.You’ll learn:Why the dragons in GoT are basically airb
Royal Family Blunders
What’s the worst Royal blunder of the modern age? Listen to find out!The Royal's public image is a delicate balance; attempts to entertain or appear modern can be seriously cringe.Thumbs up for the late Queen Elizabeth II and her James Bond cameo at the Olympic opening ceremony, but two thumbs down for that ultimate pie-in-the-face moment: the 1987 televised game show, "It's a Royal Knockout."&nbs
Royal Blind Dates - Part 2
Which Royal blind date ended with the burning of six witches? Listen to find out!In the second of two episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the often awkward and disastrous Royal first encounters. Discover which king ran from the room, demanding brandy when his blind date was revealed. However, love is also in the air as Kate and Robert celebrate the t
Royal Blind Dates - Part 1
Which aristocratic lady ‘swiped left’ when Henry VIII went looking for a new wife? Listen to find out!In the first of two episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams look at the highs and lows of Royal first encounters. Welcome to the strange world of regal dating: marriages at first sight, bedding ceremonies, and proxy consummations. Pity the poor teenage girls who dutif
The Sex Life of Queen Victoria
Revealing the surprising sex life of Queen Victoria. Listen Now! A special edition of our podcast in collaboration with History Hit’s Betwixt the Sheets. Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams team up with author, podcaster and sex historian Kate Lister to explore Queen Victoria’s intimate personal diaries. They reveal that she enjoyed "heavenly love and happiness" with her
Royals in Crisis: Edward & Mrs Simpson - Part 3
Find out how Edward and Mrs Simpson cosied up to Adolf Hitler. Listen now!Learn about the fury of the Royal Family and how the couple were shunned, and we reveal that Edward may have advised Hitler to bomb Britain into submission.The final episode of a three-part deep dive into the controversial relationship between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, examining its impact on the monarchy and reve
Royals in Crisis: Edward & Mrs Simpson - Part 2
Find out the truth about Wallis Simpson and the rumours of her sex lessons in a Chinese brothel. Listen now!Learn about one of the cast-aside lovers of Edward who devoted her life to spreading dark rumours about Wallis Simpson,and hear a blow-by-blow account of the abdication crisis that nearly brought down the monarchy.The second of a three-part deep dive into the controversial relationship betwe
Royals in Crisis: Edward & Mrs Simpson - Part 1
Find out about King Edward VIII's cruel nanny and the courtesans who shaped his view of women. Listen Now!Learn how Edward scandalised the court and upset his father with a string of affairs with married women, and we reveal how he got bored of ‘Princing’ – an early indication that he wasn’t cut out for the duties of being a King.The first of a three-part deep dive into the controversial relations
Royals & Dastardly Thieves - Part 2
More tales of thieves who couldn’t resist the sparkle of jewels belonging to the Crown. Listen Now!Who stole the so-called Irish Crown Jewels? What are the Cambridge Emeralds? And how did Scottish nationalists manage to drag the Stone of Destiny out of Westminster Abbey on Christmas Eve - a modern story with deep roots in British history.The podcast also discusses the suspicious theft of Wallis Si
Royals & Dastardly Thieves - Part 1
Welcome to the ultimate rogues gallery - those thieves who’ve grabbed the crown jewels! Listen to find out more.In the first of two episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the story of Colonel Blood who hammered down a royal crown so that he could slip it into his trousers. And discover royal secrets: how Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation crown had to be enlarge
Terror at the Palace - Part 3
Which Royal has survived the most assassination attempts? Listen to find out!In the final of three extraordinary episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams look at dastardly plots from history - from fiendish schemes to poison royal saddles to terrorists taking pot-shots at the theatre. Discover the Royal whose courage inspired a change to the National Anthem, and the Qu
Terror at the Palace - Part 2
Which Royal defiantly stood up to an armed attacker outside Buckingham Palace? Listen to find out!In the second of three extraordinary episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams look at the motives and mindset of those who have sought to bring harm to the Royals. When are Kings and Queens at their most vulnerable as targets and how has their entourage of security adapted
Terror at the Palace - Part 1
What’s it like being a Royal living in constant fear of assassination and kidnap? Listen to find out!In the first of three episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams reveal the shocking attempts to harm the Royals. How did two Queens react when they found intruders in their bedrooms? Did King Charles III maintain his ‘stiff upper lip’ when someone took a shot at him? Wha
Royal House Guests from Hell - Part 2
Which visitor to Buckingham Palace caused Queen Elizabeth II to be angrier than anyone had ever seen her before? Listen to find out!In the second of two episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams reveal the worst Royal house guest in history! Clue: they were one of the world’s most notorious tyrants, and the Queen’s corgis had good reasons to be suspicious of this visito
Royal House Guests from Hell - Part 1
Who was the worst house guest at Buckingham Palace? Listen to find out!In the first of two episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams look through the visitors book for Buckingham Palace to discover the tyrants and troublemakers who’ve come to stay. How did Queen Elizabeth II react to the infamous and brutal African dictators Idi Amin and Mobutu, and is it true that Que
Worst Royal Wedding Nights
The shocking truth about royal ‘bedding ceremonies’. Listen to find out!Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams look at how royals throughout history have had their intimate bedroom moments witnessed. And that’s not all! Young royals would have their bedchambers exorcised of demons, and courtiers would then cheer on the couples as they performed their royal ‘duties’. No wonder
The Whip and Royal Education
Are British royals raised through tough love and tales of chivalry? Listen to find out!Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams look at the extraordinary schooling of royals throughout history, from ‘whipping boys’ to rosy-cheeked governesses and cold Scottish boarding schools. Where will young Princes George and Louis go to school when they become teenagers - and will their par
Do Royals Have Magic Powers?
Do British Queens and Kings have the power to cure illness through their ‘Royal Touch’. Listen to the Daily Mail’s new season of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things to find out!Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the secret ceremony at coronations that is said to give royals magical powers. Find out which Queens and Kings were the Hermoine Grangers and Harry Potters
Bonus Episode: Edward VII's Sex Chair
Robert and Kate are back with a dastardly Bonus Episode in which they are asking one of history's most pressing questions: did Queen Victoria's son have TWO thrones? Edward VII was famed for his lurid love life, but did our raunchiest 20th Century monarch really have his own ‘sex chair’ in a Paris brothel? And if so, how on earth did it work? Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Rob
Christmas Special: What was the Worst Royal Christmas Ever?
Robert and Kate are back with a dastardly Christmas Special in which they are exploring royal Christmases from yesteryear... did Queen Victoria really invent Christmas? Were Tudor children whipped on Christmas Day? And could there be any Christmas worse than Elizabeth II's Annus Horribilis? Listen to find out! Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Profess
10: The Princes in the Tower
This week – in the final episode of Season One – Robert and Kate tackle one of history's most scandalous, unsolved mysteries: what on earth happened to the Princes in the Tower? The disappearance of Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York, has sparked centuries of speculation. Were they murdered, and if so, by whom? Was it Richard III – their own uncle, and that great Shakespearean
9: The Royal massacre you've never heard of
The Nepalese Massacre was one of the most dramatic, bloody royal events to ever happen – and the chances are that most listeners won’t have heard of it. On a summer’s evening in Kathmandu in 2001, Nepal’s royal family was almost entirely wiped out, in a single night. Hours later, the alleged killer lay in a hospital bed in a coma, having been proclaimed King the moment that his father died. The ma
8: The Duke of Cumberland and the slit throat mystery!
On 31st May 1810, the Duke of Cumberland – George III’s fifth child, and notorious 19th Century wrong’un – was attacked while asleep in his apartments in St James’ Palace. And, hours later, one of the Duke’s valets, Joseph Sellis, was found dead in his room. His throat had been cut with a razor. It was a grisly crime scene. Sellis’ head was nearly severed from his body, and blood had soaked the be
7: Was Anne Boleyn unfaithful?
This week Robert and Kate tackle one of history's biggest questions: was Anne Boleyn guilty of everything that Henry VIII accused her of? Over the centuries, historians have spilt vast quantities of ink dissecting the evidence, the political intrigue, and the motives behind the charges that led to Anne's tragic demise. Robert and Kate explore the wider context of Anne’s astronomical rise and rapid
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