Trashy Royals

After the death of Edwina Mountbatten in 1960, Dickie still had another 19 years of living to do, and while he was single, he was in no way alone. He had romances with plenty of women in his later years, and according to many, he had male lovers - including, it is alleged, boys - as well. A mentor to Prince Charles, his advice to the young man may have contributed to what turned into the tragic marriage, divorce, and untimely death of Princess Diana, who was exactly the sort of woman that Dickie encouraged the playboy prince to settle down with. The men remained close through the end of Dickie's life, and Charles delivered the eulogy at both of Dickie's services in 1979. Dickie was clearly a charming older man who counted Shirley MacClaine, Barbara Cartland, Christina Ford, and Sacha Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, who was also his god daughter, among his paramours. Let's say it was all pretty complicated, but that would only be keeping with rest of his and Edwina's history. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Edwina took pains to lay low in Malta after the scandals of her affairs, Italy decided to exit the League of Nations and invade Ethiopia. To protect their children, she took them to Budapest and installed them in a hotel with their nanny and governess... and then forgot which hotel they were in. For months. As the summer of 1935 turned to fall, and then winter, they just stayed in their hotel until Edwina finally came across the paper she'd written the hotel's name on, tucked into the pocket of an outfit she hadn't worn in a while. Careless people. But then World War II came, and with so much asked of ordinary Britons, the privileged were required to step up. For perhaps the first time in her life, the skills and networking that Edwina had spent her life developing could suddenly be applied to a grand purpose: fundraising, organizing, lobbying for help in the United States. Louis was in the fight as a Naval officer, but Edwina was equally engaged, and the experience brought them together as never before. They would have further adventures together in India, overseeing the end of the Colonial period there, and form a distinct attachment to Indian Prime Minister Nehru that would last to the end of her life in 1960. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Programming note: This episode is a bit more explicit than most, including strong language and descriptions of sex. If you listen with wee ones, use your judgment. The early '30s were a roaring time for Edwina's various romances, though two in particular would have far-reaching implications for her lovers. The first, with American actor Paul Robeson, caused scandal in the London tabloids because Robeson was Black. The Royal Family considered the situation dire enough that they demanded that Louis and Edwina sue the tabloid that wrote it about for libel, and saw to it that the court would handle the case... carefully. An early morning hearing, of which no notice was given to anyone but the Mountbattens, resulted in a quick ruling in Edwina's favor, though the couple notably did not ask for damages. Paul Robeson himself was apparently quite wounded by the whole incident, having been close to Edwina and left to deal with the fallout on his own. The second notable affair was with Leslie "Hutch" Hutchinson, a Grenada-born musician whom Edwina had met in New York City. She encouraged him to bring his talents to England, where he became a bona fide star of the 1920s and '30s, entertaining royals and society patrons, and his work gained national prominence with frequent airings on the BBC. During his dalliance with Edwina, there are rumors that the two became "stuck" in flagrante delicto, requiring transportation by ambulance in the pose that was causing them troubles. Louis was outraged especially by Edwina's affair with Hutch, and as the scandal grew, Hutch found that his royal and society patrons had abandoned him. In spite of his celebrity, the Mountbattens appear to have had a role in his near erasure from history. It's all reminiscent of Fitzgerald's line in Gatsby: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Roaring '20s turned into the '30s, Edwina's appetite for other lovers showed no sign of diminishing, and eventually led to a breaking point with her long-suffering husband, Louis. At one point, they decided that divorce was the best option, but quickly reconciled with new rules for their relationship: Edwina would be more discreet in her dalliances, which had previously been headline news, and Louis would be free to take lovers of his own. But a funny thing happened when he finally did - Edwina was jealous! Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It didn't take long for Edwina, young, rich, and alone while her husband Louis was away with the Navy, to begin flirtations and then affairs with various suitors. There were the young men of her social strata, to be sure, but there was also a scandalous rumored fling with the notably female American entertainer Sophie Tucker, "The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas." These affairs took a toll on her marriage and her relations with the British Royal Family, but also laid the template for the Mountbatten marriage. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Louis and Edwina Mountbatten would have a 38-year-long marriage, it isn't quite right to say it was a happy union. That first six months or so though - when they traveled through Europe and the United States, meeting Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. DeMille, and dining with President Warren G. Harding - was a magical time for the couple. Once they returned to England and settled into married life, things quickly went sideways. With Louis frequently at sea for long periods as a Naval officer, and Edwina living large on her huge pile of inherited money, perhaps they were destined to have an unusually promiscuous marriage. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As many will already know, it was the youngest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine who would become a prominent figure in the lives of the modern world of the Windsors. Young Louis Battenberg, later Louis Mountbatten, was known as Dickie to his confidants, and was stung early when his father, First Sea Lord of the British Navy, was removed from his post at the outbreak of WWI because of his German origins. The episode would motivate his son to excel in a Naval career to reclaim the title, and the then-Mountbattens' familial closeness with the House of Windsor would give him an avenue to real political power and influence. Edwina Ashley, future wife of Louis Mountbatten, was born into a family of means, but not of emotional connection. While her grandfather, Sir Ernest Cassel, was kind and involved, her parents left her sister and Edwina to mostly be raised by governesses. After her mother's death, Edwina's father married for a second time to a woman Louis would later describe as "a wicked woman." Edwina was ultimately able to find refuge in her grandfather's home, where as a teenager she became a sophisticated society hostess and a friend to many in the monied elite. Sir Ernest Cassel's death, when Edwina was about 20, made her one of the richest women in England. Upon her engagement to the much-less-rich Louis Mountbatten, Sir Anthony Eden noted in his diary, "Edwina Ashley is engaged to Lord Louis Mountbatten. What a waste." Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prince George of Battenberg, later the 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, was the third child of Louis Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, and was by all accounts a pretty good dude. Like his father, he set his sights on a naval career, and excelled at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, entering the Royal Navy in time to participate in World War I. His 1916 marriage to Countess Nadajda de Torby, called Nada by her friends, would become a source of significant scandal in 1934, when a former maid became a key witness in the high profile custody battle over young heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. The mail alleged on the stand that Nada and the girl's mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, were lovers, and the story was so salacious for its time that the judge cleared the courtroom entirely. After the family dropped "Battenberg" in favor of "Mountbatten" in 1917, at the height of anti-German sentiment in England, George Mountbatten would continue being one of the few stable presences in the life of Prince Philip, and Queen Elizabeth II, his eventual niece-in-law, was extremely fond of George. His death at the young age of 45, from bone marrow cancer, was yet another tragedy in young Philip's life, while Nada would remain close friends with Edwina Mountbatten, her sister-in-law, and the wife of Philip's next mentor, Louis Mountbatten. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second child of Prince Louis of Battenberg (later, Louis Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven) and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine was Princess Louise, born July 14, 1889. While most royal were promptly shuttled into marriage, Louise was an independent, progressive young woman whose heart was set on marrying for love. There were suitors, to be sure, but Louise was insistent that she would never marry a king or a widower, and of course, that the union be based on love. This led her down some blind alleys, most notably with a Scottish portrait and landscape artist living in Paris, whom she met when they worked together at a military hospital during the First World War. Alexander Stuart-Hill was charming but eccentric, and was decidedly not rich. Fearing her family's reaction, Louise kept the pair's engagement secret for two years; by the time she revealed her secret, her parents asked that she delay marriage until the war had ended. After Alexander visited the Mountbattens a few times, earning the nickname 'Shakespeare' from his would-be in-laws, Louis Mountbatten had to sit his poor daughter down and explain to her that there were people called homosexuals, and he believed her fiance was one. It's unclear precisely how this resolved between Louise and Alexander, beyond the fact that the engagement ended in 1918. Princess Louise would find love at last, however, and in a most unexpected place. Sweden's Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, recent widower of Louise's mother's cousin, visited London in 1923 and took a real shine to Louise, then into her 30s. Sure, he was a widower, and sure, he was destined to be King of Sweden, but at long last, Louise had fallen in love with someone who loved her back. Her new in-laws loved her, and she became the devoted step-mother of Gustav's children. As Princess and then Queen Consort, she was beloved by the people of Sweden for her rejection of royal airs, belief in gender equality and civil rights, humanitarian work during World War II, and democratic reforms to the monarchy. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Louis Battenberg's (later Louis Mountbatten) successful campaign to marry Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, the couple set about having babies. The first of these, Princess Alice, was born in 1885, and came into the world congenitally deaf. Given the era, no particular accommodations were made for her, and while her condition caused many to underestimate her, she compensated by learning to lip-read (in several languages) and spoke English, German, French, and, later, Greek. Her marriage to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark was happy only for a while, but the pair had five children. Alice occupied herself with charity work, and when hostilities broke out between Greece and Turkey, she served as a nurse at the front line, earning the deep affection of the Greek people. During the First World War, Greece exiled the royal family, and setting up in Paris, Alice and Andrew became estranged. He would ride out the rest of his life in the south of France with his mistress, while Alice's life became strange and complicated. She fell in unrequited love, though history has not retained the identity of her affection, and developed a religious fervor. She was hospitalized in sanitariums and treated with cutting edge techniques for schizophrenia, like hitting her abdomen with X-rays to destroy her ovaries. During her convalescence, which she wanted out of, her daughters married without her knowing and her youngest son, Prince Philip, gradually grew from a child to a man, with no real connection to his mother or father. Alice spent World War II in Athens, caring for the poor and hungry, and sheltering a Jewish family. When the Nazi occupiers came to search her home, she leaned into her deafness, pretending not to understand what they wanted until they were so bamboozled they left empty handed. She founded a religious order, but when Greece again abolished the monarchy, her son Philip, now married to Queen Elizabeth II, ensured her safe passage to Great Britain, where she lived out her days simply and humbly, as a quiet resident of Buckingham Palace. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While royal houses are often insular and even incestuous (at least at the cousin-marrying level), new blood does manage to enter those gene pools from time to time. Meet the Mountbattens! The family's story begins in Russia, circa 1850, where the orphaned daughter of a Polish general named Julia von Hauke was serving in the household of Maria Alexandrovna, future wife of future Tsar Alexander II. Maria's brother, Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, fell hard for the common-born Julia, a romance that was seemingly halted by Emperor Nicholas I, who wanted Prince Alexander to marry his niece. Unable to shake off their love, the two eloped, which left Alexander persona non grata in the Russian court. Returning to his native Hesse, Prince Alexander's brother, Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse-Darmstadt, granted Julia the title of Countess of Battenberg, named for a town in the north of the duchy, and later, Princess of Battenberg. But Europe's royal houses have both a long memory and an enormous snobbery, meaning that when Alexander and Julia's sons, The Battenberg Boys, began pursuing the granddaughters of England's Queen Victoria for marriage a generation later, the courtships - successful and unsuccessful - were rife with intrigue and scandal. But it was the marriage of Louis Battenberg to Queen Vic's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine that would eventually transform the family from a tainted, common-born Battenberg lineage to the British Mountbattens, the house of Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. But that's a story for next week. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the Henry the Impotent story a few weeks back, Stacie became curious about some of the other odd nicknames that have been applied to rulers and leaders over the centuries. Today, we take a look at Constantine V, the Dung-Named Emperor, and a former Spanish Prime Minister who became perhaps the most hated man in Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries.   Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have come to the last of our episodes about the merriest of monarchs, Charles II. He had a great run for half a century, but the good times for Chuck and his court stop in 1685. What might be the cause of his death? And what happens to the ladies he left behind? All is revealed here to close out this trashy series. Sponsors Quince. Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to Quince.com/trashyroyals for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada too! Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though the Ides of March is long gone for the year, Alicia is engaged in some oratory this week and wanted to revisit a past episode about another famous orator - Gaius Julius Caesar. We're taking stock of his life and times through his marriages, both the ones we're sure happened, the one we aren't sure happened – and of course, Cleopatra makes an appearance. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lady Colin Campbell has led quite a life in her day, and one very connected into our upcoming storytelling journey. Today, it is crossover all about her trashy divorce, sticky royal spiderwebs, and so much more as we enter Lady Colin Campbell into our cinematic universe as a future player and source too. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 15th century was a chaotic time the kingdoms that would eventually form modern Spain. Castile, Navarre, and Aragon - as well as Portugal - were constantly jostling for advantage, even though the rulers were generally all related to each other by blood, marriage, or both. For Castile, the last of these weak, bumbling rulers with questionable priorities was Henry IV (Enrique IV), whose petition for the dissolution of his first, childless marriage, argued that a hex had been placed on him that made him impotent with his wife Blanche of Navarre. But only with Blanche! You're definitely not ready for what happened next. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After escaping her abusive husband, Hortense spent some time on the lam. She published her memoirs, which made her a celebrated author, and then, at the urging of the English ambassador, headed to London to "see her niece" - and within months, was yet another mistress of Charles II. And soon after, Charles II's eldest daughter with Barbara Villiers. There were plenty more lovers to come, so to speak, as well. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Restoration court of Charles II is known not for governing, but for the seemingly endless bed-hopping antics of the Merry Monarch. Today, in this Trashy Divorces crossover, we meet the last mistress to join that odd club, Hortense Mancini. Born to a big brood in Rome - Hortense was the eighth of ten - the family moved to Paris after her father's death, where her uncle Cardinal Mazarin gave them entry to the French court and planned for his nieces' futures as wives. He chose poorly in the case of Hortense, but her unhappy marriage ultimately propelled her to the shores of England, as well as making her a celebrated writer. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is late breaking Tudor news that Alicia had to share! Just published, scientists from the University of Bradford through a little fancy math and facial recognition just might have discovered the true face of Anne Boleyn, the second and murdered wife of Henry VIII. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A century and a half before the “Golden Age of Piracy,” an Irish woman of noble birth was conquering the inland seas and coastlines on the western edge of the island. Gráinne Ó Máille, anglicized to Grace O'Malley, hailed from the Umhaill line, a seafaring clan of Connacht, and while the family did conduct legitimate forms of trade, they also ran protection rackets on boats that tried to fish their waters, and sometimes plundered merchant vessels in the area, as well as settlements belonging to neighboring clans. Her life almost perfectly overlapped Queen Elizabeth I's, and during Grace's life, the English Crown was deeply invested in the conquest of Ireland, mostly by seducing its nobles into servitude with fancy English titles. Barons and Earls proliferated around Dublin for years, but English shenanigans finally reached the West of the country when Grace's first husband was cut out from the line of succession to his family's Chief of the Name. Then he was assassinated, leaving Grace ready and willing to enact violent revenge on his killers. The Crown continued eroding the alliances she was building. Her second husband was demoted from his role as regional king of Connacht while Grace was jailed on a plundering trip. When the Crown-supported king died, Grace and her husband teamed up to raise an army of 2,000 men to insure his succession. He not only got the title, but was named a Baron as well, in exchange for his promise of fealty to English law. But Crown agents had already set their sights on Grace O'Malley as the kind of noteworthy adversary whose arrest or death would send a message throughout the Emerald Isle, and Grace was eventually forced to sail to London to seek an audience with Queen Elizabeth herself, an effort in which she prevailed handily. Grace's story is full of courage, vengeance, and daring-do, but it's also a story rooted in specific moment in time, when the longstanding society of Ireland was changing and being changed. Ireland's Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley saw it all up close, and as a most unconventional woman, charted her own course through. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Born into a noble French family in Brittany, Louise de Kérouaille's road to the English Court, and to Charles II's bed, passed through Charles's sister, Henrietta Anne Stuart, Duchess of Orleans. Her family, focusing on a well-worn path to prominence, originally tried to have Louise noticed by Louis XIV of France and become a royal mistress. Louis didn't bite, but the royal mistress thing worked out in the end - possibly as part of a spy plot to keep the French informed about the goings-on in England. In 1670, Louise accompanied Henrietta on a diplomatic mission to Dover, where Charles was trying to bypass Parliament and secure some funding from the French. Henrietta, unfortunately, died unexpectedly around this time, leaving Louise in a bit of a predicament. No worries: Charles II appointed the attractive 21-year-old as a lady-in-waiting to his wife, ensuring her presence at Court. In 1672, Louise joined the Charles II Baby Mama Club, and the following year was given the titles Baroness Petersfield, Countess of Fareham, and Duchess of Portsmouth for life. Whether Charles II knew or cared about the financial support and gifts that Louise was given by Louis XIV is not known, but the English people had a good sense of what was going on, and Louise was profoundly unpopular with the English public - a striking contrast to Nell Gwyn.  Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the big changes Charles II made upon his return to his kingdom was to reopen the theaters that Cromwell and his zealots had shuttered 18 years earlier, at the start of the English Civil War. He also encouraged theaters to hire women, creating England's first class of actresses. And Charles being Charles, he also dated a few of those newly minted performers. Today, Alicia talks about Nell Gwyn, whose rags to riches story is an iconic part of Restoration England. Born to a (potentially unmarried) brothel owner with a serious alcohol addiction, she got her start in the theater not as an actress, but selling concessions. She was a beauty and a natural mimic, and soon enough, the manager of the King's Company, Thomas Killigrew, began training her for the stage. By 1665, her star was on the rise, and by the time she and Charles II were becoming a long-term couple in early 1668, Pretty, Witty Nell Gwyn was one of London's most notable people, beloved especially as a comedian. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It feels safe to say that when Russians recall a leader's reign as a “dark era,” we're into some deeply, deeply dark events. Empress Anna, a niece of Peter the (Not So) Great, had survived many humiliations before Russia's Supreme Privy Council elevated her to Empress; they thought she would be easy to control, but instead, her decade-long reign was characterized by Anna's cruelty and capriciousness. A career of personal vendettas was fueled by her limitless power and a secret police system she stood up to discover and end plots against her. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You thought Henry the 8th was the worst. Welcome to his contemporary, Ivan The Terrible. Terrible might be too kind of a word. With eight wives and hundreds of thousands dead in his wake, Ivan was a master of cruelty and just might be the King of Trash for the 16th Century. Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠⁠⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠⁠.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you worried that royal houses had gotten a little too genteel by the 19th century, the story of Ranavalona I of Madagascar will disabuse you of that pretty quickly. Seizing the throne in 1828 after the death of her husband, King Radama - despite not being the rightful heir to it - she immediately launched a campaign of murder against her political rivals and potential successors, and summarily ended friendly relations with European nations, including expelling missionaries who had established schools. She didn't merely promote the local customs and faith traditions of the Malagasy people; she eventually banned the practice of Christianity entirely and executed those who practiced it. In fact, she executed a lot of people, in a variety of creative ways, and historians believe that in her 33-year reign of terror, she depopulated Madagascar by about half. It's no wonder that she's considered Madagascar's Bloody Mary, and Madagascar's Caligula. Listen ad-free at ⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to ⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Court of Charles II wasn't merely a playhouse for the King's sexcapades. There was art, too! But as with everything Chuckie II related, the art was provocative as well. It all started with Anne, Duchess of York and Albany, wife of the future James II, whose standing at court was not immediately awesome upon the Restoration of the Monarchy. But she was good friends with the painter Sir Peter Lely, as well as fellow reputationally-challenged court lady Barbara Villiers. Anne connected the two, the portrait was painted, and then Anne engaged in a bit of a power play at court by choosing which women would sit for portraits. The paintings were widely copied and distributed in taverns and such, a sort of early version of dirty magazines in perhaps the trashiest court in English history. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though their romance had cooled by the 1670s, Barbara Villiers and King Charles II remained close for the rest of his life. He gifted her Nonsuch Palace, originally built by Henry VIII and used often by Elizabeth I. Barbara, who fell on hard times after four years living in Paris, had Nonsuch Palace demolished so she could sell off the building materials to pay her gambling debts. The King died in 1685, but Barbara still had decades to go. In 1705, after the death of her long-suffering husband, she married a second time. Unfortunately, her new husband, Robert Fielding, was a gigolo who had married a different woman, believing her to be an heiress, just two weeks earlier. This became its own scandal and legal odyssey, but also a sort of fitting bookend for the life of Barbara Villiers, one of history's most interesting women, who died in 1709. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends - just a quick note to let you know that we're pausing production this week because of a death in the family. Trashy Royals will return next Thursday, March 12. Thanks for your understanding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It wasn't just Barbara Villiers (or his wife, Catherine of Braganza) who was sharing Charles II's bed. This week, we go deep on the Merry Monarch's relationships with Winifred Wells, Frances Stewart, Mary Bagot, and actress Moll Davis. Winifred Wells came to the King's attention as a Maid of Honor to Queen Catherine, and unlike the mean-girl energy of Barbara Villiers, Winifred and Queen became close, and Winifred remained in her employ for years after the death of Charles II. Frances Stewart was a renowned beauty who famously refused to become Charles's mistress - until, it seems, she did. She was also the first model for the personification of Britania on an English coin. Mary Bagot was the wife of one of Charles's longtime supporters, who had served his court while in exile in Europe. Mary "Moll" Davis was a popular actress of her day who provided yet another illegitimate child to the monarch before retiring to a fancy home and living on a pension provided to her by Charles. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a huge day in our Trashy Universe, with what might be the start of real, criminal accountability for a Jeffrey Epstein friend. Finally, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office - what Americans would likely call "public corruption" - a charge that could land him in prison for life. Americans may still be fuming about elite impunity over here, but at least in the UK, someone powerful is entering the find-out phase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Restoration! Charles has officially made it to his King Era, coming on back to England to claim his crown, with his latest mistress at this side. Her name is Barbara Villiers Palmer, and the court is about to get very steamy indeed. Barbara, a married lady, will create quite a stir at court, and just continue to stir that noble pot. Intersecting into this time period is a newly acquired cuckquean wife, Catherine of Braganza. It is only just a couple of years we explore in this naughty ride, but these years are action-packed with so much trash at the court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special trashy crossover episode, Vulgar History's Ann Foster joins Alicia to talk about her new book, Rebel of the Regency: The Scandalous Saga of Caroline of Brunswick, Britain's Queen Without a Crown. Caroline's life was pretty incredible and she should be remembered much more in history. This one has everything – a plucky heroine and a trashy king, marital misadventure, affairs, fashion, riots, scandal and everything else there is to love about the Regency Period. Learn more about Ann at her website! Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we follow Charles II across Europe with 3 more ladies and 3 more babies - all before he finds himself back on the throne of his kingdom! Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this wild Trashy Divorces crossover episode, Stacie takes us back to the court of King James I of England, where a young noblewoman, Frances Howard, was desperate to escape her arranged marriage to marry another - and found her paramour's best friend to be a highly problematic obstacle. What to do, what to do? Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

As the English Civil War ground on and the tides began to turn against the Royalist forces, Charles II decamped to Europe for his own safety. His mother was in Paris, but he also spent a lot of time in The Hague, where his sister Mary was the wife of William II, Prince of Orange.Charles, then still just the Prince of Wales, met a Welsh lass there named Lucy Walter. Lucy had skipped out on the UK to get away from her parents, whose ugly divorce had risen to high scandal, and was hoping to find her fortune - via a husband or lover - in the English Court-in-exile.In May of 1648, Lucy met Charles, and a relatively brief romance transpired, but one that produced Prince Charles's first child. Happily, Charles eagerly acknowledged his son, who would go on to become the Duke of Monmouth. Less happily, agents of English dictator Oliver Cromwell kidnapped the boy for 10 days, and years later, long after the romance was over, his own father would successfully kidnap him to hide him from Cromwell and other dangers.Sadly, Lucy died some time in 1658, and never saw her old flame on the English throne, or her son as a Duke.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the English Civil War ground on and the tides began to turn against the Royalist forces, Charles II decamped to Europe for his own safety. His mother was in Paris, but he also spent a lot of time in The Hague, where his sister Mary was the wife of William II, Prince of Orange. Charles, then still just the Prince of Wales, met a Welsh lass there named Lucy Walter. Lucy had skipped out on the UK to get away from her parents, whose ugly divorce had risen to high scandal, and was hoping to find her fortune - via a husband or lover - in the English Court-in-exile. In May of 1648, Lucy met Charles, and a relatively brief romance transpired, but one that produced Prince Charles's first child. Happily, Charles eagerly acknowledged his son, who would go on to become the Duke of Monmouth. Less happily, agents of English dictator Oliver Cromwell kidnapped the boy for 10 days, and years later, long after the romance was over, his own father would successfully kidnap him to hide him from Cromwell and other dangers. Sadly, Lucy died some time in 1658, and never saw her old flame on the English throne, or her son as a Duke. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

History includes a lot of highs and lows, but England's Interregnum period was a particularly low low. King Charles I had been defeated in the English Civil War and was tried and beheaded in January 1649. For the next eleven years, various flavors of religious extremists, mostly under the sway of Oliver Cromwell, governed the realm (badly).Cromwell died in 1658 and his successor, his son Richard, proved a more miserable leader than even his predecessors, which led to the restoration of the monarchy and Charles II strolling into an eager London on his 30th birthday. By then, his reputation as a ladies' man was already well established, and for a grateful nation, it was time to let the good times roll once again.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

History includes a lot of highs and lows, but England's Interregnum period was a particularly low low. King Charles I had been defeated in the English Civil War and was tried and beheaded in January 1649. For the next eleven years, various flavors of religious extremists, mostly under the sway of Oliver Cromwell, governed the realm (badly). Cromwell died in 1658 and his successor, his son Richard, proved a more miserable leader than even his predecessors, which led to the restoration of the monarchy and Charles II strolling into an eager London on his 30th birthday. By then, his reputation as a ladies' man was already well established, and for a grateful nation, it was time to let the good times roll once again. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

Stacie has the gobsmacking escape of Princess Haya of Jordan, whose decade and a half of marriage to Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was heading south by the time he became embroiled in yet another scandal for kidnapping one of his 26 children. Again.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stacie has the gobsmacking escape of Princess Haya of Jordan, whose decade and a half of marriage to Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was heading south by the time he became embroiled in yet another scandal for kidnapping one of his 26 children. Again. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

The city-state of Carthage, on the coast of modern Tunisia, was the product of a flight from tyranny. Dissidents from Tyre fled by ship and ended up building something enduring - for seven centuries, anyway. Slightly older than the city of Rome, Carthage's wealth came from a broad trade network that encompassed the entire Mediterranean Sea.But as the Roman Republic's fortunes rose, conflict with their southern neighbor seemed to become irresistible, setting off a series of wars that would end in the total destruction of Carthage, its culture, and its people. But Rome's victory, apparently, wasn't quite enough. It turns out that Rome's first emperor also wanted to capture and transform the story of Carthage's founder, Dido, an early act of propaganda intended to knit together the nascent Roman Empire.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The city-state of Carthage, on the coast of modern Tunisia, was the product of a flight from tyranny. Dissidents from Tyre fled by ship and ended up building something enduring - for seven centuries, anyway. Slightly older than the city of Rome, Carthage's wealth came from a broad trade network that encompassed the entire Mediterranean Sea. But as the Roman Republic's fortunes rose, conflict with their southern neighbor seemed to become irresistible, setting off a series of wars that would end in the total destruction of Carthage, its culture, and its people. But Rome's victory, apparently, wasn't quite enough. It turns out that Rome's first emperor also wanted to capture and transform the story of Carthage's founder, Dido, an early act of propaganda intended to knit together the nascent Roman Empire. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

Between the years 235 and 280 AD, the Roman Empire was a basket case. Emperors were dropping like flies, succession fights were common, pretenders routinely declared themselves Emperor, and whole regions broke away. It was not the most prestigious period for Rome.In Roman-controlled Syria, a fully Romanized city-state called Palmyra had become a wealthy and prosperous destination on various trade routes, as well as the last bulwark on the eastern frontier between Rome and the Persian Empire. As the Roman crack-up proceeded, the city appointed its first-ever king, Odaenathus, who ruled alongside his wife, Zenobia. When Odaenathus was assassinated in 267 - we don't know by whom - Zenobia took the reins of Palmyra and led it through an audacious territorial expansion, until Palmyra controlled basically all of the Eastern Empire, including Egypt.And then, as more Emperors bumbled through the halls of power in distant Rome, Zenobia gave up on them entirely and declared herself Empress of Rome, and her domain, the Palmyrene Empire, the equal of Rome itself.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Between the years 235 and 280 AD, the Roman Empire was a basket case. Emperors were dropping like flies, succession fights were common, pretenders routinely declared themselves Emperor, and whole regions broke away. It was not the most prestigious period for Rome. In Roman-controlled Syria, a fully Romanized city-state called Palmyra had become a wealthy and prosperous destination on various trade routes, as well as the last bulwark on the eastern frontier between Rome and the Persian Empire. As the Roman crack-up proceeded, the city appointed its first-ever king, Odaenathus, who ruled alongside his wife, Zenobia. When Odaenathus was assassinated in 267 - we don't know by whom - Zenobia took the reins of Palmyra and led it through an audacious territorial expansion, until Palmyra controlled basically all of the Eastern Empire, including Egypt. And then, as more Emperors bumbled through the halls of power in distant Rome, Zenobia gave up on them entirely and declared herself Empress of Rome, and her domain, the Palmyrene Empire, the equal of Rome itself. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

Today is second part of the incredible story of Lady Anne Glenconner. This episode is full of the stories and spiderwebs of Anne's third act, having incredible success with her memoirs. So many people show up in this one - with stories and a little tea-spilling too - including Princess Margaret, Lord Snowden, King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla, Mel B., Mick Jagger, and even Graham Norton too.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.SponsorsAura Frames. Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code ROYALS at checkout at auraframes.com.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today is second part of the incredible story of Lady Anne Glenconner. This episode is full of the stories and spiderwebs of Anne's third act, having incredible success with her memoirs. So many people show up in this one - with stories and a little tea-spilling too - including Princess Margaret, Lord Snowden, King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla, Mel B., Mick Jagger, and even Graham Norton too. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. Sponsors Aura Frames. Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code ROYALS at checkout at auraframes.com. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

In this special crossover episode of Done and Dunne and Trashy Royals, Alicia introduces you to The Right Honourable The Dowager Lady Glenconner, Anne Tennant. Lady Anne's life is truly incredible – from a privileged childhood to being a lady-in-waiting attending Queen Elizabeth II through her coronation, these are only Anne's early years. Marriage and children follow in her life, with so many connected spiderwebs into the aristocracy, and our podcast journey.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.SponsorsAura Frames. Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code ROYALS at checkout at auraframes.com.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special crossover episode of Done and Dunne and Trashy Royals, Alicia introduces you to The Right Honourable The Dowager Lady Glenconner, Anne Tennant. Lady Anne's life is truly incredible – from a privileged childhood to being a lady-in-waiting attending Queen Elizabeth II through her coronation, these are only Anne's early years. Marriage and children follow in her life, with so many connected spiderwebs into the aristocracy, and our podcast journey. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. Sponsors Aura Frames. Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code ROYALS at checkout at auraframes.com. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

It's that time of year again, Good Nobles, so Alicia is taking us on a magical tour of (mostly) Tudor England's holiday season! Think Advent, the 12 Days of Christmas, and a full on two-week break to eat, drink, and be as merry as you can be with Henry VIII as your king.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's that time of year again, Good Nobles, so Alicia is taking us on a magical tour of (mostly) Tudor England's holiday season! Think Advent, the 12 Days of Christmas, and a full on two-week break to eat, drink, and be as merry as you can be with Henry VIII as your king. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt bloodlessly in 332 BC, he was welcomed as a liberator after a period of Persian domination. Establishing cities like Alexandria and Philadelphia, his short life meant that the double-crown passed shortly to one of his most trusted generals, Ptolemy I Soter, kicking off a 300-year reign of Greek-Macedonian leadership over the ancient country.But times were changing during that three century period, with the power of Greece ebbing and a new superpower, Rome, emerging across the Mediterranean Sea. By the time that Ptolemy XII was securing the Egyptian throne for his children, Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII, Julius Caesar was large and in charge well beyond Italy, and took a keen interest in the troubles the two co-pharaohs were having. It turns out things between the young rulers were worse than even Caesar expected, with the two factions in armed rebellion against each other. Ptolemy XIII made the choice to attack Caesar and Cleopatra in Alexandria, and subsequently died in the Battle of the Nile.There was romance between Caesar and Cleopatra that produced a child, but upon Caesar's death, Cleopatra had to once again take a look at the power dynamics of the world around her to preserve her kingdom and her dynasty. The Roman general Mark Antony fit the bill as both a strategic partner and lover - for a time, anyway.Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.