Trashy Royals

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. 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 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decades after a band of British colonists in the new world gained independence from the Crown, a funny thing happened: wealthy American women began returning to the ancestral homeland to find impoverished but titled Englishmen needing wives - and cash. It was a match - actually, hundreds of them - made in heaven. Jeanette "Jennie" Jerome was an American daughter of a banker and a landowner, as well as being a noted beauty of her era. In 1874, at the age of just 20, Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill - the two would produce another notable Churchill - and began a fascinating period of decades that saw her involvement and influence in the highest level of British politics and society. Sources: The Titled Americans: Three American Sisters and British Aristocratic World into Which They Married, by Elizabeth Kehoe (Amazon link) Jennie Churchill: Winston’s American Mother, by Anne Sebba (Amazon link) The Husband Hunters: Social Climbing in London and New York, by Anne de Courcy (Amazon link) International Churchill Society (winstonchurchill.org) Million Dollar American Princesses, Smithsonian Channel documentary (smithsonianchannel.com) 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 welcome back journalist and author Andrew Morton to spill some tea, past and present, on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson. The former Duke and Duchess of York are not the only Windsor family members in the lens - also included are Prince Phillip, King Charles III, Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince William and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie 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

From the Louvre heist in Paris to a bank vault in Quebec, lost and found royal jewels are having a moment! Alicia takes us through the audacious daylight robbery - with some cybersecurity tips - and the rediscovery of the Florentine Diamond after a century in seclusion on this side of the pond. 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

Today, in a crossover episode from Trashy Divorces, Alicia revisits a first season episode where… well, we were sweet summer children and there was much that would be revealed. This week, we're going deep on the current status of no-longer-prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and his ex-wife but longstanding partner in crime, Sarah Ferguson. 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

Ancient Egypt may never stop fascinating us modern types, but as archeologists in recent centuries began to explore the ruined temples and tombs of one of humanity's oldest civilizations, they unearthed a puzzle: what had led to the seemingly violent attempt to erase a pharaoh whose monuments - intact or destroyed - were some of the finest works ever found? When they learned that Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a woman, their 18th and 19th century brains curdled, coming up with a story of an evil queen who stole her power from the rightful heir. None of this was true. Hatshepsut strode across her world's stage at a moment of rising stability and prosperity in Egypt, and added to it, preserving the throne as regent to a two-year old Pharaoh Thutmose III, and co-reigning alongside him as he matured into one of Egypt's greatest military leaders and pharaohs himself. Hatshepsut's reign widened the possibilities for a kingdom on the cusp of a Golden Age, and gifted humanity with some of the most marvelous pieces of antiquity discovered yet. 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 House of Grimaldi has ruled the tiny principality of Monaco since January 8, 1297, when Francois “The Spiteful” Grimaldi disguised himself as a monk and knocked on his uncle’s castle door, launching a coup. In the violence that followed, according to legend, a woman – possibly a lover of Francois, possibly a witch he had wronged (can’t it be both?) – issued a curse that has resonated across the centuries: “Never will a Grimaldi find true happiness in marriage.” The Grimaldi family was considered scandalous enough in Queen Victoria’s time that she forbade any of her close relatives to marry into it, leading Prince Albert I of Monaco to marry an American heiress in 1889 – a precedent that would matter decades later when Prince Rainier III, urged on by none other than shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, began interviewing Hollywood A-listers for a very special role: Princess of Monaco. Which is how Grace Kelly abandoned the big screen for the Rock of Monaco, and would go on to celebrate her 40th birthday in High Scorpio style. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. Sources: The Grimaldis of Monaco: Centuries of Scandal, Years of Grace, by Anne Edwards (Amazon) Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess, by James Spada (Amazon) Elizabeth Taylor: There is Nothing Like a Dame, by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince (Amazon) A Detailed Look at the Many Romances of Prince Albert of Monaco (esquiremag.ph) Portrait of Princess Caroline: Love and Philanthropy (hellomonaco.com) Who is Giving Prince Ernst August a little TLC During his Marital Strife? (vanityfair.com) Is Princess Caroline the Latest Victim of the Grimaldi Family Curse? (vanityfair.com) A Runaway Princess Bride and Feudal Feuds: Three Insane Royal Weddings (vanityfair.com) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices