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 husband, Albert, and the "bliss of watching him shave and the joy of him helping her put on her stockings." Also discus...
Jul 02, 2025•46 min•Season 3Ep. 14
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 revealing the truth behind rumours that both were Nazi sympathisers. Both historians delve deep into t...
Jun 25, 2025•37 min•Season 3Ep. 13
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 between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, examining its impact on the monarchy. Professor Kate Will...
Jun 18, 2025•28 min•Season 3Ep. 12
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 relationship between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, examining its impact on the monarchy and revealin...
Jun 11, 2025•24 min•Season 3Ep. 11
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 Simpson's jewels in 1946, raising questions about insurance fraud and inside knowledge. And it also ...
Jun 04, 2025•29 min•Season 3Ep. 10
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 enlarged to fit the head of King Charles III, and how George VI wore his crown while gardening! Hosts also...
May 28, 2025•28 min•Season 3Ep. 9
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 Queen who refused to carry a bullet-proof parasol. And, finally, the hosts discuss which King and Que...
May 21, 2025•30 min•Season 3Ep. 8
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 to challenges over the years? History reveals that the Royals have always faced a dilemma - they h...
May 14, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 7
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? What training did Meghan, Duchess of Sussex , and Catherine, Princess of Wales, receive to safeguard t...
May 07, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 6
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 visitor. Also, a royal family skeleton is revealed - which blood soaked tyrant are the modern royals rela...
Apr 30, 2025•24 min•Season 3Ep. 5
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 Queen Victoria took a surprising shine to the lustful Shah of Persia? All will be revealed, along with ...
Apr 23, 2025•24 min•Season 3Ep. 4
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 some royals suffered from performance anxiety! But which ones? Also, discover Robert Hardman’s own ...
Apr 16, 2025•25 min
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 parents have learned a lesson from royal history? Also, hear the scandalous story of ‘Crawfie’, the wo...
Apr 09, 2025•28 min•Season 3Ep. 2
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 of history. Also, discover the superstitions of the modern royals, the member of the Windsor family...
Apr 02, 2025•28 min•Season 3Ep. 1
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 Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode of Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Thin...
Jan 13, 2025•19 min•Season 2Ep. 12
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 Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and p...
Dec 23, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 11
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 villain – in a bid to secure the throne? Or, could other powerful figures have been involved? Join ...
Oct 02, 2024•38 min•Season 2Ep. 10
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 man in question – Crown Prince Dipendra – allegedly went on a murderous rampage, killing nine members ...
Sep 25, 2024•31 min•Season 2Ep. 9
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 bedclothes, furniture, and walls. Join Kate and Robert as they delve into the circumstances surroundin...
Sep 18, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 8
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 fall; the key players in her trial; and, whether her alleged infidelities were fabrications to just...
Sep 11, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Despite being immortalised in the iconic song by Boney M, the life and death of Grigory Rasputin remains shrouded in mythology and mystery. A mystic healer, political saboteur, and renegade monk, Rasputin’s life – and his ‘member’ – casts a long shadow over Russian history, not least in the questions surrounding his role in formenting the opposition to the Russian Tsar that ultimately caused the 1917 Revolution, a cataclysmic event that overturned Russia’s social and political order forever, and...
Sep 04, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Charles II's sexual appetite was infamously compared to a racehorse, and he revelled in reversing the social strictures that Oliver Cromwell had strictly enforced during the Interregnum. Unsurprisingly, Charles II had mistresses. And lots of them. But Charles II’s mistresses were so much more than footnotes in a new era of frivolity, parties and hedonism – many of these women wielded significant power in their own right, and played pivotal roles in court politics and international relations. The...
Aug 28, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 5
What do you get when you mix a $20 million diamond necklace; a sycophantic cardinal; a con-artist; and Marie Antoinette? Only one of French history’s biggest royal scandals – a scandal that, arguably, led to the abolition of nearly a thousand years of French monarchy and the demise of France's final two monarchs on the guillotine. Join Kate Williams and Robert Hardman for a rollicking ride through a royal scandal that really does have it all: sex, lies – and Marie Antoinette: one of the most ico...
Aug 21, 2024•44 min•Season 2Ep. 4
On June 10 1688, Queen Mary of Modena, the Catholic wife of James II, gave birth to a son, James Francis Stewart. Or did she? Join Kate Williams and Robert Hardman as they dive into one of royal history’s juiciest, and often forgotten, scandals: an event that should have been a joyous moment (a male heir - hurrah!) but one that instead unleashed a chain of events that would lead to mother, father, and child being driven out of England to spend the rest of their lives in… exile. Robert and Kate w...
Aug 14, 2024•32 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Did Queen Victoria find comfort and love in the arms of a servant following the death of Prince Albert? What can we conclude from the Queen’s disregard for public, parliamentary and family concern about her close relationship with John Brown, the Scottish servant who found himself resident at Buckingham Palace? And, was the Queen so devoted to John Brown that they secretly married? Professor Kate Williams and Robert Hardman reveal all about this mysterious royal relationship that captivated the ...
Aug 07, 2024•34 min•Season 2Ep. 2
When the peace of an Edinburgh night is shattered by an explosion and the Queen of Scotland’s husband is found dead, but no murderer can be found, the question is not only who killed the King Consort but why ? Join Professor Kate Williams and Robert Hardman as they uncover the suspects, the events and the motives behind a murder that definitively changed the course of Mary Queen Of Scots’ reign. Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things is the Daily Mail's unmissable podcast that promises listeners a ...
Aug 06, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things is the Daily Mail's unmissable podcast that promises listeners a weekly dose of royal history and intrigue by unpacking a different royal scandal each week. Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. New episodes out every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on TikTok and In...
Jul 31, 2024•2 min
Join Robert Hardman and Natasha Livingstone for an analysis of "Wolferton Splash" the first episode of season 1 of The Crown. This episode focuses on the wedding and early years of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip's marriage, and the failing health of Princess Elizabeth's father King George VI. Find out: Did Winston Churchill heckle at Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip’s wedding? Did King George VI have surgery at Buckingham Palace? How did King George VI’s plans for an overseas tour di...
May 02, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Join Robert Hardman and Natasha Livingstone for an analysis of "Moondust" season 3, episode 7 of The Crown. This episode of The Crown shows Prince Phillip having a mid life crisis as he considers his faith and his place in the universe, all put into context as Neil Armstrong steps on the moon and a new Dean of Windsor is appointed. Find out: Is there evidence that Prince Phillip was having a mid life crisis around the time of the moon landings? Did The Crown get the astronaut's visit to Buckingh...
Apr 25, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Robert Hardman and Natasha Livingstone sit down with Sam McAlister for a very special episode of the The Crown Fact or Fiction that focuses on Scoop, Netflix's film about Prince Andrew's disastrous Newsnight interview. Scoop is based on Sam's first hand experience of booking Prince Andrew for Newsnight. Hear Sam tell the story behind the meetings, the planning, the recording and aftermath of the interview - what it was like to work on the biggest interview in the world, and how Netflix captured ...
Apr 18, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 23
