No one inside or outside the palace seems all too pleased in this continuing episode of our Wallis series. We are definitely on the countdown to the December 1936 abdication of Edward VIII, and the events of the summer and fall really turn up the temperature on the whole sordid mess. David isn’t too keen on being the king. Neither are his advisors. A lot of folks would like to see David just walk away from the job. The one lone voice urging him to keep the gig was his lover, Wallis. She wants no...
Jul 07, 2025•57 min•Ep. 133
King George V has passed, and it is David’s time to assume the throne. The new King of England is pretty okay with it, for now – but only if his rules are followed. The people of England are pretty fired up about the monarch who they feel will be a youthful, modern twist to the staid and formal reign of the past. There are a lot of other folks, mostly the ones close to David, who do not share this same enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Wallis is still playing her hand, balancing between an ever more needy ...
Jul 03, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 132
This week, we bring Wallis and the Prince of Wales together, and it is some scandalous stuff. Walls sells out her friend Thelma. David is resolved to get Wallis into his inner court world, no matter what he must do, even with enemies on all sides. The prince has now become a determined guy, and Wallis is playing a very dangerous game with some very high stakes. Aunt Bessie does try to warn Wallis, bless her heart, not that it does much good. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To ...
Jul 02, 2025•53 min•Ep. 131
This week, we progress in our journey to the last lover of the Prince of Wales, before Wallis, that is. Thelma Furness enters the picture. Thelma comes with her own legend, being one of the Magical Morgan Twins, along with her sister Gloria. Thelma thinks she can trust her good friend Wallis to keep an eye on “her little man” when she is needed to support her sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, back in the United States, who is stuck right in the middle of the “trial of the century,” concerning th...
Jun 30, 2025•52 min•Ep. 130
We continue our journey into the love life of the Prince of Wales this week introducing the lovely, and married, Freda Dudley Ward. This phenomenal woman was romantically involved with David for 15 years, and he sure liked it that way, until he didn’t. This one is quite a journey of a wonderful woman who played her role perfectly, in good times and in bad times too. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Lear...
Jun 26, 2025•54 min•Ep. 129
In this week’s exciting episode of our Wallis, Duchess of Windsor series, we change the focus to the Prince of Wales. With a complicated childhood without a whole lot of family love, you can see how it would be easy for David to be swayed by romance. He does this romance dance quite a lot – sometimes with suitable girls, sometimes not. In this episode, we will explore a few of David’s first loves, including Marion Coke, Lady Sybil Cadogan, Marguerite Alibert, and Rosemary Leveson-Gower. No gal i...
Jun 25, 2025•53 min•Ep. 128
Upon her return to the United States, Wallis will finally obtain her divorce from Win Spencer, and soon enough meet her next husband, Ernest Simpson. Slightly problematic, Ernest is married at the time, but who can stop true love? Wallis will seek and find happiness (finally) here, as a contented married lady and star hostess of London society. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad c...
Jun 23, 2025•57 min•Ep. 127
Hold onto your conspiracy theories in this one, darlings! Wallis took a lot of heat for the year she spent in the Orient, her Lotus Year. Many folks pinned a whole lot of terrible deeds on Wallis this year, largely all untrue. Her year in China becomes the basis for the future China Dossier, which was supposed to dissuade the Prince of Wales from his married lover. That plan did not work out too well, and this year, Wallis truly steps into being the woman she is to become. Also, she will break w...
Jun 19, 2025•49 min•Ep. 126
In this second installment of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, we visit steamy Pensacola, Florida, and meet Wallis’s first husband, Earl Winfield “Win” Spencer, Jr. This flyboy will woo and wed Wallis, only for the relationship to reveal some very large red flags. 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
Jun 18, 2025•48 min•Ep. 125
Welcome to a whole spider of a series - Wallis, Duchess of Windsor! We know her story, or we think we do. In this first episode, we meet Bessie Wallis Warfield, just a tiny girl making her way in the world surrounded by a whole lot of family drama, on both sides. Between her mother Alice and her uncle Sol, it is no wonder Wallis wants to break free to see a different world than the one she knows. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@a...
Jun 16, 2025•56 min•Ep. 124
Alicia is joined by a very special guest this week Alicia King Anderson to break down the story of the original trashy royal couple from mythology, Hera and Zeus. Their story is loaded with tricks, subterfuge and a little revenge too. They take the cake as the trashy couple in mythology, no doubt. Find more of Alicia K. Anderson, Ph.D. in these links: Alicia's Patreon Her upcoming class on "The Dark Feminine for Dark Times" Fairy Tale Retellings now available for pre-order! Listen ad-free at pat...
Jun 12, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 123
Free from Henry at long last, and with Thomas Seymour home from his European duties, Catherine quickly, but discretely, found her way back to her old flame. They married in secret, which displeased both the new king, Edward VI, and Princess Mary, Catherine's good friend. Thomas's brother Edward - by then the 1st Duke of Somerset - was more or less running the country for his nephew, then nine or ten years old, and presented a foil to Thomas, and ultimately led to his downfall. This was a dicey p...
Jun 11, 2025•58 min•Ep. 122
As Lady Latimer after her second wedding in 1534, Catherine, her husband, and her step-children found themselves enmeshed in the growing public anger at Henry's moves to impose his new religion, as well as various other political gripes. In 1536 and 1537, a genuine uprising occurred, with Catholic rebels dragging Lord Latimer - a fellow Catholic - from their home to be pressed into service against the King. Catherine and her step-children were held hostage for months, and Lord Latimer found hims...
Jun 06, 2025•38 min•Ep. 120
Though the twice-widowed Catherine's heart was definitely with Thomas Seymour, Henry VIII had other plans for his future and final wife. He took to spending time at his daughter Princess Mary's court, where Catherine was part of the household, and eventually dispatched Seymour on an important - and open duration - diplomatic mission on the Continent. It took some wooing, but Catherine finally accepted the King's marriage proposal, and the couple were wed in July 1543 at Hampton Court Palace. Cat...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 121
The last of Henry VIII's wives, Catherine Parr's story is absolutely fascinating. A daughter of a noble family from the north of England, Catherine was raised by a doting, independent mother who urged her daughters to take a similar approach. Maud Green Parr, Catherine's mother, was a confidant of Queen Catherine of Aragon, and Catherine's younger sister Anne would go on to be a lady in waiting to all six of Henry's wives - including her sister. Catherine was, by all accounts, extremely bright a...
Jun 05, 2025•40 min•Ep. 119
Even before Henry VIII succumbed to pressure and wedded Anne of Cleves, his attentions had turned to another lady at his court, Katherine Howard. The romance was supported by her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, who had been trying to win back Henry's good graces ever since another one of his nieces, Anne Boleyn, had been dispatched in a Cromwellian conspiracy a few years earlier. Norfolk was clearly having a run of bad luck though, because it turns out that the teenaged Katherine - Henry was pushing...
May 29, 2025•50 min•Ep. 118
After the death of Jane Seymour in 1537, Henry VIII was once again single and looking to mingle. But he was a man with a bit of reputation by then, and perhaps the daughters of England weren't in a hurry to roll those particular dice. Artist Hans Holbein was dispatched to Europe to paint the portraits of eligible royals and nobles for Henry's consideration. In the Duchy of Cleves (part of modern Germany), Henry found both his next bride and a Protestant ally against increasing pressure from a Fr...
May 22, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 117
On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed on the Tower Green at the Tower of London, following months of scheming by Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. Alicia follows the final, pivotal months of the one-time Queen consort of England, the woman Henry had broken with the Catholic Church to wed, and the mother of the future Elizabeth I, from celebrations of the death of Catherine of Aragon in January to the blade of a hired swordsman from Calais in May. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/tra...
May 18, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 116
Oh my! Our week of All Things Anne Boleyn continues here at Trashy Royals with Alicia bringing you all the details of the very troubled and sticky love triangle of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn. There was a time when Catherine and Anne were friends, however Henry was always a monster. This episode covers the period of 1527 to 1531 in this Court of Two Queens, setting up for the conclusion of this arc this weekend, with the story of the murder of Anne Boleyn. Listen ad-free at ...
May 16, 2025•54 min•Ep. 115
In this continuing week of All Things Anne Boleyn we ponder the real birth year of Anne Boleyn. History has declared 1501 is the year of her birth, but there is some very powerful evidence that the year of her birth was 1507. Alicia breaks it down from all sides in this episode from the trashy past, with a little after-life action too from St. Peter Ad Vincula. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn mor...
May 15, 2025•56 min•Ep. 114
It is an exciting week here for Alicia, and she wants to share her love, passion and fervor of the Tudor Era with you, and especially her love of Anne Boleyn. Next week marks the 489th anniversary of Anne’s death, and it is her time to shine within our trashy universe this week. In this episode, we explore the 17 surviving love letters that King Henry VIII penned during his courtship and early relationship with Anne Boleyn in the latter half of the 1520s, particularly noting that for quite a lon...
May 14, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 113
Hey friends, Alicia and Stacie here to tell you about a new show that we're really excited about. Our friend Rainbow Valentine has been collecting the stories of the first generation of women to have access to The Pill, Rock n Roll, and LSD. In her podcast Psychedelic Women, Rainbow talks to the women who lived and made the counterculture in 1960s San Francisco and, eventually, the world. It's a fascinating, beautifully crafted show featuring real-life stories that'll blow your mind. Coming up i...
May 09, 2025•4 min
In this final installment of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, we follow Mary's flight from Scotland into England, the domain of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, in 1568. Historians believe that Mary thought - or at least hoped - that her cousin would assist in returning her to the throne in Scotland, but instead, Mary and her retinue would spend a strange decade and a half imprisoned - in some of the finest homes in England. In the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, M...
May 08, 2025•52 min•Ep. 112
In this second installment of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, Alicia follows Mary back to Scotland after her tenure as teenaged Queen of France. A young widow, she returned to a Scotland that had gone through the Reformation, making her Catholicism a notable feature. In 1565, after about four years back at home, she married her half-cousin, the ambitious Lord Darnley, which produced a son the following year. The marriage was troubled, with Darnley openly seeking to become King and not just the...
May 01, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 111
This week, we begin our Trashy Royals journey into the life and times of Mary, Queen of Scots. She has been a long time coming as a missing link on our ride of the naughty nobles in her time. In this episode, we journey from Mary’s birth in 1542, with her becoming Queen of Scotland at the tender age of 6 days old to Mary, three days before her 18th birthday as a widow of the King of France. Her first husband, Francoise II does pass away just as the couple's reign was beginning, leaving Mary with...
Apr 24, 2025•43 min•Ep. 110
Come with us this week as we take a journey into the Tudor Court with perhaps the most tragic story of the time. Arbella Stuart is our focus this week, and her tale is ever so tragic. It could have been a regular life for this girl, except that she was related to every single person in the royal line-up, and that makes for very dangerous times to be a girl in the 16th century. So many connected players, so many spiderwebs in this one – buckle up for some Big Royal Energy! Learn more about your a...
Apr 17, 2025•55 min•Ep. 109
Good nobles, we have a real treat for you this week as we journey down into Africa - Kenya specifically - to begin the trashy tales of the Happy Valley Set. This group of self-absorbed, wealthy British expatriates is legendary in history for all of the sins that occurred in their heyday, from the 1920s to the 1940s. Today’s episode serves as a great introduction to this heap of hedonism, as we explore the life, the loves, and the mysterious murder of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll. After a lif...
Apr 10, 2025•54 min•Ep. 108
Turns out that selfies aren't really a new phenomenon, and as cameras emerged as a new technology in the 19th century, there was a nearly perfect subject who made the form her own. Meet Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, spy, diplomat, model, courtesan, art director, and one-time mistress of Emperor Napoleon III. It's quite a resume and a heck of a story - a minor noble whose beauty was legendary but whose arrogance and self-importance certainly rubbed the Parisian upper crust the wrong ...
Apr 03, 2025•50 min•Ep. 107
As a young man, Stanislaw Poniatowski arrived at the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia, a Polish noble in the service of an English diplomat. An affair commenced with the future Catherine the Great, whose affection (and malign influence in the politics of Russia's neighbor) resulted in Stanislaw being elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in in 1764. It was a good news/bad news reign for Stanislaw, who saw his country partitioned not once, not twice, but three times, by the great...
Mar 27, 2025•48 min•Ep. 106
This week, Alicia invited Alicia King Anderson Ph.D. to talk all things Persephone and Hades, the Queen and King of the Underworld. We unpack the myth of this royal couple down below. How does a young girl, Kore, complete the transformation into Persephone? Who is Hades and why is he messing with his niece, Kore? How does the whole snatching of the beautiful maiden go down, and what happens in the Underworld? It's a story with complicated supernatural family ties, a kidnapping, a mother's grief,...
Mar 20, 2025•56 min•Ep. 105
