As we roar towards the Ides of March, it just makes sense to spend a little time with Rome's OG, Gaius Julius Caesar. But since it's also Women's History Month, 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....
Mar 13, 2025•56 min•Ep. 104
The Gabor sisters were some of the most iconic cultural figures in the second half of the 20th century, having arrived on our shores from Nazi-occupied Hungary, where they experienced loss and engaged in heroic resistance. Along with their mother, Jolie, sisters Eva, Zsa Zsa, and Magda, stormed the mid-century zeitgeist and lived through extremely complicated family dynamics, as well as complicated romantic entanglements - including, between them all - 23 marriages, 18 divorces, two widowhoods, ...
Mar 12, 2025•8 min
Just in time for Women's History Month here in the US, Alicia has a story as old as time - an 8th century Queen of the central English kingdom of Mercia during the Anglo-Saxon period who maybe was the victim of a smear campaign centuries later. Obviously, contemporaneous records of the period are sparse, but what we do think we know is that Queen Cynethryth and her husband King Offa had a contentious relationship with the Archbishop of Canterbury in that period. Mercia confiscated some of the Ar...
Mar 06, 2025•52 min•Ep. 103
We're on break this week, so we're delving into Trashy Royals history (see what we did there!) with an encore of one of our earliest episodes, Roman Emperor Nero. While things started out relatively well when he took the reins from Claudius at just age 16, his attention and priorities quickly spiraled to pointless things and private grievance. As one does. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more abo...
Feb 27, 2025•57 min•Ep. 102
Back in 1959, a writer named Samson Rebaldi gave an autocrat and despot a real glow-up in the pages of Confidential, a gossip rag of the era. Yemen's second-to-last hereditary ruler, Ahmad bin Yahya - known as "Ahmad the devil" within Yemen - was in Rome at the time, receiving medical treatment for a variety of ailments, and Rebaldi delighted in the news that he had traveled with his multiple wives, dozens of concubines, and maintained a stable of "slave girls" back at home. In Rome, Rebaldi say...
Feb 20, 2025•37 min•Ep. 101
Last summer, Alicia was finally able to catch SIX The Musical on Broadway, and last weekend, Stacie got to see the US Tour version. A pop spectacular featuring the wives of Henry VIII, the play's back story is every bit as cool and fun as the show itself is. In this episode, we talk SIX The Musical, and we pull a Patreon Royal-Tea Time episode from August where Alicia got into what it's all about. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@...
Feb 13, 2025•43 min•Ep. 100
This week, join us for a journey 500 years in the making! Off to Derbyshire we go to spend some time at Chatsworth, the ancestral home of the Cavendish family and the Dukes and Duchesses of Devonshire through time. There were many women who claimed the Duchess title, and a few who did not. We explore them all - from Bess of Hardwick, the lady who begins it all, to Georgiana Spencer and Deborah Mitford, the ones who did attain the title, as well as the ones who did not, including Lady Caroline La...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 99
We regret to inform you that today's legal regime of protecting corpses from desecration is a modern development, and even worse, royals have a rich history of relying on them for all sorts of things. Today we get into the alleged curative powers of corpses, especially among Spain's Hapsburg leaders a few centuries back. Don Carlos himself, whom we covered last week, is said to have recovered from that serious head wound he received with the help of a local miracle-maker named Diego de Alcala - ...
Jan 30, 2025•50 min•Ep. 98
We've often marveled at the incestuous nature of royal marriages in Europe, but the inbreeding really came to a head in 16th century Spain, when King Philip II married and had a son with his double first cousin, Maria Manuela of Portugal. Carlos, their baby boy, came into the world with significant disadvantages; his legs were different lengths and his spine curved abnormally, causing problems with his gait and posture. These are issues to be compassionate about, but Carlos's behavior from infan...
Jan 23, 2025•57 min•Ep. 97
One of the more fascinating women of the Tudor era was actually one of the last Plantagenets, Margaret Plantagenet, later Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. Daughter of George, Duke of Clarence (he of Malmsey wine fame), and a niece to both King Edward IV and King Richard III, Margaret and her brother were taken into the care of King Henry VII after Richard's defeat at Bosworth Field. Henry's wife, Elizabeth of York, was Margaret's cousin, and perhaps because of his insecurities about his cla...
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 96
Alicia is leading a Swiftory takeover! To celebrate the launch of her newest podcast, Swiftory, she's taking you into one of its origin stories - the life of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, through a five-song arc of Taylor Swift songs. This one will sate the palate of both Trashy Divorces and Trashy Royals listeners! Subscribe to Swiftory on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Here are lyrics and live performances for you to enjoy your own musical journey! Links ...
Jan 12, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 95
Legend has it that at the turn of the 17th century, in a small corner of the then-Kingdom of Hungary, a noblewoman preyed on her peasant tenants, torturing and murdering them for her own sadistic pleasure high up in her castle in the Little Carpathian Mountains. Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Erzsebet Bathori, or Alzbeta Batoriova, in Hungarian and Slovakian, respectively) has been described as history's most prolific female serial killer - her death toll was said to be as high as 650 - until she w...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 94
It turns out that Royals have been enjoying (?) bizarre deaths a lot more often than we first realized! Among this set's methods of departure from the world: getting a little too cozy with your enemy's severed head, life-extension mercury (don't try this at home!), poorly constructed furniture, laughter, constipation, and, in a bit of a twist, a story about the arguable desecration of Philip the Fair's corpse by his too-loving widow. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertis...
Dec 26, 2024•57 min•Ep. 93
Like the rest of us, the world's royals are mere mortals who meet our universal fate in the end. But for some, that end came about in unusual ways - infected simian bites, the ingestion of liquid gold, genital maggots, a surfeit of lampreys, and the sweetest, perhaps: death by pastry. 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
Dec 19, 2024•43 min•Ep. 92
New from Hemlock Creatives: Swiftory, a not-so-typical Taylor Swift podcast, perfect for any Swiftie, literature lover, or history buff. Hosts Alicia and Melissa explore Taylor Swift’s music as a jumping off point into a wider world of fascinating figures and iconic literature. Join us as we romp through Taylor’s stories, visiting the places, personalities, and – of course – the eras, that her songs evoke. Coming 12/31/2024, wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe here on Spotify, or on Apple...
Dec 13, 2024•50 sec
And in the concluding episode of the (ongoing) story of Princess Michael of Kent, we watch aghast as the Anglican and Catholic churches battle over the pending nuptials of Prince Michael and his sweet Marie-Christine, and then Alicia tries (and seems to largely fail) to explain to Stacie why British law and custom required Prince Michael of Kent to marry Princess Michael of Kent, and not Baroness Marie-Christine. Seems like Prince Michael's cousin Queen Elizabeth II could have done him - and his...
Dec 12, 2024•51 min•Ep. 91
This week we continue our journey into the life and times of Princess Michael of Kent. In this middle episode of her arc, we explore her teenage years, her first marriage and subsequent divorce, and her romance with Prince Michael of Kent. This love affair is assisted by a familiar character, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who manages with charm and royal politics to attain the Queen's permission. Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast. To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitu...
Dec 05, 2024•55 min•Ep. 90
We begin our exploration of the UK's surprisingly controversial Princess Michael of Kent with a little back story. And given that Princess Michael of Kent started life in January 1945 as a German baroness named Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, you can bet the Nazis had a hand in it! The daughter of Baron Gunther von Reibnitz, a Nazi Party member who spent time at the Russian front during the war, Princess Michael's mother, Austro-Hungarian Countess Maria Anna, was stridently anti-Nazi, enough that ...
Nov 28, 2024•54 min•Ep. 89
We return this week to the Stuart Dynasty, and King James VI of Scotland, coming on in as King James I of England. His reign begins in 1603 and runs through 1625, you might be surprised what you can pack into 22 years to trashy administrating, but James makes the most of it. Included: Rewriting of The Bible, Witch Hunting, More Pamphlets, Gunpowder Plots, and Jimmy's Maybe Lovers, with a little treason and murder on the side too. The Howard Family resurrects themselves and spiderwebs are everywh...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 88
In this exciting installment of our past selves bringing you current episodes, we continue with the thread of the Trashy Stuarts. It is time to explore the life of James VI from his birth to the age of 39 when he assumes the English Throne in 1603. Oh my – so many things before he even assumes the throne in England after the death of Elizabeth. James is dealing with dead parents, mad -lunatic and angry uncles, and a child bride, Anne of Denmark. Feuds with countries and religions. Kids, and witc...
Nov 14, 2024•53 min•Ep. 87
In this week's double Trashy Royals, past-us brings an episode out of the Trashy Divorces side of the world, as it really does all connect in history. It is back to April 2021 when we took a trip into the late 16th Century to do some witch hunting with King James VI of Scotland, long before he makes it to England as James I. His new hobby is no way a valid pursuit of anything worthwhile - just a king's manic fevered dream which is pretty terrible for the old, poor, or single women of both Scotla...
Nov 09, 2024•40 min•Ep. 86
In this exciting episode of Trashy Royals, we are jumping into the future a bit from our Tudor timeline into the beginning of the Stuart Dynasty. How does the crown go from Elizabeth I to James I, and who were the other contenders in play? Everyone is related in this one – pull out your yarn and have some family tree fun! 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...
Nov 07, 2024•47 min•Ep. 85
The Tudors are still turning, friends, but with the spooky season upon us, Alicia thought it would be a wonderful time to share the scariest thing the Tudors themselves dealt with: a mysterious illness called Sweating Sickness. Fortunately for people alive today, the disease vanished centuries ago, leaving modern scientists to puzzle over what it might have been. For this episode, Alicia sat down with our friends Sam and Allie at I'm Horrified!, another perfect spot to showcase a horrifying and ...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 84
By 1520, Europe found itself in an interesting moment. The most significant leaders in the endless jostle for power and influence were all young kings - Henry VIII in England, around 30 years old; Francis I in France, around 26 years old; and Charles V as King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, at about 20 years old. You can imagine how potentially unstable an axis of entitled, army-commanding young kings might be, but it's noteworthy that there were cooler heads with bigger visions than wars of c...
Oct 24, 2024•43 min•Ep. 83
Life after the death of her husband, King James IV of Scotland, was not simple for Margaret Tudor, at least not at first. Her quick marriage to Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, happened while she was unaware of his long relationship with another woman. Her royal status in Scotland was complicated - fairly massively - by the fact that her brother, King Henry VIII, was responsible for the battlefield death of her husband, The King. The Archibald Douglas marriage didn't help either, as allying...
Oct 17, 2024•44 min•Ep. 82
After his father shipped his sister Margaret off to be the Queen of Scotland, it fell to Henry VIII to manage his baby sister Mary's love life. A genuine beauty, France's King Louis XII, then 52, was undoubtedly happy to walk down the aisle with the 18-year-old English princess. The bliss would not last, as just three or so months later, Louis was dead, with salacious whispers in the French court that Mary had "intercoursed" him to death. Ah, the 16th century. But this wasn't the end for Mary's ...
Oct 10, 2024•54 min•Ep. 81
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Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 80
The much-discussed and much-reviled English King Henry VIII is best known, of course, as one of history's worst husbands. There were famously six wives, two of whom were lucky enough to outlive him. But before whatever madness began to take hold of him in his 30s, he was a dashing, popular young king with a devoted wife and, as far as historians can tell, a fairly limited number of mistresses. These wonder years were not without obstacles and tragedies. Catherine of Aragon, his first and longest...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 79
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 ...
Sep 19, 2024•51 min•Ep. 78
When Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926, there were years of her childhood that were, compared to other future monarchs, quite normal. After all, she was never supposed to be the Queen. Her father was a second son; her Uncle David would succeed her grandfather, and certainly other male children would come along. And then, in 1930, Elizabeth's parents waited with anticipation to find out the gender of Elizabeth's impending sibling. A boy would be in the line of succession. But the child who arri...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 77
