Trashy Royals

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, Alicia revisits a first season episode where... well, we were sweet summer children and there was much that would be revealed. This week, we revisit the "happiest divorced couple in the world", the no-longer-prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alicia's taking over all the podcasts this week, with the stories and spiderwebs of screen goddess Elizabeth Taylor. In this week's musically-themed episode, Alicia breaks down some of the lyrics in Taylor Swift's new track, Elizabeth Taylor, from her album The Life of a Showgirl. From Portofino to the very best table at Musso & Frank's, certain themes resonate across these two titanic figures in American pop culture - and leave our podcasts absolutely covered in spiderwebs. 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/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As word spreads of Queen Jane and the English people turn to Princess Mary instead, Dudley's coup plot rapidly unravels. The English Navy, forced ashore by storms, learns the situation and the sailors side with Mary, taking personnel and materiel to join her cause against Dudley. In London, efforts to secure the city from invasion collapse as the population rejects the new regime. Things are bleak for the nobles who orchestrated the new queen, and most rush to Mary to make whatever amends they can. As Mary takes her rightful place on the English throne, the Tower of London gets a passel of new residents. Most, including Jane herself, will eventually be executed, particularly after Wyatt's Rebellion sharpens the sense of danger to the Queen and her counselors. It's a bleak story for fans of Jane Grey, whose personal ambitions do not appear to have included becoming Queen of England, and who was poorly used by powerful men pursuing their own agendas. 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/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Game of Thrones may have wrapped up on that streaming site, but for the Tudor-obsessed, it really never ends. Which brings Alicia to the run-up to the year 1553. King Henry VIII has been succeeded by his son with Jane Seymour, King Edward VI. Having taken the throne at the tender age of nine, the battle among the court's more ruthless players for a regent-like role is intense; the Seymour brothers, Edward and Thomas, and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, are constantly scheming against each other to advance their ambitions, which is all well and good until it becomes clear that the young King is not long for the world. This presents a world of trouble for the now-Protestant English court, because the next logical successor is Henry VIII's first daughter, Mary, an avowed and unrepentant Catholic like her mother, Catherine of Aragon. Desperate to head off her ascension, the Privy Counsel and King Edward (probably) revise the 15-year-old's last will and testament to put the throne in the hands of a Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey - by then the daughter-in-law of John Dudley. But England's Catholic population, sensing an opportunity to regain the status they lost when Henry VIII broke with The Vatican, isn't going to take the snub gracefully. But that's a story for Part Two. 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/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the 18th century, modern Germany continued to be a patchwork of various duchies, which kept German nobles in the marriage rotation throughout Europe. So it was that two brothers - Ernst and Leopold - came into the world in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1784 and 1790. One would become the King of Belgium, and one would be the legal father of Prince Albert, later the husband of Queen Victoria. We say "legal father" because apparently it's not 100% clear that Ernst's estranged wife, the long suffering Princess Louise, wasn't comforting her brother-in-law after the death of his wife, England's Princess Charlotte, whose death in childbirth prompted the Hanoverian race to reproduce that gave the world Queen Victoria. It is, as they say, complicated. 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/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this second half of the story of Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, Alicia takes us through the family's financial exile to Italy - Queen Vic thought living in Florence would restrain the lavish spending the Tecks were known for - and the circuitous, flu-induced path that took Fat Mary's daughter from shy noblewoman to future Queen of England. Oh - and why some historians have falsely tarred Queen Mary as a kleptomaniac. 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/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.