152. The Trashy Spiderwebs of Elizabeth Taylor

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

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)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 [email protected] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 [email protected] 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.

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

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 [email protected]. 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

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.