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Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Which Tudor royal had the worst first date in history? New Mail podcast details 'the total disaster' of Henry VIII's ill-fated marriage to Anne of Cleves
Finding love and companionship is difficult for everyone, but it becomes even more challenging when the future of nations rests on your shoulders, as a new Mail podcast explores. The latest miniseries of the Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things podcast, hosted by historian Kate Williams and royal biographer Robert Hardman, uncovers the cutthroat world of royal matchmaking. The first episode focuses on serial womaniser Henry VIII, whose pursuit of a male heir led to a trail of broken marriages, severed heads, and shattered alliances. Long before the age of filters, people could still be duped by a particularly flattering portrait – as Henry VIII discovered when he agreed to marry the German princess Anne of Cleves. The Worst First Date in Royal History? Following the tragic death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, in childbirth, Henry VIII was once again in the market for another queen. As the pool of eligible candidates was small - they had to be royal, virginal and Protestant - Henry's advisors assembled a series of portraits of European princesses for the King to peruse like a catalogue. Having been painted by some of the finest artists from the Continent, these portraits could be highly misleading, as Kate Williams explained. 'There could be a disconnect between portraits and reality', the historian told the podcast. 'They may not have had filters in Tudor times, but they had something much more powerful – artistic genius. 'One such artist was Hans Holbein, who produced beautiful images of princesses who were perhaps a little more ordinary. 'It was his skill that led to the most disastrous date in royal history, a real epic fail.' When an advisor presented Henry VIII with a portrait of Anne of Cleves, a Protestant princess from Düsseldorf, he was initially unimpressed by what he saw. Despite the lukewarm reaction, she ticked most of the King's boxes, so Henry instructed Hans Holbein to travel to the princess and paint a new portrait for a proper assessment of her beauty. Holbein returned to Hampton Court Palace with a 'splendid' likeness of Anne, and satisfied, Henry agreed to marry her. Wanting to appear flirtatious and catch a glimpse of his new bride, Henry planned to disguise himself and board Anne's boat, now docked in England. 'Henry's cunning plan would prove a total disaster', Williams said. 'He goes into Anne's bedroom and embraces her. Anne doesn't recognise Henry at all – she thinks he's a servant or a courtier. 'Henry doesn't like this. He thinks he's God's gift to women in every way and expects any woman who sees him to almost faint with surprise and wonder at his brilliance and virility. 'Henry believes his majesty should be obvious to everyone – and the fact Anne mistakes him for a man, not a King, is so injurious to his ego, he can never forgive her. 'On top of this, Henry notices that Anne has a very appealing lady in waiting, a young Catherine Howard. 'Anne is swiftly told that the marriage should be annulled and should not be consummated.' The King would famously describe Anne as a 'Flanders mare' - comparing his new wife to a work horse. In July 1540, a mere nineteen days after Henry's marriage to Anne was annulled, he would wed 19-year-old Catherine Howard. Despite suffering the sting of a King's rejection, what happened to Catherine shows Anne may have dodged a bullet. Catherine would be beheaded two years later, on trumped up charges of adultery and treason. To hear more stories like this one, search for Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things Now – available wherever you get your podcasts.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Inside Queen Victoria's 'thirsty' diaries: The raunchy entries that reveal 'teenage girl' romance with Prince Albert
Podcast All episodes Play on Apple Spotify On a sepcial episode of the Mail's Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things podcast, Robert Hardman and Kate Williams are joined by History Hit's Dr Kate Lister to delve into Queen Victoria 's sex life. Dr Lister, hosts the chart-topping Betwixt The Sheets podcast, which specialises in the erotic lives of legendary figures from ancient times to today. Despite being Britain's most famous monarch and a woman of the prudish Victorian era, Queen Victoria was surprisingly open about her passion for her husband, Prince Albert. Victoria's personal diaries - a staggering 62 million words across her lifetime – reveal the Queen's candid desire for the German Prince, from their 1840 wedding until his death in 1861. Hardman, Williams and Dr Lister unpack the raciest revelations from the diaries and bust the biggest myths about Victoria and Albert's sex life. Queen Victoria's 'sexy' diaries When Queen Victoria assumed the throne at just 18 years old, her ministers and family presented her with an ultimatum: marry quickly or remain in Buckingham Palace under the watchful eye of her domineering mother, the Duchess of Kent. Throughout Victoria's childhood and into her late teens, the Duchess and her lover John Conroy had controlled the young princess through what they called the Kensington System. This regime monitored her every movement and regimented her daily life. Now, as monarch, Victoria desperately wanted distance from her mother's influence. Faced with this choice, she agreed to seek an eligible suitor. According to historian Kate Williams, the young Queen was genuinely delighted when Prince Albert was presented to her as a potential match. She said: 'In her diaries, Victoria wrote how she felt this immediate outpouring of love for Prince Albert. 'The Queen had a pretty miserable childhood, so when they get married at this very young age, all this devotion just comes streaming out of her. 'In 1839, when she first sees Albert climb the steps of Windsor Castle, she writes how he is the most handsome prince in Europe. 'Later that year, Victoria describes Albert coming in from a rainy day, saying: 'He looks so handsome in his white cashmere britches with nothing on underneath.' Victoria's excitement reaches fever pitch on their wedding night, which she labels the 'happiest day of her life' her diaries. 'She is totally thirsty for him', Williams joked. 'After her wedding night, Victoria says that she didn't think it was possible to be so happy. She talks about the bliss of watching him shave, and how wonderful it is when he helps her put on her stockings. 'She wrote: I never spent such an evening. My dearest Albert, sat on a footstool beside by my side - his excessive love and affection gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness. 'He clasped me in his arms and we kissed each other again and again. Oh, this was the happiest day of my life!' Within three months of her marriage, Victoria had conceived her first child - a daughter she would name Victoria, continuing the family tradition. Albert and Victoria went on to have nine children in total, which Williams believes wasn't just because the Queen 'loved the joys of the marriage bed.' She explained: 'Everyone watches Victoria and Albert's marriage like hawks. They want Victoria to get pregnant; that's her big job. 'Victoria has to secure the throne. The family's prestige had been dented by her naughty uncle, King William IV, who managed 10 illegitimate children by 1800. 'She sees sex with Albert as her duty, that she must start producing heirs quickly – although she never expected to get pregnant within three months.' As Dr Lister observed, this passion for Albert continued right up until the prince's death in December 1861. Albert succumbed to typhoid fever at the age of 42, leading Victoria to withdraw from public life for several years. 'She is head over the heels for this guy', Dr Lister noted. 'Throughout her life, she writes obsessively about him. How beautiful his face is, how handsome he looks in a certain shirt and what it feels like lying next to him. 'It is real teenage girl crush stuff. They have arguments too because there's a real power struggle going on. 'You have a weird dynamic because she's Queen, but is still trying to adhere to this very Victorian morality of submitting to your husband. 'It get very tense at times but she definitely fancied him the whole way through. I have no doubt about that.' To hear Betwixt The Sheet's Kate Lister debunk some of the myths about Victoria and Albert's sex life, including an apparent fetish for bicycles, search for Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Daily Mail
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
From saluting SS camps to playing with Goering's model trains - new podcast reveals how Hitler manipulated a 'deluded' Edward VIII into becoming a 'Nazi puppet'
On the final instalment of the Mail's three-part podcast miniseries examining Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams examine how deeply the exiled couple became entangled with Nazi Germany. After abdicating in December 1936, Edward and his twice-divorced wife Wallis found themselves seeking new allies, having been effectively ostracised by the British establishment and denied the full privileges of royalty. Buoyed by the propaganda triumph of that summer's Berlin Olympics, Hitler saw in the royal couple an opportunity to lend his regime further international legitimacy. Wanting to still appear a statesman, Edward accepted an invitation to visit Nazi Germany in 1937, a decision that prompted his brother King George VI to write to Edward's political advisor Walter Monckton that the plan was 'a bombshell, and a bad one'. By 1937, Europe was well aware of Nazi Germany's dismantling of democracy, persecution of Jews through the Nuremberg Laws, illegal rearmament, and aggressive territorial ambitions, making Edward's visit a highly controversial legitimisation of an openly authoritarian regime. The photographs from the visit and the rumours it generated would forever tarnish the former King's reputation. This episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things explores what the couple did in Germany and investigates whether Edward was truly willing to collaborate with the Nazis should they occupy Britain. Edward and Wallis's 1937 Tour of Nazi Germany Beyond mere self-aggrandisement, royal biographer Robert Hardman believes Edward and Wallis agreed to the tour because they harboured fascist sympathies. In the late 1930s, this was seen as problematic but not entirely unusual among the British upper classes. Across Europe, many aristocrats viewed fascism as a bulwark against the spread of communism. 'Throughout the story of Edward and Wallis Simpson, there is a swastika', Hardman said. 'There was Nazi influence all the way through. In the run up the abdication, Hitler was issuing instructions to his diplomats in London to try and stop it. Hitler believed Edward was on his side. 'There are well documented stories Simpson's links to Nazi politicians and diplomats in London. 'It was clear by 1937, that Edward VIII would, in any given situation, lean towards the Nazi side.' Upon arrival in Germany, Edward foolishly sees himself as a 'peacemaker', as Kate Williams told the podcast. 'That vision he had of himself was hopelessly naive', Williams described. 'Because for Nazi Germany, the former King turning up and having the red carpet laid out for them is giving consent to the regime. 'It's treated like a Royal progress – crowds' wave away. The couple are greeted by the British national anthem accompanied by Nazi salutes. They dine with high-ranking Nazis including Goering, Goebbels, Ribbentrop and Speer. 'All of the Nazi charm is brought out to bear on Edward and Wallis, and they are there with their eyes closed to the reality of the situation.' During the tour, Edward is taken to munitions factories, SS training camps and Hitler's Salzburg Mountain retreat, the Berghof. An SS trooper would later recount how Edward relished in saluting the soldiers and declaring the shared racial ties between the British and German peoples. Visiting Berchtesgraden for a private meeting with Hitler, Edward reportedly killed time waiting for the Fuhrer by viewing Goering's prized model train set. Hardman explained: 'There's a hilarious lunch where Goering entertains the couple: he lays on this chorus of mountain huntsman with these horns to serenade them Get your weekly dose of Royal scandals and palace intrigue on this Mail podcast Hosted by Royal Historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams, Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things looks at the Royal Family - the secrets, the palace intrigues, and the Crown's bloodiest moments. Listen wherever you get your podcasts now. 'Of course, they feel terribly important. At last, Edward thinks, I am being treated like the King I once was, and my wife, the Queen she should have been. 'After lunch, Goering shows them his model railway set, and they're utterly charmed by this. You get these amazing glimpses into what a bunch of crackpots these guys all were.' Exactly what the former King and Hitler discussed in their private meeting remains unknown to this day. According to his advisor Dudley Forwood, Edward told the dictator that the 'British and German races are one and they should always remain one.' In 1966, Edward told a reporter that he and Hitler had discussed the need to destroy communist Russia. Williams said: 'The King later says of the meeting that Hitler made him realise Red Russia was the true enemy. 'He convinced him that Great Britain and Europe should encourage Germany to march East and crush communism once and for all. 'The Duke of Windsor becomes obsessed with the idea that he and the Nazis can be best friends – he's impossibly naive about the realities of the regime.' Following their meeting, rumours would dog Edward that he had tacitly agreed to replace his brother as King in the event of a Nazi occupation of Great Britain. Addressing the veracity of these rumours, Hardman said: 'I do think Edward was deluded – his sympathies did lie strongly with the Nazi cause. 'But it's probably pushing it too far to suggest that there was a plot to put the Duke of Windsor on the throne. 'What is true is that when asked whether he would ever come back to Britain to be President if we ever became a republic – he said yes. 'He was happy to countenance the fall of the monarchy and taking over some sort of head of state role. 'Whether he would be willing to do that under the aegis of Nazi Germany is a deeper question.' To hear about the political fallout of the visit and how Edward and Wallis spent the war, search for Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Daily Mail
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
What uncomfortable detail links the weddings of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with Edward and Wallis Simpson? Royal biographer Robert Hardman reveals all on new Mail podcast
Podcast All episodes Play on Apple Spotify On the latest episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Royal biographer Robert Hardman reveals a striking parallel between the weddings of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Edward and Wallis Simpson. The episode, the second instalment in a new podcast miniseries examining the 'objectionable' lives of the first celebrity Royal couple, focuses on how the British establishment turned its back on Edward and Mrs Simpson following the King's abdication. Edward abdicated under the mistaken belief that he and his twice-divorced bride would be permitted back into the Royal fold. The Duke of Windsor expected his new wife to receive the royal titles and privileges due to a former King's bride. During preparations for their June 1937 wedding, it became apparent that Mrs Simpson would never gain full Royal status and that the couple faced complete exile from the family. The Wedding of Edward and Wallis Simpson After failing to convince the government and Commonwealth to accept Mrs Simpson as Queen, Edward abdicated on December 11, 1936. Simpson was deemed unacceptable because she was an American divorcée with two living ex-husbands, which violated both the Church of England's stance on divorce and the constitutional requirement that the monarch be the head of that church. The crown passed to Edward's brother George VI, who made him Duke of Windsor. Edward then fled to Europe while Simpson's divorce from Ernest Simpson was finalised. The former King reportedly felt relieved, 'liberated' from the great burden of the crown. As Mail Columnist Robert Hardman explained: 'Winston Churchill was said to have been in tears when he listened to the announcement of the abdication on the radio. 'One man who was not in tears was the King himself. His view was that the crown had been a terrible burden and that now, he was, in a sense, liberated. 'Edward believed he could continue being much loved without any of the hassle of going about his Royal duty.' 'He was definitely deluded – Edward failed to understand that the nation moves on quite quickly. They were a serious threat to the institution they had left behind.' Planning his wedding to Mrs Simpson, any hopes Edward had of retaining some form of Royal power were dashed. George VI forbade his brother from returning to England, forcing the couple to celebrate their union in France. The Church of England also refused to sanction the marriage, leaving an obscure clergyman, Robert Anderson Jardine, to conduct the service. On top of this, the new King, on the advice of the government, pressured members of the Royal family and aristocracy not to attend the wedding. 'Edward hoped to have lots of members of his family there', Hardman began. 'But he's told – they are not coming at all. George VI and Queen Elizabeth send a telegram – but that's it. They told all the other Royals they were not to attend. 'Dickie Mountbatten, always trying to ride two horses at once, writes to Edward saying he does want to be there, but the King won't let him. 'Even members of the aristocracy are told they cannot turn up. For example, Ulik Alexander, keeper of the Privy Purse and a great friend of Edwards is told he will lose his position if he attends. 'There's a lot of establishment pressure to completely boycott and ostracise this event. In the end, only seven British guests are in attendance.' The government's opposition to senior British establishment figures attending was not solely born out of spite. Officials knew that within Britain and across the Empire, there would be outrage at the prospect of Simpson being honoured as a full Royal. If the wedding resembled a state occasion, there were fears it might embolden Mrs Simpson to use the title Her Royal Highness. Hardman told the podcast: 'There is very strong pressure, from the other realms and dominions – that people do not want Simpson given Royal status. 'If she's made Her Royal Highness, people would have to curtsy to her. That cannot happen.' The event was equally poorly attended on the bride's side, leading the Royal biographer to draw a comparison with Harry and Meghan's wedding some 80 years later. Hardman said: 'Wallis had one member of her family there, her aunt Bessie. This slightly echoes Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018, where only Meghan's mother attended.' To hear more stories of historical Royal gossip and court intrigue, listen to Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things now, wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday.
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
How a French sex worker got away with murder by blackmailing Edward VIII
Play on Apple Spotify On the first episode of a new ' Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things' podcast series, Royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams examine the 'objectionable' love lives of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. This three-part miniseries aims to definitely answer the question of whether the controversial Royal couple are deserving of their notorious reputation. Scandal followed King Edward VIII after his unlikely romance with the twice-divorced American socialite. The King's unprecedented decision in 1936 to abdicate and leave the throne to his younger brother in order to marry Ms Simpson changed the course of British history, leading to the reign of the nation's longest serving monarch Elizabeth II. Even before the pair met and broke with Royal tradition, King Edward was displaying signs he may be unworthy of the crown as early as the First World War. This first episode explores the scandals of Edward's youth, kept under wraps in their day, which expose the soon-to-be King's dubious character. Edward's Liaison with a Murderous Courtesan Young Prince Edward was deemed the British Empire's most eligible bachelor. He was tall, handsome and a would-be King. In 1914, at the onset of the First World War, a 20-year-old Edward joined the Grenadier Guards, leaving Britain for France to help the war effort. On the insistence of Secretary of State Lord Kitchener, Edward never saw any frontline action and was appointed a Staff Captain, an administrative role. Two years into the war, Edward had been gotten drunk by some senior officers and they prompted him to lose his virginity in a French brothel. He eagerly obliged, as Mail columnist Hardman explained: 'Edward got very drunk at a dinner in Amiel and he was then introduced to a popular girl in town named Paulette. 'She was already attached to an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, but I think everyone decided he could spare her for this important duty. 'She took him to bed and this night of passion was by all accounts a great success. It made a lifelong impression on Edward himself. 'Afterwards he writes, all I think of is women now.' After sleeping with a prostitute, the Prince of Wales then turned his wandering eyes to a more serious paramour, a Parisian courtesan by the name of Marguerite Alibert. Unlike the Prince, 17-year-old Marguerite had a difficult upbringing, as Kate Williams told the podcast. 'Marguerite is the daughter of a coachman. Her little brother was killed by a lorry and her parents blame her for it. 'They send her to a Catholic school in Paris where Marguerite gets pregnant and then expelled. 'She's quickly snapped up by one of these high-end brothels. She's only 16 at the time and this is the only way she can earn money. 'Marguerite works her way up to becoming a courtesan to much older men, which she is very good at – marrying clients and receiving generous divorce settlements.' In 1917, Marguerite is introduced to Edward, and they begin a very intense love affair. Edward sends 20 letters to the courtesan, featuring explicit sexual details. 'They're very explicit – they'd ruin his reputation if they ever got out', Williams said. Knowing that the prince would soon be forced to leave her, Marguerite cleverly kept hold of the letters as an 'insurance policy' if she ever found herself in trouble with the law. She would need the letters six years later, as Robert Hardman explained: 'Marguerite ended up in a particularly miserable marriage with an Egyptian aristocrat. 'She ends up murdering him at the Savoy Hotel. It all goes to court – with the courtesan tried in London.' The former Courtesan shot her husband three times - in the neck, back and head - in what is seen as an 'open and shut case'. However, as Hardman told the podcast: 'Marguerite presents the letters to the prosecution and threatened to make them public. Some kind of deal is done. 'Afterwards the case was not pursued with any great alacrity, almost certainly thanks to her earlier liaison with the Prince of Wales.' Marguerite was acquitted of all charges. The letters were so decisive in the case not only because of they revealed the affair, but also due to the Edward's moaning about the war effort. 'These letters aren't just love letters', Williams said. 'Within them, he's also critical of his father George V and there were also criticisms of how World War One was organised and fought. 'There were whispers at the time Marguerite had a relationship with Edward, but no one could prove it because they were buried in her chest at home.' To hear more Royal scandals like this one, search for 'Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things' now, wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday.
