Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things – Details, episodes & analysis

Find out about King Edward VIII's cruel nanny and the courtesans who shaped his view of women.

Listen Now!

Learn how Edward scandalised the court and upset his father with a string of affairs with married women, and we reveal how he got bored of ‘Princing’ – an early indication that he wasn’t cut out for the duties of being a King.

The first of a three-part deep dive into the controversial relationship between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, examining its impact on the monarchy and revealing the truth behind the rumours.

Royal Biographer Robert Hardman maintains: “Edward was selfish, greedy, and even treacherous; he cosied up to Adolf Hitler when the world knew the evils of his regime”.

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More tales of thieves who couldn’t resist the sparkle of jewels belonging to the Crown. Listen Now!

Who stole the so-called Irish Crown Jewels? What are the Cambridge Emeralds? And how did Scottish nationalists manage to drag the Stone of Destiny out of Westminster Abbey on Christmas Eve - a modern story with deep roots in British history.

The podcast also discusses the suspicious theft of Wallis Simpson's jewels in 1946, raising questions about insurance fraud and inside knowledge. And it also reveals King Edward VIII's appropriation of the Prince of Wales coronet, later replaced with a fake for Prince Charles' investiture.

Finally, join us for the debate on whether the crown jewels themselves are hot property, containing gems that many believe should rightfully be returned to India and South Africa.

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do British Queens and Kings have the power to cure illness through their ‘Royal Touch’. Listen to the Daily Mail’s new season of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things to find out!

Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the secret ceremony at coronations that is said to give royals magical powers. Find out which Queens and Kings were the Hermoine Grangers and Harry Potters of history.

Also, discover the superstitions of the modern royals, the member of the Windsor family who’s in the Magic Circle, and what Professor Kate Williams did to earn a ‘Brownie badge’.

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Studio Manager: Sam Chisholm

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert and Kate are back with a dastardly Bonus Episode in which they are asking one of history's most pressing questions: did Queen Victoria's son have TWO thrones? Edward VII was famed for his lurid love life, but did our raunchiest 20th Century monarch really have his own ‘sex chair’ in a Paris brothel? And if so, how on earth did it work?

Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode of Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. 

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Researcher: Tom Sankey

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert and Kate are back with a dastardly Christmas Special in which they are exploring royal Christmases from yesteryear... did Queen Victoria really invent Christmas? Were Tudor children whipped on Christmas Day? And could there be any Christmas worse than Elizabeth II's Annus Horribilis? Listen to find out!

Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. 

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Producer: Ben Devlin

Researcher: Tom Sankey

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week – in the final episode of Season One – Robert and Kate tackle one of history's most scandalous, unsolved mysteries: what on earth happened to the Princes in the Tower? 

The disappearance of Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York, has sparked centuries of speculation. Were they murdered, and if so, by whom? Was it Richard III – their own uncle, and that great Shakespearean villain – in a bid to secure the throne? Or, could other powerful figures have been involved? 

Join Kate and Robert as they separate fact from fiction and each offer their views on surely one of the juiciest royal scandals of all time.

Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things is the Daily Mail's unmissable podcast that promises listeners a weekly dose of royal history and intrigue by unpacking a different royal scandal each week. 

Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. 

Presenters: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Producer: Rich Jarman

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Thanks to Dr. Fern Riddell 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Nepalese Massacre was one of the most dramatic, bloody royal events to ever happen – and the chances are that most listeners won’t have heard of it. 

On a summer’s evening in Kathmandu in 2001, Nepal’s royal family was almost entirely wiped out, in a single night. Hours later, the alleged killer lay in a hospital bed in a coma, having been proclaimed King the moment that his father died. The man in question – Crown Prince Dipendra – allegedly went on a murderous rampage, killing nine members of his own family, including his parents, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, before taking his own life. 

In this episode, Robert Hardman and Kate Williams will guide listeners through three turbulent Centuries of Nepalese history, tracing the build up to, and the fall out from, this shocking event.

Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things is the Daily Mail's unmissable podcast that promises listeners a weekly dose of royal history and intrigue by unpacking a different royal scandal each week. 

Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. 

Presenters: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Producer: Rich Jarman 

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Thanks to Dr. Fern Riddell 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 31st May 1810, the Duke of Cumberland – George III’s fifth child, and notorious 19th Century wrong’un – was attacked while asleep in his apartments in St James’ Palace.

And, hours later, one of the Duke’s valets, Joseph Sellis, was found dead in his room. His throat had been cut with a razor. It was a grisly crime scene. Sellis’ head was nearly severed from his body, and blood had soaked the bedclothes, furniture, and walls. 

Join Kate and Robert as they delve into the circumstances surrounding Sellis’ death by reconstructing what exactly happened on the night of the murder; exploring the Duke of Cumberland’s scandalous background and his subversive relationship with both Joseph Sellis, and his other valet.

Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things is the Daily Mail's unmissable podcast that promises listeners a weekly dose of royal history and intrigue by unpacking a different royal scandal each week. 

Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. 

Presenters: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Producer: Rich Jarman 

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Thanks to Dr. Fern Riddell 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Robert and Kate tackle one of history's biggest questions: was Anne Boleyn guilty of everything that Henry VIII accused her of?

Over the centuries, historians have spilt vast quantities of ink dissecting the evidence, the political intrigue, and the motives behind the charges that led to Anne's tragic demise. Robert and Kate explore the wider context of Anne’s astronomical rise and rapid fall; the key players in her trial; and, whether her alleged infidelities were fabrications to justify Henry VIII’s desire for a new wife, and that longed for son… 

Join Kate and Robert as they separate fact from fiction and uncover the truth behind surely one of the juiciest royal scandals of all time.

Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things is the Daily Mail's unmissable podcast that promises listeners a weekly dose of royal history and intrigue by unpacking a different royal scandal each week. 

Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. 

Presenters: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Producer: Rich Jarman 

Production Manager: Victoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Thanks to Dr. Fern Riddell 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite being immortalised in the iconic song by Boney M, the life and death of Grigory Rasputin remains shrouded in mythology and mystery. A mystic healer, political saboteur, and renegade monk, Rasputin’s life – and his ‘member’ – casts a long shadow over Russian history, not least in the questions surrounding his role in formenting the opposition to the Russian Tsar that ultimately caused the 1917 Revolution, a cataclysmic event that overturned Russia’s social and political order forever, and preceded wider social change in Europe and beyond. 

Join Robert and Kate for the second episode of Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things as they unpack the life and times of Russia’s greatest love machine – surely one of very few dastardly historic icons for whom genital warts and cataclysmic social upheaval can justifiably be included in the same sentence. 

Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things is the Daily Mail's unmissable podcast that promises listeners a weekly dose of royal history and intrigue by unpacking a different royal scandal each week. 

Hosted by Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams, each episode delves into the juiciest parts of royal history from eras past, and present... but mainly past. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. 

Presenters: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Producer: Rich Jarman 

Production Manager: Victoria Cecchini 

Executive Producer: Bella Soames 

Thanks to Dr. Fern Riddell 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini 

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.