Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things

Епизоди

• 
  Grace Kelly: Hollywood Princess 07.09.2026 33мин

  Grace Kelly had it all: beauty, an Oscar, Hollywood stardom and a glittering career ahead of her. Then she married a prince.Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams revisit one of the great celebrity fairy tales of the 20th century: the marriage of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco. But behind the wedding-of-the-century photographs lay a rather more complicated story.From Grace’s battles to make it in the decidedly sleazy world of 1950s Hollywood to an extraordinary royal courtship – involving Aristotle Onassis, Marilyn Monroe and even a young JFK – they explore how an American movie star found herself transformed into a European princess.There was also a price. Grace was required to give up acting, provide a $2 million dowry and even undergo a fertility test before the marriage could go ahead. Yet the woman who surrendered her Hollywood career would ultimately transform Monaco itself, bringing glamour, money and international respectability to the tiny principality.So was Grace Kelly’s marriage really the fairy tale the world was sold or did becoming a princess cost her far more than anyone realised?Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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 Bayeux Mysteries! 31.08.2026 28мин

  The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most famous works of art in the world: nearly 70 metres of kings, battles, betrayals and bloodshed. But how much of the story it tells can we actually believe?Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams unravel the extraordinary 11th-century embroidery that turned the Norman Conquest into a medieval propaganda epic. Who commissioned it? Why was it probably made by English women? And did Harold really die with an arrow in his eye?There are mysteries in the margins too, including the enigmatic Aelfgifu, Halley’s Comet and a surprisingly large number of naked men.And then there’s the remarkable survival of the tapestry itself. From revolutionaries who nearly used it as a wagon cover to Napoleon and the Nazis, it has repeatedly come within a whisker of disappearing altogether.Nearly a thousand years after the Battle of Hastings, what can the Bayeux Tapestry really tell us about 1066, and about the people who wanted history to remember their version of it?Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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 Aragon Girls 23.08.2026 24мин

  We’ve had the Boleyn girls. Now meet the Aragon girls: two sisters born into perhaps the most powerful royal family in Europe, whose lives would take very different but equally extraordinary turns.Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams head to Renaissance Spain to meet their formidable mother, Isabella of Castile: warrior queen, patron of Christopher Columbus and, with Ferdinand of Aragon, architect of a new Spanish superpower.Her youngest daughter Catherine would become Henry VIII’s first wife, an educated, politically astute queen who proved considerably harder to get rid of than Henry expected. But Catherine’s elder sister Joanna faced an even darker fate. Married to Philip the Handsome and heir to Castile, she was declared insane and shut away while first her husband, then her father and finally her own son ruled in her place.So was “Joanna the Mad” really mad at all? Or was one of Europe’s most powerful women simply the victim of the men who wanted her throne?Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Tudor Season: The Bloody End 17.08.2026 32мин

  Wives, bloodshed, war: the end is approaching for Henry VIII, but England’s most notorious king is not going quietly.In the final part of our epic journey through Henry’s life, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams meet his doomed fifth wife, Catherine Howard, and discover how a convenient change in the law helped send another queen to the scaffold.Then comes wife number six: the clever, glamorous Catherine Parr, who proves more than capable of managing the increasingly ill-tempered king, but still comes perilously close to becoming wife number three to lose her head.There’s war with Scotland, another invasion of France and catastrophe at sea as Henry watches his beloved Mary Rose sink before his eyes.So, as the curtain finally comes down on Henry VIII, what are we left with: Renaissance prince, murderous tyrant or a king whose desperate obsession with producing a son changed England forever?Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Tudor Season: Monstrous Henry 09.08.2026 27мин

  Henry VIII finally has his longed-for son. So why isn't he happy?Continuing our Tudor season, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore one of the most dramatic chapters of Henry's reign. Within days of Anne Boleyn's execution, he's married Jane Seymour. At last, the Tudor dynasty has its male heir, but the triumph is heartbreakingly short-lived.Then comes Henry's next great gamble: the disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves, the humiliating first meeting that became the stuff of legend, and the spectacular downfall of Thomas Cromwell. Along the way, discover why the Dissolution of the Monasteries transformed England forever, how Henry's relentless pursuit of power reshaped the nation, and why his search for the perfect wife was becoming ever more desperate.By the end, another teenage bride is waiting in the wings, and Henry VIII's most tyrannical years are only just beginning.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Tudor Season: The Queen Killer 02.08.2026 27мин

  He broke with Rome. He defied the Pope. He turned England upside down to marry Anne Boleyn. Just three years later... he sent her to the executioner's block.In this gripping third episode of our Henry VIII series, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams unravel the extraordinary rise and devastating fall of England's most fascinating queen, Anne Boleyn.From the birth of the future Elizabeth I and the execution of Sir Thomas More to Henry's wandering eye, Anne's disastrous miscarriages and the ruthless conspiracy that sealed her fate, this is one of history's greatest political thrillers.Was Anne really guilty of adultery and treason? Or was she simply the victim of a king who had already decided she had to die? Join us as we explore the evidence behind one of the most shocking Royal stories in British history.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Tudor Season: Anne Boleyn 26.07.2026 30мин

  One king. One controversial romance. One decision that would change England forever.In the second episode of our Henry VIII series, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams chart the extraordinary rise of Anne Boleyn, the brilliant, charismatic courtier who refused to become the king's mistress and instead demanded a crown.As Henry's obsession deepens, Catherine of Aragon fights to save her marriage, Cardinal Wolsey's world begins to collapse, and England edges towards an unprecedented break with Rome. Was this really a love story? Or was Anne Boleyn simply the catalyst for a revolution Henry had already begun to imagine?From glittering Tudor pageantry and secret courtship to political intrigue, religious upheaval and one of history's most consequential marriages, discover how the pursuit of one woman transformed the English monarchy forever.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Tudor Season: Rise of a Tyrant 19.07.2026 27мин

  Six wives. Beheadings. A tyrant on the throne. You think you know Henry VIII... but that's not where this story begins.In the first episode of our Tudor season, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams go back to the making of England's most infamous king. Discover why Henry was never supposed to wear the crown, how the death of his older brother changed history forever, and why Catherine of Aragon may have been the greatest queen England never truly appreciated.From the glittering Tudor court and the spectacular Field of the Cloth of Gold to the tragedy that shaped a dynasty, this is the untold story of the young Renaissance prince, long before Anne Boleyn, the break with Rome and the bloody legend of Henry VIII.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Rebel Princess: The Patty Hearst Story 11.07.2026 21мин

  Kidnapped, blindfolded, locked in a cupboard for weeks and then caught on camera during a bank robbery. In the second part of our look at America's closest thing to a royal dynasty, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams unravel the astonishing story of Patty Hearst, the newspaper heiress whose abduction by a revolutionary gang became one of the most sensational crimes of the twentieth century.Was she brainwashed into joining her captors? Or did she willingly cross the line from victim to outlaw? From ransom demands and armed robberies to one of America's most controversial trials, this is a story that still divides opinion today.And, in an extraordinary twist worthy of Hollywood, discover how the woman once branded a terrorist ended up years later as an unlikely dinner guest of the future King Charles III.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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 Real Citizen Kane: Inside America's Most Scandalous Castle 05.07.2026 33мин

  America's newspaper magnate who built himself a palace worthy of a king!In this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the extraordinary world of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper titan whose vast fortune, political ambition and spectacular California castle earned him a reputation as America's uncrowned monarch.At the heart of the story is Hearst's lifelong relationship with actress Marion Davies. Was she simply the glamorous mistress history remembers, or a gifted Hollywood star unfairly overshadowed by the man who loved her? Together they created a glittering world of movie stars, priceless art, lavish parties and one of the most astonishing private homes ever built.Discover how Hearst Castle became a playground for the rich and famous, why Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin were among its guests, how Citizen Kane transformed Hearst into one of cinema's greatest villains, and why the real Marion Davies deserves a far kinder verdict than history has often given her.A story of immense wealth, irresistible ambition, Hollywood glamour and heartbreaking loyalty.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  America & the Monarchy 28.06.2026 35мин

  What do Royals and hot dogs have in common?Both are part of the most remarkable diplomatic relationships in modern history.In this special Independence Day episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams mark America's 250th birthday by exploring the often surprising story of the relationship between the British monarchy and the United States.From King George VI's triumphant pre-war tour of America and Princess Elizabeth's wartime broadcasts, to JFK and Jackie at Buckingham Palace, Ronald Reagan riding through Windsor Great Park, and the extraordinary role played by Queen Elizabeth II in managing relations with fourteen American presidents, this is a story of diplomacy, personality and history on both sides of the Atlantic.Along the way, discover how a royal hot dog helped win American hearts, why Jacqueline Bouvier found herself covering the Coronation before she became Jackie Kennedy, how a recipe for royal scones reached the White House, and what really happens when presidents and monarchs meet behind closed doors.A tale of friendship, politics, pageantry and personalities that stretches from the American Revolution to the celebrations of today. 🇺🇸🇬🇧Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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 Royal X-Files 21.06.2026 30мин

  A wonderfully strange-but-true episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things with Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams.From a mysterious sighting over Lord Mountbatten's estate at Broadlands to Prince Philip's fascination with UFO reports, the story takes in royal astronomers, Victorian visions of life on other worlds, Cromwell-era plans for a gunpowder-powered "space chariot", and the curious tale of an alleged extraterrestrial named Janus who reportedly wanted an audience with the Duke of Edinburgh.Along the way, discover how George III became one of Britain's most enthusiastic royal stargazers, why Queen Elizabeth II left a message on the Moon, and how the modern monarchy found itself connected to everything from the Space Race to concerns about space junk.Part history, part science, part mystery and just a little bit Mulder and Scully, this is a journey through the royal family's surprisingly close encounters with the final frontier.The truth may be out there. 🚀👽🌙Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Secrets of a Stately Home 14.06.2026 28мин

  Secrets hidden behind the walls of one of England's greatest country houses!In this special episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams step inside Badminton House with its chatelaine, the Duchess of Beaufort, to uncover the extraordinary royal and historical stories that lie beyond the immaculate lawns. Spoiler alert: Prince Harry once demonstrated some very poor judgment after a party there.The episode explores Badminton's long royal connections. Hear how Queen Mary spent the Second World War at the house, reportedly waging war on the estate's ivy, how a secret floor was discovered hidden within the building, and how the sport of badminton itself was born under its roof.Along the way, the Duchess reveals what it's really like to live in a house that welcomes more than 100,000 visitors a year, hosts one of Europe's great sporting events, and is now opening its gardens to a new generation through the RHS Badminton Flower Show.A story of queens, duchesses, gardeners, hidden rooms and English eccentricity, proving that some of the most fascinating chapters in royal history are growing quietly behind the garden wall.Guest: Georgia, Duchess of BeaufortHosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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 Death of Queen Cleopatra 07.06.2026 26мин

  Love and death: Queen Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and the truth about that asp.In this second episode on Cleopatra, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams follow the Egyptian queen through the final and most famous chapter of her life.After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra found herself navigating a dangerous new world of Roman power struggles. Her alliance with Mark Antony would become one of history's most celebrated love stories, but was it really a great romance, or a brilliant political partnership designed to protect Egypt's independence?We explore Antony and Cleopatra's extraordinary relationship, from their first meeting aboard her spectacular royal barge to the growing conflict with Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus. As Rome descended into civil war, the fate of Egypt hung in the balance.The story culminates in the dramatic events surrounding the Battle of Actium, the fall of Alexandria, and Cleopatra's death. Did she really take her own life using a deadly asp, as legend claims? Or has one of history's most enduring stories obscured a more complicated truth?Along the way, Robert and Kate separate fact from fiction, exploring the real Cleopatra behind the myths of beauty, seduction, and snakes.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Queen Cleopatra: Her Rise to Power 01.06.2026 24мин

  The Queen who captivated Rome and changed the course of ancient history: Cleopatra.In this episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams begin a two-part exploration of Cleopatra, separating the woman from the myth, and tracing her rise in one of history’s most dangerous political worlds.Born into the turbulent Ptolemaic dynasty, Cleopatra inherited a kingdom rich in power but riddled with family betrayal, Roman interference, and brutal succession struggles. Forced into exile by her younger brother, she faced a stark choice: disappear from history or outmanoeuvre the most powerful men in the world.The episode follows her first encounters with Rome, and her pivotal alliance with Julius Caesar. Along the way, it revisits some of the most famous stories ever told about Cleopatra, including the legendary 'carpet' meeting and asks how much of her reputation was shaped by hostile Roman propaganda rather than fact.From palace intrigue and dynastic murder to Caesar’s assassination and the uncertain future of her son Caesarion, this is the opening chapter in the story of a ruler who has been mythologised for two thousand years but whose real political brilliance may be even more remarkable than the legend.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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 Fall of Roman Britain 24.05.2026 26мин

  Celebrating the extraordinary Roman legacy that continues to shape Britain.In this episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore the final centuries of Roman Britain, from the construction of Hadrian’s (Game of Thrones style) Wall to the collapse of imperial control in AD 410.As Roman rule matured, Britain became one of the empire’s most important frontier provinces. Emperors came in person, vast engineering projects reshaped the landscape, and Roman military life became embedded in British soil. The episode visits Hadrian’s Wall, the frontier fort of Vindolanda, and Roman York, where emperors ruled, died, and made history.But beyond the frontier, pressure never ceased. Northern tribes remained resistant, overseas raiders sensed weakness, and Rome itself came under increasing attack. As the empire began to fracture, Britain’s garrisons were gradually withdrawn, leaving the province exposed.From birthday invitations written by Roman women in Northumberland to the moment Britain was effectively told to fend for itself, this is the story of how Roman Britain reached its height and how one of history’s greatest empires finally let it go.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Boudicca: Britain's Warrior Queen 17.05.2026 31мин

  Celebrating Britain’s warrior queen who led a revolt against Rome.In this episode, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams examine the uprising of Boudicca in AD 60–61 — why it began, how it unfolded, and what it reveals about life under Roman rule.After the death of her husband, the Romans annexed his kingdom, publicly flogged Boudicca, and assaulted her daughters. In response, she united several tribes in eastern Britain and launched a coordinated revolt.The rebels destroyed key Roman centres, including Colchester, London, and St Albans, killing thousands of settlers and forcing Rome into a rapid military response. The episode traces the campaign from its origins through to its decisive confrontation with Roman forces, and considers how close the revolt came to ending Roman control in Britain.Set against the unstable reign of Nero, this is an account of one of the most significant challenges Rome faced in Britain — and the magnificent woman who led it.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella Soames'Boudicca Rap' by Matilda HardmanHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Julius Caesar's British Invasions 10.05.2026 27мин

  Did Julius Caesar really conquer Britain — or did he simply say he did?In this opening chapter of our Romans in Britain trilogy, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams step back to the edge of the known world: Iron Age Britain. A land of tribal rivalries, painted warriors, and swirling myths — and, to Roman eyes, a place as strange and distant as the moon.Twice, Caesar crossed the Channel in search of glory. Twice, he faced treacherous tides, reluctant troops, and fierce resistance. The result? No lasting occupation, no firm control — and yet, back in Rome, celebrations, triumphs, and headlines proclaiming victory.So what really happened on those windswept shores? Was Britain ever truly “conquered” by Caesar — or was it one of history’s earliest and most effective pieces of political theatre?With elephants, chariots, and a healthy dose of Roman propaganda, this episode asks a simple question with a surprisingly slippery answer:did Caesar win Britain?Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Queen Catherine Howard: Vixen or Victim? 03.05.2026 29мин

  Henry VIII’s fifth wife - was she a reckless flirt or a tragic pawn in Tudor history? In this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Professor Kate Williams is joined by the brilliant historian Professor Suzannah Lipscomb to unravel one of Tudor history’s most debated figures. Was Catherine a naïve teenager caught up in deadly court politics, or a young woman who made all the wrong choices?From her chaotic upbringing in a crowded aristocratic household to her sudden elevation as queen at just 17 or 18, this episode explores the relationships that shaped her — and the rumours that would ultimately destroy her. Along the way, we step inside the glittering, perilous world of Henry VIII’s court, where favour could turn to fatal suspicion in an instant.With insight, wit, and a touch of dark Tudor irony, this is a gripping re-examination of an English queen.Victim or vixen? Or something far more complicated?Host: Professor Kate WilliamsGuest: Professor Suzannah LipscombSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.
• 
  Queen Elizabeth and Sir David Attenborough: Global Pioneers 26.04.2026 24мин

  Frogs, foxes, fossils—and four generations of royalty.In part two of this special celebration, we continue our exploration of the remarkable parallel lives of Queen Elizabeth II and Sir David Attenborough—two figures born just weeks apart in 1926 who went on to shape how we see the modern world.From wartime childhoods to global influence, we trace how both became defining voices of the 20th and 21st centuries: one through monarchy, the other through the lens of a camera. Along the way, we uncover surprising connections—shared beginnings in 1952, a mutual passion for the natural world, and a quiet but powerful influence on generations of royals, from Prince Philip to King Charles III and beyond.There are stories of early wildlife filmmaking, royal expeditions, and the radical beginnings of conservation—long before it was fashionable. Plus, a glimpse of the man behind the legend: Attenborough the colleague, the traveller, the reluctant celebrity who chose economy class over first.By the end, what emerges is something more than coincidence: two lives moving in parallel across a century of change, united by curiosity, duty, and an enduring belief that small actions can shape a much bigger world.Hosts: Robert Hardman and Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesHosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate WilliamsSeries Producer: Ben DevlinProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Content Editor: Joseph PalmerExecutive Producer: Bella SoamesA 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.