Trashy Royals - Hemlock Creatives

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220. The Plantagenets | King John and Isabella of Angoulême Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

As king, John Lackland no longer lacked lands, although as his reign stretched from 1199 to 1216, he lost plenty of land, as well as relatives, and eventually the support of England's nobles. A year before his death, his conflicts abroad escalated at home with the First Barons' War, which the signing of the Magna Carta was intended to head off - but didn't.

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219. A Very Royal Dumpster Dive | As The Windsors Turn Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

Everybody's favorite monarchy has been very much in the news of late! The Windsors have had a minor book scandal, rumors of a scandalous book, Anglican priests catching strays about Advent Calendars, more Andrew muck, and much, much more.

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218. Catherine the Great | Russia's Unlikeliest Queen Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

One of history’s great ironies is that one of Russia’s most successful periods occurred under the leadership of a monarch with not a drop of Russian blood. Catherine II, better known as Catherine the Great, was a minor Prussian princess whose fairly horrible mother set her sights on achieving notoriety through her daughter.

Fortunately for young Catherine (who was born Sophie), Frederick the Great of Prussia had a political project to strengthen ties between his country and Russia, and Russia’s Empress Elizabeth needed her heir, the future Peter III, to find a wife, have babies, and continue the Romanov line. All eyes turned to the 16-year-old from Anhalt-Zerbst.

The marriage went poorly, but the real surprise occurred on the death of Empress Elizabeth in 1762. While crowned as Empress Consort to her husband, Peter III, it was only a matter of months before Catherine deposed her husband, forced him to sign an abdication, and became Russia’s sole ruler, and the longest-ruling Empress in Russia’s history.

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Grab the gorgeous deluxe special edition of Amber V. Nicole's Dawn of the Cursed Queen today whenever books are sold.

Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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217. Diana's Secret Keeper | Paul Burrell Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

Today, with all the talk of Diana this week, we are taking a page out of the Done and Dunne podcast with a very reliable narrator for this particular trashy tale. Dominick Dunne went to London in 2002 to report in on the trial of Paul Burrell, the royal butler who knows all Diana’s secrets. The Diana in question is, of course, Princess of Wales. Dunne reports in on this trial of the most loyal servant ever, which is halted after 11 days, right before Paul’s appearance on the stand. Why the delay at The Old Bailey? Why, of course, Queen Elizabeth II steps in with late-breaking testimony about an important conversation from years before that will change the whole narrative in her Jubilee year.

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216. Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Sep 20, 2026

Show notes

The world was captivated by the saga of Princess Diana when she married and divorced Prince Charles, but it turns out that marital trouble is a bit of a family matter for the Spencers. Alicia has the details on Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, whose three divorces and other romantic misadventures stand out even among the notoriously randy aristocracy.

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215. The Plantagenets | John Lackland and Isabella of Gloucester Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

England's King John is truly one of a kind. He was a king so bad at the job that there's never been another British ruler willing to adopt the moniker. In the Robin Hood lore, Prince John is often depicted as a usurper while the rightful king, John's brother Richard, was away on crusade.

Indeed, that John became king at all is an accident of history. His father, King Henry II, had four sons with Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, and John was the baby. As a young man, he was known as John Lackland, because he lacked land. But his oldest brother died, then the brother closest in age to him. What was left was King Richard the Lionheart - away at Crusade - and a scheming John playing all the angles.

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214. The Plantagenets | Eleanor, Mother of Dynasties, featuring Richard the Lionheart and Berengaria of Navarre Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

Eleanor’s life was no less interesting following the death of Henry II. Rather than fade into the background, her son, King Richard I, instead made her his most powerful deputy in England while he went to the Holy Land on Crusade. In fact, Richard I was an extremely disinterested monarch and spent very little of his decade-long reign in the country. His brother, the future King John, at one point tried to raise and army and take the crown by force, but his mother put an end to that. Then there was the ransom of Richard the Lionheart, by Austrian Duke Leopold V. Eleanor personally traveled to negotiate with, and pay ransom to, Holy Roman emperor Henry VI.

Eleanor’s final years were spent in the reign of her youngest son, King John, during which she traveled among her children in Europe, arranging marriages for her granddaughters. By the time she died in 1204, at the age perhaps of 82, she had seeded her offspring among the royal houses of the continent, where they and their offspring would be players for generations to come.

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213. The Plantagenets | Eleanor of Aquitaine featuring Henry II Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

After Eleanor finally succeeded in ending her marriage to Louis VII of France, she had a brief turn of wedded bliss to the future Henry II of England. It’s not that the marriage was short, just her happiness. Henry II, it turns out, was a king of questionable judgment, as Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket would find out. He was also loathe to cede power to their children, and little was helped when Henry’s head was turned by a young noblewoman named Rosamund Clifford – an affair that contributed to Eleanor urging her sons to rise up against their father in England. For her treachery, Eleanor would spend more than a decade and a half confined; their sons were welcomed back into the fold in a “boys will be boys” way. But this was not the end for Eleanor. Upon the death of Henry II in 1189, she was the extremely involved Dowager Queen of England while her sons, Richard the Lionheart and King John, would take their turns on the throne.

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Upgrade your every day! Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/TRASHYROYALS. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and UK, too!

Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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212. The Plantagenets | Eleanor of Aquitaine Before Henry II Sep 03, 2026

Show notes

There are no Plantagenet kings after Henry II without Eleanor of Aquitaine.

History is not without examples of powerful women, to be sure, but even in that pantheon, Eleanor of Aquitaine is a special case. In this first part of her story, Alicia takes us through her early life in the French province of Aquitaine, where her father was the ruling Duke, and her first, disastrous marriage to the future (it turns out by a matter of days) Louis VII of France. A marriage that would, after many unhappy years, be annulled, allowing Eleanor to create one of history’s most audacious political romances: she married the future Henry II of England, son of Empress Matilda, paving the way for Eleanor to have been both Queen of France and Queen of England through separate marriages!

Sponsors

Upgrade your every day! Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/TRASHYROYALS. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and UK, too!

Listen ad-free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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211. Royal Tea-Time | As the Windsors Turn and Listener Letters! Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

It's a sad week, friends, and we are distracted by the losses of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry. Today, we do a little Royals Round Up with chatter about Harry and Meghan, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughter. Then, we share some listener emails and answer their questions to the best of our distracted abilities.

Sponsors

Upgrade your every day! Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/TRASHYROYALS. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and UK, too!

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/adchoices

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