History Tea Time

Please take my listener survey to help improve the podcast: www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave  The RMS Titanic is probably the most famous ships ever to set sail on the seven seas. She voyaged during the Edwardian Era, a time in which lavish food in bountiful quantities was the hallmark of wealth and a cornerstone of high society. So put on your best white tie and tails or your most elegant beading e...

Please take my listener survey to help improve the podcast: www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave  The coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla is unique in modern times. The United Kingdom is the only monarchy in Europe which still holds coronations. Secularism and revolutions from the enlightenment through the 20th century did away with Europe’s other crowning traditions. No one wanted...

Please take my listener survey to help improve the podcast: www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave  Henry VIII is infamous for his relationships with women. The domineering King took 6 wives during his 36 years on the throne. And he disposed of them with as much scandal as he wooed them – Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. But Henry had two other important women in his life, his siste...

Today I’m dropping a bonus episode to introduce you to one of my favorite history podcasts, History Daily. Every weekday host Lindsay Graham takes you back in time to explore an event that happened ‘on this day’ in history. The show covers everything from famous battles to fashion firsts; medicine, science, technology, religion, politics and sports. The episodes are a quick 15 minutes each so I’m...

Please take my listener survey to help improve the podcast: www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave  Since ancient times, placing a crown upon a monarch’s head was a powerful symbol. It was believed to bestow a heavenly mandate to rule, or even transform a monarch into a living god. Most people don’t think of King Charles as especially divine. But he also won’t be expected to smite an enemy or walk a marat...

Please take my listener survey to help improve the podcast: www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave  The Crown. The very symbols of power, wealth, majesty and royalty. You can’t be the King without the Bling. Let’s take a look at the 1500 year history of the British crown jewels. They have been washed away in the sea, stolen from a grave, melted down to make coins, sold off to pay princely debts, and pilfe...

Please take my listener survey to help improve the podcast: www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave  The Crown. The very symbols of power, wealth, majesty and royalty. You can’t be the King without the Bling. Let’s take a look at the 1500 year history of the British crown jewels. They have been washed away in the sea, stolen from a grave, melted down to make coins, sold off to pay princely debts, and pilfe...

Please take my listener survey to help improve the podcast: www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave  In Europe in the middle ages about one in three women died in their child-bearing years. Here are the stories of 7 Queens and Princesses of England who died tragically as a result of childbirth: Isabella of England (1214 - 1241) Mary de Bohun (1370 - 1394) Isabella of Valois (1389 - 1409) Elizabeth of York...

King Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson. Their relationship has long been lauded as a royal fairytale. But there was a lot more going on. Wallis never really liked Edward but became trapped by her own ambition. And Edward, desperate to find any mode of escaping the insurmountable pressure of his birth rite, became obsessed with the woman who dominated him. A...

Happy Valentine's Day! ❤️ The romance between Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert is one of the greatest love stories in history. After a long history of arranged and often miserable marriages this couple found solace and comfort in each other and prioritized their happy family and domestic bliss even over the power of the British Empire. Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on...

Nzinga was the Queen regnant of the joint kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba, in modern day Angola in Africa. She stood up to the Portuguese colonialists and defended her people from enslavement. Her brilliance, pride and perseverance forced the Portuguese to recognize her kingdoms and she remains a symbol of freedom and resistance to oppression to this day. She is one of the great Queens of African H...

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was known as the grandmother of Europe. She and her husband Prince Albert had 9 children, 42 grandchildren, 85 great-grandchildren and 142 great-great-grandchildren. Many of her majesty’s estimated 1,239 total descendants married into royal families across Europe, from Russia to Spain, Norway to Romania and all over Germany. In addition to their royal mama’s sh...

Assassination – the murder of a prominent person, often for political motives. These calamities shock the world and can change the course of history. But as we will learn from the following shocking accounts, violence can only beget more violence. And the aspirations of assassins have a tendency to backfire, sending political causes flailing backwards and provoking even more outrage, heartache and...

Ottoman Sultans kept a harem of hundreds of enslaved concubines to bear their children. But from 1533 to 1656 a handful of remarkable women bent the harem system to their wills and exercised extraordinary political influence and power. This period is known as the The Sultanate of Women.  Hürrem Sultan  Mihrimah Sultan  Nurbanu Sultan  Safiye Sultan  Handan Sultan  Halime Sultan  Kösem Sultan  Turh...

Ottoman Sultans kept a harem of hundreds of enslaved concubines to bear their children. But from 1533 to 1656 a handful of remarkable women bent the harem system to their wills and exercised extraordinary political influence and power. This period is known as the The Sultanate of Women.  Hürrem Sultan  Mihrimah Sultan  Nurbanu Sultan  Safiye Sultan  Handan Sultan  Halime Sultan  Kösem Sultan  Turh...

Ottoman Sultans kept a harem of hundreds of enslaved concubines to bear their children. But from 1533 to 1656 a handful of remarkable women bent the harem system to their wills and exercised extraordinary political influence and power. This period is known as the The Sultanate of Women. Hürrem Sultan Mihrimah Sultan Nurbanu Sultan Safiye Sultan Handan Sultan Halime Sultan Kösem Sultan Turhan Sulta...

A double header about the history of first names and last names. “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” As Romeo pondered the significance of the moniker of his beloved we have to admit, names are something we take for granted but they are a huge part of human culture. Expectant parents agonize about what to call their new bundle of joy. Multiple studi...

King Henry VIII liked to live large and luxurious 365. But especially at Christmas. He and his wife of the moment enjoyed decadent feasts including classics we know today like mince pie and gingerbread and more surprising fare like swan, brawn and boars head. All washed down with copious quantities of mead, gruit and wine. His majesty received gop-smackingly expensive and highly political Christma...

We’re familiar with the Christmas carol “The 12 days of Christmas” but in the middle ages, this extended holiday Christmas looked a bit different. There were plenty of lords-a-leaping and ladies dancing but the only partridge was trussed up on the King’s table next to the swans-a-swimming in gravy. And the gold rings were baked in the Christmas pudding! Medieval people dropped their plows, wrapped...

The latest season of The Crown shows how Prince Philip provided the crucial DNA sample which identified the remains of his slain cousins, the Romanovs. Let's explore how the British, Russian and Greek royal families are related through the children of King Christian IX of Denmark. His six children inherited or married into the most powerful monarchies of 19th century Europe and their decedents hav...

The latest season of The Crown shows how King George V failed to save his first cousin, Tsar Nikolai of Russia and his family from execution during the Russian revolution. Let's explore how the British and Russian royal families are related through the children of King Christian IX of Denmark. His six children inherited or married into the most powerful monarchies of 19th century Europe and their...

Enjoying the Netflix romantic drama "The Empress"? Check out the real story of Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria. Elisabeth of Austria was a shy woman who’s beauty won the heart of Emperor Franz Joseph. She suffered under heavy expectations and a frankly evil mother in law. She was forced into a limelight she never wanted and into the path of an assassin. Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling...

Periods. About 50% of the population gets them. But this natural process of shedding the uterine lining every month as part of fertility has long been shrouded in mystery, embarrassment and taboo. Let’s take a look back in time to see how women in the past and in various cultures have dealt with and been treated during that time of the month. Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on Hist...

Queen Elizabeth II’s 4 children have given her 8 grandchildren. While her children were the first generation of royals to have their lives laid bare for public scrutiny, her grandchildren grew up in the limelight and have a better handle on it. The Queen’s children and their scandals nearly brought about the downfall of the monarchy. But the next generation has brought a resurgence in its populari...

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is mother to four children: Charles, Prince of Wales Anne, Princess Royal Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex The famously stoic monarch is unsurprisingly not a warm and affectionate mother. As the children grew up so did the media. Tabloids and television demanded more insight into the lives of the royal family than ever before. The m...