Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things

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...

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...

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...

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 curi...

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 t...

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 be...

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...

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...

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 se...

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...

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...

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...

What do Queen Elizabeth II and Sir David Attenborough have in common? More than you might imagine. In this third episode, celebrating the Centenary of Queen Elizabeth, we explore the remarkable parallel lives of two icons born just weeks apart in 1926 — figures who would go on to shape not just Britain, but the very way we see the world. One inherited a throne; the other helped invent television a...

What made Queen Elizabeth II smile? In this special centenary episode, we look back at some of the happiest moments in the life of Queen Elizabeth II — the flashes of humour, the unexpected freedoms, and the small, human pleasures behind the crown. Rather than the grand set-pieces of state, we focus on something more elusive: what actually made her smile. From dancing anonymously into the crowds o...

Celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s life - her character, the scary look she gave those who displeased her, and what President Trump really thought about her majesty. It’s a packed first episode of a mini series of exclusive revelations. Journalist and historian Robert Hardman opens up to Professor Kate Williams about his research and private recollections as a royal reporter, in celebration of her 1...

When you receive more than twenty-six proposals from Europe’s most powerful men, why should you refuse them all? In this final episode of our trilogy on Elizabeth I, we step into the most personal — and most politically dangerous — question of her reign: marriage. From the moment she becomes queen, Elizabeth is treated as a prize. Kings, princes and emperors line up to claim her, each proposal pro...

When the most powerful empire in Europe sends an Armada to invade your country, what do you do? In this episode of our trilogy on Elizabeth I, we reach the moment everyone associates with England’s most famous queen: the looming threat of the Spanish Armada. But the great showdown of 1588 did not arrive out of nowhere. It was the result of years of political intrigue, espionage, religious tension...

She was born a princess and declared a bastard before she could walk. In this episode, we go back to the beginning of Elizabeth I: a child of extraordinary promise, born into splendour, then cast into uncertainty by the fall of her mother, Anne Boleyn. Courtly favour turned to suspicion. Affection turned to danger. And survival became a skill learned early. From the shadow of Henry VIII’s volatile...

Shakespeare, Hollywood, the Oscars, the plague, and a little boy called Hamnet. In this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams are joined by historian Alice Loxton to explore the extraordinary new film Hamnet — the Oscar-tipped adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel. Set in late 16th-century Stratford-upon-Avon and plague-stricken Lond...

The Kennedy Curse didn't end with the assassination of JFK - far from it! In this final episode of our Kennedy trilogy, we ask what happened after Camelot fell. With John F. Kennedy gone and Robert Kennedy gunned down just five years later, the dynasty’s hopes shifted once more — to the younger generation. Could the flame stay lit? Or was tragedy now woven into the Kennedy name itself? From Ted Ke...

The assassination of JFK - an unforgettable moment in a changing and volatile world: the Berlin Wall rising, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and then came the shocking events of Dallas. In this second of three special episodes, we move from ambition to power, and from power to catastrophe. With John F. Kennedy now President, the Kennedys became global royalty: glamorous state visits, televised debates,...

JFK’s assassination, plane crashes, scandals, and untimely deaths. Is there really such a thing as a Kennedy curse? In this first of three special episodes, we go back to the beginning — to the making of a dynasty, forged in ambition and driven by a patriarch who expected greatness and tolerated nothing less. In the Kennedy household, sons were groomed for the presidency, daughters for perfection,...

For Valentine’s Day, Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things goes full royal romance-with-a-body-count. Robert Hardman and Prof Kate Williams delve into the whispered love story of Edward II and his dazzling courtier, Piers Gaveston — a friendship (or something more) so intense it detonates the English court. Why did the barons loathe Gaveston so much? Who gets the stuffed-crust portion of medieval “...

Welcome to royal history with bite. In this episode of Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams head east to Transylvania to unravel one of the strangest threads in modern royal history. King Charles III’s long-standing fascination with Romania turns out to involve more than rural preservation and beautiful churches — it also leads back, genealogically, to V...

Royals, hot dogs, Hollywood, and the making of the “special relationship” Robert and Kate conclude their deep dive into Britain and America’s long and complicated partnership. Joined once again by historian, broadcaster, and Gilded Age expert Julie Montagu, Countess of Sandwich, they trace how glamour, war, royalty, and politics combined to create the modern Anglo-American world. From Edward VII’s...