It’s probably no surprise that in a family with as much internal intrigue as the Bonapartes had, Napoleon had a favorite among his three sisters. Pauline Bonaparte was eleven years younger than her brother, but was similarly ambitious and was generally happy to take part in his plans for himself and her. A natural beauty…
Tag: Affairs
61. Leopold II of Belgium, the Congo Free State, and Villa Leopolda
Long a vassal state to its much larger neighbors, Belgium only became independent in 1830, at which time it decided that what it really needed was a (constitutional) monarchy! Its first king, Leopold I, earned the gig by virtue of being born a Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld prince who had cultivated his relationships with Europe’s royal houses during…
58. Elizabeth and Leicester, Part Two
When she assumed the throne in 1558, she made it clear to the members of her court that they shouldn’t plan to have their wives or female companions around the place. She intended to be singular as she consolidated power, but perhaps she had another motive as well; by banishing the wives, Robert Dudley, newly…
55. The Tortured Tudor Poet: The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
As Taylor Swift launches her latest era with The Tortured Poets Department, Alicia dives into her favorite era: Tudor England. We explore the 17 surviving love letters that King Henry VIII penned during his courtship and early relationship with Anne Boleyn in the latter half of the 1520s, particularly noting that for quite a long…
53. King Pedro I of Portugal and Inês de Castro
The fourteenth century was full of challenges to marital bliss, especially for nobles. Travel was complicated, especially during times of war, but royal houses still needed to cement alliances through marriage – often among woefully young princes and princesses who, again, were separated by vast distances and perhaps had never met. So it was for…
52. Caroline of Brunswick, featuring Sam from I’m Horrified!
We touched on England’s King George IV in our episode about Queen Victoria’s Trashy Hanoverian Uncles (episode 17), but there’s so much more to the story of his misspent youth and his cataclysmic marriage to Princess Caroline of Brunswick. To help out, we asked our friend Sam from the podcast I’m Horrified!, who recently delivered…
48. Louis and Edwina Mountbatten | Careless People
Programming note: This episode is a bit more explicit than most, including strong language and descriptions of sex. If you listen with wee ones, use your judgment. The early ’30s were a roaring time for Edwina’s various romances, though two in particular would have far-reaching implications for her lovers. The first, with American actor Paul…
47. Louis and Edwina Mountbatten | Unconventional Marriage
As the Roaring ’20s turned into the ’30s, Edwina’s appetite for other lovers showed no sign of diminishing, and eventually led to a breaking point with her long-suffering husband, Louis. At one point, they decided that divorce was the best option, but quickly reconciled with new rules for their relationship: Edwina would be more discreet…
46. Louis and Edwina Mountbatten | Let the Affairs Begin!
It didn’t take long for Edwina, young, rich, and alone while her husband Louis was away with the Navy, to begin flirtations and then affairs with various suitors. There were the young men of her social strata, to be sure, but there was also a scandalous rumored fling with the notably female American entertainer Sophie…
45. Louis and Edwina Mountbatten | The Wedding and The Honeymoon… Is Over
While Louis and Edwina Mountbatten would have a 38-year-long marriage, it isn’t quite right to say it was a happy union. That first six months or so though – when they traveled through Europe and the United States, meeting Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. DeMille, and dining with President Warren G. Harding – was a magical…