The SCANDAL Mongers Podcast

Phil considers the feedback from last week’s remarkable interview with David Hooper and asks what Diana, Princess of Wales might have been told when she first agreed to go on holiday with Mohamed Al Fayed. 

Then this week’s guest - our friend Clive Irving - joins Phil to reveal the story behind perhaps the greatest disaster in the history of the aviation business - the fall of the house of Boeing? As an aviation nut (as is Phil!) Clive spent years chronicling the golden age of this great American company and then had a ring side seat as its image - and tragically its planes as well - quickly fell apart. What went wrong, and what can be salvaged from the wreckage?

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

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THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on Youtube...

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Phil Craig...

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Top British lawyer David Hooper has made a career out of standing up to the powerful and the wealthy, and so when Vanity Fair magazine needed someone to defend its groundbreaking 1995 expose of Mohamed Al Fayed - the first time sexual allegations about him were ever published - David was the natural choice. What happened next was extraordinary, as revealed by David to Phil in this special and exclusive interview.

For two years Hooper faced a small army of private detectives, ex police, spin doctors and various other suspicious characters, all working for Fayed. There was an attempted entrapment, the suggestion of bribes being paid to serving police officers and endless pressure on witnesses. And then, after the tragedy in Paris, both sides withdrew from the case and Fayed was able to carry on - it is alleged - predating on women with little scrutiny for another quarter of a century.

You can buy David's book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/buying-silence-how-oligarchs-corporations-and-plutocrats-use-the-law-to-gag-their-critics-david-hooper/7539510?aid=12054&ean=9781785908316&

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the 'three dots') for small donations that help support our work***

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help...

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*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain’s new government is caught in a series of scandals about freebies, cronyism and ‘cash for access’. And now we have allegations surrounding the recent Taylor Swift concerts in London which might - or might not - be responsible for the downfall of a key Downing street aide. Phil wonders whether any of this really matters, and what it tells us about the state of politics today - and the power of scandal!

Then this week’s guest Maureen Callahan joins Phil to reveal some of the jaw-dropping stories in her groundbreaking new book on the Kennedys, Ask Not.  

Portraying the men in the Kennedy family as a series of domineering and abusive sexual predators, Maureen brings to life the often terrible experiences of the women in their lives - and tries to give dignity and agency to some of the victims, women like Mary Jo Kopechne and White House intern Mimi Beardsley. She also shares a shattering description of the fate of Rosemary Kennedy.

You can buy Maureen's book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ask-not-the-kennedys-and-the-women-they-destroyed-maureen-callahan/7642726?aid=12054&ean=9780008473242&

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

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PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain’s new Labour government has been shaken by stories of ‘gifted’ suits, penthouse flats and tickets for Taylor Swift concerts. Phil explains why this matters - and what it tells us about the problems of governing in the internet age.

Distinguished historian Simon Heffer then joins Phil to talk about his new book on Britain in the Interwar years, and gives us his very well-informed view about the greatest royal crisis of them all - the abdication of Edward VIII. It’s a fascinating conversation that anyone with an interest in Royal and British history - and the course of the Second World War - will not want to miss.

You can buy Simon's book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, in our own online bookshop with profits shared between independent booksellers and podcasters - along with thousands of other great books...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/sing-as-we-go-britain-between-the-wars-simon-heffer/7419980?aid=12054&ean=9781529152647&

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. And we now have some products with ‘Phil Only’! ...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil has spoken before about how he’d love to see Harry back in the royal fold. Are we seeing the first signs of this now, with a series of solo appointments that look a lot like old traditional royal visits? Meanwhile Meghan appears to have removed herself - or has been removed - from Harry's public life while she concentrates on her own new solo ventures - and selling jam. What’s really going on? Phil has been asking around.

Then this week’s guest Dr Sara Lodge takes us into the remarkable world of the first female detectives, with stories that will change the way you think about policing and the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Sara’s brand new - and very entertaining book - is packed with larger-than-life characters and fascinating social history.

You can buy Sara's book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-mysterious-case-of-the-victorian-female-detective-sara-lodge/7663857?aid=12054&ean=9780300277883&

*** We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on YouTube..

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

TheoX

Kerem Isik

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The revelation of many sexual allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed has shocked the UK. The former owner of Harrods, confidante of Princess Diana and friend of British high society has been accused of a litany of crimes and a decades-long career of harassment and abuse. Given that Princess Diana died whilst under the care of the Fayed family, many have asked if she knew about this aspect of his personality, whether anyone tried to warn her and if her life could have taken a better and safer direction after her divorce from (then) Prince Charles. Phil delves back into his own biography of Diana and looks for clues.

Then the brilliant sports writer Leo McKinstry joins Phil to talk about the world of cricket in the 1930s-50s. Many consider this to be one of the most sedate and civilised of sports, but it was dominated during this time by some truly larger than life characters - none more so that England’s Bill Edrich: war hero, notorious boozer, committed womaniser and life-long scourge of ’the establishment’. By revealing the story of Bill’s extraordinary life Leo takes us into a truly fascinating world.

You can buy Leo’s book - and many thousands more - in our own shop...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bill-edrich-the-many-lives-of-england-s-cricket-great-leo-mckinstry/7539527?aid=12054&ean=9781399407847&

*** We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to listen to on all major audio platforms.

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former BBC correspondent Nick Bryant joins Phil to discuss his many years working in the USA, and reveals how and why his love for that country turned into something closer to despair about its future.

But first our friend Clive Irving - a legendary investigative journalist and now star writer at The Daily Beast - returns to give us his update on the royal family as Charles approaches his second anniversary as King, Harry passes his landmark 40th birthday and new allegations about Meghan’s behaviour towards her staff hit the American media.

You can buy Nick's’ book on America, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-forever-war-america-s-unending-conflict-with-itself-nick-bryant/7589599?aid=12054&ean=9781399409308&

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

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You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling author Giles Milton joins Phil to discuss his incredible book THE STALIN AFFAIR about the ‘Big Three’ of the Second World War, and how this turbulent three way relationship shaped the world we live in today. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were very different men with often clashing personalities and agendas. Behind their famous wartime summits lay a series of larger than life characters, double-crosses and plotting, epic drinking bouts and scandalous love affairs. And without all of this the Allies might have fallen apart and lost the war.

Phil also discusses the remarkable new family video released this week by Catherine, Princess of Wales, assesses what it means for the future of royal communications - and reflects on his former republican leanings and how his mind has been changed in recent years.

The article Phil refers to about the magic of monarchy is here https://thecritic.co.uk/the-kings-touch/

You can buy Giles’ book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others 

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-stalin-affair-the-impossible-alliance-that-won-the-war-giles-milton/7639227?aid=12054&ean=9781529398519&

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anne de Courcy returns to the podcast by popular demand to talk about her astonishing book on Coco Chanel, and the glamorous but dangerous society that she dominated. 

From the most deprived of backgrounds Chanel conquered the worlds of fashion and perfume. With her fast friends, wealthy and titled lovers and her appetite for the best things in life she basically ran the ’scene’ in Paris and the French Riviera. 

Then war, occupation and the systematic murder of French Jews presented her with some terrible choices.

Her decision to work with the occupying authorities and take a powerful Nazi lover has cast a shadow over her reputation. But was her ‘collaboration horizontale’ forgivable? 

Here is the article in which Phil mentioned the BBC's 'Niven Car' business in the 1980s...

https://thecritic.co.uk/im-done-with-po-faced-politicians/

You can buy the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/chanel-s-riviera-life-love-and-the-struggle-for-survival-on-the-cote-d-azur-1930-1944-anne-de-courcy/1616455?aid=12054&ean=9781474608213&

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With their non-royal but actually quite royal 'anti colonialism' tour of Colombia seen as a success by many media commentators, what message was Harry and Meghan trying to send to the world, to Britain and - especially - to their royal siblings and siblings in law in London?

And why did a curiously timed but well sourced profile appear on the front page of the London Times, pointing out that Prince William does not now intend to invite his own brother even to to the back row (or standing room only section) of his own coronation? With or without a plus one!

Simon Vigar, royal correspondent for Five News, joins Phil to pick over the events of the summer. Are Harry and Meghan creating a new brand for themselves as key global celebrities in the age of Woke, for example championing the cause of slavery reparations in former colonial societies? And in the context of the racism allegations made against Catherine, Princess of Wales - what damage does all this do to the ‘official’ branch of the royal family?

You can buy the books we feature on the podcast here...

https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scandalmongers

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the ’three dots’) for small donations that help support our work***

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos

Andrew Lownie...

https://twitter.com/andrewlownie

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

You can get in touch with the show hosts via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.