What's this? Meghan Markle in Phil's Australian Bar?

Then Carol Ann Lee joins Phil to discuss her incredible book on Ruth Ellis, on which the new international TV drama is based and in which Ruth is played impeccably by the British-American Actress Lucy Boynton.

A CRUEL LOVE: The Ruth Ellis Story

(Official ITV Trailer)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijla27WmAA0

As the last women to be executed in British history - for a crime many then and now believe had extenuating circumstances - Ellis has long been portrayed as a ‘woman scorned’. Carol’s book reveals the full picture of a remarkable life, and is packed with fresh details about her background, her relationships and the real reason she shot her abusive partner David Blakely.

You can buy Carol's book here...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-cruel-love-the-real-ruth-ellis-story-carol-ann-lee/7824513?aid=12054&ean=9781910948316&

Please follow Carol here...

https://www.instagram.com/carolannleeauthor/

Want to know more about Phil Craig? Then watch his recent interview on This British Life Podcast below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghzCFLHcjM8&t=3s

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Phil has spent decades analysing royal spin - from the age of Diana to the current TransAtlantic stand off between her two sons. He thinks that the interview Jason Knauf gave this week to the Australian 60 Minutes series is one of the most significant things to happen in terms of ‘Palace Kremlinology’ in many years. The interview did not happen by accident and will have required much pre-clearing with William himself. So what is Britain’s future King really saying to the country, the media and, especially, his brother?

After this Phil is joined by writer and cultural historian Clement Knox to discuss a topic that has featured in many earlier episodes of this podcast - seduction. 

Clement argues that the idea and importance of seduction has changed radically over time, and that such changes mark some hugely important moments of social change, and the changing balance of power between the sexes.  He offers an extraordinary range of stories to chart the many guises of seduction, showing that our ideas about desire, courtship, and power have always developed in step with a changing world.

You can buy Clement's book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here in our special Scandal Mongers shop, along with thousands of others...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/strange-antics-a-history-of-seduction-clement-knox/77453?aid=12054&ean=9780008285678&

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One of Phil’s former colleagues, Quentin McDermott, joins him from Australia to report on the remarkable case of Kathleen Folbigg - one of the greatest miscarriages of justice of our age.

After four of her children died under the age of 20 months, Kathleen Folbigg was charged and convicted of their murder in 2003. After 20 year in prison she was freed after scientific discoveries and a new analysis of statistical probabilities revealed that at least two of the children probably died from natural causes and that there was never ANY direct forensic evidence linked her to any of the deaths.

As a reporter for the ABC Quentin played a major part in the campaign to have the case reopened, and he believes that Kathleen should never have even been brought to trial, even based on the knowledge of ‘cot death’ available in 2003.

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

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/meadow-s-law-the-true-story-of-kathleen-folbigg-and-the-science-that-set-her-free-by-an-award-winning-journalist-for-readers-of-quentin-mcdermott/7751177?aid=12054&ean=9780733342912&

Please Follow Quentin Here...

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For a long time the Invictus Games was one event that even critics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex admired - but the latest games have drawn criticism for their conduct?  Is it fair? And where do the rebel royal couple now stand?

Then Dr Natalee Garrett from the Open University joins Phil to talk about her work on one of the most important royal women of them all - Queen Charlotte. During a life defined by duty, family and, of course, endless scandal, Charlotte was consort to King George III during some extraordinarily turbulent times, not least when the King lost his reason and arguments broke out between her 15 children and numerous politicians about what the royal family - and nation - should do about it. 

Phil also asks about whether Natalee agreed with - or enjoyed - the portrait of a mixed race Charlotte in the smash hit Netflix series Bridgerton.

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

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/queen-charlotte-natalee-garrett/7736300?aid=12054&ean=9781032280400&

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

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Phil reacts to the emerging story of a possible new British political scandal. Having come to power partly because Boris Johnson fell foul of Britain’s tough Covid rules, did our current Prime Minister break them too and, if so, should it even matter? Phil’s article from 2022 is also relevant here. https://thecritic.co.uk/im-done-with-po-faced-politicians/

Then writer James Crossland joins Phil to discuss his fascinating and exciting book about one of the most dramatic - and scandalous - British spy stories of all time.

Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart was an impressive figure: a diplomat, intelligence agent, conspirator, journalist and propagandist who played a key role in both world wars. He was a man who charmed his way into the confidences of everyone from Leon Trotsky to Anthony Eden. A man whom the influential press baron Lord Beaverbook claimed ‘could well have been prime minister’. Lockhart placed himself at the centre of world changing event during the Russian Revolution - and very nearly died as a consequence. Yet he died almost forgotten and near destitute, a footnote in the pages of history.

You can buy James' book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here in our special Scandal Mongers shop, along with thousands of others...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/rogue-agent-the-troubled-life-and-dangerous-times-of-robert-bruce-lockhart-james-crossland/7624180?aid=12054&ean=9781783968046&

Please follow James here...

https://x.com/DrJCrossland

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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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This week Prof Alan Lester joins Phil to lift the lid on a little known - but certainly scandalous - slice of British imperial history - the Opium Wars. 

There’s much debate today about slavery and how much - or little - it contributed to the wealth of the great European empires. But much less is known about the role that Britain and other empires played in the hugely profitable opium trade, and the one-sided wars that were waged to stop Chinese emperors from banning it. It’s a fascinating tale of greed, opportunism and skulduggery in high places.

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

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-truth-about-empire-real-histories-of-british-colonialism-alan-lester/7595887?aid=12054&ean=9781911723097&

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

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After the dramatic conclusion of Prince Harry’s case against the Murdoch Empire - which was supposed to be the media trial of the Century - Phil asks whether it was all worth it.

Then Carolyn Harris - a renowned expert on royal consorts - joins us from Canada again to talk about perhaps the most famous - or is that notorious? - consort of them all.

Weaving dramatic details of war, famine and revolution together with touching personal stories of a royal life, Carolyn brings Marie-Antoinette to life in all her complexity. Raised for a dynastic marriage she found herself one of the most famous and admired women in the world, and then one of the most hated. But how much of this did she truly deserve?

You can buy the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/raising-royalty-1000-years-of-royal-parenting-carolyn-harris/719121?aid=12054&ean=9781459735699&

Carolyn’s has also written 'Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette' https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137491688 and her website is royalhistorian.com

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

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Britain's headstrong royal exile is soon to step into the legal ring with the media mogul and his entourage, in Harry's continuing campaign to make senior executives accountable for the hacking and other tabloid scandals in the UK. And pre-trial transcripts obtained by Vanity Fair show just how much damage the prince is threatening to do.

Clive Irving has reported on this story closely. But that’s not all. As a former senior executive - and leading investigative reporter - in a newspaper taken over by Rupert Murdoch he has seen first hand how the energetic Australian-American billionaire has transformed media and politics in many countries and for over 40 years - and he doesn't much like it. 

So is Prince Harry going to be the man who - finally - gets Murdoch into a court of law to defend his reputation? 

And if anyone wants to check out Phil’s address to the vegan haggis, it’s here in all its steaming glory...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1LLc5LUm_U&list=PLVgZixzfAQNh0cQHUjpgodnboBUwQ10PW&index=96

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

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In our final episode of the year - and the 100th edition of the podcast - Helen Fry returns to share some more remarkable stories from the Second World War. 

Helen tells Phil of a long secret intelligence operation designed to extract information from enemy soldiers, sailors, pilots - and some of Hitler’s most senior Generals. Many of these men knew that the British were skilled at playing physiological tricks on prisoners of war - but they still fell for many of them, generating some hugely important information at critical times.  

You can buy Helen's book - and thousands of others - in our own online bookstore...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-walls-have-ears-the-greatest-intelligence-operation-of-world-war-ii-helen-fry/77794?aid=12054&ean=9780300254853&

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Writer Laura Thompson returns to the podcast, bringing all the insights and cleverness that has made her one of our most popular guests. And this time her subject is 'the heiress', including some of the most celebrated women in high society and literature. In her book 'Heiresses: the Lives of the Million Dollar Babies', Laura tells an incredible story of social change and bad behaviour in high places.

Although celebrated and pursued, the heiress could also be the target of scheming and manipulative men, and could never be sure if she was being admired and loved for herself or for her family's money. Some flourished, some fell apart and many lived lives of the highest drama.

You can buy Laura's book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others in our special Scandal Mongers bookshop...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/heiresses-the-lives-of-the-million-dollar-babies-laura-thompson/2279252?aid=12054&ean=9781788548229&

***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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Please follow Laura here...

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