Trashy Divorces

Trash Pandas, there are a lot of ways to leave the world, but we don't recommend the way that American founding father Gouverneur Morris did it. In this 2020 encore for America's 250th birthday, we celebrate one of the forgotten men of the country's origin.

His story is trashy enough that you wonder whether Benjamin Franklin occupying the "questionable morals in a founder" spot edged him out. Still, he was a significant figure in his time, a statesman, diplomat, and Penman of the Constitution.

Happy Independence Day, everybody!

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In this holiday episode, we go all the way back to 2020 to celebrate a true American, and maybe the OG Trash Panda, the iconic Willie Nelson. Willie may have had three divorces and some side romps along the way, but we have yet to encounter a subject who is so at peace with the Trash Candy he’s bequeathed to the world, nor as generous to those he may have hurt along the way.

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It is with no joy that Stacie reports on the public corruption catastrophe that is one Ken Paxton, current attorney general of Texas and possibly the next Senator from the Lone Star State. On the other hand, are there two people in the world who deserve each other more than Ken Paxton and Ted Cruz? We don't think so. At least Ken's wife finally bought a couple of vowels and got o-u-t.

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And finally, at least for now, we get into a bit of redemption for Taylor Frankie Paul. During a Zoom court appearance on June 1, it became pretty clear pretty fast that Taylor - and her lawyer - are genuinely grappling with what has happened and what is to come. Meanwhile, Dakota and his lawyer got busy misrepresenting an earlier ruling by the judge presiding over the hearing - and shockingly wrote off Dakota's role in the domestic violence incidents as "self-defense that didn't count as self-defense." The judge was none too pleased, and Taylor's custody situation is gradually being eased back to shared custody.

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Since our extensive coverage of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul all the way back in... last month, much has happened! Taylor and her ex-boyfriend/baby daddy Dakota Mortensen have finally been before a judge in their custody dispute. Remember that Dakota was initially awarded custody in April, with Taylor limited to supervised visitation with their 2-year-old child. Well, things seem to be changing - including Taylor, whose journey toward self-awareness continues to be non-linear and include detours to lash out at critics/friends, but seems to be a journey toward self-awareness all the same. This episode is a special 1 of 2 for Sunday. We'll be back Wednesday with plenty of trash, but blessedly no reality TV stars (we think. We're pretty sure.).

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After the death of Edwina Mountbatten in 1960, Dickie still had another 19 years of living to do, and while he was single, he was in no way alone. He had romances with plenty of women in his later years, and according to many, he had male lovers - including, it is alleged, boys - as well.

A mentor to Prince Charles, his advice to the young man may have contributed to what turned into the tragic marriage, divorce, and untimely death of Princess Diana, who was exactly the sort of woman that Dickie encouraged the playboy prince to settle down with. The men remained close through the end of Dickie's life, and Charles delivered the eulogy at both of Dickie's services in 1979.

Dickie was clearly a charming older man who counted Shirley MacClaine, Barbara Cartland, Christina Ford, and Sacha Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, who was also his god daughter, among his paramours. Let's say it was all pretty complicated, but that would only be keeping with rest of his and Edwina's history.

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As Edwina took pains to lay low in Malta after the scandals of her affairs, Italy decided to exit the League of Nations and invade Ethiopia. To protect their children, she took them to Budapest and installed them in a hotel with their nanny and governess... and then forgot which hotel they were in. For months. As the summer of 1935 turned to fall, and then winter, they just stayed in their hotel until Edwina finally came across the paper she'd written the hotel's name on, tucked into the pocket of an outfit she hadn't worn in a while. Careless people.

But then World War II came, and with so much asked of ordinary Britons, the privileged were required to step up. For perhaps the first time in her life, the skills and networking that Edwina had spent her life developing could suddenly be applied to a grand purpose: fundraising, organizing, lobbying for help in the United States. Louis was in the fight as a Naval officer, but Edwina was equally engaged, and the experience brought them together as never before.

They would have further adventures together in India, overseeing the end of the Colonial period there, and form a distinct attachment to Indian Prime Minister Nehru that would last to the end of her life in 1960.

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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 Robeson, caused scandal in the London tabloids because Robeson was Black. The Royal Family considered the situation dire enough that they demanded that Louis and Edwina sue the tabloid that wrote it about for libel, and saw to it that the court would handle the case... carefully. An early morning hearing, of which no notice was given to anyone but the Mountbattens, resulted in a quick ruling in Edwina's favor, though the couple notably did not ask for damages. Paul Robeson himself was apparently quite wounded by the whole incident, having been close to Edwina and left to deal with the fallout on his own.

The second notable affair was with Leslie "Hutch" Hutchinson, a Grenada-born musician whom Edwina had met in New York City. She encouraged him to bring his talents to England, where he became a bona fide star of the 1920s and '30s, entertaining royals and society patrons, and his work gained national prominence with frequent airings on the BBC. During his dalliance with Edwina, there are rumors that the two became "stuck" in flagrante delicto, requiring transportation by ambulance in the pose that was causing them troubles.

Louis was outraged especially by Edwina's affair with Hutch, and as the scandal grew, Hutch found that his royal and society patrons had abandoned him. In spite of his celebrity, the Mountbattens appear to have had a role in his near erasure from history. It's all reminiscent of Fitzgerald's line in Gatsby: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

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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 in her dalliances, which had previously been headline news, and Louis would be free to take lovers of his own. But a funny thing happened when he finally did - Edwina was jealous!

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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 Tucker, "The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas." These affairs took a toll on her marriage and her relations with the British Royal Family, but also laid the template for the Mountbatten marriage.

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