And we're off into the saga of Henry VIII! Was he a tyrant, a killer of wives, a reformist, or was he just a man who really, really, needed a son? We chat his early years as a young, dashing king, his early, power couple years of marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and the reasons it all started to sour. There's war, continental politics, Papal kidnapping and more!

References:

The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir

Henry VIII: The King And His Court, Alison Weir

Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII, David Starkey

We're Back! Since we've been gone we've had a royal baby, a royal wedding, and so much more! Join us as we catch up on what's been happening in the Kensington world over the last few months! We also briefly chat the history of the Wars of the Roses, as we get into our next royal subject, Henry VIII! Was he just a British Bluebeard, or was the situation more nuanced than that?  

This week, we play the royal baby name game! How do the British royals pick their names? Who do the babies get named after?  There’s a relatively short list of traditional options, and we break them down for you, then take our best shot at guessing the name of the new baby Cambridge. We think everything is a contender for a boy’s middle name, but we’re a bit stuck on the first name. As for a girl, we see you Catherine Middleton, we’re giving you a middle name honor!

This week, we chat everything you ever wanted to know about British royal weddings! Who made the weddings more public? What flowers are in the bouquet? Who had the most 80’s dress of them all? Tune in to this week’s ep to find out!

Show Notes:

Princess Victoria's Tiara

A Royal Pink Dress

How do you keep your throne when your cousins are all losing theirs and your family legacy when you’re in danger of seeming just a wee bit too German for the British public? George V knew the answer: just change the family name! Also in this ep, like everyone else, we cover Spanish family drama and maintaining royal protocol during holidays with your in-laws. 

This week, that D-word comes back, as we talk about the ramifications of Henry VIII divorcing the pope in order to divorce his wife, and what that meant for his descendants and his country over the next 200 years. It all culminates in a German dude ascending to the english throne. Hallo, Georg Ludwig!

In this episode, the heart of the matter is once again the big D, DIVORCE. We discuss Edward VIII’s short rule and abdication, and the three major problems that led to his decision. Was it just that he couldn’t have the crown and the queen he wanted? Or, beyond “that woman”, did his Nazi sympathies lead to a conspiracy to push him off the throne? Was he just the wrong fit for king, personality-wise? Listen to find out!

Episode Sources:

Wallis In Love

Edward VIII: The Traitor King

The Uncrowned King

This week, we go through a brief history of English Queens and their consorts in Royal Oops, we still aren’t sure what a “commoner” is, and we are disgusted with the whole conversation about Kate’s fingers.  We also talk about the parallels between Princess Margaret and Prince Harry’s searches for love with divorced commoners, and discuss how one affair was a huge scandal and the other, 60 years later, is a cause for celebration. 

In Part III of our series on Queen Elizabeth II, we talk about the succession and future of the British monarchy. How do you stay relevant in a social media age? How do you rebuild the goodwill the Queen has earned over the last 60 years? How do they not become the British Kardashians? What is the legacy of Britain’s most long-reigning woman when she’s followed by three men?

The 1980s and 1990s brought new challenges to Queen Elizabeth’s reign, with an increasingly bold British press, a female Prime Minister, family scandals, and at the end of the Millennium, tragedy. We discuss how and why this era modernized the Monarchy and perhaps opened the Queen up to new ways of thinking. Also, would you want the spice girls to perform at your wedding? Will Meryl play Margaret Thatcher on The Crown?