According to Princess Diana, Prince Charles once asked her in a towering bad temper: ‘Am I to be the only Prince of Wales not to be allowed a mistress?’ Taking their cue from the landed aristocracy, British royals have for centuries ‘married for the dynasty’ then engaged in semi-official affairs - or even long term parallel relationships - with others in their circle. Those marrying into the family were expected to ‘understand’ and not make a public fuss, and many did (unlike Diana!).Our guest this week, Tom Sykes, has a very good reason to care about this story. He’s a writer and the royal correspondent for The Daily Beast - and he thinks that his own grandmother, Camilla Sykes (nee Russell) may have had a long term love affair with the King. In fact members of Tom’s family going back several generations have been closely involved with the British royals at their wildest and naughtiest - including Edward VII when he was a most scandalous Prince of Wales. Hearing their stories provides a unique window into the social history of Upper Class Britain. You can buy books from the authors we feature here in our own Scandal Mongers bookshophttps://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scandalm...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/ScandalM...Andrew Lownie / andrewlownie Phil Craig / philmcraig Scandal Mongers / mongerspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related