A History Of Royal Scandals

Series 1

2023 · 4 episodes · 3h 8m in all

In a four-part series for More4, historian Professor Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the royal family's long history of scandal — from suspicious deaths and sexual indiscretions to reckless spending and disastrous marriages — examining the role the press, Parliament and the public have played in generating outrage across the centuries.

Episodes

1. 

   1. Wealth and Opulence

   30 Jan 2023 · 47 min

   Professor Suzannah Lipscomb looks at stories of out-of-control spending, from Henry VIII's Field of Cloth of Gold to the extraordinary debt that George IV accrued

2. 

   2. Sex and Infidelity

   6 Feb 2023 · 47 min

   Suzannah discovers the marriage scandal that put a royal in the witness box, explores what made Charles II "the merry monarch," and uncovers a sex scandal involving a brothel and a royal prince.

3. 

   3. Suspicious Deaths

   13 Feb 2023 · 47 min

   Suzannah investigates some of the most notorious royal cold cases: did Elizabeth I's favourite murder his wife? Did Queen Victoria's uncle murder his valet? And was Britain's first Georgian king involved in the mysterious disappearance of a Swedish count?

4. 

   4. Scandalous Marriages

   20 Feb 2023 · 47 min

   Suzannah unpacks royal marriages that proved scandalous across the centuries — from a marriage deemed so wrong it led George III to have a new law written, to the trial of the first "People's Princess," Queen Caroline, and, more recently, Princess Margaret's relationship with Peter Townsend.