0:00

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to even the

0:02

royals early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery

0:04

Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple

0:06

Podcasts. A quick

0:08

note about our show. We do a lot

0:10

of research for our stories, but we also

0:13

aren't your boring high school history class. So

0:15

some details and scenes are dramatized. And

0:17

a royal heads up to you listeners out there.

0:20

We'll be exposing all kinds of family jewels today.

0:22

I love a good coin purse. I

0:24

know you do. That, plus swearing, infighting,

0:27

and a little bit of incest. Please

0:30

be advised. Hey

0:38

Brooke. Hey Aresha. So when

0:40

I say bad royal marriage, who comes

0:43

to mind? Literally

0:45

anyone who's ever been married and

0:47

royal, but I guess mostly. I'm

0:50

sure Princess Diana and Charles is

0:52

the main one. Yeah, good guess.

0:54

Yeah, totally see where your head's

0:56

at. But this week

0:58

we're going to talk about what

1:00

may be the worst royal marriage

1:02

of all time. Okay. And it's

1:04

not Diana and Charles. It's

1:07

a story that involves catfishing, fake

1:09

pregnancies, and a hangover to

1:12

end all hangovers. It's

1:14

also about a couple whose hatred for

1:17

each other leads to a war that

1:19

snowballs into a literal tabloid circus. Eventually

1:22

it leads to a trial about sexual

1:24

double standards with the whole world sitting

1:26

on the edge of their seats to

1:28

see how it will all play out.

1:31

Me included. Rocket

1:52

Money is a personal finance app

1:54

that finds and cancels your unwanted

1:56

subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps

1:58

lower your bills. Rocket

2:00

Money has over 5 million users and has helped save

2:03

its members an average of $720 a year with over

2:05

500 million in cancelled subscriptions. Stop

2:11

wasting money on things you don't

2:13

use. Cancel your

2:15

unwanted subscriptions by

2:18

going to rocketmoney.com/Wondery.

2:20

That's rocketmoney.com/ Wondery.

2:22

rocketmoney.com. slash wondery.

2:27

Okay, it's time to commit.

2:29

2024 is the year for

2:31

prioritizing yourself. Begin your new

2:33

smile journey with Bite and you could start seeing

2:35

results in just 2 to 3 weeks. Just

2:38

order your at-home impression kit today for only

2:40

$14.95 at bite.com. Bite

2:43

clear aligners are doctor-directed and delivered

2:45

to your door. Treatment costs thousands

2:47

less than braces. Plus,

2:50

they offer financing options, accept eligible insurance,

2:52

and you can pay with your HSA

2:54

FSA. Get 80% off

2:57

your impression kit when you use code wondery at

2:59

bite.com. That's byte.com. Start

3:02

your confidence journey today with Bite.

3:04

It's August 1820 in

3:07

needed. Team

3:10

Caroline rides in a royal carriage pulled

3:12

by six horses. Thunderclouds

3:15

haven't scared off the thousands of people

3:17

that are here to watch her ride

3:19

to Parliament. They want

3:21

to see her off as she attends

3:23

the trial of her life. It's a

3:25

trial where she'll either beat the monarchy

3:28

or lose absolutely everything.

3:31

The only thing that's holding the crowd

3:33

back are these wooden police barriers that

3:36

line the street. There

3:38

are soldiers standing behind them. They're

3:40

long bayonets after ready. Caroline

3:43

can't tell if the people are for her

3:45

or against her. She's

3:48

almost relieved as they pull up to Parliament. The

3:51

shouts of the crowd are muffled as she goes into

3:53

the building. The room

3:55

is filled with hundreds of these

3:58

grave-looking men in black robes. Everyone's

4:01

eyes are on Caroline as she settles into

4:03

her seat. She's been

4:05

accused of a crime so heinous

4:08

it has the whole country in an uproar.

4:11

Her accuser is none other

4:13

than her husband, George IV,

4:16

AKA the King of

4:18

England. So now,

4:21

of course, the million dollar question, what's

4:24

her crime? Now

4:26

Brooke, I want you to put on that

4:28

sink and cap of yours. And tell

4:30

me, what do you think is the worst thing

4:32

a wife can do to her husband in the 1800s?

4:36

Pour out all of his tea into the

4:38

flower pots? Well, that did start a whole

4:40

party over here in Boston. Exactly.

4:44

But no, what would you say

4:46

about having a very long, very

4:48

public affair out of wedlock? And

4:51

what if I told you her lover in question

4:54

isn't a duke or an earl, but

4:57

a servant? Gasp!

5:00

I know. Absolute scandal. But

5:02

this isn't just a divorce trial. And it's

5:04

not just about man versus wife. It's

5:07

what happens when a woman dares to

5:09

act like a man. Or in

5:11

this case, when a queen dares to act

5:13

like a king. Everything

5:15

is at stake. If Caroline wins

5:18

this trial, she'll rewrite the rules for

5:20

female royals for years to come. But

5:23

if she fails, well, she'll

5:26

lose her title, her crown,

5:29

and her freedom. From

5:41

Wandery, I'm Arisha Skidmore-Williams. And I'm

5:43

Brooke Siffrin. And this is Even

5:46

the Royals, where we bring you

5:48

true stories of the world's kings,

5:50

queens, And all the wannabes in their

5:52

orbit. A

6:05

hole in the paper. The God paying. High

6:08

are are just like article. That I

6:10

have enough to break up of fact

6:12

fabbing frenemies network of drama. yeah only

6:14

that ended more to be hiding them

6:16

hum time. The Hall of Diocese. This

6:23

Your Part series is all about Queer

6:25

Caroline of Friends Black, The Lg. People

6:27

friends that to be com as. Have my

6:30

darling, this is part weren't. Lox

6:42

travel back twenty six years to the

6:44

summer of seventy nine before in London.

6:48

It's the eve of the

6:50

Regency era aka Jane Austen

6:52

territory. think cream puff on

6:55

silver trays, losses through ballrooms,

6:57

and bruisers in dresses were.

6:59

And Carlton House. But how does

7:01

not? Thought it had all. It's

7:04

a huge mansion with greek columns

7:06

and stained glass windows. A sitting

7:08

home for the Prince of Wales,

7:10

George, the for heir to the

7:12

party stream. And

7:14

this fine summer morning, the sun

7:17

signs to the windows and lights

7:19

up the wreckage from last night's

7:21

carriage. Broken glass is stamped out,

7:24

cigars, powdered wigs hanging from Santa

7:26

layers. It's like the wreckage from

7:28

the world. Fanciest rangers or one

7:30

of our sleepovers exactly. Now let's

7:33

zero in on the centerpiece of

7:35

the realm. a portrait of towards

7:37

him. Want

7:40

your prince charming to be hall with

7:42

broad shoulders and a sexy royal. Profiles?

7:45

Well, okay, sexy for the

7:47

late seventeen hundred. The only

7:49

problem is the real thing

7:51

doesn't look anything like that.

7:54

That guy is hop out

7:56

underneath a portrait and he

7:59

floated blood. Dot and wearing a

8:01

same shirt that guides us over his.

8:03

Belly again like one of our sleep overs

8:05

that is so crazy. Up see I knew

8:07

he would get it. A

8:10

messenger tiptoes into the room and six

8:12

the prince, the lake. He's

8:14

brought news that's about amid sort of

8:16

headache. Whether. It's

8:18

a letter from his father. King George

8:21

the Third. and here's the just.

8:23

king. Dad has had enough of

8:25

his sons. We sideways. I mean

8:27

the guy is. Thirty. Two for

8:29

God said oh my God. And remember

8:31

this is the late seventeen hundred, so

8:33

he's essentially a geriatric. Yeah, Let's

8:36

nowadays thirty two feals? Geriatric to. But

8:38

that's beside the point. The

8:41

king's letter also tells the friends he

8:43

needs to stop spending money like it's

8:45

his job. At this point, the Prince.

8:47

Is in deep debt like over

8:50

a hundred million dollars by today's

8:52

rate. The British people have been

8:54

doing. A lot of complaining about the

8:56

royal family lately like why do they

8:59

get to live it up when everyone

9:01

else struggles just to put food on

9:03

the table and legitimate question so the

9:05

king those family has that's more down

9:08

to earth but if son apparently keep

9:10

sending the memo to his trash older.

9:13

The. King and Parliament are desperate to

9:15

range or dead. So. Today

9:17

they're making him a deal. If

9:19

he marries a nice noble girl,

9:21

Parliament will pay off all of

9:24

his debts. But George

9:26

says, thanks, What's the point of having

9:28

money if I have a wife holding

9:30

me back a man charged. Know

9:35

not a bad as. I'm

9:37

in Georgia that I'm sorry man I said. Well,

9:40

we see this guess and

9:42

swords dance to his room

9:44

and flings himself and a

9:46

featherbed. Were. A nude woman

9:49

just happens to be waiting for. This

9:52

is lee New Jersey. She's

9:54

beautiful paintings the life as

9:57

any party. She's. Also

9:59

a math. Manipulate and of now

10:01

Lady Jersey is nearly ten years

10:03

older than George. She's married

10:06

with children and grandchildren but the

10:08

princess a thing for older women

10:10

and right now see his his

10:12

number one misses the Prince cells

10:15

Lady Jersey all about his that

10:17

plan. And right away

10:19

her we'll start turning now since

10:21

he doesn't have the status to

10:24

marry toward herself. She figures

10:26

see will find him alive and

10:28

so pick out a total died

10:31

Several have no problem casting to

10:33

one. Side and georges like please

10:35

do it Okay, I literally thought

10:37

she was gonna offer. Up a

10:39

daughter as others have a this isn't a

10:42

book, The roads. I leave and

10:44

then the two of them do

10:46

what they do best selling champagne

10:49

and bang. Let's.

10:53

Go back about ten yards. For.

10:55

No longer. and the comfy, cozy

10:58

home of the pins or five

11:00

hundred miles last in a castle

11:02

in Prussia and somewhere in that

11:04

car full of girl is for

11:07

remember her head off and the

11:09

Duke and Duchess of Brunswick race

11:11

through the hall drawn away from

11:13

the party. their host and downstairs

11:15

say first into the room of

11:18

their sixteen year old daughter, Caroline.

11:20

She's riding on her bed in

11:22

agony, her face is sale and

11:24

her blonde curls. are plastered to

11:26

her forehead. The Duke and duchess ball

11:28

to their knees at her bedside. Caroline

11:32

leans forward and soaked

11:34

out the words I'm in.

11:37

Flavor. Oh My. God. I knew it. Caroline's

11:40

parents are like hold up.

11:43

Because. The thing is, that's

11:45

impossible. They keep their

11:47

daughter locked up. the. Day and night.

11:50

That. Means no friends, no

11:52

parties and definitely no boys.

11:55

But. What about storks? No.

11:58

no birds either Other. Caroline's

12:01

pregnant. It must. Be. Immaculate

12:03

Conception isn't and. Just

12:05

like that. Caroline. Stop

12:07

Screaming. She. Smiles then

12:09

says and I quote. Now

12:12

Madame, will you keep me another time from

12:15

a ball. Oh my the head.

12:17

That. Of. But

12:20

the thing is, it was all a prank. she.

12:22

Was trying to prove that if see can't enjoy.

12:24

The party? No one can. And.

12:27

This. Is classic Caroline

12:29

see makes up wild stories

12:32

and. Places

12:35

and to and Samsung soldiers.

12:37

she's bandwidth he does a

12:39

friend. She's part of a secret

12:41

society. She convinces her guards that

12:44

she's mentally insane stuff. For the,

12:46

however, But what

12:48

Caroline really wants is to countless

12:50

she wants to put on one

12:52

of her fabulous down, grab a

12:54

dude and hit the dance. You

12:56

know, go full middle schoolers grinding

12:59

to Low Wayne for all of

13:01

pressure to behold. Ah, take me

13:03

back, suffer. From the window that's

13:05

not well with a low weight. Or

13:07

we saw, how dare

13:10

you. Oh no. Instead.

13:13

Caroline Spencer. Teenage years and most

13:15

of our twenties locked in her room.

13:18

By twenty six, she's creeping

13:20

into spencer territory with quick.

13:22

Sidebar. That then it was a

13:24

dreaded label, but nowadays. It's what we

13:26

like to call a girl's dream, exactly.

13:30

Her parents and try to marry

13:32

her off, but her bad rap

13:34

has spread throughout Europe and all

13:36

the way back to Lady Jersey.

13:39

Now let me out here at

13:41

Caroline Is Prince George's first cousin

13:43

now playing so our master manipulator

13:45

sends a marriage proposal. Off and

13:47

it's the perfect plan. George marry

13:50

someone he's bound to heat, and

13:52

Jersey remains the only woman whispering

13:54

in his ear. But

13:56

of course Caroline doesn't know any

13:58

of that. She gets a miniature

14:01

portrait of the prince. He's

14:03

tall, dark, and handsome. And

14:05

most important of all, he's

14:08

her big chance to escape. In

14:15

April of 1795, Caroline's ship

14:17

finally lands in Britain. She's

14:20

all dolled up to meet her

14:22

prince in a white muslin gown and

14:24

a pair of these chic wooden heels.

14:27

She takes her first wobbly steps onto the

14:29

dock and waves at the crowd. But

14:32

the prince isn't there.

14:36

She waits around for an hour before

14:39

royal carriage finally pulls up. The

14:41

door swings open and

14:44

it's not the prince. It's

14:46

a glamorous woman in a scarlet top

14:48

hat and matching dress. What

14:50

every woman wants to see on their way to meet a prince. Exactly.

14:55

This woman sachets towards her. Compared

14:58

to Caroline, she's impossibly confident.

15:01

I mean, she's literally wearing a top hat,

15:03

which is easily the hardest success through the

15:05

pull off unless you're a magician. Agree,

15:07

and even then, it's tough. The

15:10

sacheting woman introduces herself as

15:13

Caroline's new lady in waiting,

15:16

Lady Jersey. Lady Jersey's

15:18

here to bring her back to the palace. Caroline

15:21

wonders why her betrothed couldn't

15:23

come himself, but she shrugged

15:25

it off. Caroline

15:28

watches as the muddy streets of

15:30

London give way to the manicured

15:32

lawns of the royal palace. When

15:36

they arrive, Caroline's doubts evaporate.

15:40

The palace is just as breathtaking as she hoped

15:42

it would be. Then

15:44

the trumpet's blare and the mood in the

15:46

room shut. Lady Jersey

15:49

grabs Caroline's arms and whispers, and

15:53

he turns the corner, and there he is,

15:56

close towards him in

15:58

a bottle green waistcoat. sparkling with

16:00

metal. He

16:02

approaches Caroline and looks her up

16:05

and down. And then

16:07

he straight up turns around

16:10

and leaves. All right, that's

16:12

not a good way to start a bank sesh if you ask me.

16:15

Mm-hmm. So Caroline's left

16:17

standing there totally stunned. She

16:19

hears the prince yell to his attendant, I'm

16:22

not well. Get me a glass of brandy.

16:25

Hmm. Honestly, if you didn't say glass, I

16:27

would have assumed brandy was just another cousin

16:29

he wanted to bang. But this guy's

16:31

a dick. Let's just say it. You

16:34

said it. I did. Caroline, on

16:36

the other hand, is like,

16:38

Hello, I've been catfished. George

16:41

is about 20 pounds heavier than his

16:43

portrait. And he's got beady

16:45

little eyes and no chin. So

16:48

Caroline asks the servant to show her to her

16:50

room. Once there, she wanders

16:53

to the window and looks out. London

16:56

is so gray. The

16:59

buildings, the sky, the

17:01

smoky air. She

17:03

starts to wonder if she just made a

17:05

huge mistake. But then

17:07

she sees something else. A

17:09

crowd of people have gathered in front of the palace

17:11

gates. All of

17:13

them are staring up at her tower window

17:15

and they're waving. She

17:18

wonders if they came to see her,

17:20

not her douchebag of a fiancee, but

17:23

her. Caroline of Brunswick,

17:25

their new princess, their

17:27

future. Somehow,

17:30

seeing them is enough to convince her to

17:32

stay where she is. On

17:40

April 8th, 1795, Caroline

17:43

stands at the altar in St.

17:45

James Palace. She's wearing

17:47

a dress of lace and silver with

17:49

a fur robe encrusted with jewels. She's

17:52

absolutely giving princess. Across

17:55

from her is her soon to be husband, Prince

17:58

George, who some somehow

18:00

looks worse than the first time they met. As

18:04

the Archbishop breathes through the service, Caroline

18:06

looks more closely at George. There's

18:09

something off about him today. At

18:11

first she can't figure it out. He's

18:14

wobbling. For a

18:16

fleeting second she's like, wow, he's so

18:18

moved to be marrying me. He can't

18:20

stand still. Yeah, that's what

18:22

they usually do. Yep.

18:25

But that second is very fleeting because

18:27

she takes a whiff and is dangerously

18:29

close to getting contact drunk. Because

18:33

the man reeks of

18:35

Brandy. Oh my god. Should

18:37

we call this episode Brandy Brandy more Brandy?

18:39

Maybe. Good alt title. The

18:42

Prince is trashed. Caroline

18:45

glares at him and he stares back

18:47

at her with his watery drunk eye. But

18:50

they're more than just drunk-laced. In

18:52

fact, they're actually full of tears.

18:55

Oh. For a second she thinks

18:57

he might be feeling guilty about showing up

18:59

drunk to his own wedding. But

19:02

then she realizes he's not even

19:04

looking at her. He's

19:07

looking past her, right

19:09

over her shoulder, to where

19:11

Lady Jersey is standing. Lady

19:13

Jersey who also has tears in

19:15

her eyes. Lady

19:18

Jersey who's dressed way

19:20

too sexy for a church wedding. I

19:22

mean I told her those Crown pasties weren't a good idea.

19:26

Caroline feels her stomach drop. It

19:29

dawns on her that George might be

19:31

in love with her lady-in-waiting. This

19:34

is even wilder than the lies she used to cook

19:36

up to entertain herself. But

19:39

every instinct she has is telling her

19:42

it's true. The

19:44

couple rushes through the I-do's and they

19:46

high-tail it to the reception. Right

19:49

away, George starts chugging vodka.

19:52

Just kidding. It's Brandi. Oh,

19:54

Sam, I was like, wow, George is twitching it up. Just for

19:56

him. Caroline crosses the room

19:58

and down the line. one herself. She

20:01

needs it. A

20:03

few brandies later, Caroline starts to

20:05

notice everyone is whispering. And

20:08

they're all saying the same name over

20:10

and over. Lady

20:12

Mariah. At this point,

20:15

Caroline's had enough surprises.

20:18

So she grabs the servant and asks, who

20:21

the hell is Lady Mariah? Now

20:24

the poor servant looks like she'd rather jump out

20:26

a window than answer. But when

20:28

the princess asks you a direct question,

20:31

you don't have a choice. So

20:33

she tells Caroline that Lady Mariah

20:36

is George's other wife.

20:38

What? Honestly, why? I don't know

20:40

why I'm surprised by this truly. Like I'm such

20:42

a clown, but I honestly didn't see that coming

20:44

for some reason. God. Yeah.

20:47

Okay. So here's the deal. A

20:49

decade back, George developed an unhealthy

20:51

obsession with Lady Mariah. So the

20:53

thing is, Mariah's a Roman

20:56

Catholic, which means the crown would

20:58

never recognize their marriage. But

21:01

this is George we're talking about, and he

21:03

refused to accept this. And so

21:05

he married Mariah in secret. Now

21:08

the marriage definitely is not legal, but

21:10

he still calls her his wife, and he

21:12

forces her to be part of his entourage.

21:16

The bonkers part about this though is that they're

21:18

not even romantic anymore. But for

21:20

some reason, he still keeps her at court, making

21:23

everyone feel super awkward. No, this

21:26

is all just too much for Caroline.

21:29

The room starts to swirl around her.

21:32

She feels like she might be sick. How

21:34

is it that everyone here knew her

21:37

marriage was a joke? Except for her.

21:40

As if on cue. George

21:42

passes out right in the middle of

21:44

the party. Caroline

21:46

stares out into her future, lying

21:49

face planted on the floor. T

22:01

Mobile has invested billions to light up

22:03

America's largest five G network from big

22:05

cities to small towns including right here

22:07

in yours. and great Coverage is just

22:09

the beginning. Right now, families and small

22:12

businesses can save up to twenty percent

22:14

versus a teen teen. arise And when

22:16

they switch, visit your local T Mobile

22:18

store today! Plan

22:24

savings with realize of T Mobile essential versus

22:26

comparable available plans, planned features and taxes and

22:28

fees. Me very. Not

22:41

long after their wedding, Caroline gets

22:43

pregnant, which is impressive

22:45

since by all accounts she and

22:47

George only have sex three times

22:50

in their whole marriage. Those are

22:52

some strong slimmers. Yeah, they are.

22:55

And even though Caroline despises George, she's

22:57

really relieved to be pregnant.

23:00

Because preserving the royal line is her

23:02

number one job. Maybe

23:04

now the royal family will finally start treating her

23:06

like one of them. Only

23:09

that doesn't pan out. George

23:11

has six sisters and none of them

23:13

shows any interest in hanging with Caroline.

23:16

And the queen openly dislikes her. She

23:19

prefers the more dignified lady

23:21

jersey. There's

23:24

actually only one member of the royal

23:26

family who hasn't written Caroline off yet.

23:29

And that's the king. So

23:31

when he offers out of the blue to take her on a walk

23:33

around the grounds, she's like, okay,

23:36

what's going on? Is

23:39

he going to bury my body? Yeah,

23:41

just normal questions. Yeah, it

23:43

turns out the king loves

23:45

her. No one ever makes

23:47

jokes or talks so freely around him. She's

23:50

like Jennifer Lawrence at the 2013 Oscars. So

23:53

she fell down? Mm hmm. Caroline

23:56

may only have one friend in the country,

23:58

but at least he's. the one who runs

24:00

it. Sadly for

24:03

Caroline though, none of this helps improve

24:05

things with her husband. He's

24:07

of course jealous of her relationship with

24:09

his dad, so he decides to

24:12

relocate them to the country. And now

24:16

it's just Caroline, George, and

24:18

of course Lady Jersey who moves in with

24:20

them. Their shadow.

24:22

Yeah, seriously. By now Caroline

24:25

can't stand Lady Jersey. She spends

24:27

her days shut up in her room

24:29

to avoid them. As

24:31

her belly grows, her energy just

24:33

wastes away. By the time

24:35

she returns to London to give birth, she feels

24:38

like a shell of herself. In

24:41

January of 1796, their

24:43

daughter Charlotte is born. Caroline

24:46

is overjoyed, and she wants to do

24:48

right by her daughter. Prince

24:51

George himself is disappointed.

24:54

He wanted a son. But one

24:56

thing about George is dude

24:58

does not need an excuse to celebrate.

25:02

So he rages. He rages

25:04

hard. He drinks so much

25:06

he ends up with a hangover he literally

25:08

thinks will kill him. George

25:11

is so sure he's about to kick the

25:13

bucket that he decides to write a final will

25:15

and testament. And in it

25:18

he leaves everything to his daughter and

25:20

wife. His first

25:22

wife, aka Lady Mariah. But

25:25

for Caroline, he leaves her one

25:28

countum. One shilling,

25:30

which is less than a

25:32

penny. Oh my god. The best part

25:34

of all of this is that this whole

25:36

story, including a copy of the will, gets

25:39

leaked to the press. Naturally,

25:41

the tabloids go ham with the

25:43

story. The iron

25:45

things that bang out letters are

25:48

flying so fast, there are definitely

25:50

sparks. Was it page six

25:52

back then? Mm hmm. That's it.

25:54

You know it. Cool. So

25:57

At first Caroline is pissed. Now

25:59

Any. You never knew baby

26:01

is gonna be overshadowed by the scandal.

26:04

But. Then she actually looks at

26:06

the headlines and they're all

26:08

on her side. The Times,

26:10

The Morning Post, The Morning

26:12

Herald. They're all team Caroline.

26:15

Turns out they hate the parades as

26:17

much as. See does they actually

26:19

refer to her as George's

26:21

prisoner rather than his wife?

26:24

But it goes beyond that.

26:26

They love Caroline's whole vibe

26:28

of naturals years, so down

26:30

to earth she is. Let's.

26:32

Say only people.

26:39

Things start to heat up

26:41

April's and house George is

26:43

curious about the headlines, so

26:45

he takes revenge on Caroline

26:47

again. This time he restricts

26:50

her visits with baby Charlotte

26:52

Caroline's. Only allowed in the nursery

26:54

once a day. And for a very

26:56

short time. After that, she

26:58

has to go back to her chamber and while

27:00

away the hours. With Lady Jersey.

27:03

Oh God Yes. Eventually

27:05

Caroline decides sees had

27:07

enough. See has got to get

27:09

rid of Lady Dorothy. At.

27:11

First, he tries to please her case

27:13

to George, but he avoids her like

27:15

the plague and ignores all of her

27:17

requires for a private meeting which. The

27:20

idea of having to request a meeting with

27:22

your husband? Fuck off. Yeah, While you know

27:24

they can find each other in a castle

27:26

thing I do. Sort. The several

27:29

months caroline decide so without her quillon.

27:31

Parchment and give him a piece

27:33

of her mind. Which. Means

27:35

we've got receipts. Oh,

27:37

Level. Now the best part is we have

27:40

some of these actual. Letters so.

27:43

I'll go ahead, put on my testing

27:45

cap, and I'll be Caroline and you

27:47

can be George. Theorist

27:49

Shorts. As I never had the

27:51

pleasure to see you alone. I

27:53

urge you to reflect on my

27:56

extremely disagreeable, an embarrassing situation and

27:58

alter it. In other

28:01

words, Is essentially saying stop running

28:03

away from me you fucking asshole. Yeah,

28:05

I'm first Let me just say I

28:07

think your trip to London helps your

28:09

British accent. And. That's saying

28:11

a lot. Honestly, I'm I.

28:14

Didn't really are most at all the

28:16

highest compliment you ever given me. All

28:18

right Okay of a sigh of Georgia's

28:21

yeah that are here You read that

28:23

Dear Wife I can't stand quote. I.

28:26

Am outraged by the and

28:28

delicate expressions by my license

28:30

translation? maybe? I'm. Of but hurt

28:32

little. Crybaby. Best. George

28:37

citizens. Will on or off

28:39

with the line. That nearly makes

28:41

Caroline snap her quillon whole. He

28:43

says they would be better off

28:45

living separately. As in

28:47

forever. Okay, That sounds

28:49

like a royal pussy Certain way to say

28:52

divorce. I mean, essentially it's. Regency speak

28:54

for irreconcilable differences are hate and

28:56

a lot of and this is

28:58

seventy ninety six. So rural. Divorce

29:00

at this time. Definitely not

29:03

a good idea and the person

29:05

his most anti divorce is actually

29:07

the king Him. Revolution.

29:10

Is buzzing all across Europe and he

29:12

doesn't want to give the public any

29:14

reason to doubt the stability of the

29:16

crown. Which. Gives Caroline an

29:18

idea has the right back to

29:20

her husband because they don't know

29:22

how to communicate with each other

29:24

with their words yeah and she

29:26

asks him to clarify exactly what

29:28

he meant in his last letter

29:30

with this was a genius getting

29:32

it all in writing. Here and

29:34

george the less is dumb little.

29:37

Heart takes the bait. He.

29:39

Does they're clearly a bad match? And should

29:41

stop forcing it. And Caroline's like, thanks,

29:43

yeah, Bonehead and she sends a copy

29:46

of a Letter to The King. Basically,

29:48

this is just. An old

29:50

version of B C C and

29:52

I love it! He al other

29:55

Dc seizure have some fun. and

29:58

family also tells the king P.S.

30:01

Lady Jersey is putting a lot

30:03

of strain on my marriage. Hint,

30:06

hint. Mm-hmm. I mean, you gotta think

30:08

about this. She's going behind

30:10

the prince's back, which is a

30:12

bold move. But

30:14

sadly, this moment of badassery doesn't

30:16

pay off. The king writes

30:19

back and says he's not about to get involved

30:21

in an unhappy couple's squabbles. He

30:24

tells her to suck it up and keep it

30:26

private. So at this

30:28

point, Caroline is feeling totally trapped.

30:31

And to add insult to injury, George

30:33

has started sending spies to follow her

30:35

around. Oh. He's trying to build

30:38

his case that Caroline can't be trusted. But

30:41

not long after the king's letter, Caroline gets

30:43

a stroke of good luck. She

30:46

wakes up one morning to a juicy article in

30:48

The Times. It's all about

30:50

rumors of, quote, a separation

30:52

in highlights. Now,

30:54

it doesn't actually name Caroline or George,

30:56

but everyone knows who it's referring

30:59

to. And once again,

31:01

the bottom line is that people

31:03

love her and they hate him. I

31:06

mean, join the club. I know at the beginning I said

31:08

I was zoned or just side, but I take it back.

31:10

Wow. I'm sorry. So

31:13

wishy-washy. Yeah, that's sweet. A few

31:15

days later, Caroline takes herself out to the

31:17

royal opera. The moment she

31:19

enters the lobby, the audience gives

31:22

her a standing ovation. Well.

31:24

They whistle and clap just like

31:26

everyone at my improv shows. They

31:29

even start up a cheer of God Save

31:31

the Princess rather than a customary God

31:33

Save the King. Now, this is

31:35

very bad news for the crown. Radical

31:38

anti-royal parties are springing up

31:41

everywhere. They're questioning the power of the

31:43

king and all of his puppets in

31:45

parliament. And they seem to

31:47

have found a mascot in Caroline. Now,

31:49

the king recognizes his daughter-in-law is

31:51

a force to be reckoned with. And

31:54

she's bold enough to wield her power to get what

31:57

she wants. So he decides

31:59

it's time to go. to cut her a deal.

32:01

And he writes to her and says, you

32:04

win. No more lady jersey. Whoa.

32:08

Yeah. Okay. I'm listening.

32:10

Talk about bitches getting shit

32:12

done. Caroline

32:16

uses this opportunity to ask the king

32:18

for one more favor. She

32:20

wants to take a break from city life and

32:22

her husband. Can she spend a summer

32:24

away in the burbs? The

32:27

king thinks about it. I mean, when his

32:29

son and Caroline get together, all they do

32:31

is cause drama and bad press. So he's

32:33

like, okay, get out

32:35

of here, kid. Yeah, stamp her away.

32:38

Go have some fun. Yeah. Yeah. Caroline

32:40

does that. She

32:42

takes a victory dance around her

32:44

chamber because for the first time

32:46

in her life, she's about to

32:48

get a little taste of freedom. Now

32:50

the question is what to do

32:53

with it. The

32:55

first thing Caroline does with her new

32:58

sound freedom is set up her own

33:00

party headquarters. She moves into

33:02

a mansion in this quaint neighborhood just

33:04

outside of London. Everyone

33:06

who's anyone comes to Caroline's

33:08

parties. The summer of 1799 is

33:11

so good for Caroline that she

33:13

stays on through the rest of the year,

33:16

and the next year, and the

33:18

one after that. The

33:21

distance between her and George is doing

33:23

the trick. Besides a

33:25

few stats, there's not much drama for the papers

33:27

to write about. Over the

33:29

next four years, Caroline makes some

33:32

great friends. She's making

33:34

real friends. And some of them

33:37

are of the male

33:39

persuasion. Okay. Yeah. Now

33:43

people know about this, and they usually

33:45

just look the other way. But a

33:47

few close friends warned Caroline that she

33:49

needs to be more discreet. If

33:51

she sleeps with another guy and gets pregnant, that

33:54

counts as high treason. And

33:56

high treason means goodbye to your head.

34:00

But Caroline is just like us. She

34:02

likes to live on the edge. When

34:05

a party gets dull, she'll come downstairs dressed

34:07

as an opera singer with fake eyebrows and

34:09

her boobs out. So us minus

34:12

the eyebrows. That's so crazy. I

34:14

was gonna say that she had her tits out and I was

34:16

gonna be joking. Oh, I love

34:18

it. I love her. I love

34:20

Caroline Stan. Yeah, she's amazing. When

34:24

she's bored, she'll sit on a man's

34:26

lap and smoke his pipe. In

34:28

the court of Caroline, life is fed

34:30

in game. And honestly, we all should

34:33

adopt this philosophy. Amen. The

34:35

only thing that's missing for Caroline is

34:37

her daughter, Charlotte. The little

34:39

princess is growing up and Caroline's not

34:41

a part of it. George has

34:43

now restricted her visits to once a week.

34:46

And she's really craving that unconditional love

34:48

you can only get from a child.

34:51

Or a dog, Horisha. Very

34:53

good point. In

35:00

the fall of 1802, Caroline takes in a

35:03

three month old boy named Willie

35:05

Austin. Willie's from

35:07

a poor family. And his mother is thrilled

35:10

to see him raised in a royal household.

35:13

Caroline sets up a nursery and she spends

35:15

her days doting on him. Something she

35:17

could never do with Charlotte. She

35:20

knows other people may judge her for bringing in a

35:22

child that's not her own. But she

35:24

doesn't care. By the summer of 1805,

35:26

the only thing that's

35:28

putting a crimp in Caroline's

35:30

style is her judgmental neighbor,

35:33

Lady Douglas. She's her

35:35

classic nightmare next door neighbor. Similar

35:37

to the ones upstairs that won't stop tapping

35:39

at your apartment. Lady

35:42

Douglas is always spreading rumors about

35:45

Caroline and her loose ways with men.

35:48

But this is Caroline's court. And she

35:50

gets the say who stays and

35:52

goes. So that fall, she

35:54

uses her influence to evict Lady

35:57

Douglas and her husband. time,

36:00

peace is restored. But a

36:02

few months later, Caroline gets

36:04

an unexpected knock on her door. Maybe

36:07

one of her party guests showed up early. But the

36:10

guy at the door is a stranger. A

36:14

stranger in a royal uniform.

36:16

This is definitely not a

36:18

friend. He tells her that

36:20

he's one of the king's officials, and he's

36:22

here to question her servants. At

36:25

this point, Caroline starts to think back.

36:28

What the hell could this be about?

36:30

Did George hear about one of her

36:32

affairs? Have her party bills gotten

36:34

out of hand? She tries

36:37

to recount all the things that could have raised

36:39

a red flag. But at

36:41

this point, there are just too many to

36:43

count for this pretty animal. All

36:46

Caroline knows is this means

36:49

trouble. At

36:58

Amica Insurance, we know it's more

37:00

than just a car. It's

37:03

the two-door coupe that was there for your first

37:05

drive. The

37:08

hatchback that took you cross-country and back.

37:12

And the minivan that tackled the weekly car

37:15

pools. For

37:17

the cars you couldn't live without, trust

37:19

Amica Auto Insurance. Amica.

37:23

Empathy is our best policy. Okay,

37:36

we're gonna turn back the clock. To

37:40

the fall of 1805. We're

37:42

back in Carlton House, and Prince George is

37:44

bored. Like

37:46

mind-numbingly bored. Middle

37:49

of the pandemic, we've done all our

37:51

puzzles, so fucking bored. Made

37:53

all the sourdough. Made all the sourdough,

37:55

exactly. Lady Jersey has been

37:57

sent away, and his first wife, Marie,

38:00

Mariah isn't responding to his letters.

38:03

And let's be honest, why would she?

38:05

Yeah. He's a 40-year-old deadbeat

38:07

with no real job and no power. You know,

38:09

I gotta say really quickly, all

38:11

these princess movies really make

38:13

princes seem way less

38:16

mediocre than they are in real life. I know.

38:19

Is that fair to say? It's fair to say, and

38:21

it's so true. Okay, good. It means we need to

38:23

rewrite the whole genre. Yeah, we've been lied to. What

38:27

George wants, more than anything, is to

38:29

take over for his dad and play

38:31

king. And the thing is,

38:34

the king has been struggling with his health.

38:36

Specifically, he's been suffering from bouts of

38:39

what used to be called just plain old

38:41

madness. Out of nowhere,

38:43

he'll start rambling or throwing punches in

38:45

the palace. Nowadays,

38:47

researchers are pretty sure he had a

38:50

mental illness, and some think he may

38:52

have been ball-caller. But this is

38:54

the 1800s. So the

38:56

doctors would just stuff a patient in a

38:58

straitjacket and douse them in leeches. What?

39:01

Leeches? You know, just

39:04

classic cure for old-time madness.

39:07

And they thought that worked so they kept doing

39:09

it? Mm-hmm. Interesting, okay. Honestly,

39:11

it's a wonder we've made it to 2023. Hitty,

39:14

you're not lying. Now, if

39:16

the king gets declared insane, George

39:18

would be appointed regent, which basically

39:20

is like making him acting manager

39:22

of a plant. Unfortunately

39:25

for Georgie Boy, every time the king

39:27

does have a breakdown, he makes a

39:29

miraculous recovery. But

39:32

for now, George is trapped. And

39:34

to make matters worse, he keeps hearing rumors

39:36

about how much the people love Caroline.

39:39

They keep publishing these fangirl articles about

39:41

her in the papers. The

39:44

only things they print about him are cartoons

39:46

where he has a huge beer gut and

39:48

graying hair. So basically, he's

39:50

treated like the women in the media of our

39:52

day and age, and she's treated like the man.

39:55

Yeah, wow, you know, I love a

39:57

good switcherooney. Yeah, me too. It's kind of fun. But

40:00

on a chilly November morning in 1805, George's

40:03

luck takes a turn. He

40:06

hears a strange rumor about

40:08

Caroline from her ex-neighbor, Lady

40:10

Douglas. Actually, it's more

40:12

than strange. He hears a dangerous rumor. Now,

40:15

George may not be able to speed up his dad's

40:17

decline, but he maybe could get

40:19

rid of Caroline once and for all. He

40:22

spends months gathering all the damning

40:24

evidence he can find on this

40:26

rumor, and sends it off

40:28

to the prime minister and the king. In

40:31

the end, his detective efforts play off.

40:34

The king has no choice but

40:36

to authorize a secret commission to

40:39

investigate Caroline and her life at

40:41

Montague House. To keep it

40:43

under wraps, they're calling it the

40:46

delicate investigation. Okay,

40:52

we're back at Montague House in the

40:54

summer of 1806. The

40:57

king's officials have come and gone, and

40:59

Caroline is freaking out. She

41:02

still has no idea what she's being accused

41:04

of, and the king refuses

41:06

to meet with her to explain. She

41:09

can't understand why her sweet father-in-law

41:11

is ghosting her all of a sudden. After

41:14

over two long months, the

41:17

king finally sends her a copy of

41:19

the investigation. And so now

41:21

we have the big question. What

41:24

is Caroline being accused of? Hmm.

41:28

So remember Willie Austin, the little boy she

41:30

took in? Yeah. The

41:33

report claimed that he's actually her

41:35

real son, and he was

41:37

born out of wedlock. Oh, wow,

41:39

okay. Lady Douglas says

41:41

she definitely saw Caroline pregnant. She

41:44

even recounts this crazy story about

41:46

breast milk bursting out of Caroline

41:48

at the breakfast table. When

41:51

you have your boobs out at parties, I mean, that's easy

41:53

to see. The

41:56

whole thing, of course, is 100% bullshit. who

42:00

has both faked and had a real

42:02

birth, Caroline thinks she would remember giving

42:04

birth to this boy. So

42:06

Caroline writes letter after letter

42:08

to the king, pleading her innocence. She

42:12

also starts making a mental list of every

42:14

single awful thing George has ever said or

42:16

done. It takes her days

42:18

and she needs a hand transplant when she's

42:20

done. She writes out things

42:22

like keeping her away from her daughter,

42:24

locking her up with his mistress. The

42:27

list goes on and on. If

42:29

push comes to shove, she's going

42:31

to publish this. The monarchy

42:34

can't deal with any more bad press right now.

42:37

And if the public can save her, she's

42:39

not afraid to use them. Meanwhile,

42:47

things are looking up for George.

42:50

To indulge my sign-selled obsession, one

42:52

could call it the summer of

42:54

George. Oh, wow. The secret

42:57

committee feels there's enough evidence to charge

42:59

Caroline with adultery, which

43:01

means if she's convicted, she

43:04

could be executed for high treason. But

43:07

it's not a long summer of George

43:09

because he eventually gets some horrible news.

43:12

A key witness just poked a huge

43:14

hole in the evidence. Her

43:16

name is Sophia Austin and

43:18

she's Willie Austin's actual mother.

43:21

Ooh, try again, Georgie boy. And

43:24

to make matters worse, Sophia has

43:26

his birth certificate to prove it. We

43:29

love receipts. Yes, we do. But

43:31

this is George we're talking about. When he

43:33

sets his sights on failing up, he's not going

43:35

to give up that easily. Caroline

43:38

may not have had a baby, but there's

43:40

more than enough evidence to prove she's not

43:42

acting like a princess. The sexy

43:45

outfits, the decadent parties, the

43:47

flirting with who knows how many men are

43:50

hardly the behavior of a princess. Although,

43:53

if we're being honest, more like the

43:55

behavior of a queen. Mm-hmm,

43:57

preach. But the king is

43:59

conflicted. He doesn't want to believe

44:01

Caroline would do half the things the prince

44:03

claims. Then again,

44:05

she has been stirring up a lot of

44:07

trouble. So the question is,

44:10

does the king side with his son or

44:12

with his daughter-in-law? The

44:15

answer arrives in a letter delivered to Montague

44:17

House on a very cold and

44:19

chilly January morning in 1807. Caroline

44:23

rips it open and breathes

44:26

a huge sigh of relief. The

44:28

letter announces that the king has forgiven

44:30

her. Mmm, well, kind of. He

44:33

tells her she won't be beheaded for high

44:35

treason. But she's

44:37

got to clean up her act. No

44:40

more ragers with rando guys. And

44:42

Caroline's like, fine. If

44:44

you're letting me keep my head, I guess

44:46

I can scale back to debauchery. Caroline

44:49

realizes that as long as the king's

44:51

in charge, George can't get to her.

44:54

But unfortunately for Caroline, her

44:56

luck is about to change. Four

44:59

years later, the king is declared

45:01

mentally unfit to rule. Prince

45:04

George is named acting manager

45:06

of England, aka, Legion. And

45:09

that means he all of a sudden

45:11

has a whole lot of power. And

45:14

without the king around to protect her, Caroline

45:17

will have to find a way out. Or

45:21

risk losing it all. This

45:54

is Sex, Lies and Letters, Part 1

45:57

of our two-part series on Caroline of

45:59

Brunswick. We use many sources

46:01

when researching our stories, but we

46:03

especially recommend The Trial of Queen

46:05

Caroline, The Standless Affair That Nearly

46:07

Ended a Monarchy, A. Jane Robbins,

46:10

and The Unruly Queen, The Light of

46:12

Queen Caroline by Flora Fraser. You

46:16

can follow us, your hosts, on socials,

46:18

at Arisha Skidmore Williams and at Brooke Sifrin.

46:21

I'm Arisha Skidmore Williams. And

46:23

I'm Brooke Sifrin. Colleen Scriven and Julie

46:25

Magruder wrote this episode. Our senior editor

46:28

is Colleen Scriven and our associate producer

46:30

is Hannah Ward. Sound Design is by

46:32

Sam Aiding. Fact Checking by Gabrielle Drowell.

46:35

Our senior managing producer is Ryan Loehr

46:37

and our coordinating producer is Sophia Martin.

46:40

Julie Magruder and Rachel Engelman are our

46:42

series producers. Our senior producer is Natalie

46:44

Sheesha and our executive producers are Ginny

46:46

Bloom, Erin O'Flaherty, and Marsha Lewy for

46:49

Wondery. Support

47:02

for this podcast and the following

47:04

message come from Coriant. Coriant provides

47:06

wealth management services centered around you.

47:09

They focus on exceeding your expectations

47:11

and simplifying your life. Coriant has

47:13

been helping high achievers just like

47:15

you enjoy their lives more fully,

47:17

preserve their wealth, and provide for

47:19

the people, causes, and communities they

47:21

care about. As one of the

47:24

largest integrated fee-only registered investment advisors

47:26

in the U.S., Coriant has deeply

47:28

experienced teams in 23 strategic

47:31

locations. Coriant has extensively