Latest news with #RobertHardman
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Where are Ireland's Crown Jewels? New Mail podcast delves into one of history's greatest unsolved mysteries
Podcast All episodes Play on Apple Spotify On the latest episode of the Mail's Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things podcast, historian Kate Williams and Royal biographer Robert Hardman investigate one of Ireland's greatest unsolved mysteries. In 1907, Ireland was part of the British Empire and followed the customs of the British monarchy. One such custom was the use of Crown Jewels, important ceremonial treasures, to bestow Knighthoods upon members of the Irish aristocracy. Ireland's Crown Jewels were kept safe in Dublin Castle by The Order of St Patrick on behalf of Edward VII, the King of Britain at the time. The collection comprised a diamond pendant and badge, five gold collars, and nearly 400 precious stones. The Order of St Patrick's jewels, as they are known, have an estimated value today of nearly $20 million. Despite the castle being under constant surveillance, the treasures went missing on July 6, sending Edward VII into a fury and creating an Empire-wide manhunt. Even though financial rewards were offered for information on their whereabouts, the Crown Jewels remain missing to this day. Search for 'Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things' now, wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday. The Vanishing of the Irish Crown Jewels Edward VII was scheduled to visit Ireland in July 1907 to bestow a knighthood upon Lord Castletown. The jewels would have been used in the ceremony. Historian Kate Williams told the podcast how the jewels were kept secure for the upcoming Royal visit. 'They were kept very carefully', Williams said. 'A man called Sir Arthur Vickers, The Ulster King of Arms oversees them. They are held at Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle. 'They seem very secure – they're in a strong room, alongside Ireland's Sword of State. There are only seven keys to get into the tower and two keys to enter the strong room. Everyone thinks the security is foolproof.' Williams then explained how the theft was discovered and the accusations surrounding the character of Sir Arthur Vickers, the treasure's protector. 'The jewels are found to be missing on July 6 – they haven't been seen since the 11th of June. 'Vickers was accused of being careless. Many people began to claim that he had given them access to the tower and that there were various security lapses. 'On one occasion, Vickers had gotten drunk, and a young man had taken the keys to the safe. He then stole the jewels and sent them back to Vickers by post as a joke.' The heist was carried out completely undetected. Due to the King's public anger and huge media speculation, a strange cast of characters began offering to help locate the stolen treasure. 'Psychics say they know where they are, and people begin hunting fruitlessly around graveyards. 'Arthur Conan Doyle, the Sherlock Holmes author, offers to help. He's a distant cousin of Vickers.' The police launched a nationwide investigation to find the jewels. A reward of £1000 was offered for information, worth around £80,000 today. The authorities' prime suspect was Francis Richard Shackleton, the brother of famous Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Williams told the podcast why suspicions centered around him. 'Apparently, he was in great financial difficulty', the historian said. 'As Dublin Herald of Arms, he had gotten hold of a key to the safe and had made a copy. The problem for the police was, he had a good alibi. 'He wasn't actually in the country at the time of the robbery.' Shackleton later defrauded an aristocrat, Lord Ronald Gower, of his fortune in 1910 and was sentenced to fifteen months' hard labour for the crime. One theory states that the reason why the heist was never solved was that Shackleton, a known homosexual at a time when it was illegal, had used Dublin Castle for liaisons with high-profile figures in Irish society. Further investigations into his character were abandoned because pursuing that line of inquiry could have implicated members of the aristocracy in illegal sex acts at a time when British rule over Ireland was fiercely challenged. The mystery of the jewels of St Patrick's remains unsolved.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Harry and Meghan's extraordinary words to late Queen revealed
IN LONDON New details about how Prince Harry and Meghan approached the late Queen about using her nickname for their daughter have surfaced after some telling remarks in the Duchess of Sussex's recent podcast finale. In June 2021, the couple announced the birth of their second child, whom they called Lilibet in a nod to what close family had called the late monarch from childhood. Harry and Meghan insisted that she had given her blessing, but it was later claimed by author Robert Hardman in his biography, King Charles III: The Inside Story, that she was furious at that assertion. The duke and duchess later instructed their London-based law firm to issue a threatening legal letter to the BBC over a report claiming they had 'never asked' for the late Queen's permission to use 'Lilibet', calling it 'false and defamatory'. However, rather than confirming their version of events, the UK's Telegraph reported at the time that the Palace refused to deny the BBC's suggestion. The publication further added that the Queen was 'told' about the name after the baby was born. Just last week, Meghan issued advice to expectant mothers about how to approach naming newborns, warning them never to tell anyone what they're planning on using. 'I will say this to every woman in the world or every person in the world who's going to have a child — if you have an idea about what you are going to name that baby, you keep it so close to your heart, until that baby is born and it's named. Don't ask anyone's opinion,' she said on her podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder. Harry and Meghan are parents to Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 3. A source has now backed up earlier claims to the Daily Mail that the couple had, in fact, only told the late Queen about the use of her name after the fact. 'Harry and Meghan presented this to the Queen as: 'We're going to call her Lilibet. Isn't that great?',' the insider said. 'The palace version was that they didn't ask. The Queen was asked to prop up their version of events that didn't match her own. She wasn't furious about using the name Lilibet, it was the way it was handled.' Amid the earlier furore, a spokesman for the Sussexes told People magazine that 'the Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called. 'During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.'
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The Crown Jewels Heist: New Mail podcast tells the story of 'one of the greatest crimes of all time'
On the latest episode of the Mail's 'Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things' podcast, royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams discuss the figure of Colonel Blood and his audacious plot to steal the Crown Jewels. The episode is the first in a three-part mini-series that tells the stories of crooks who have attempted to steal priceless treasures from the British monarchy. The most prized objects in the possession of the Royal family are the Crown Jewels, which are now on permanent display at the Tower of London. The treasures are a collection of ceremonial regalia used in the coronations of new Kings and Queens. The collection comprises such objects as St. Edward's Crown, headwear made of 5 pounds of solid gold, and The Sovereign's Sceptre, a golden rod topped with The Great Star of Africa, the largest clear-cut diamond in the world. They are estimated to be worth anywhere between £3-5 billion, although the jewels' precise value is nearly impossible to calculate, due to their historical and cultural significance. Much of the collection was created after 1660, with the restoration of the British monarchy and the death of Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell sold or destroyed much of the original Crown Jewels, believing them a vulgar display of wealth which conflicted with his fanatical religious beliefs. A decade after the new jewels were debuted for the coronation of Charles II in 1661, a dastardly thief known to history as Colonel Blood hatched a daring plot to steal them. Colonel Blood and The Crown Jewels Heist Born in Ireland in 1618, Thomas Blood was a soldier and aristocrat who fought alongside the monarchists during the English Civil War. Noticing the tide of war change, Blood switched sides to Cromwell's roundheads and was greatly rewarded for his change in allegiance. Podcast co-host Robert Hardman described Blood's early adulthood: 'Blood called himself a colonel although there is no proof he was one. 'He jumped ship to Cromwell during the civil war and was rewarded with thousands of acres of land in Ireland. 'With the restoration of the monarchy, Blood lost his lands and decided to become a full-time rebel. He was part of a plot to seize power in Ireland. 'The plot failed, and all the ringleaders were sent to prison. Some however escaped and top of the list of wanted men was Thomas Blood. 'Over the next few years, everyone was looking for him – but no one knew where he was. He became a sort of Scarlett Pimpernel figure and developed something of a legend around him.' In 1671, Blood remerged in London, posing as a vicar called Dr Aleph with an actress, pretending to be his wife, on his arm. He befriended a man called Talbot Edwards, who was the 77-year-old guardian of the Crown Jewels. 'Aleph and Edwards grew close', Hardman explained. 'They start discussing a possible marriage between Edward's unmarried daughter and Aleph's unmarried nephew. 'On May 9, 1671, Aleph visits Edwards with this nephew and asks to take a look at the Crown Jewels. Edwards accepts – and it is revealed that Aleph is the leader of an armed gang of robbers. 'They whack Edwards, the poor old warden, over the head with a mallet and proceed to run off with as much as they can.' Historian Williams added: 'One of the gang members sticks a Golden Orb down his breeches, and Blood grabs St. Edwards Crown and smashes it – trying to squash it in half.' Running away slowly with the Crown Jewels hidden beneath his clothes, Blood was tackled and apprehended by Talbot's son. His secret identity revealed in prison, Blood requests a personal audience with the King and somehow convinces the monarch to pardon him and return his lands in Ireland to him. Historians speculate that because of Blood's legend, seen by the peasantry as an Irish freedom fighter, it was politically expedient to forgive his crimes. Heralded as the ultimate rouge until his death in 1680, historian Williams told the podcast an anecdote to show how widespread his infamy had become. 'There comes this view that Blood can cheat all things', Williams said. 'When he dies, people exhume the body to check he's dead – due to how many rumors there were about him. 'He could cheat most things – but he couldn't cheat death.' To hear more stories like this one, search for ' Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things' now, wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Crowds greet King Charles and Queen Camilla as they arrive in Ottawa for 2-day tour, throne speech
While it's unusual in Canada for a reigning monarch to deliver a throne speech, that's not the case in some other Commonwealth countries. It just depends on how often a government extends the invitation. In New Zealand, Queen Elizabeth read the throne speech seven times between 1954 and 1990. Charles's speech on Tuesday in the Senate will mark the third time a reigning monarch has delivered a throne speech in Canada. While Charles delayed a trip to Canada last year because of his cancer diagnosis, British journalist and royal biographer Robert Hardman says his appearance in the Senate now will have stemmed from a request by the federal government. Given that U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly proclaimed that Canada should become the 51st state, Hardman says there is a clear attempt to reassert the country's place in the Commonwealth.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE How did a would-be assassin of Queen Victoria avoid the death penalty and become an Australian journalist? New Mail podcast follows the long history of deadly plots against Britain's most famous monarch
On the latest episode of the Mail's 'Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things' podcast, Royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams look back at the 7 assassination attempts survived by Queen Victoria, the most of any monarch in history. Prince Albert, Victoria's husband, once asked of his often-targeted wife: 'What's all this mania with Queen shooting?' Across her 63-year reign, Queen Victoria had a record 7 brushes with death, the first when she was just 21 years old and the last as a 64-year-old Empress of a globe-spanning state. Her first would-be assassin, Edward Oxford, was a teenager when he attempted to murder the Queen. On the podcast, Hardman and Williams tell the bizarre story of his life and the lives of the many men who botched the killing of Britain's most famous monarch. Edward Oxford and The First Assassination Attempt Against Queen Victoria The year was 1840 and Queen Victoria, pregnant with her first child Vicky, took a relaxed carriage ride through Hyde Park. A waiter, Edward Oxford, just 18 years old, emerged from the crowds of people who came to the park to witness their new Queen, brandishing two pistols. His first shot missed, but as historian Williams explained, this is all part of his plan to alter the course of British history. 'Oxford's plan was for the carriage to stop and for those onboard to investigate the noise from the first shot. That would present a moment for him to fire at the Queen directly', Williams said. 'The carriage stopped, and Oxford takes the other gun out – but he's not the best shot in history. We see a lot of these early Victorian shooters can't really use a gun. 'He's only a few feet away but somehow, Victoria is unhurt. The crowd then grabs Oxford, and he's arrested.' It later transpired that Oxford was a part of a 'secret society', as Williams calls it, known as Young England. It is assumed he was seeking notoriety within the group by murdering the young Queen. Young England espoused an extreme form of Conservatism, desiring a stronger monarch with greater influence over politics. Oxford was then tried for treason, with the penalty for the crime in the 19th century being execution by hanging. He managed to escape his fate however, as Williams said: 'During the trial, when they looked at the scene of the crime, they can't find any bullets. 'So, the court thinks he just shot gunpowder at the Queen – and it finds him not guilty on grounds of insanity. 'Victoria doesn't like this: she describes it in her journal as very stupid and doesn't believe Oxford was mad.' After three years in Broadmoor Hospital, Oxford is released and sent to Australia, where he manages to rebuild his life. 'Oxford flourished in later life', Williams told the podcast. 'He married a widow with two children. He becomes a church warden, and he gets a job as a journalist.'
