Phil's sympathetic comments on Prince Harry's reasons for fighting the press didn't persuade all of our audience last week, and the comments were lively! Andrew and Phil react to that and discuss the latest evidence of the deep rift in the British royal family - Harry's visit to London and the non-meeting between him and his sick father King Charle…

Clive Irving from the Daily Beast returns to the podcast to tell the story of the rise and fall of the British tabloid press, as Prince Harry’s ‘hacking’ case make its way through the London courts - with the possibility that Rupert Murdoch might finally be made to give evidence about it in a court of law. The actor Hugh Grant has recently accepted…

Not many books change the direction of an entire debate but, in 2023, Hannah Barnes’ ’Time To Think’ did just that. Through the testimony of whistle-blowers from inside the Tavistock hospital GIDS clinic, it revealed deep concern about the use of puberty blockers on gender-distressed children and how this approach - for which there is very little h…

Andrew Gold joins us this week to talk about his brand new book and his life as a 'heretic' podcaster and reporter. In recent months Andrew has established himself a leading voice in the anti-woke free speech broadcasting community, talking provocatively to natural rebels such as Robbie Williams, David Baddiel, John McWhorter, Jon Ronson, Amanda Kn…

We're thrilled to get an hour to talk with Simon Vigar, one of Britain's most experienced royal correspondents and writers, who is now the Royal Correspondent for 5 News. Simon has had a ring side seat for all of the great royal dramas of the last two decades, and he brings an unusual level of sympathy and insight to the role. Amongst other things …

Lady Colin Campbell joins Andrew and Phil again with an exclusive sneak peek at her new and explosive book on Meghan, Harry, the angry confrontations that shook the British royal family and Meghan's troubled family background. Based on her connections in the highest reaches of the British aristocracy - and her friendship with the Markle family - th…

In a special sports themed episode Andrew and Phil are first joined by writer and former newspaper editor Chris Blackhurst to discuss his investigation into Manchester United - the world’ favourite football team - and how it has fared under the ownership of the American Glazer family, plus the wider role of big money in professional football (or ‘s…

Why did Adolf Hitler's deputy and trusted confidante fly alone to an isolated corner of Scotland at the height of World War Two? Was it the act of a madman? Was it to conclude a secretly negotiated peace deal with some of the most senior members of the British aristocracy and - potentially - the royal family itself? Was it to help senior conservati…

We're joined by another of Andrew and Phil's journalistic hero's - Richard Norton Taylor. Richard has uncovered dozens of scandals in his time working for London newspapers, and turned several of them into successful plays. Here he speaks about his work on a range of stories and decades battling Britain's 'secret state'. He also comments on the cas…

Jason Evans joins Andrew and Phil to reveal a shocking story of medical negligence and official delay - in Britain and numerous other nations - that tragically resulted from the desire to treat dangerous illnesses with better drugs. For many years blood donations - often collected for money in the USA - were used to make products to treat people wi…

This was meant to be the second of our two spy episodes, and it still is - but first Andrew and Phil were able to speak with our friend, the VERY well connected royal reporter Valentine Low, about the speculation that's swirling around the prince and princess of wales? Phil also references this article of his about the psychological roots of our in…

'Spy mania' was at its height in the early 1960s when a junior clerk in the Admiralty was revealed to be spying for the Soviet Union, after he had been drugged and then secretly photographed by KGB agents in Moscow while being raped by at least two men. At a time when sexual relationships between men were illegal, John Vassall was jailed and public…

According to the court reports last week, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, pocketed more than £1 million from an allegedly corrupt financier acting on behalf of a Turkish millionaire. And nobody can say why. It’s one of many obscure stories of cash flowing into royal coffers that our Andrew - Lownie - has been tryin…

When famous crime writer Agatha Christie suddenly vanished without trace in December 1926 it triggered one of the greatest tabloid sensations of the age. Behind it lay a twisted story of love, loss and love affairs that’s worthy of one of her greatest novels. Returning to the podcast for the third time, writer Laura Thompson peels back the layers t…

When famous crime writer Agatha Christie suddenly vanished without trace in December 1926 it triggered one of the greatest tabloid sensations of the age. Behind it lay a twisted story of love, loss and love affairs that’s worthy of one of her greatest novels. Returning to the podcast for the third time, writer Laura Thompson peels back the layers t…

(PRODUCTION NOTE : If you're hearing last weeks show on this episode please erase this episode and re-download it again.) In the second episode in this themed week, Canadian author Antony Anderson joins Phil and Andrew to discuss one of the greatest military and diplomatic disasters of the British Empire. In 1956 a new government in Egypt took cont…

At the start of a themed week this is one of the most celebrated imperial scandals of them all - the riotous misbehaviour of a wealthy expatriate community living in colonial Kenya which leads to a famous - and famously unsolved - murder in 1941. Later this week we get more political with a look at the famous ’Suez crisis’ of 1956. In the so-called…

This week writer Anne de Courcy joins Andrew and Phil to discuss her extraordinary biography of Lord Snowdon, Antony Armstrong Jones, who was married to Princess Margaret for 18 tumultuous years. A gifted photographer, designer and charity entrepreneur, Lord Snowdon was also a notorious womaniser before, after and during his marriage. His relations…

In January 1889, when Rudolf, the crown prince of Austria, was found dead in an Imperial hunting lodge alongside his 17 year old mistress, Baroness Mary Vestera, it triggered a monumental cover up, a crisis that shook the royal families of Europe, and changed the direction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, one of the world’s great powers. Some believ…

A packed episode featuring two of Britain’s most determined investigators. Andy Webb returns to the podcast to tell Andrew and Phil of new developments in his long-running battle to uncover the truth behind Martin Bashir’s interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. Newly released BBC emails - some heavily redacted - reveal the scale of a 25 year cove…

We have two scandalous stories this week, but on a similar theme. Firstly our friend Dai Davies - former top royal protection officer - returns to the podcast to talk about how his former colleagues in the Metropolitan police have been dealing with royal scandals recently, and especially their interest (or lack of!) in certain allegations involving…

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 oth…

We begin with the latest from the Post Office Scandal that we first covered with investigative journalist Nick Wallis 8 months ago. In recent weeks a powerful ITV drama has made the behaviour of the Post Office - and the cruel treatment of its employees - front page news in the UK. It’s truly blood boiling!! Then writer Neil McKenna joins Andrew an…

With so many new revelations concerning the Jeffrey Epstein scandal we begin this episode with Andrew and Phil’s assessment of what it all means for Prince Andrew and his hopes of returning to public life (and what it may also mean for our Andrew’s book on the Prince!) Top magazine editor and author Tina Brown then joins us from New York to discuss…

It’s New Year’s Day 2024 and we’re starting the year with a double dose of scandal, as writer John Preston joins as our main guest. But first Phil and Andrew react to the surprising sight of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, back at the heart of a royal family Christmas for the first time in decades. What does it mean for her, for her embattled husb…

As a surprise holiday treat Andrew and Phil review their year in the scandalsphere, compare the best and worst of the reviews, chat a little about Wallis Simpson, look forward to 2024 and thank everyone who has subscribed in 2023. Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re her…

Prince Harry’s court room victory has reignited his feud with the British tabloids, and especially former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan. Andrew and Phil react and wonder what’s coming next. The bulk of this episode is then dedicated to one of the most tragic - and controversial - criminal cases in British history: the unsolved disappearance of t…

With total silence from both the ‘firm’ and Team Harry and Meghan, the allegation that King Charles and Kate, Princess of Wales, both expressed 'concerns’ about the colour of a future royal baby linger poisonously in the air. What to make of it? After that Phil and Andrew meet Dan Davies to discuss one of the greatest scandals in British public lif…

In this second special episode about the royal racism scandal, Clive Irving joins Phil and Andrew from America. His perspective is very different to that of our last guest, Lady Colin Campbell, since he views racism allegations made against Britain’s King Charles (and future Queen Kate) in the context of a bigger story - that of a dynasty trying to…

Details ‘accidentally’ revealed in the latest royal ’tell-all’ book by Omid Scobie have thrown Britains’ royal family into a new crisis. Did the current King and the future Queen expression 'concern’ about the colour of Meghan and Harry’ children? Do they harbour prejudices against their non white subjects and commonwealth members? Or is this an ex…

On the 60th anniversary of the most scrutinised and mythologised political assassination of all time writer Gerald Posner returns to the podcast to tell Andrew and Phil why he is more convinced than ever that Oswald was the lone killer and that there was no wider conspiracy. In 1993 Gerald’s book CASE CLOSED went through all of the details of the c…

With the new season of the Crown stirring up memories of Diana’s romance with Dodi al-Fayed and the summer they spent together before their tragic deaths, we are very lucky to have Michael Cole on the podcast today. He was a board member of Mohamed Al-Fayed’s companies in the UK and a personal friend of the Al-Fayed family. As a former BBC reporter…

It’s our first birthday! And to help us celebrate we’re talking to the Daily Mail’s legendary royal correspondent and author, Richard Kay. No journalist ever got closer to Diana, Princess of Wales, and in the final years of her life they spoke many times a day. At that time, and in the years since, Richard has broken dozens of royal stories and kno…

In another ‘double-bill’ episode we first hear back from former Chief Royal Protection Officer Dai Davies. He has a few things to say about the episode we made recently on the alleged assassination of Diana, Princess of Wales. Then we speak to the author Adam Sisman, who has recently published a ‘warts and all’ biography of acclaimed British spy wr…

Few royal writers merit the description ‘insider’ as much as much as the super well connected Lady Colin Campbell. Moving through aristocratic and upper-class circles, she has been attuned to whispers of scandal for decades. One of the first writers - perhaps THE first - to reveal the true state of the Charles-Diana marriage, she has gone on to wri…

Ever since Dodi Al Fayed’s father, Mohamed, claimed that his son and Diana, Princess of Wales, were killed on the orders of ‘the royal family’, the events of 31st August 1997 have been meticulously analysed and debated. Nobody spent more time on that than Australian writer John Morgan, and his startling conclusion was that the crash in Paris' Alma …

Dai Davies is one of the World's foremost experts in Security and Investigations, a Former Head of Royal Protection and a Chief Superintendent (Divisional Commander) in London’s famous Metropolitan Police. Dai shares some of the secrets of his shadowy line of work with Andrew and Phil, and gives some forthright opinions about how royal security has…

Few royal biographers have ever had such deep access to their subject as Andrew Morton obtained with Diana, Princess of Wales when preparing his sensational bestseller ‘Diana: Her True Story’. In the years that followed he’s written many other very well-sourced royal books, with a special emphasis on royal women. In this episode he joins Andrew and…

Gerald Posner is one of the most successful investigative writers in the world. He joins Andrew and Phil to discuss his personal history and beliefs and discusses bestselling books on subjects as varied as the assassination of President Kennedy (he wrote the definitive anti-conspiracy theory account, ‘Case Closed’) and the evil experiments of Nazi …

Forever remembered as the smart and stylish First Lady to President John F Kennedy, whose shocking death in Dallas she witnessed first hand, Jackie Kennedy is an enduring icon of the 20th Century. But much about her turbulent life in the public gaze - before, during and after her marriage to Kennedy - has remained a closely guarded secret. One of t…

It seems likely that the Presidential election of 2024 will be a re-run of 2020. Donald Trump faces multiple court cases and could, potentially, run for the most powerful office in the world whilst being a convicted felon. Joe Biden is facing his own growing scandal, with political and legal investigations into his son Hunter gathering pace amid at…

In the days before this episode was recorded Andrew discovered that he has been, and maybe still is, the subject of extensive official data collection, including private information that might one day be used against him. The spooks are probably listening into these podcasts too! He believes this government surveillance is directly connected to his…

Six girls and one boy, raised in aristocratic luxury in the years before World War Two, became the most famous - and most scandalous - family in Britain. Their lives were captured in a much loved book - The Pursuit of Love - by eldest sister Nancy Mitford, the subject of a recent glossy TV adaptation. They first became household names because of th…

In the early days of the pandemic a lot of attention was paid to the fact that the Chinese city of Wuhan, from which the virus emerged, contained a biological research laboratory that had been experimenting with coronaviruses. But this was met by political and scientific reassurance that the virus was more likely the result of an evolutionary leap …

The Duke and Duchess of York have been in the public eye for decades. Once widely admired for their freshness and sense of fun (and his record in the Falklands War) their lives became tangled in a series of scandals, both financial and sexual. Today he lives in a form of internal exile, banished from royal duties after settling a court case with Vi…

The Times royal correspondent returns to the podcast for a second interview. This time we’re highlighting the new work he has done for the latest edition of his widely acclaimed book COURTIERS, which first lifted the lid on simmering tensions behind palace walls and gave a voice to staff members who claimed to have been bullied and belittled by the…

A once popular British Prime Minister brought down by scandals, after a career in politics with more than its fair share of controversy. Is it too soon to write Boris Johnson off? What can we learn from his turbulent career? And what will his long term legacy be for British politics and the wider world? Our guest Tom McTague is one of the most resp…

After winning the Victoria Cross and numerous other medals, Australian SAS veteran Ben Roberts Smith became a national hero. But then allegations started to circulate - of bullying within his unit and, more seriously, of prisoners mistreated and executed in Afghanistan. Chris Masters, one of Australia’s best known journalists, had been trusted by t…

Andrew and Phil discuss the remarkable - and remarkably shocking - story of the East India Company. How did a handful of men in a small office in London come to rule India, transforming the histories of both nations? William Dalrymple, author of the much acclaimed book 'The Anarchy’ joins them to tell a hair raising story of plunder, conquest, scan…

The global financial system almost collapsed in 2008. Afterwards there was understandable anger at the behaviour of major private and national banks. A series of investigations resulted in many traders going to prison as a result of the alleged manipulation of the key interbank LIBOR rate. But were the right people punished? Award winning reporter …