{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6846a16db5ac093b0ca993ec/68d561b86a283f70b7847ec3?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Spies & The Crown - Part 1","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6846a16db5ac093b0ca993ec/1758900940803-eb58103a-c464-48f8-ad5b-46c17c60a427.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>From the Tudors to King Charles III, the royals have always been close to spies. Listen to find out!</p><p><br></p><p>Today’s monarchs get discreet MI5 briefings — but back in Elizabeth I’s day, her spymaster Francis Walsingham was inventing the modern secret service with beer-barrel dead drops, forged letters, and a plot that sent Mary Queen of Scots to the block.</p><p><br></p><p>This episode of <em>Queens, Kings &amp; Dastardly Things</em> dives into the wildest tales of royal espionage: Christopher Marlowe, the playwright who may have been a double agent; John Dee, the Queen’s astrologer signing his reports “007”; and Queen Victoria’s Indian confidant Abdul Karim, hounded as a foreign spy by jealous courtiers. Fast forward to World War II and you’ll find Hitler’s agents scheming to kidnap Edward VIII and put him back on the throne as a Nazi puppet.</p><p><br></p><p>Plots, paranoia, and velvet cushions hiding sharpened daggers — when royalty meets espionage, the truth is stranger than any Bond film.</p><p><br></p><p>Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams</p><p>Series Producer: Ben Devlin</p><p>Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini&nbsp;</p><p>Executive Producer: Bella Soames</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>","author_name":"Daily Mail"}