Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie Listener Discretion advised in Custrein
Speaker 1: a fortified castle in the German countryside, a woman paced
Speaker 1: nervously pregnant with her fifth child. She was waiting on
Speaker 1: news about her husband. Things were bad. Back in Prague,
Speaker 1: the city they'd lived in for just over a year.
Speaker 1: It was under siege, with Catholic armies closing in on
Speaker 1: all sides. She hadn't wanted to leave her husband, but
Speaker 1: rising tensions, paired with her growing physical vulnerability, made staying impossible,
Speaker 1: and so she fled to this castle, fifty miles outside Berlin.
Speaker 1: When word finally came, it was exactly what she had feared.
Speaker 1: Things had not gone their way her Her husband was
Speaker 1: no longer the King of Bohemia, which meant that she
Speaker 1: was no longer the queen. She had been Queen of
Speaker 1: Bohemia for just one year, a year of ruling a
Speaker 1: kingdom that had never quite accepted her and her husband
Speaker 1: watching as he navigated political waters so treacherous that they'd
Speaker 1: ultimately pulled them both under. One calendar year and it
Speaker 1: was already over. How had it come to this. How
Speaker 1: had a princess born into one of Europe's most powerful
Speaker 1: families ended up in exile waiting for news of a
Speaker 1: kingdom lost. I'm Dana Schwartz and this is Noble Blood.
Speaker 1: In previous episodes, we've discussed King James the First of England,
Speaker 1: James the sixth of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen
Speaker 1: of scott and he is a fascinating man with a
Speaker 1: whole host of adult eccentricities and superstitions. But today we're
Speaker 1: looking at the life of his daughter, Elizabeth. She was
Speaker 1: born into royalty, the subject of a botched kidnapping plot
Speaker 1: in her childhood. Elizabeth's life was dramatic from the beginning,
Speaker 1: but perhaps no period of her life was more chaotic
Speaker 1: than the twelve months she and her husband spent as
Speaker 1: King and Queen of Bohemia. They would forever be known
Speaker 1: as the Winter King and Queen because their reign lasted
Speaker 1: for only one calendar year, but it's hardly fair to
Speaker 1: blame them. They were set up to fail and let
Speaker 1: down by on all sides, including by the royal bloodline
Speaker 1: that was Elizabeth's birthright. Elizabeth Stewart, aka the Winter Queen
Speaker 1: was born in fifteen ninety six to the King and
Speaker 1: Queen of Scotland, her father then known as James the sixth,
Speaker 1: her mother and of Denmark. In sixteen o three, when
Speaker 1: Elizabeth was still a child, her father became King James
Speaker 1: the First of England, uniting the Scottish and English crowns.
Speaker 1: Seven year old Elizabeth was moved from Scotland down to
Speaker 1: England and placed in the care of family friends. By
Speaker 1: this point, religious tensions in England had reached a fever pitch.
Speaker 1: Catholics and Protestants were locked in deadly conflict, and plots
Speaker 1: to remove James from power seemed endless, the most famous
Speaker 1: being sixteen o five's Gunpowder plot, in which conspirators planned
Speaker 1: to assassinate King James and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap nine
Speaker 1: year old Elizabeth, and install her as a puppet Catholic queen.
Speaker 1: Luckily for the young princess, the plot fell through. That
Speaker 1: brief terrorde, Elizabeth's childhood was relatively normal. At the end
Speaker 1: of sixteen o eight, when she was twelve years old,
Speaker 1: she took up residence at Court. There she deepened her
Speaker 1: bond with her brilliant older brother, Henry, whom she worshiped.
Speaker 1: She was an excellent student and letter writer, fluent in
Speaker 1: multiple languages, though notably not Latin, as her father James
Speaker 1: believed it made women cunning. By her teenage years, Elizabeth
Speaker 1: had become one of the most eligible brides in Europe. Kings,
Speaker 1: princes and heirs across the continent threw their hats in
Speaker 1: the proverbial ring, but her father would make the final call.
Speaker 1: A royal marriage was far too valuable a political tool
Speaker 1: to leave to chance or teenage sentiment. Eventually, a front
Speaker 1: runner emerged, Frederick, the fifth Count Palatine of the Rhine.
Speaker 1: The match offered significant advantages, cement an alliance between England
Speaker 1: and the Protestant Union, a coalition of German princes and
Speaker 1: free cities led by the Palatinate. James envisioned himself as
Speaker 1: Europe's peacemaker, and this marriage fit perfectly into his broader
Speaker 1: diplomatic vision. A Count Palatine isn't exactly a king, but
Speaker 1: he still had a court and a swatch of land
Speaker 1: under his control, which made it a pretty good match.
Speaker 1: And Elizabeth actually fell in love with Frederick, which wasn't
Speaker 1: required of her, but was definitely a nice change of pace.
Speaker 1: More importantly, her beloved brother Henry approved of the match
Speaker 1: and grew close with Frederick himself. But before Elizabeth and
Speaker 1: Frederick could wed, tragedy struck. In late sixteen twelve, Prince
Speaker 1: Henry died suddenly, most likely of typhoid fever. Elizabeth was devastated.
Speaker 1: Her brother had been her hero and her closest confidant,
Speaker 1: and now he was gone. Queen Anne saw an opportunity
Speaker 1: to push for a different husband for her daughter. She
Speaker 1: thought Frederick was a sub par choice, but Elizabeth stood firm.
Speaker 1: The two were married on Valentine's Day sixteen thirteen, in
Speaker 1: a ceremony so extravagant it nearly bankrupted King James. Elizabeth
Speaker 1: joined Frederick's electoral court in Heidelberg, where she received a
Speaker 1: warm welcome. They had three children there and amassed a
Speaker 1: menagerie of animals, and by all accounts, they were genuinely
Speaker 1: happy together. But conflict was brewing across the continent, and
Speaker 1: the young family would soon find itself collateral damage. Europe
Speaker 1: was being torn apart by religious wars, and the Bohemian
Speaker 1: Palatinate sat at the center of the storm. Bohemia was
Speaker 1: part of the Holy Roman Empire, but it was also
Speaker 1: its own kingdom. It was essentially an aristocratic republic where
Speaker 1: nobles elected their monarch. In March sixteen nineteen, Holy Roman
Speaker 1: Emperor Matthias died. Holy Roman emperors were also elected by
Speaker 1: the rulers of its constituent kingdoms. They voted that his
Speaker 1: heir should be Archduke Ferdinand a Habsburg, like Matthias had been.
Speaker 1: Ferdinand had been crowned King of Bohemia two years earlier,
Speaker 1: but he was a fervent Catholic who had ruthlessly targeted
Speaker 1: Protestants in his home territory. The Bohemian Protestant nobles faced
Speaker 1: an impossible choice except Ferdinand both as King of Bohemia
Speaker 1: and as Holy Roman Emperor, or take extreme measures and
Speaker 1: depose him of the former deposition. They also chose to
Speaker 1: throw a few of his regents out a council room
Speaker 1: window in what's now known as the defenestration of Prague.
Speaker 1: It was more symbolic than anything, but it got the
Speaker 1: message across. The people were ready for change, and when
Speaker 1: the Bohemian throne needed a new occupant, they turned to
Speaker 1: the handsome young noble married to an English and Protestant princess.
Speaker 1: In sixteen nineteen, Frederick was offered the throne of Bohemia.
Speaker 1: He hesitated, excepting the throne would change everything, but would
Speaker 1: it be for better or for worse. What the couple
Speaker 1: couldn't have known at the time was that it was
Speaker 1: far more than just an offer of a throne. It
Speaker 1: was a trap disguised as an opportunity. When Frederick received
Speaker 1: a word that the Bohemian nobles wanted him as their king,
Speaker 1: he panicked away from home. He sent an urgent letter
Speaker 1: to his wife, Elizabeth, asking for her advice. Her response
Speaker 1: was characteristically supportive. This must be God's will, and whatever
Speaker 1: he decided, she'd stand by her husband. But standing by
Speaker 1: Frederick proved challenging because he genuinely couldn't make up his mind.
Speaker 1: It was a very risky offer. Accepting the Bohemian throne
Speaker 1: could cost Frederick his existing position as Count Palatine, possibly
Speaker 1: even cost him his life. The Catholic Habsburgs wouldn't take
Speaker 1: kindly to being deposed and replaced by this young outsider,
Speaker 1: and Frederick would be surrounded by hostile forces with uncertain
Speaker 1: support from his Protestant allies. Yet refusing the crown meant
Speaker 1: abandoning Bohemian Protestants to priss secution and ignoring what some
Speaker 1: saw as a divine calling to defend his faith. Frederick spiraled,
Speaker 1: imagining all the ways the situation could go sideways. A
Speaker 1: Protestant monarch dropped into hostile Catholic territory. How could that
Speaker 1: even work? What would happen to his family if everything collapsed?
Speaker 1: But Frederick also felt the weight of religious obligation. God
Speaker 1: chose kings, and kings had responsibilities to their faith and
Speaker 1: their people, no matter the cost. Elizabeth continued to assure
Speaker 1: her husband that she would support his choice. The trouble
Speaker 1: was he still couldn't decide. He fired off letters to
Speaker 1: everyone he knew, asking for opinions. His mother's advice was unequivocal,
Speaker 1: don't risk your own inheritance for some foreign adventure. His
Speaker 1: father in law, King James, stayed silent for weeks, though
Speaker 1: word filtered back that he thought the whole thing was reckless.
Speaker 1: The Archbishop of Canterbury saw it as a righteous duty.
Speaker 1: Most of Frederick's advisors urged caution, but a few close
Speaker 1: friends pushed him to accept. Frederick consulted the Protestant Union.
Speaker 1: They all said yes, so did the Dutch, so did
Speaker 1: his uncle. He ordered special prayers in every church in
Speaker 1: his territories, hoping for divine clarity. When the Bohemian representatives
Speaker 1: finally showed up expecting their answer, Frederick explained that he
Speaker 1: was still waiting to hear from his father in law,
Speaker 1: the King of England. The representatives told him bluntly that
Speaker 1: if he couldn't decide immediately, they would elect someone else.
Speaker 1: His hand now forced, Frederick accepted the throne immediately. He
Speaker 1: started second guessing himself, especially with regards to where Elizabeth
Speaker 1: should go. Maybe she should go back to England for
Speaker 1: her safety, or stay in Heidelberg, in the home they'd
Speaker 1: loved so dearly. Elizabeth shut down both ideas instantly. She
Speaker 1: was going with her husband, of course, and of discussion,
Speaker 1: the two youngest children would stay behind with Frederick's mother,
Speaker 1: since they were too small for such a long journey,
Speaker 1: but their eldest son, Frederick Henry, would come with his parents. Finally,
Speaker 1: as the couple was preparing to leave, King James finally
Speaker 1: weighed in. In James's mind, Frederick had acted hastily and
Speaker 1: without permission, he was willing to chalk it up to
Speaker 1: youthful exuberance, but the king wouldn't commit to any support
Speaker 1: until he was convinced the election was lawful. He certainly
Speaker 1: wasn't dragging England into a potentially unjust and even more
Speaker 1: importantly fruitless war, even for a son in law. People
Speaker 1: left for Prague without James's express blessing, but hopeful for
Speaker 1: the chance to do some good. Frederick was crowned King
Speaker 1: of Bohemia on November fourth, sixteen nineteen. Elizabeth was crowned
Speaker 1: queen three days later. In December, she gave birth to
Speaker 1: their fourth child, a boy named Rupert. Initially the couple
Speaker 1: was met with goodwill and mostly open arms, but the
Speaker 1: honeymoon period was incredibly brief, followed immediately by a culture clash.
Speaker 1: Frederick was a strict Calvinist, which alienated both Catholics and
Speaker 1: many non Catholics who had hoped for a more moderate
Speaker 1: Protestant ruler. His chaplain ordered the removal of Catholic statues
Speaker 1: and icons from churches. When a particularly revered crucifix was
Speaker 1: removed from a bridge, overnight, citizens marched on the castle
Speaker 1: demanding its return. The new king had no choice but
Speaker 1: to back down. Elizabeth was Presented with her own set
Speaker 1: of problems, she and the Bohemian court ladies around her
Speaker 1: could barely communicate. She spoke very little German, while the
Speaker 1: Bohemian court ladies knew almost no French or English. Elizabeth
Speaker 1: was unfamiliar with local customs, inadvertently offending various nobility right
Speaker 1: and left, and in general. People were scandalized by her
Speaker 1: low cut dresses, and by the irregular hours she kept,
Speaker 1: and by her roving menagerie of pets, including dogs and monkeys,
Speaker 1: that followed her everywhere. She made genuine attempts to connect
Speaker 1: with her subjects, but it seemed like everything she did
Speaker 1: rubbed people the wrong way. Meanwhile, the political situation deteriorated
Speaker 1: by the day. The Catholic Habsburgs had no no intention
Speaker 1: of accepting their removal from power. The Emperor demanded Frederick
Speaker 1: abdicate within thirty days. Frederick made things worse, replying that
Speaker 1: as elector Palatine, he outranked the Emperor, not the other
Speaker 1: way around. Then Frederick took Elizabeth hunting, apparently unconcerned about
Speaker 1: the armies currently massing against them, But he should have
Speaker 1: been concerned. Frederick had left the Palatinate relatively undefended, and
Speaker 1: European powers were choosing sides. An assortment of different Catholic
Speaker 1: armies began to target the Bohemian king, setting the stage
Speaker 1: for the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, one of
Speaker 1: the deadliest conflicts in European history. In August sixteen twenty,
Speaker 1: Elizabeth's new English secretary arrived in Prague and within two
Speaker 1: weeks was sending a large reports back to London about
Speaker 1: the dangerous, almost desperate situation. Half of Frederick's court didn't
Speaker 1: seem to grasp the danger. The other half understood perfectly
Speaker 1: well and had already given hope of resisting the Habsburg
Speaker 1: Holy Roman Emperor. In September, Spanish forces had entered the
Speaker 1: Palatinate with twenty five thousand troops. Frederick's mother fled with
Speaker 1: the grandchildren that she had been watching. Elizabeth wrote desperately
Speaker 1: to her brother Charles, begging him to convince their father
Speaker 1: to make good on his promise not to let the
Speaker 1: Palatinate be taken, but as ever, King James was slow
Speaker 1: to respond. Catholic armies were closing in on Prague. Despite
Speaker 1: her advanced pregnancy, Elizabeth refused to leave her husband's side
Speaker 1: until growing concern for hers and the baby's safety for
Speaker 1: her to take baby Rupert and flee. And so Elizabeth
Speaker 1: found herself pacing in that cold castle outside Berlin, heavily
Speaker 1: pregnant with a baby in tow, waiting for news from Frederick,
Speaker 1: news about whether they'd lost everything already. When that news arrived,
Speaker 1: her worst fears were confirmed. On November eighth, sixteen twenty,
Speaker 1: Frederick's forces made their stand on White Mountain, a low
Speaker 1: plateau just outside Prague, Believing that their enemy wouldn't risk
Speaker 1: a winter attack. They were wrong. In a couple hours time,
Speaker 1: the Catholic armies crushed Frederick's forces and the capital surrendered immediately.
Speaker 1: The defeat was complete. Frederick's reign had lasted exactly one
Speaker 1: year and four days. A Platinate was occupied, Prague was gone.
Speaker 1: All Elizabeth and Frederick had left was each other and
Speaker 1: whatever future they could salvage from the ruins. They had
Speaker 1: gone from royal family to refugees in the blink of
Speaker 1: an eye. On January sixth, sixteen twenty one, at Custrin
Speaker 1: Castle outside Berlin, Elizabeth gave birth to a son named Maurice.
Speaker 1: The delivery was surprisingly quick and uncomplicated. A small mercy
Speaker 1: after everything she'd endured. But there would be no returning
Speaker 1: to Prague. The military defeat had made that impossible, and
Speaker 1: the Palatinate was now occupied by Catholic forces. They had
Speaker 1: nowhere to go, no home to return to. They were
Speaker 1: royals humiliated in exile. Then the Prince of Orange extended
Speaker 1: an invitation, and in spring sixteen twenty one, Elizabeth arrived
Speaker 1: at the Hay with barely any attendants. The Dutch city
Speaker 1: would be her home for the next forty years. Exile
Speaker 1: didn't really slow her down. Over the following years, she
Speaker 1: had eight more children, four sons and four daughters, bringing
Speaker 1: her total to thirteen, and motherhood didn't stop her from
Speaker 1: trying to extract Frederick from the political disaster that they
Speaker 1: had stumbled into. The dynamic of their marriage had now shifted.
Speaker 1: Where she had once deferred to him, she now became
Speaker 1: something closer to an equal partner, maybe even a stronger partner.
Speaker 1: Frederick spiraled easily into despair, but Elizabeth had a talent
Speaker 1: for winning people over. Her supporters in Germany and England
Speaker 1: responded to her energy and determination in ways they didn't
Speaker 1: respond to her husband's gloom. She was striking charming and
Speaker 1: seemed utterly unwilling to accept defeat. People grew to see
Speaker 1: her as the embodiment of Protestant resistance. Elizabeth launched a
Speaker 1: correspondence campaign that never let up. She wrote letters constantly
Speaker 1: advocating for her family's rights, pressing anyone with influence to
Speaker 1: support their cause, arguing their case to anyone who would
Speaker 1: listen at all. Her charms and persistence made her far
Speaker 1: more effective than Frederick at maintaining their network of allies,
Speaker 1: and despite everything, she refused to abandon her royal lifestyle.
Speaker 1: She may not have been a queen, but she was
Speaker 1: still the daughter of a king. Before financial constraints forced
Speaker 1: serious cutbacks, their household continued to go all out with
Speaker 1: lavish hunting parties, theatrical performances, and elaborate dinners. But by
Speaker 1: sixteen twenty three, Frederick had been stripped of even his
Speaker 1: electoral title, which the Emperor transferred to Maximilian of Bavaria.
Speaker 1: The couple lost their territories, their titles, and their income everything,
Speaker 1: but Elizabeth kept writing letters, kept making connections, kept insisting
Speaker 1: their rights would eventually be restored. Then, in sixteen thirty two,
Speaker 1: Frederick fell sick while traveling. An infection had been weakening
Speaker 1: him for weeks, and he died November twenty ninth. Before
Speaker 1: he returned home, he was only thirty six. When Elizabeth
Speaker 1: got the news, she collapsed with grief and took to
Speaker 1: her bed. She was thirty seven years old, with ten
Speaker 1: living children, and suddenly entirely on her own. Charles, her
Speaker 1: younger brother, who was now King Charles the First of England,
Speaker 1: begged her to come home, but she wouldn't hear of it.
Speaker 1: Returning to England would mean abandoning all claims to the
Speaker 1: Palatinate for her head, her self, and her children. She
Speaker 1: had come too far and sacrificed too much to give
Speaker 1: up now, so she stayed in the Netherlands. She and
Speaker 1: Frederick had built a country house a few years earlier,
Speaker 1: and she spent increasing amounts of time there. She also
Speaker 1: became a patron of the arts and commissioned portraits honoring
Speaker 1: Frederick's memory. She doubled down on her letter writing, advocating
Speaker 1: for her family's rightful claims, arranging marriages for her children,
Speaker 1: lobbying for more support. Between Frederick's death and her own
Speaker 1: death three decades later, she buried four more of her children.
Speaker 1: Her son Charles Louis, did eventually regain the electorship in
Speaker 1: sixteen forty eight, but even that victory didn't entice Elizabeth
Speaker 1: to leave the Hague. In sixteen forty nine, her brother
Speaker 1: Charles was executed by English revolutionaries. The news pushed Elizabeth
Speaker 1: for into isolation. Her relationships with most of her children
Speaker 1: were tense. Later accounts would criticize her as emotionally distant,
Speaker 1: though by the standards of seventeenth century royalty, she was
Speaker 1: probably typical. Even today, British royalty isn't known for being
Speaker 1: warm and fuzzy with their offspring. Elizabeth prioritized letter writing
Speaker 1: and political maneuvering, although in later years she was apparently
Speaker 1: quite fond of spending time with her grandchildren. By her
Speaker 1: final decade, the world had changed around her. The Thirty
Speaker 1: Years War had ended, reshaping Europe entirely. The militant Protestant
Speaker 1: ideals she had championed in her youth had no place
Speaker 1: in this new order. She had become a relic, someone
Speaker 1: who belonged to an earlier era, with no country that
Speaker 1: truly felt like home. And then, in sixteen sixty this
Speaker 1: stuart were restored to the throne in the form of
Speaker 1: Elizabeth's nephew, who became King Charles the Second. As soon
Speaker 1: as he became King of England, he began pressing Elizabeth
Speaker 1: to come home after more than forty years away. Elizabeth
Speaker 1: finally agreed. She arrived in England in May sixteen sixty one,
Speaker 1: no longer a fresh faced newlywed, but now a widow
Speaker 1: in her sixties with a hell of a lot of
Speaker 1: life behind her. She found London well suited to her
Speaker 1: new life and decided not to return to the Netherlands.
Speaker 1: Her second chance at English life would be brief. In
Speaker 1: January sixteen sixty two, she came down with pneumonia. Elizabeth
Speaker 1: died just after midnight on February thirteenth, sixteen sixty two,
Speaker 1: the day before her wedding anniversary. Her death didn't make
Speaker 1: much of a splash. She was estranged from many of
Speaker 1: her children, and most Londoners knew her only as the
Speaker 1: mother of Rupert, the famous military commander. On February seventeenth,
Speaker 1: when her coffin left Somerset House for burial, Rupert was
Speaker 1: the only one of her sons present for the funeral
Speaker 1: procession to Westminster Abbey. She was laid to rest near
Speaker 1: her beloved brother Henry in the family vault, where her grandmother, Mary,
Speaker 1: Queen of Scot's, was also buried. Elizabeth Stuart is mostly forgotten,
Speaker 1: now remembered, if she's remembered at all. For her comically
Speaker 1: short reign, She's often portrayed as a romantic tragic figure,
Speaker 1: the Winter Queen who lost everything, but that story misses
Speaker 1: important details. Frederick and Elizabeth's decision to accept the Bohemian
Speaker 1: crown helped ignite the Thirty Years War, which devastated Central
Speaker 1: Europe and left eight million dead. Elizabeth has often been
Speaker 1: scapegoaded for her husband's bad decision, making accused of pushing
Speaker 1: him to accept the crown out of her own personal
Speaker 1: ambition or sense of entitlement. But consider her life's trajectory.
Speaker 1: At age nine, conspirators had plotted to kidnap her and
Speaker 1: install her as a puppet queen. Instead, she helped to
Speaker 1: choose her own crown as an adult, and then watched
Speaker 1: it vanish in twelve months. She was a woman who
Speaker 1: refused to accept defeat, who fought for decades against impossible odds,
Speaker 1: who maintained her dignity even as everything crumbled around her.
Speaker 1: The sheer force of will she demonstrated in defending her
Speaker 1: ideals and her family's interests with almost no resources, relying
Speaker 1: more on charm and reputation rather than actual power, remain
Speaker 1: remarkable In a turbulent period full of religious wars and bold,
Speaker 1: violent land grabs. The Winter Queen is both a cautionary
Speaker 1: tale and a symbol of strength. That's the story of
Speaker 1: the Winter Queen. But keep listening after a brief sponsor
Speaker 1: break to hear a little bit more about Elizabeth Stuart's legacy.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Stewart may not have been a particularly warm mother.
Speaker 1: It said that she was more interested in writing letters
Speaker 1: than raising children, but she accomplished something that outlasted everything
Speaker 1: else she ever did. She became the ancestor of every
Speaker 1: British monarch who followed. Her youngest daughter, Sophia, married into
Speaker 1: the Hanoverian family. At the time, Elizabeth didn't think highly
Speaker 1: of the match, chalking it up to her daughter's rebellion.
Speaker 1: But nearly forty years after Elizabeth died, English Parliament faced
Speaker 1: a succession crisis. They needed to ensure the crown stayed Protestant,
Speaker 1: and in seventeen oh one they passed the Act of
Speaker 1: settlement which named Sophia's line as heirs to the crown.
Speaker 1: All those years Elizabeth had spent fighting for her children's claims,
Speaker 1: all those endless letters arguing for their rights, all of
Speaker 1: her stubborn refusal to give up. None of it had
Speaker 1: restored Bohemia or the Palatinate the way she had hoped,
Speaker 1: but it had kept her bloodline. In the conversation. In
Speaker 1: seventeen fourteen, Sophia's son became King George the First of
Speaker 1: Great Britain, Elizabeth's grandson. Every single British monarch since descended
Speaker 1: from him, which means they all descended from her. The
Speaker 1: entire line. The Georgia's Victoria, Elizabeth the Second, and now
Speaker 1: Charles the Third, his son William. William's children George, Charlotte
Speaker 1: and Louis, all of them carry Elizabeth Stewart's noble blood.
Speaker 1: The winter Queen, who ruled Bohemia for a single chaotic year,
Speaker 1: founded a royal line that has endured for centuries. Noble
Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild
Speaker 1: from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz,
Speaker 1: with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick,
Speaker 1: Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is
Speaker 1: edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima
Speaker 1: Il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and
Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.