1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:09,319 Speaker 1: The Royal Palace Sofia, August nineteen forty three, and King 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: Boris is dining with a friend. The friends a tall 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: man about the same age as the king himself. From 4 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: the way he sits straight backed in his chair, you 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,639 Speaker 1: can guess he's had a military past, and when he 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: stands up briefly to reach for the serving dish, it's 7 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: clear he has a stiff leg, a slight limp, probably 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,959 Speaker 1: a war injury. It's just the two of them at 9 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: the table, a private dinner. The servants have been dismissed, 10 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: so it's the friend who offers the king a second helping. 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 2: I'm convinced that something that was put into his soup, 12 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 2: you know, dinner with somebody alone, and fell ill after 13 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 2: dinner suddenly. 14 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: So who did he have dinner with? 15 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 2: I think some assistant who worked with him and fell 16 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 2: after that. 17 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: The friend's name is Jordan Sevov. He's an architect by trade, 18 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: but in the last year or so he's somehow become 19 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: the king's closest advisor. Other more experienced assistants have been 20 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: pushed out. Zevov's very comfortable in the royal presence, and 21 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: we can make an educated guess about what was in 22 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: that serving dish. 23 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 3: Nobody even remembered what the menu was. But my father 24 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 3: loved mushrooms, has no doubt. 25 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: So mushrooms the King's favorite dish. Was it mushrooms that 26 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: made Boris ill? Because that meal it turned out to 27 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: be the king's last supper. The next morning, Boris collapsed 28 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: and as he lay on his sick bed, doctors noticed 29 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: his skin was covered in those brown blotches we've heard about, 30 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: as if he'd been poisoned. 31 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 4: And never really recovered the thorn. 32 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: It's a shocking possibility. Was the king betrayed by his 33 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:35,839 Speaker 1: closest confidante from Blanchard House? And exactly right, media, this 34 00:02:36,600 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: is the Butterfly King. I'm Becky Milligan, Chapter eight. The 35 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: rest is history. We're in Q in West London, not 36 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: far from the National Archives actually, where we began our 37 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: search for evidence about who killed Boris. But today we're 38 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: not looking for dusty old documents. We're looking for plants, 39 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: poisonous plants, or to be more precise, poisonous mushrooms. Which 40 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: is why we're at Queues Royal Botanic Gardens, because it 41 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: happens to have the largest and most comprehensive fungy collection 42 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: in the world was mold. That's cue, senior researcher Arena Droganina. 43 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: And if you didn't catch that, because I sure didn't, 44 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: She said, mold. 45 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 5: Yes, I'm mold. 46 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: You know, for a moment I thought you said molds, 47 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 1: and then I thought you mess spies, and you thought something, 48 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: we're talking to someone in the spy world, all right, 49 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: So molds. 50 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 5: Molds so interesting. And of course also mushrooms. 51 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: Arena works with all kinds of mushrooms, the good, the bad, 52 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: and the very bad, and. 53 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 5: Those that produce antibiotics, and they also produce a lot 54 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 5: of toxins as well. 55 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 6: Guess which mushrooms Arena's most keen. 56 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 5: On, the really deadly ones. The thing is that mushrooms 57 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 5: they usually have not a single toxin, but they have 58 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 5: a cocktail of toxins. 59 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: In other words, if they get into the wrong hands 60 00:04:55,120 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: and the right mouth, poisonous mushrooms are pretty effective killers. 61 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: But there aren't as many lethal varieties as you might think. 62 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 5: If we talk about all really deadly poisonose fungi that 63 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 5: can kill, there maybe less than one hundred. 64 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: So if King Boris was poisoned by mushrooms. Are there 65 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: any obvious suspects in that top one hundred? 66 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 5: There is a particular poisonous one that is called Amanita. 67 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: Following this in plain English, it goes by the name 68 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: of death cap. Basically, the death cap does exactly what 69 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: it says on the tin. 70 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 6: It kills you. Then there's another prime suspect. 71 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 5: We can also talk about a very interesting and the 72 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 5: very dangerous fungus that is called whip cup. 73 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: So we have the webcap and the death cap, twin 74 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: toxins with a single murderous aim, and they're pretty commonplace. 75 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,479 Speaker 5: Where do I find them in the forest? 76 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:02,239 Speaker 7: Really? 77 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 5: Any forests? Any forest? 78 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 4: Yeah? 79 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 5: Why not in Bulgaria as well? Of course. 80 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: So somebody wanting to kill Boris, somebody like his architect 81 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: friends Sevov for example, would have had easy access to 82 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,239 Speaker 1: deadly mushrooms. I mean, Arana Palace has its own mini forest. 83 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: We went walking in it with the King's aid Jarvil 84 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: and guess what he pointed out, it's a fall. 85 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 5: Of mushrooms in the garden. 86 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: Now, But are these lethal mushrooms easy to spot? 87 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 6: What does a death cap look like? 88 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 5: That's usually peel in color, slightly greenish whiteish and looking 89 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 5: similar to classical mushroom. 90 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: That's goordinary mushroom that you'd chop up much in an 91 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: oblot stambols. 92 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 5: There is this possibility to confuse them. 93 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 4: Ah. 94 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: Now that's interesting, and it makes me think I need 95 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,279 Speaker 1: to consider a much less dramatic scenario. What if Boris 96 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: accidentally poisoned himself. We already know that Boris loved to 97 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: spend time in the forests among the flora and fauna, 98 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: looking for rare plants. Perhaps he also did a bit 99 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: of foraging. Now, Simeon told us that Boris was knowledgeable 100 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: about fungi. 101 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 3: My father knew a lot about mushrooms. 102 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: But Boris had a lot on his mind, the war, 103 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: the unhappy alliance with Hitler, how to protect Bulgaria's Jews. 104 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: Is it possible he just got distracted and picked her 105 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: poisonous mushroom by mistake, then unwittingly just handed it to 106 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: the royal cook. It's certainly possible, but Arena doesn't believe 107 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: that a botanist like Boris would make such a basic error. 108 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 5: If the person has an even super visual knowledge, I 109 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 5: believe that this mistake is very unlikely because usually people 110 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 5: that like to collect the big mushrooms in the forest. 111 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 5: They should know them. So I don't think the king 112 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 5: do this mistake. 113 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: Okay, I think we can rule out Boris accidentally poisoning himself, 114 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: but that puts Boris's architect friend back in the frame. 115 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: I want to tell you a bit more about Jordan Severov, 116 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: because there's definitely something fishy about him. In the last 117 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: three years of Boris's life, it was Severov who had 118 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: the king's ear, and he'd infiltrated the palace in the 119 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: most extraordinary way. Here's how it happened. When Boris married 120 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: Queen Giovanna and she moved into Varana Palace. The king's 121 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: sister Eudoxia, felt well a bit of a spare part, 122 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:03,439 Speaker 1: so he decided to move out, and it was the 123 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: well known Bulgarian architect Jorden Sevov who was commissioned to 124 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: build a villa for Eudoxia. Suddenly, Sevov found himself at 125 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: the heart of the royal circle, and once the war started, 126 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: Sevov frequently began showing up at the palace unannounced for 127 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: private audiences with King Boris, and Boris really took to him. 128 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: He was impressed by Sevov's intelligence. He started to ask 129 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: Sevov's opinion on the political dilemmas of the day, and 130 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: it wasn't long before he began asking Sevov for his advice. 131 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,200 Speaker 1: The king's other aids and advisers felt squeezed out, and 132 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: they started to become seriously worried. In fact, Sevov had 133 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: such power over King Boris that behind his back people 134 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: called him the bull Gary and Rasputin. He came to 135 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: the palace whenever he chose to. He practically had his 136 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:07,079 Speaker 1: own key. 137 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 6: But here's the thing. 138 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: It turns out that Seveov was a staunch admirer of 139 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: Germany and of Hitler. Now, the royal children grew up 140 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: in difficult times, murderous times when trust was hard to 141 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: come by, so they'd been schooled in keeping stum whenever 142 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: there were any visitors at home. 143 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 3: What I remember is that mother will tell us that, well, 144 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 3: we just should know how to keep our mouth shut. 145 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 4: But I think it was more for. 146 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 3: Is anybody eavesdropping or I don't know. 147 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: Did the Queen suspect that Seveov was not entirely trustworthy? 148 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: Was Sevov being paid to infiltrate royal circles. Boris had 149 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: fallen out with Hitler. Remember, So is it possible that 150 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: sever Off bumped off Boris maybe to hand power to 151 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: his brother, Kirol, who might be more sympathetic. The reason 152 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,959 Speaker 1: I say that is because just a few weeks after 153 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: Boris died, Kirol went to meet Hitler. It's really eerie 154 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: watching the newsreels Boris's little brother, down cast walking in 155 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: his big brother's footsteps, saluting the Fura. It's particularly chilling 156 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: because Kirol and Boris look incredibly alike. You can only 157 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: really tell them apart because Kirol's wearing a black armband. 158 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: You almost feel like you're watching a ghost. So did 159 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:02,319 Speaker 1: the Nazis hope Kirol would be more pliant to their demands? 160 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: Did they think the little brother would be easier to 161 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: manipulate once their big brother was out of the way. 162 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: It sounds plausible. So let's return to the night in 163 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: question that supper. One thing is nagging me about it. 164 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: I mean, kings have food tasters, don't they? 165 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 3: No, no, no, never never. This was a sort of 166 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 3: I don't know, in Roman days. 167 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: I think he means Julius Caesar might have had a 168 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: food taster, but the king of Bulgaria not so much. 169 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: Turns out Boris was pretty lax about his personal security. 170 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 3: And also he liked to move around, I mean without 171 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 3: any fuss or bodyguards or what have you, which is 172 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 3: so necessary nowadays. The only rule he had he would 173 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 3: never be done on the same route that he had 174 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 3: onto a place, because he had had a dents on 175 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 3: his life. 176 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:08,080 Speaker 1: But if Boris was poisoned, wouldn't it have been pretty 177 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: obvious to him? I mean, doesn't a toxic toadstool taste 178 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: pretty foul? Arena Droger Nina is our mycologist or mushroom expert. 179 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 5: Some poisonous founded they are known to have some bitter tastes, 180 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 5: but the ones that are really poisonous they had tasteless. 181 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 5: They're tasteless. They don't even taste. 182 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 1: N You can't die having had a beautiful mushroom pie 183 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: or something. It'd just be a tasteless mess. God, how awful. 184 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: I know, I'm getting carried away again. But of course, 185 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: what arena really means is that the deathly mushrooms would 186 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: have been undetectable. The king just wouldn't have noticed them 187 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: mixed into a saucer a pie. He'd have tucked in 188 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: as usual with Gusto, So time to ask Arena. The 189 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: crucial question. Is mushroom poisoning though a reliable way to 190 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: kill someone to carry out murder. 191 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 5: Yes, it is reliable. They could increase the concentration and 192 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 5: make a powder, of course, because for the dead cup, 193 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 5: you need only a quarter of the cup to kill person. 194 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 1: So Seveov could have even sprinkled a toxic mushroom powder 195 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: onto the food. And once more, those killer mushrooms cover 196 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: their tracks like nothing else, because you can eat one, 197 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: feel a bit dodgy for about twenty four hours, and 198 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: then feel fine again until it's way, way too late. 199 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 5: They are very dangerous because the poisoning appears sometimes two 200 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 5: weeks or three weeks after. 201 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: The poisoning, So Sevov could have slipped Boris that poison 202 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: weeks before the last supper. He was a regular at 203 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: the royal dinner table. But how come the doctors didn't 204 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: clock that Boris had food poisoning? I mean, that's pretty 205 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: basic first aid, isn't it asking someone what they've eaten? 206 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: And the symptoms of mushroom poisoning include nausea, headache, flushing, 207 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: and heart palpitations. 208 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 5: It's really difficult to prove because you know, you film 209 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 5: seek you see the doctor, and doctor asked what did 210 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 5: you do yesterday? What did he did? They before? But 211 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 5: nobody asks you what did you two weeks ago or 212 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 5: three weeks ago or a month ago? Right, yeah, they did. 213 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: They would just say, oh, heart attack. They wouldn't have 214 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: detected the mushroom toxins. They that's very interesting because they 215 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: could get away with murder. 216 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 5: Whoever it was? 217 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 6: Yep, have I just solved this murder? Was it? 218 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: The architect seven on behalf of the Nazis in the 219 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: dining room with toxic mushrooms? 220 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 6: In theory, that seems perfectly possible. 221 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: But did he really have the opportunity to orchestrate his 222 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: murderous plan? 223 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 5: Obviously you have. 224 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 6: To administer it. 225 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: Well, yes, that's because they could just push that little 226 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: bit of the nice pasta with that lovely mushroom source 227 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: to one side and stick to the potatoes. 228 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 6: And then what do you do? 229 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 5: Because comedy of errors there, how do you get rid 230 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 5: of it? 231 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 2: Then? 232 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: The problem is Sevov would need to have eaten exactly 233 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: the same dish as the king, or the king would 234 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: have become suspicious. So if Sevov ate the same thing 235 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: as the king. How come he didn't die too. I 236 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: guess it's possible he took an antidote, except Erna tells 237 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: me there are no reliable antidotes for death cap or 238 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: webcap mushrooms. Even today, I'm starting to feel less convinced. 239 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 1: And isn't it all a bit too convenient? Because there's 240 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: a very real possibility that Sevov was framed. The other 241 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: Palisades were jealous of him. They hated his influence, his 242 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: bad influence as they saw it, over their beloved king. 243 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: So when Boris died, a rumor began to spread, a 244 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 1: rumor that Severov had been found at home counting out 245 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: gold bars Nazi blood money for bumping off Boris. Simeon 246 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,640 Speaker 1: thinks that's all buncom bunkom put out by the communists. 247 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 3: Afterwards, the propaganda tried to, of course blame him for 248 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 3: all sorts of things, and said that they were ingots 249 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:49,640 Speaker 3: of Nazi gold with the what you call it the swastika, 250 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 3: as though the Nazis, if they had poisoned my father, 251 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 3: would be that idiotic as to give ingot with their 252 00:17:58,480 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 3: signature on it. 253 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 6: Well, come to think of it. 254 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: I suppose it does sound a bit like a bad movie, 255 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: a tad obvious. 256 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 3: You know, that's all part of propaganda, which people who 257 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 3: are in this propaganda things sometimes think that the rest 258 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 3: of human beings are idiots because they try and sell 259 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 3: such absurdities. But they drum it in, drum it in, 260 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 3: drum it in. Finally it sort of becomes half truth. 261 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 6: Point taken. 262 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: I'm ruling out several and the Nazis, but the mushrooms, 263 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: I have to say, I'm now certain that was how 264 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 1: Boris was killed. 265 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 6: As for who did it. 266 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: Well, I now have a very clear idea, and we'll 267 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:58,159 Speaker 1: come back to that very soon. I want to pause 268 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: our murder investigation for a moment because I need to 269 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: tie up some other loose ends. We've been focused on 270 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 1: Boris's murder, But Simeon and Maria Louisa have lived whole 271 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:18,120 Speaker 1: lifetime since then, long and extraordinary lifetimes, despite being haunted 272 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: by their father's death. So you'll remember that a year 273 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: after Boris died in nineteen forty three, the Red Army 274 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: marched into Bulgaria. Simeon and Maria Louisa were seven and 275 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: eleven years old. The Soviets promptly shot most of Boris's 276 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: old government and the royal household, including Kirol and several 277 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: Actually poor Queen Giovanna and her children were pretty much 278 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: kept under house arrest, and then in September nineteen forty six, 279 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:57,119 Speaker 1: a referendum, albeit heavily rigged, abolished the monarchy. Bulgaria was 280 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: declared a republic and the queen and her children were 281 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: asked to leave the country. 282 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 6: Asked to leave is a bit of a euphemism. 283 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: Let's face it, they didn't really have a choice. At first, 284 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: The royal trio went to Alexandria in Egypt, where the 285 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: queen's own father was also in exile. Later, General Franco, 286 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: the nationalist dictator of Spain, granted them asylum, so the 287 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:31,159 Speaker 1: family settled there. Simeon stayed and Maria Luisa eventually married 288 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: and moved to New York, but their hearts stayed firmly 289 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,400 Speaker 1: in Bulgaria. They wondered if they would ever be able 290 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: to go home. 291 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 4: Well, it's hoped. 292 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,159 Speaker 2: One day was against hope, and then one day the 293 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 2: Virlin Wall fell in eighty nine, and shortly thereafter the 294 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:54,440 Speaker 2: Bulgarians got rid of that regime and the possibility was there. 295 00:20:55,640 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: After the war came down, communist regimes across Eastern Europe relapsed. 296 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: Simeon was desperate to return to his homeland, to his kingdom, Bulgaria, 297 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,479 Speaker 1: but Simeon knew he had to be cautious. He had 298 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: no idea how he'd be received so many years after 299 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: he'd left. Would he be welcomed or met with hostility? 300 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: During Maria Louisa and Simeon's exile, the Communists had painted 301 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: a dark picture of the royal family. The Bulgarians were 302 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: told they were thieves who didn't care a jot about Bulgaria. 303 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: Simeon was made out to be an arch villain. 304 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 3: People were told all kinds of derogatory or hostile things 305 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 3: or silence. 306 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: When Simeon thought about returning home after half a century 307 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,920 Speaker 1: of absence, he wondered if anyone would even show up. 308 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: So in nineteen ninety one, he sent a special envoy 309 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: to test the water to see how the Bulgarian people, 310 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 1: newly emerged from the Iron Curtain would react to blue 311 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: blood in the country. And Simeon knew just the right 312 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: person for the job. 313 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,479 Speaker 2: So my brother called me and said to me, how 314 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 2: would you like to go and I said, by my God, 315 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 2: and then it came through. 316 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: Maria Louisa arrived at night. The remnants of the old 317 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 1: communist regime were not happy. The old Party loyalists turned 318 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: off all the street lamps from the airport to Sofia 319 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: to make her journey as difficult as possible. Not a 320 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: good omen perhaps, but the Bulgarian people felt very differently. 321 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: They lined the streets, waving torches and lighting her path 322 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: with bonfires. Remember the last time Maria Louisa had seen 323 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: her homeland, she was just thirteen years old. 324 00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 4: The crowds were unbelievable. 325 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 2: I never expected anybody to sort of, you know, remember anything, 326 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,439 Speaker 2: because it's almost two generations, fifty years, it's two generations. 327 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,159 Speaker 2: And I went out on not on the balcony like 328 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 2: the queen, but on a terrace and said to them, 329 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 2: you know, you're not here for me because I was 330 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 2: a child, but you remember my parents, and it's the 331 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 2: love for my parents that you are here applauding. 332 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 4: It's very moving, very very moving. 333 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 2: It was an unbelievable, you know dream that came through. 334 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: And then in nineteen ninety six it was her brother's turn. 335 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: When the people learned Simeon had touched down. The bells 336 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,639 Speaker 1: of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral rang out in his honor. The 337 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 1: last time Simeon had heard those bells, he was six 338 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 1: years old, a little boy in shorts and white knee socks, 339 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: trying not to cry at his father's funeral. 340 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 3: Actually, it's I mean, paradoxical, got such such a joy, 341 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 3: But the sound of those bells was when my father died. 342 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:15,160 Speaker 3: So there was a sudden return to precisely that very 343 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 3: sad moment in forty three, they realized that it brought 344 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 3: me back, all of a sudden, with half a century 345 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 3: For a few minutes. 346 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: The boy King finally returned home, aged fifty nine. Even now, 347 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: Simeon stares at the ground when I asked him about 348 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: that moment. He's still humbled by the welcome he received. 349 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 3: To me, it was a very personal moment. It was 350 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 3: unbelievably or undescribably moving, because after all fifty years in exile, 351 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 3: finally to set foot back on the country when I 352 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 3: was born. 353 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: In Watching the news footage is credible. Crowds literally weep 354 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: for joy. Women run alongside Simeon's train, pressing flowers into 355 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: his hands. It's as if they're welcoming the Messiah or 356 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:12,920 Speaker 1: King Boris himself. 357 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 3: One of the major factors was that it was Boris's son, 358 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 3: the Little King, who was coming back. You see, it 359 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:28,640 Speaker 3: was a tremendous reception. Nobody had expected this, and it 360 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 3: was really quite extraordinary. 361 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: Sounds like a fairy tale ending, doesn't it? A happily 362 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:43,920 Speaker 1: ever after? Except this was only the beginning. Simeon's homecoming 363 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:48,880 Speaker 1: wasn't plain sailing. After fifty years behind the Iron curtain. 364 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: He knew Bulgaria certainly didn't have the stomach for another monarchy. 365 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: He knew he couldn't claim the throne again. 366 00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 4: And I thought, that's not fair. 367 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,640 Speaker 3: These people have been fifty years under an totalitarian system, 368 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,199 Speaker 3: so fifty years of such a system. Who am I 369 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 3: to tell them? Looks, my system is better. Let's have 370 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 3: it go. 371 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: But people really believed the Little King, as he was 372 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: still known, could help them. Simeon had spent his exile 373 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: largely in Spain. He was a Westerner, He'd done military 374 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: training in Pennsylvania, He'd worked in finance in Europe. The 375 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: Bulgarians felt sure he'd be able to turn their fortunes around, 376 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: and Simeon. Well, Simeon wanted to help. He wanted to 377 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: continue his father's legacy. It's what he felt he was 378 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 1: born for. 379 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 3: The sense of duty is something which is hammered into us, 380 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:53,840 Speaker 3: that one can or should help one's country. It's part 381 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 3: of the monarchs thinking. It might sound old fashioned, but 382 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 3: that's what it is. 383 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: Okay, there's something I've kept back from you, but I'll 384 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 1: let Simeon tell you himself. 385 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 2: No way. 386 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:13,640 Speaker 3: Want to sound derogatory, but I I demoted myself by 387 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 3: becoming prime minister. 388 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: Yep, you heard that correctly. In the summer of two 389 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: thousand and one, King Simeon, On, a landslide victory, became 390 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,320 Speaker 1: Bulgaria's Prime minister. His party was called the National Movement 391 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: for Stability in Progress. He helped Bulgaria become a member 392 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 1: of NATO and paved the way for Bulgaria to join 393 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:41,160 Speaker 1: the European Union. So at first things went well, and 394 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:47,119 Speaker 1: then they didn't. The Bulgarians wanted much more progress than 395 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: they got. They wanted a big boost to their living standards, 396 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: but that didn't happen. So in two thousand and five, 397 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: Simeon was ousted as prime minister and his party became 398 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:04,159 Speaker 1: a Dune, your partner in a coalition government. Four years later, 399 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 1: his party failed to win any seats at all, and 400 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: Simeon resigned from politics. 401 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,040 Speaker 3: The fact that we had a democracy is this ancient, 402 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 3: and the fact that we're in the Eel is just 403 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:17,200 Speaker 3: as important. 404 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,080 Speaker 1: But there was another problem. You'll remember that when the 405 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: Royal siblings went into exile, the Communist Party nationalized all 406 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: their palaces and properties. Simeon and Maria Louisa wanted them back, 407 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: so they went to the European Court of Human Rights, 408 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: and that infuriated many Bulgarians. They argued Simeon was only 409 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 1: interested in enriching himself, not his people. 410 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 6: Simeon's hurt by. 411 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 3: That we serve, we don't duuse the system for ourselves. 412 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: The Royal siblings lost their court case. They didn't get 413 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: all their palaces back, but they got the one they 414 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: really wanted, Varana Palace, King Boris's sanctuary, the place where 415 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: he loved to spend time with his two little children. 416 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: Maria Louisa and Simeon right back to who killed King Boris, 417 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: The question that Maria Luisa and Simeon have never stopped asking. Well, 418 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: there's been a development because something rather extraordinaries happened. 419 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 6: When back in the summer. 420 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: Of twenty twenty three, Russia launched her first lunar mission 421 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: in nearly fifty years. It was a pretty big deal 422 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: in terms of national pride. The unmanned spacecraft was due 423 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: to land on the south side of the Moon, but 424 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: the rocket crashed the mission ended in complete failure. It 425 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: was a massive blow for Russia's prestige. Fast forward a 426 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: few weeks and the man responsible for that embarrassment suddenly 427 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: finds himself gravely ill in hospital for two weeks, leading 428 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: space scientist Vitalie Melnikov battled a very strange illness, and 429 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: then he died, and Russian state media reported he died 430 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: of mushroom poisoning. Sounds very suspicious to me, and very 431 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: familiar in recent years there's been a huge spit of 432 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 1: mysterious deaths in Russia. But Irina Drojinina, our mushroom expert, 433 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:56,480 Speaker 1: believes she knows where the inspiration came from. 434 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 5: These attempts to poison thee all come from the Cold 435 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 5: War KGB, and I think that all started before the 436 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 5: World War Two. I think that all started in late 437 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:08,720 Speaker 5: thirties for sure. 438 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: Why does she think that, Well, remember what our Bulgarian 439 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: historian George Bosdiganoff told us. 440 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 8: From ninety thirty eight to nineteen fifty three, the Anchovid 441 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 8: that's Russian Special Service, maintained two laboratories for the production 442 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 8: of deadly poisonous toxicological one and bacteriological one. 443 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 1: And remember those laboratories had a specific brief, not just 444 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 1: to silence Stalin's enemies, but to do. 445 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 4: It without leaving any traces. 446 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: In other words, they fatally poisoned people and made it 447 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,080 Speaker 1: look like they're victims had died of a heart attack, 448 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: which is of course what's written on King Boris's death certificate. 449 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 1: And it turns out our mushroom expert, Arena, who's based 450 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 1: at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, knows quite a 451 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: lot about those poison laboratories. 452 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 5: The war laboratories with very bad intentions. 453 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 1: Very bad intentions indeed, and Irena should know. She's Russian. 454 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,480 Speaker 1: She knew people, not friends of hers, who worked in 455 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: those labs. That's how she knows they were specifically working 456 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,560 Speaker 1: on mushrooms. Yes, mushrooms. 457 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 5: I believe crime related to mushrooms are connected to mushrooms. 458 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,960 Speaker 1: Irena thinks that in their secret pre war laboratories, the 459 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 1: Soviets were tinkering with fungi toxins, making them more concentrated, 460 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: trying to mimic them, basically creating a chemical weapon based 461 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: on mushrooms, perhaps one that was fit to kill a king. 462 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,920 Speaker 5: I think the Russian stey maybe learned from nature about 463 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 5: the stocksins and tried to optimize them and synthesize something similar. 464 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: Okay, deep breath, I'm going to ask Arena outright. So, 465 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: knowing what you know about the KGB, the laboratories and 466 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: so on, and what we've told you about Boris and 467 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: how he died all those symptoms, do you think he 468 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: was murdered. 469 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 5: I cannot exclude this could be. It could be. I 470 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 5: cannot exclude this, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to call it. 471 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: After months of investigation, I believe King Boris was murdered 472 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: by the Soviets. Boris's murder has the Soviet hallmark stamped 473 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 1: all over it. They had the means, and with their 474 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 1: embassy next to the palace, the Soviets had plenty of 475 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: opportunity to slip the synthetic mushroom poison into the king's 476 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: food or drink. 477 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:08,320 Speaker 6: As for their motive. 478 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:14,480 Speaker 1: Remember, Stalin dreamed of spreading communism across Eastern Europe, and 479 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:18,239 Speaker 1: Bulgaria was a vital foothold for anyone trying to consolidate 480 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 1: their power in the region. The only problem was that 481 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,759 Speaker 1: there was a king in the way, a very popular king, 482 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: and if it was the Soviets, the plan worked. Just 483 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: one year after the king's death, the Red Army marched 484 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:42,800 Speaker 1: into Sofia and the Iron Curtain swallowed up Bulgaria. 485 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 6: So I believe King. 486 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 1: Boris was murdered by the Soviets or by the Bulgarian 487 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: communists with help from the Soviets, using synthetic mushroom based 488 00:34:54,880 --> 00:35:02,000 Speaker 1: poisons from those dreadful chemical weapons labs. That certainly coincides 489 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: with Maria Louisa's suspicions when I spoke to her a 490 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 1: few months ago, when she said that she was convinced 491 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 1: something had been put in the king's soup, and about 492 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:14,360 Speaker 1: who she thought did. 493 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,239 Speaker 2: It, who had the greatest advantage, who gets rid of 494 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:20,640 Speaker 2: him the Soviet Union. 495 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 1: But although Simeon admits he has questions over his father's death, 496 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: he wouldn't point the finger at anyone. He wouldn't even 497 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:32,640 Speaker 1: allow himself to say the word murder. However hard I 498 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:33,879 Speaker 1: tried to catch him out. 499 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:36,160 Speaker 6: I know you might want. 500 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: To keep it private, but just for us in your guts, 501 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:47,760 Speaker 1: who do you suspect may have if your father was murdered, 502 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:49,759 Speaker 1: who could have mated him? 503 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,959 Speaker 3: I'm sorry, I cannot even to myself because it would 504 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,920 Speaker 3: be cheating. Really, yes, because again I say, I like 505 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:05,480 Speaker 3: to have things dougmented, broom tested, what have you? I 506 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:14,279 Speaker 3: have never let myself into thinking, ah, really, because then 507 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 3: where does objectivity go? I'm sorry, very disappointing. 508 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,560 Speaker 1: But then I listened to the tape again and I 509 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,560 Speaker 1: realized I'd missed something. 510 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,760 Speaker 3: But still I think that there must have been foul 511 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,920 Speaker 3: playing as much as that he died in a strange 512 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,240 Speaker 3: I mean, the pathology itself is a bit strange. 513 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:44,720 Speaker 1: So there you have it. There must have been foul play. 514 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:51,120 Speaker 1: How can foul play mean anything other than murder? And 515 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 1: as we were packing up, the royal siblings were chatting 516 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 1: real Louisa suggested to her brother they may never find 517 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:02,280 Speaker 1: out the truth until they died themselves and find themselves 518 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:04,800 Speaker 1: in heaven or the other place. 519 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,040 Speaker 2: And we'll never know until we go up there. If 520 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,120 Speaker 2: we go and find out really what. 521 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:21,799 Speaker 4: It was, that's where we might find some of the 522 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 4: people who are down there. Yes, they know what it is. 523 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,840 Speaker 1: Six months on from that original interview, I want to 524 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: tell Maria Louisa what I've discovered, So I discussed the 525 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,480 Speaker 1: idea of telling her with my producer e J. She 526 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 1: must want to know where we've got to with this investigation, 527 00:37:41,719 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 1: so it would be really interesting just to say this 528 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:44,880 Speaker 1: is where we've got to. 529 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:46,400 Speaker 5: So you know, she called me. 530 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 9: Oh really, her Royal Highness called me on the phone. 531 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:53,719 Speaker 9: On the phone, this number came up that I didn't know, 532 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:58,480 Speaker 9: and all of a sudden and it was a royal highness. 533 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 1: Is there a reason why she didn't call me? 534 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:02,800 Speaker 7: Yeah? 535 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,760 Speaker 1: I mean no, really? Was it just she likes you better? 536 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:08,839 Speaker 1: She heard about you using the King's cone Becky. 537 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:13,279 Speaker 9: Oh no, and almost you know, pushing that was you. 538 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:14,279 Speaker 6: Wasn't No, I didn't do that. 539 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: I didn't It was you. 540 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 6: You you? 541 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,120 Speaker 9: So she's only been calling me, Oh my god, it 542 00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:23,480 Speaker 9: was you, wasn't it? 543 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:23,920 Speaker 5: It was you? 544 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:29,799 Speaker 1: For the record, it wasn't me. Anyway, here goes I 545 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 1: make the call and what we also turned out it 546 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,560 Speaker 1: could be more specifically mushroom poisoning. 547 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:40,719 Speaker 4: It's fascinating. 548 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:45,319 Speaker 2: We've never heard the mushroom version that you are bringing up, 549 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,759 Speaker 2: so that's that's something totally new and I'd love to 550 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:49,680 Speaker 2: hear more about it. 551 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 1: I tell Maria Luisa too about the recent death of 552 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:58,080 Speaker 1: the Russian rocket scientist Vitalie Melnikoff, who displeased Moscow and 553 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:02,840 Speaker 1: who mysteriously died of suspect mushroom poisoning eighty years after 554 00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:03,760 Speaker 1: Boris's death. 555 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:05,279 Speaker 6: She's not surprised. 556 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, you are sure that the Russians are experts. 557 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 2: Well, we've seen it in the last years, how many 558 00:39:11,719 --> 00:39:15,640 Speaker 2: people they managed to poison or half poison, etc. 559 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:17,560 Speaker 4: I mean, that's their specialty. 560 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 2: That's a mushroom powder might have been put in his 561 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,239 Speaker 2: food that evening and he fell ill after that and 562 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,399 Speaker 2: never you know, came back that I believe. 563 00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: Precisely how they did it isn't really important for Maria Louisa. 564 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:35,839 Speaker 2: They achieved what they wanted. If it's the mushrooms who 565 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:37,319 Speaker 2: killed him, that's it. 566 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:43,200 Speaker 4: And you know that's part of history, I guess. 567 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,840 Speaker 1: Part of history, but a part of history that's perhaps 568 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:54,239 Speaker 1: been overlooked forgotten. And I think King Boris's story is 569 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:58,320 Speaker 1: an important one. Yes, there's a stain on his legacy. 570 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,799 Speaker 1: There'll always be a remark in some people's minds over 571 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,680 Speaker 1: whether he could have done something to save the eleven 572 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:10,040 Speaker 1: thousand Jews of Thrace and Macedonia, over whether he should 573 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,960 Speaker 1: have been more outspoken about the plight of the Jews 574 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:17,480 Speaker 1: in Bulgaria itself. But no one can dispute one fact 575 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 1: that under Boris's watch, not a single Bulgarian Jew was 576 00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:25,560 Speaker 1: deported to the death camps. 577 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:26,360 Speaker 4: For the country. 578 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 2: He kept the Bulgaria out of the war, saved the population, 579 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:30,960 Speaker 2: saved the Jewish population. 580 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:34,200 Speaker 4: What more you want? A saint is maybe too much, 581 00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:35,280 Speaker 4: but the hero for sure. 582 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,600 Speaker 1: There's no doubt Boris's children loved him, and both Maria, 583 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:43,160 Speaker 1: Luisa and Simeon have been deeply marked by their father's 584 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:47,319 Speaker 1: sudden death. But how should history remember King Boris, the 585 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:52,839 Speaker 1: third of Bulgaria. People have really strong opinions about the king. 586 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:57,920 Speaker 1: He reigned in such difficult times during the deadliest conflict 587 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:03,120 Speaker 1: in human history, was forced to make impossible choices which 588 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:08,319 Speaker 1: were applauded by some and abhorred by others. Perhaps that's 589 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:12,200 Speaker 1: why it's so hard to uncover the truth about Boris's death, 590 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:18,920 Speaker 1: because even after eighty years, everyone, every witness, has an agenda, 591 00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:24,560 Speaker 1: and everyone can vilify or exalt Boris's story to match 592 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:29,919 Speaker 1: their own chosen narrative. There are historians who admire King 593 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: Boris's courage, his diplomacy, his kindness, while others deplore his cowardice, 594 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:44,280 Speaker 1: his underhandedness, his indifference. Our historian Tessa Dunlop has often 595 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:48,160 Speaker 1: been critical of Boris, but she believes he has something 596 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 1: important to teach us, particularly today. 597 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,680 Speaker 7: The headlines never really went big on Boris because he 598 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,640 Speaker 7: was what we might call in today's terms as a 599 00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:02,000 Speaker 7: bit of a sort of tech crap monarch, a little 600 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:03,080 Speaker 7: bit dull. 601 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:06,680 Speaker 1: She means, he was really into the nitty gritty, a 602 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,280 Speaker 1: guy who liked detail. 603 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,640 Speaker 7: When we talk about today's world of nationalism, you know, 604 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:16,040 Speaker 7: of populism, and if we want to understand how to 605 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:19,480 Speaker 7: manage that nationalism, we need to not look at the 606 00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:24,880 Speaker 7: flamboyant figures, but actually at the techna crat monarchs like 607 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:29,080 Speaker 7: Boris who managed to hold down the excesses on both 608 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:32,840 Speaker 7: the left and the right. He is your model man 609 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:37,840 Speaker 7: in an era of intolerant nationalism. 610 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:40,960 Speaker 1: And That's what's most important to Maria Luisa and Simeon 611 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:50,080 Speaker 1: that history will remember their father in context generously. I 612 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:53,320 Speaker 1: think we've come close to solving the mysterious death of 613 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:57,160 Speaker 1: Czar Boris the Third, as close as history will allow 614 00:42:57,239 --> 00:43:02,520 Speaker 1: us to come to us. He's Boris to Maria Louisa. 615 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:06,360 Speaker 1: He's her much missed papa as. 616 00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:10,759 Speaker 2: A loving father and very patient father. But all that 617 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:13,960 Speaker 2: other stuff you know about who and when you know. 618 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,560 Speaker 4: It doesn't change anything. You know we lost him. 619 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,880 Speaker 2: So to dwell for eighty years over that subject, I 620 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:24,720 Speaker 2: really don't. 621 00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:27,120 Speaker 4: I pray for his soul. 622 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:35,239 Speaker 2: I feel him very close many times, but. 623 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:38,080 Speaker 4: The rest is unfortunately history. 624 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:44,400 Speaker 1: Let's leave King Boris where he was happiest, at Varana Palace, 625 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:48,920 Speaker 1: strolling in the grounds in his old floppy hat, waving 626 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:50,160 Speaker 1: his butterfly net. 627 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:52,200 Speaker 6: Behind him. 628 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:58,480 Speaker 1: Two little children run barefoot through the tree line, chasing 629 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:37,759 Speaker 1: their father's shadow. The Butterfly King is a production of 630 00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 1: Blanchard House and Exactly Right Media, hosted by me Becky Milligan. 631 00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:48,040 Speaker 1: It's written and produced by Emma Jane Kirby. Original music 632 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:52,600 Speaker 1: is by Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis nank Manew and Toby Mattimoon. 633 00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:58,040 Speaker 1: Sound design and engineering by Toby Mattamoon and Daniel Lloyd Evans. 634 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:06,560 Speaker 1: Artwork by Lilac, Voice acting by Mark Umbers. Special thanks 635 00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:12,200 Speaker 1: to Yona PEYOFSKA and Vessel Vlav. The Managing producer is 636 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,400 Speaker 1: a Mika Schortino Noo. The creative director of Blanchard House 637 00:45:16,719 --> 00:45:20,760 Speaker 1: is Rosie Pye. The executive producer and head of Content 638 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:25,600 Speaker 1: at Blanchard House is Lawrence Grizzel. For Exactly Right Media, 639 00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:32,000 Speaker 1: the executive producers are Karen Kilgareth Georgia Hardstark and Daniel Kramer, 640 00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:37,960 Speaker 1: with consulting producer Kyle Ryer. The Butterfly King is inspired 641 00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:42,680 Speaker 1: by the book Hitler and the King by John Haul Spencer.