1 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: Up starboard nighttime March twenty fourth, nineteen forty four, and 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: a British Royal Air Force pilot circles his Wellington bomber 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: over sleeping Sofia tonight. He's been chosen to hit a 4 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: very special target. He's waiting for his cue Steady. The 5 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: pilot jabs the rudder hard right and the wing bucks upwards. 6 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: He's not alone in the pitch dark sky. It's crowded 7 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: up here. Forty other British bombers swoop over the Bulgarian 8 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: capital and in this thick cloud concentrations everything. 9 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 2: I see done. 10 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 3: Keep on cough. 11 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: Sofia is under attack again. In his drafty cockpit, the 12 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: pilot is blinded by flashes of it exploding bombs hitting 13 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: their targets. Strings of bombs rained down on the city. 14 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: They're hitting industrial, government and residential areas. But this pilot 15 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: hasn't opened his bomb doors. His shells have an altogether 16 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: different destination. He's not there yet, just a couple more miles. 17 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: All through the winter and now into the spring, hundreds 18 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: of British and American bomber planes have attacked Bulgaria from 19 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: the air. The cities in ruins Bulgaria has no soldiers 20 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: in active combat, but she's signed a symbolic declaration of 21 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: war on Britain and America, and in the eyes of 22 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: the Allies, she deserves this beating. 23 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 2: Get below well The. 24 00:01:53,200 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: Wellington's bombay is crammed with heavy blockbuster and incendry bombs 25 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: waiting to be dropped, but the pilot's navigator directs him 26 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: southeast away from the city, away from the other bombers. 27 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: They're very close. Now it's time. The pilot closes the 28 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:20,239 Speaker 1: throttle and the plane begins to dive because tonight there's 29 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: a new target, a very deliberate target, Varana Palace, home 30 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: to the Bulgarian royal family. 31 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 3: Here we go on, doors open. 32 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: And in the palace, cowering in a bunker are Queen 33 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: Giovanna and her children, eleven year old Maria Louisa and 34 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: the boy King Simeon. They're absolutely petrified. Their father, King Boris, 35 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: has been dead for nearly seven months, a suspected victim 36 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: of murder. He signed a pat with Hitler and now 37 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: his family is paying the price. And once away, the 38 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: furious formation of Wellington's pummel Varanha from the sky again 39 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 1: and again This is a made to measure revenge raid 40 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: and it's been personally ordered by one man who just 41 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: cannot forgive Boris's treachery. Sir Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, 42 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: has no mercy for the young royals. Did he also 43 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: sign the order to kill their father from Blanchard's house? 44 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: And exactly right, Media, this is the Butterfly King. I'm 45 00:03:53,720 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: Becky Milligan, Chapter four. A snake is still a snake. 46 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: I'm back in Bulgaria in the grounds of Rana Palace 47 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: with my producer e J to pay another visit to 48 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: King Simeon and his sister, Princess Maria Louisa. And as usual, 49 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: our taxes dumped us much away from the palace door. 50 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 1: It's a long old walk, I know, but there's no 51 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: way in. There're just gates everywhere and guards who won't 52 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 1: let us in. 53 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 4: It was nice when he realized we were coming for 54 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 4: the king. I think he thought we were a bit, 55 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 4: you know, sort of groupiees. I mean, if you banged 56 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 4: on a gate like that at Buckingham Palace. I know, yes, 57 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 4: I liked your foreign lord. 58 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: What's a very good Bulgarian. 59 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 5: I think. 60 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: You'll remember that Varana Palace was King Boris's go to place, 61 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: his countryside getaway. He felt safe here, catching his butterflies 62 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: and playing with his children. Now you know what vrana means, 63 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: don't you? 64 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 6: No? 65 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,479 Speaker 1: Crow? Really? 66 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 4: And you know what the collective noun for a group 67 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 4: of crouses, a murder of crows? 68 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,839 Speaker 1: How fitting is that? Of course, the official reason for 69 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: Boris's death is that he died of a heart attack, 70 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: but as we've established, his strange symptoms suggest he was poisoned. 71 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: That's what his daughter, Maria Louisa has believed all these years. 72 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: She was just ten when her father died. She's now 73 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: eighty nine, and we're actually visiting her on a rather 74 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: special occasion, the Princess's birthday, and we have brought a 75 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: couple of We've got a rather a nice little present 76 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: for her. Biscuits. Yeah, everybody likes a biscuit. It's not 77 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: a dad, but yes, Maria Louisa is turning ninety. I'm 78 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: a bit worried about the flavors. 79 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 4: Rose and Violet roses a little bit calls to Newcastle actually, because. 80 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: Bulgaria is famous for roses. I did think about that afterwards. 81 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: Do you like Violet flavored biscuits. I don't think I've 82 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: ever had done. Actually quite disgusting. I really hope she 83 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: doesn't offer us one. Well, I'm not going to have one. 84 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: Maria Louisa has flown into Sofia from New York to 85 00:06:57,839 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: celebrate with her brother. King Simeon. 86 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,239 Speaker 4: You must be jet bag because I actually got here 87 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 4: yesterday or the day before. 88 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: I don't know if you have jet leg when you're older. 89 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 4: It's worn out all the time, aren't you. 90 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: We're worn out all the time. The thing is, we're 91 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: both feeling a bit nervy because today we have to 92 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: broach a rather tricky subject, the possibility that Winston Churchill 93 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: and Britain may have been responsible for their father's death. 94 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: So I'm slightly fearful about the kind of welcome we're 95 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: going to get. 96 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 4: Look, here comes a big, posh looking car. Yes, then 97 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 4: come to get us talking enough distrust. 98 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: That looks like an sort of armorplated card, doesn't it. 99 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: Oh my god, it's just stopping. It might be the King. 100 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: It's the palaces. This way, which way up here? Oh 101 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: my god? Is this we're going to hear the accelerator. 102 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: I don't want us to do the story anymore. Don't look, 103 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: I don't hear me else following us. Oh my god, 104 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: I'm quite true. Walkfaster quickly. The thing is, we now 105 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: think we know how Boris was killed. We found evidence 106 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 1: in two sources, the London Archives and the diary of 107 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebels. They both tell us 108 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: it was an Asiatic or Indian poison which did for 109 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: the king, probably snake poison. And guess who has ready 110 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: access to Asia? During the war in nineteen forty three, 111 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 1: Britain was an imperial power with colonies across South and 112 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: Southeast Asia. The British and their Commonwealth allies were fighting 113 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: a savage war against the Japanese in the jungles of 114 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: Indonesia and Malaysia. Conditions for the troops were pretty terrible. 115 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: For every soldier wounded in battle, another one hundred twenty 116 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 1: fell sick due to tropical illnesses. They were bitten by mosquitoes, bugs, 117 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: and of course snakes. In fact, before they went to 118 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: bed at night, soldiers were worn to check their beds 119 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 1: to make sure they didn't get any nasty surprises. But 120 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: it wasn't just those snakes that concern the British. This 121 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: Royal Air Force film from nineteen forty one clearly identifies 122 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: another treacherous snake, at least in the eyes of the Brits, 123 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: a snake hiding in the Royal Palace in Sofia. King Boris. 124 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 7: Bulgaria lies between Greece and Romania. 125 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: Remember, Bulgaria had started the war insisting on her neutrality. 126 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: King Boris wanted to stay out of it all, but 127 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: he broke his word. 128 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 7: King Baris agreed to keep out of the war if 129 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 7: we respected bulg as mutality. We kept our promise, but 130 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 7: already Barris was flooding with Hitler. 131 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 1: And when Boris signed that pat with Hitler, Churchill was livid. 132 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: To Churchill, honor was everything, and his anger went deep. 133 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 1: The previous winter, Britain had signed the largest surrender in 134 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: British history when Singapore fell to Japan. It was a 135 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: humiliating defeat for the Empire, a loss of face that 136 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: Churchill found very hard to swallow. The Allies were losing 137 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: thousands of men every week, yet Boris had managed to 138 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: avoid sending a single Bulgarian soldier to the front. Not 139 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: one was engaged in active combat. Historian Tessa Dunlop reckons. 140 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: Churchill despised Boris for that. What's interesting is. 141 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 8: Unlike, for example, the Romanians who were holess Bolas in 142 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 8: bed with the Germans, Boris walks this enigmatic line and 143 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 8: I think that's almost infuriating, Like you can hate the Romanians, 144 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 8: but by God, they got their come up and in 145 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 8: Russia they were murdered like flies, you know, whereas Bulgaria 146 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 8: it seems like they've had a pretty easy ride of 147 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 8: the war. To be honest with you, a little bit 148 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 8: of light occupation. 149 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: And let's not forget that symbolic declaration of war that 150 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: Bulgaria made on Britain and America. 151 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 8: Can you symbolically be at war with someone talk about 152 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 8: wanting to have it both ways? Well, if you're Churchill, 153 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 8: what are you going to. 154 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: Make of that? 155 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 8: You know you're not going to think, Oh, Boris is 156 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 8: my new best friend. 157 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: And what's more, Boris has done it all in the 158 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 1: shadows by playing the system. 159 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 8: He's managed to get his way and that probably sticks 160 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 8: in the crawl, don't you think of Churchill? I mean, 161 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 8: this man at Churchill stakes his identity on taking the 162 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 8: fight to the enemy, you know, on the lending stages, 163 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 8: even though he's never going to body have to do 164 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 8: and all that kind of jazz, and Boris. 165 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: Does the exact opposite, which is head. 166 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 8: Down work as many people as you can, play them 167 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,199 Speaker 8: off against each other, don't play your hand until you 168 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 8: absolutely have to. 169 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: And he's done it really rather well. That's infuriating, even 170 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: more so because Britain had been double crossed by Boris's family, 171 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: the Saxe Coburgs before and Baris. 172 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 7: Soon followed his minister, being met at the station by 173 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 7: the Fiora himself. And like his father in the last war, 174 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 7: he betrays his people. 175 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: Like his father, Boris's dad, Foxy Ferdinand, had been courted 176 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: by the British and French in World War One. They 177 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,239 Speaker 1: hoped he'd be their ally, but Foxy was also secretly 178 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: being wooed by the Germans, and in the end he 179 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: decided he'd be better off with them. And for Churchill 180 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: and Boris, this is where it all gets personal. Both 181 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,559 Speaker 1: men had fought in the First World War on opposite sides. 182 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:02,679 Speaker 1: Of course, Boris with the Tripler that's Germany, Austria, Hungary 183 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: and Italy, and Churchill with the Triple Entente that's Britain, 184 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: France and Russia, and Churchill still held that grudge. He 185 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: just couldn't let it go. 186 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:19,079 Speaker 8: They think Boris is more Saxe Coburg treachery. Don't forget 187 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 8: Boris is the son of Ferdinand, Berdinand, the only king 188 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 8: in the Balkans to not fight alongside the Entente in 189 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 8: the First World War. 190 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: Did Churchill expect Boris to pay for the sins of 191 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: his father. Boris's decision to ally with Hitler sent shockwaves 192 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: through the British establishment, and that broken promise left more 193 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: than one British diplomat feeling like a fool. Diplomats like 194 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: Lord George Lloyd. And how do I know because on 195 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: one of my trips to the archives I came across 196 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: his private papers. We get the real sort of gossipy 197 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: side of this, you know, you just don't forget all this. 198 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: He was feeding that to London. Yeah, absolutely, I mean 199 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: that's what his job was, wasn't it. I expect they 200 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: all sort of and they heard something interesting. They're on 201 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: the blower, as they would say, then on the blower. 202 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: So intriguing, isn't it to have access now to you know, 203 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: all of that correspondence and his thoughts and you know 204 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: all those little bitchy comments. It's interesting Lord Lloyd was 205 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: the chairman of the British Council. It's the sort of 206 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: cultural arm of the Foreign Office designed to create good 207 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: relations overseas. In the winter of nineteen thirty nine he 208 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: was sent on a tour of the Balkans to try 209 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: and shore up support for the war. Now Lord Lloyd 210 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: was no fool. He was also a spy, and his 211 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: personal letters show he had a waspish tongue. 212 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 9: I dined that night with Colonel Ross, our military attache, 213 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 9: a dinner that would have been pleasant had it not 214 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 9: been for the volubility of Monsieur Chezon, the League of 215 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 9: Nations representative, who may conceivably be interesting on politics, but 216 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 9: who on military affairs, is as ignorant as he is assertive. 217 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 9: The remaining guests were not of great interest. My impression 218 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 9: of him was that he was a rather tiresome wind bag. 219 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 9: The next day, at seven thirty we left for Sofia, 220 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 9: only to be told the ferry would not leave for 221 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 9: some three quarters of an hour. So we went into 222 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 9: a cottage on the key, drank some coffee with bad brandy, 223 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 9: and came to an overheated and reasonably unspeakable restaurant to 224 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 9: have breakfast. 225 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: Lord Lloyd first met King Boris in nineteen thirty nine. 226 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: That was long before Boris teamed up with Hitler, and 227 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: while Lloyd was charmed by him, particularly by the King's 228 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: affection for his royal British cousins, the Windsors. 229 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 9: King Boris alluded to the invariable happiness of his visits 230 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 9: to England. He had especially enjoyed his visits to bell Morrel. 231 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 9: He showed me a small photograph of his late Majester, 232 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 9: King George the Fifth, which he always kept on his 233 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 9: writing table in. 234 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: Front of him. He was so impressed that after his 235 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: visit he even wrote to King Boris. 236 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 9: I have, since my audience with your Majesty, done my 237 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 9: best to convince everyone I meet of the strength and 238 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 9: sincerity of Bulgaria's neutrality. 239 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: But a week or so later, Lord Lloyd popped over 240 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: the border to Yugoslavia, where he met their ruler, Prince Paul. 241 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: He told the Prince about his wonderful audience with the 242 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: trustworthy King Boris. The Prince gave him a very different view. 243 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 9: Prince Paul laughed, merely replied that I was yet another 244 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 9: simple and guileless victim of King Boris's well known tactics. 245 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: Prince Paul basically told Lord Lloyd he'd been had, and 246 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: that picture of King George the Fifth that Boris had 247 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: on his writing table, he. 248 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 9: Said, as for the photograph, he kept many, often of 249 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 9: different kings and rulers, and pulled out the proper one 250 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 9: for each listener. 251 00:16:56,320 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: Crafty, now, don't forget all this was being fired back 252 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: to the government, to Churchill. And while Lord Lloyd might 253 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,640 Speaker 1: have been charming to the King privately, he became deeply 254 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: suspicious of him. 255 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 9: I'm under no illusions as to the treachery and perfidy 256 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 9: of King Boris. 257 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: And when Bulgaria signed a pact with Hitler, tempers boiled over. 258 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: One of the papers I found in the archives has 259 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: an angry comment scrawled into the margin. 260 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 9: Bulgaria will live to regret her decision. 261 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: Is that a veiled threat from the British. Was Lord 262 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 1: Lloyd preparing the way for his spy network to assassinate Boris? 263 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't really need to spell out what secret. 264 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 10: Services get up to secret services. You know, there's a 265 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:47,680 Speaker 10: bit of a hint on the name of the tin. 266 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 10: They do operations in secret which others cannot do. 267 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: That's Colonel Hamish de Breton Gordon, our weapons expert, remember 268 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:03,360 Speaker 1: his ex military, and let's just say he's not unfamiliar 269 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,680 Speaker 1: with covert operations in war time. 270 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 10: In the defense of the homeland, They're prepared to do 271 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 10: whatever it takes. 272 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: He says, bumping off Boris doesn't sound like the sort 273 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: of thing British intelligence would do today, but. 274 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 10: I would never completely rule out that perhaps these sort 275 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,439 Speaker 10: of things had happened in the past. 276 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: Oh okay, Oh my god, Okay, Bobby at Rana Palace, 277 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 1: we're under thread. When someone sets the dogs on us. 278 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,400 Speaker 4: All the King's dogs are called Booby, or at least 279 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 4: Boris were just call Booby. 280 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:54,159 Speaker 3: Look it's working. 281 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: Luckily. Ej subdues the Royal guard dogs with her special 282 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: doggie voice. You're a rubbish god, get money? How nice 283 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,159 Speaker 1: to see you again, Love to see you. Should we 284 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:10,880 Speaker 1: go straight here? 285 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:11,160 Speaker 11: Yes? 286 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 1: Perfect? Then Yavo, the King's suave and charming aid, comes 287 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: to our age. But on our way into the palace 288 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:25,679 Speaker 1: there's a difficult moment. Yavo casually points out the underground 289 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: bunker the Royal family had built to protect themselves from 290 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 1: Allied bombing. 291 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,160 Speaker 12: So after the start of the Second World War, they 292 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 12: decide to build a modern bunker. It's right here and 293 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 12: this is yes, this is the entrance. This bunkers saved 294 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 12: the royal family when this tower collapsed. It did collapse 295 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 12: during the night. King Simeon go out with the family. 296 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 1: And then all under here. 297 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,879 Speaker 12: Yes, they see the burning of the house because the 298 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 12: planes came from there. Pull the bombs here and continue. 299 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 12: But it was the few meters of the palace. 300 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: And just when I'm thinking this visit can't get any 301 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: more awkward, Yavor drops his own bombshell. His friend Sylvia, 302 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,719 Speaker 1: a Bulgarian historian, has apparently found some damning evidence about 303 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,640 Speaker 1: who murdered King Boris. 304 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 13: When they were in UK. They found a document that 305 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 13: showed that the British wants to give weapons to someone 306 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 13: to assassin king bodies in Bulgaria. 307 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 10: This is what the. 308 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:37,360 Speaker 1: British heng on. So it's the British. 309 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 13: Yes, this is what she found. 310 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: I think so Yavl's claiming that a Bulgarian historian has 311 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 1: proof the British wanted King Boris dead and that they 312 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,880 Speaker 1: were trying to arm someone to do the job for them. 313 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: I can hear Princess Maria Luisa and his Majesty King 314 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 1: Simeon coming down the corridor. We quickly try and get 315 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:03,919 Speaker 1: the details from yavor Victorian Sylvia has found it in 316 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: the UK. Yes, I think though, that's what we need. 317 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: We do need to speak to her. 318 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 13: Really, yes, yes, yes, yeah, I will send them a 319 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 13: second message now to see issue answer me. 320 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: After so wonderfully, I feel like, how are you dealing 321 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,439 Speaker 1: with the jet lag? Receive just hockey, isn't it? 322 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 11: You have to ignore the dread lag? 323 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,360 Speaker 1: Oh? Very good? Yes, absolutely, Perhaps our birthday biscuits might 324 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: soften the mood. Her birthday this year falls on an 325 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: unfortunate day. 326 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 11: Friday the thirteenth. Oh no, and it was Friday the 327 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 11: thirteenth when I was born. Oh my, sorry, it doesn't 328 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 11: work for me, the bad luck and all that rubbish. 329 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: Oh yes, throw that out the window. Anyway, this is 330 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:58,199 Speaker 1: for you from us, just because we wanted to market 331 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,680 Speaker 1: and by goodness, Heaven's sake, what is it. You can 332 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: have a little loan. We hope that this booze is 333 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,639 Speaker 1: not booze. No, oh god, we did think of booze, 334 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: but then we thought maybe it's biscuits. I told DJ 335 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,879 Speaker 1: we should have got Booze. Great delighted, But then we 336 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: have to get down to business and the thorny subject 337 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: of who killed Maria, Louisa and Simeon's father. I hold 338 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: off mentioning what Yavios just told us about that document 339 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: his friend found accusing the Brits of murder, because I 340 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,120 Speaker 1: first want to explore whether the British had a motive. 341 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 1: The Allied air raids began in April nineteen forty one, 342 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: when Boris joined sides with Hitler, and they picked up 343 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: again in December of that year in response to the 344 00:22:53,720 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: King's symbolic declaration of war. The British Prime had persuaded 345 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 1: President Roosevelt that Bulgaria needed a sharp lesson. But what's 346 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:12,359 Speaker 1: strange is the raids intensified after the King's death in 347 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:13,639 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four. 348 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 11: There were huge air raids over Sophia many, many times 349 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,959 Speaker 11: and many dates, Sofia almost burned. It was ghastly times 350 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 11: and it was absolutely terrible. We were carped bombs several times, 351 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 11: absolutely horrible, and five minutes after the all clear, my 352 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,480 Speaker 11: mother would drive in and visit people in the hospitals, 353 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 11: and you know, there was no water, no electricity. 354 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: And then, as we've heard, the raids became personal, directly 355 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: targeting for Anna Palace, where the boy King Simeon was 356 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: hiding in that underground bunker with a little flashlight. He 357 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: still doesn't like talking about it. He once wrote that 358 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: he was sure they were all going to die. His 359 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 1: sister remembers watching her home go up in smoke. 360 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 11: Sure burns, do you remember seeing the flames? Sure, incendiary 361 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 11: bombs on the roof. The roof was burning. They were 362 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 11: of course wounded people. Other people panicked and were screaming. 363 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: And it didn't end there. 364 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,400 Speaker 11: Huge bomb fell in the garden and one of these 365 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 11: enormous bombs made a huge crater, and our chief gardener 366 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,640 Speaker 11: decided it was much too complicated to fill the hole, 367 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,239 Speaker 11: so put a little pond, and we used to call 368 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 11: it Churchill's Lake. 369 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: It's no longer there, no, but it was over there, 370 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: how terrifying, just missing by an inch. So it was 371 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: Churchill just trying to frighten Bulgaria. Interchanging sides. Once Boris 372 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 1: was dead, or was he determined to wipe out the 373 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,439 Speaker 1: entire royal family? A family he felt was rotten to 374 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: the core. Why did he do it? Do you think. 375 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 11: That you have to ask him? 376 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: Up there, Maria Luisa is pointing her finger upwards towards Heaven. 377 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: She's not smiling. So Churchill certainly had a motive for 378 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: killing King Boris. And remember what Yavil told us about 379 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,480 Speaker 1: that document his friend Sylvia found it sounds like the 380 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 1: British were creating their own opportunity. But that's where we've 381 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,880 Speaker 1: got another mystery on our hands, because Yavo's friend, Sylvia 382 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 1: won't pick up our calls. But it so happens. We 383 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,919 Speaker 1: know another friend of hers, her colleague in fact, the 384 00:25:54,119 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: very distinguished historian George Bosdganoff. You might remember him sore 385 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: so slightly frustrated with me from time to time. So 386 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:09,400 Speaker 1: if you look at this right, I think that's nineteen 387 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,399 Speaker 1: forty three, and it's more this document. You want me 388 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 1: to shut up, don't you? 389 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 6: Yeah? 390 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: Okay, yes, So I get my producer EJ to call 391 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: him to ask him if he's familiar with Sylvia's discovery. 392 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 5: I'm absolutely sure I haven't seen such a document that 393 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:33,880 Speaker 5: British he have an agreement for killing Czar Boris. I'm 394 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 5: hearing about this document for the first time in my 395 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 5: life from you now just now. 396 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 2: Yes, I found it rather surprising, and I thought if 397 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 2: anybody has found something like that, it would be the 398 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 2: great detective historian mister bos Buganov himself. 399 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 5: Thank you, but I haven't find such a document at all. 400 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 3: Thank you so much, your colleague, Thank you very much. 401 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 3: I'm here and thank you. It was lovely to speak 402 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:10,560 Speaker 3: to you. 403 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 5: Okay, come back. 404 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,120 Speaker 1: He's missing me already. At least he's promised to try 405 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: to reach Sylvia for us. Well. So yeah, so he 406 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: thinks it's a mistake. 407 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 4: A mistake unless Sylvia's squirreled away a document without telling him. 408 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: He's quite indignant, isn't he that? You know, if it's 409 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,120 Speaker 1: true there's a document, he will be really cross. Well, 410 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: let's see what he can find. Back to nineteen forty one, 411 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,200 Speaker 1: Sofia and our list of British motives for murdering Boris. 412 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: Boris has allied with the Nazis and the situation in 413 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:59,680 Speaker 1: the city is getting worse. At the British embassy staff 414 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:10,160 Speaker 1: at terrified with good reason under Nazi orders, the Bulgarian 415 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:16,119 Speaker 1: police start arresting British embassy staff. A British official is kidnapped, 416 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: the ambassador's butler disappears, and we know this because in 417 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 1: the archives I came across another set of private papers 418 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,919 Speaker 1: that shed light on our investigation, the papers of the 419 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 1: British Ambassador to Bulgaria, Sir George Randall, the man at 420 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: the heart of the action. He telegrams London in a fury. 421 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 9: Methods adopted by Bulgarian authorities have been intolerable. Arrest of 422 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 9: the Bulgarian employees of the Press Office was entirely unjustifiable, 423 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 9: and removal of deligation butler without notice was an affront 424 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:56,640 Speaker 9: in which I cannot acquiesce with any dignity. We must 425 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 9: now write off King Boris as a dead loss. 426 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: Twenty one year old daughter lives with him, and he 427 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: fears for her safety and for the safety of his 428 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: sixty embassy staff. He's right to. Under Rendall's direction, the 429 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: British mission packs up and DeCamps to Turkey. On the 430 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: eleventh of March nineteen forty one, the ambassador and his 431 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: diplomatic party arrive at the pair of Palace hotel in Istanbul. 432 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 9: Hello, may I just have the keys to my room? 433 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: Please? 434 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,479 Speaker 9: Sir George Randall, I don't worry about her bags for now, 435 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 9: you can get the boy to bring them up. 436 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:46,000 Speaker 1: Bound by, Rendall and his daughter are given rooms on 437 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: an upper floor. That twist of fate saves both their lives, 438 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 1: because a few minutes after they check in, someone has 439 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: planted a bomb in their luggage. Six people are killed, 440 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: including two members of Rendell's staff, both young women. Several 441 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:20,120 Speaker 1: other people are badly injured who could have planted the 442 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: explosives well. The train which had taken them from Sofia 443 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 1: to Istanbul was a private train, and it turns out 444 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: that this was the private train of King Boris, the 445 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 1: third of Bulgaria. So for the Brits there were only 446 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: two options. The Bulgarians had planted the bomb themselves or 447 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: were at the very least complicit. Either way, it wasn't 448 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: a good look. The hostility between Bulgaria and Britain had 449 00:30:53,600 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 1: just reached another level. Altogether. The king had enjoyed cordial 450 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: relations over the years. They'd even bonded over their butterfly collections, 451 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: but in his end of mission statement, Rendel writes. 452 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 9: As for the future of the country, it is dark. Indeed, 453 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 9: if Bulgaria meets with heavy punishment, she'll have nobody but 454 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,959 Speaker 9: herself and her present rulers to blame. 455 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: All the evidence points in the same direction. The British 456 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: had every reason to kill the king, but how did 457 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: they do it? Back to the jungle and that snake venom. 458 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: And keep in mind that the claim Boris was killed 459 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: with snake venom comes from the private diary of Joseph Goebel's, 460 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: head of Nazi propaganda. Not really what you'd call a 461 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: trustworthy source, but why would he lie in his own diary? 462 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: So we know British troops were fighting in the jungles 463 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: of Asia. We also know there's a huge population of 464 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: deadly snakes in those jungles, and that their venom can 465 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 1: be milked, freeze, dried, and then injected into someone. Our 466 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: favorite snake expert, mark O'Shea told us so. But remember 467 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: that King Boris took six days to die. If you're 468 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: injected with deadly snake venom, wouldn't you keel over immediately? 469 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 14: Not like you see in the moves where somebody gets 470 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 14: bitten and if all over dead, that doesn't happen. 471 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 1: In fact, it all depends where precisely the venom's injected. 472 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 14: There are so many different ways of doing injections intramuscular, intravenous, subcutaneously, 473 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,960 Speaker 14: interpertor neally, well not that one, thank you very much. 474 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 14: And then obviously the venoms got to spread from there, 475 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 14: the emphatics, through the tissues, through the blood. 476 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: So a person injected with snake venom could take a 477 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: while to die, especially if the venom isn't too potent, 478 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,880 Speaker 1: and we know the poor king lingered on his deathbed. 479 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 14: The same species could have a considerable amount of variation 480 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 14: in venom. When you milk the venom, you don't know 481 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 14: what concentration of venom is there, because it all depends 482 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 14: when the snake last used it. 483 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: Okay, it's clearly not a precise science, but what if 484 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: the freeze dried venom wasn't injected, but was slipped into 485 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 1: his food. 486 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 14: The point with venom is that snake venoms are protein, 487 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:35,400 Speaker 14: so therefore your saliva will start the process of digestion 488 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 14: and your gut will finish it. The venom's probably not 489 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 14: going to be around long enough to actually do anything. 490 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: So Boris couldn't have been killed by swallowing snake venom. 491 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 1: Mark's actually tried it by accident, That is. 492 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 14: I've caught a lot of spitting cobras and they spit 493 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 14: their venom at your face, and some of that venom 494 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 14: has gone into my. 495 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: Mouth, hit the back of my throat. It's quite acrid. 496 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 14: Generally, I'll just have a swigger water or coffee to 497 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 14: take the taste away. 498 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:06,360 Speaker 1: Remind me never to accept a dinner invitation at Marx. 499 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 1: So let's just recap Boris's symptoms for a minute. He 500 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,720 Speaker 1: had a fever, he was vomiting, his skin was covered 501 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: in blotches, His red blood cells exploded, then he lost consciousness, 502 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 1: his liver packed up, and finally he had a fatal 503 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:28,040 Speaker 1: heart attack. Does snake venom cause such a reaction. 504 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 14: Well, there isn't one answer to that, for the simple 505 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 14: fact that snake venoms are complicated cocktails of different toxins. 506 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: This next bit's very technical. 507 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 14: You've got neurotoxins which affect the nervous system, hemotoxins that 508 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,359 Speaker 14: affect the circulatory system, cytotoxins that. 509 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: To be honest, all this is going a bit over 510 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: my head. I'm still feeling a bit sick thinking of 511 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: Mark's swallowing snake venoms. 512 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:04,240 Speaker 14: And then suddenly, then you got cardiotoxins that directly target. 513 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:09,680 Speaker 1: The heart, cardiotoxins a snake venom which directly attacks the heart. 514 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: Have I finally found what killed Boris? 515 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 14: But? 516 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:20,800 Speaker 1: But why does there always have to be a butt? 517 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 14: If there's damage to the blood vessels, I would expect 518 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:31,280 Speaker 14: there to be signs of that in the kidneys, and 519 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:37,360 Speaker 14: I would expect the urine to contain blood urine as black. 520 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 1: As coca cola. 521 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:42,239 Speaker 14: Right, probably a sizable amount of it, and that's not 522 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 14: been mentioned. 523 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: Well, no, he's a king, for goodness sake, I can't 524 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: exactly ask about a file of royal p never mind, 525 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:57,319 Speaker 1: But now he's reviewed the symptoms, does Mark agree it 526 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: could have been snake venom that killed King Boris? 527 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,759 Speaker 14: I'm absolutely positive that it Wasn't It sounds great, It 528 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,040 Speaker 14: sounds so sensational and exciting. 529 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 1: But no, oh, come on, We've got deadly Asian snakes 530 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:14,360 Speaker 1: whose venom causes heart attacks. What more do you want? 531 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:19,839 Speaker 14: People can survive snake bites sometimes without any anti venom. 532 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,279 Speaker 14: It's estimated that up to fifty percent of bites might 533 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:25,280 Speaker 14: not be fatal even without treatment. 534 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,600 Speaker 1: Well, he could have been one of the unlucky few. 535 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 14: I just don't go for that. If you really absolutely 536 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:38,480 Speaker 14: must bump somebody off, then don't use snake venom. Use 537 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,239 Speaker 14: something that is guaranteed to do the. 538 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,359 Speaker 1: Job, but maybe better. There's that sort of sense of, 539 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,480 Speaker 1: you know, the sort of fog of war and the 540 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:51,120 Speaker 1: mystery and all the spies, and let's do something a 541 00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:57,840 Speaker 1: little bit, you know, different. Why I can't say you can. 542 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,719 Speaker 14: I no, you can't. I just say this as an 543 00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 14: efficient means of getting rid of somebody. Nice, though it 544 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 14: sounds in a novel or something like that. 545 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: Okay, I know, when I'm beaten, looks like Gebels sent 546 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:18,319 Speaker 1: me down a blind alley. So reluctantly I'm scratching out 547 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,759 Speaker 1: snake venom as the means that killed the king. But 548 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,759 Speaker 1: at least I've still got the British and Churchill in 549 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,560 Speaker 1: the frame for the motive. All I have to do 550 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,600 Speaker 1: now is pluck up the courage to confront Simeon and 551 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:34,880 Speaker 1: Maria Louisa, to admit to them that I think my 552 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:40,319 Speaker 1: own countrymen killed their father. But our interview doesn't go 553 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,200 Speaker 1: the way I'd imagined at all. 554 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:44,239 Speaker 6: That's just nonsense. 555 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:48,399 Speaker 11: We were too small and unimportant for Britain to send 556 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:50,080 Speaker 11: somebody and put poison in his soup. 557 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,440 Speaker 1: I don't believe it. It turns out the royal siblings 558 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:57,359 Speaker 1: have already researched Britain's potential motives for killing the king, 559 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,000 Speaker 1: and they've crossed the British off the list of suspects. 560 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:05,239 Speaker 1: There's a very good reason why. Turns out that by 561 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:09,640 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three King Boris was in secret talks with 562 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:12,440 Speaker 1: the Allies to try to change sides. 563 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:20,080 Speaker 11: The British had no advantage of it because my father 564 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:26,160 Speaker 11: already we were all trying desperately to ask for Western help. 565 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:32,640 Speaker 1: Yes, because Churchill was pretty vociferous about Bulgaria and your father. 566 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:36,759 Speaker 11: Yeah, but not to the point of poisoning him. 567 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:40,399 Speaker 1: They know all about the Asian snake venom theory too, 568 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:42,879 Speaker 1: and like me, they've dismissed it. 569 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,399 Speaker 6: This was one of the Nazi theories, part of the propaganda. 570 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 6: They said that it was a snake poison but it 571 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:56,560 Speaker 6: was only found in British Guyana. So obviously trying to 572 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:02,640 Speaker 6: point to the British intelligence for having done the job. 573 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: But why would they have wanted to do that. 574 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,799 Speaker 6: We're on the wrong side in the war. So that 575 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:12,399 Speaker 6: you could think that there's a reason that they should 576 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:13,439 Speaker 6: eliminate the king. 577 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:20,040 Speaker 1: So the Nazi propaganda minister's diaries were just another piece 578 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:24,240 Speaker 1: of propaganda. Turns out Gebels was counting on his diaries 579 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: being published. They were not his private thoughts at all. 580 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,800 Speaker 1: And of course, we're in the middle of the war 581 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:36,120 Speaker 1: where everyone is pointing the finger at everyone else and 582 00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:42,439 Speaker 1: passing the buck. It seems we're only chasing red herrings here. 583 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,960 Speaker 1: And remember Sylvia Yavel's friend who found that document blaming 584 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,080 Speaker 1: the British. She discovered it in the British archives. Apparently, well, 585 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,759 Speaker 1: even Bulgaria's leading historian, George bos Deganoff can't find her. 586 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:58,720 Speaker 1: She's gone totally able. 587 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:06,440 Speaker 5: Okay, I tried to call on Sylvia, but she doesn't 588 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:12,160 Speaker 5: answer the phone. But I doubt that such kind of document. 589 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:13,239 Speaker 9: Existed at all. 590 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,319 Speaker 1: I'm beginning to doubt it too, to be honest, I'm 591 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:21,520 Speaker 1: beginning to doubt everything. In one fell swoop, I've managed 592 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:24,920 Speaker 1: to lose the means, motive, and the opportunity for the 593 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:28,520 Speaker 1: King's murder. And I just don't think Churchill had enough 594 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:32,960 Speaker 1: to gain from murdering Boris, especially if he'd already started 595 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:38,800 Speaker 1: secret talks with the Allies. So who did have something 596 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:42,160 Speaker 1: to gain, and if it wasn't snake poison, how did 597 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:47,680 Speaker 1: they do it. I've come back home to the UK, 598 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:52,319 Speaker 1: to the archives because I've absolutely got to check something out. 599 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:55,960 Speaker 1: I know it's a long shot, but what if Sylvia 600 00:40:56,080 --> 00:41:00,680 Speaker 1: really did find something, something that I've somehow missed. So 601 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:05,160 Speaker 1: along with my producer EJ, I'm turning the files inside 602 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:11,080 Speaker 1: out one last time until oh my god, that was 603 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:13,799 Speaker 1: just incredible. I can't believe it. What did you think? 604 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:22,320 Speaker 1: I mean? Okay, sorry, now, I don't know if I 605 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 1: found Sylvia's missing document, but I think I might have 606 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:31,960 Speaker 1: found something even better. So right at the top of it, 607 00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:36,439 Speaker 1: it's so secret. It says to be held under lock 608 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:42,440 Speaker 1: and key, and written by the Japanese ambassador in Berlin. 609 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:48,800 Speaker 1: It's a telegram destined for Tokyo announcing the strange death 610 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:53,759 Speaker 1: of King Boris the third and marked most secret, to 611 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:58,839 Speaker 1: be handled with discretion. It's been intercepted and decoded by 612 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:02,680 Speaker 1: the British. Halfway down it says that you know, there's 613 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:08,040 Speaker 1: suspicions that the king was poisoned. And then in black 614 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:16,600 Speaker 1: and white here it says by a British or Soviet plot, Well, 615 00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:22,040 Speaker 1: we've discounted the Brits, But what about the Russians? Because 616 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:27,879 Speaker 1: the telegram says something else. It says the Communists are 617 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,719 Speaker 1: lying low for the time being. Their time is not 618 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:37,680 Speaker 1: yet ripe for action, not yet. But within a year 619 00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:41,080 Speaker 1: of Boris's death, the Red Army will have marched into 620 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:47,120 Speaker 1: Sofia and occupied Bulgaria. So was it the Soviet who 621 00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:52,520 Speaker 1: wanted Boris out of the way? Soviet plot? I mean, 622 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,680 Speaker 1: that's there we are. I mean it's in black and 623 00:42:56,719 --> 00:43:01,799 Speaker 1: white for me, that that adds a whole new dimension 624 00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:10,560 Speaker 1: to this. Next time on The Butterfly King, Bulgaria's fortunes 625 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:14,760 Speaker 1: run red that a lot of people afterwards were called 626 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,279 Speaker 1: then accuston, a lot of people just disappeared, and a 627 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,160 Speaker 1: ghastly exhumation for the royal children. 628 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:23,759 Speaker 11: So they brought the coffin, and the coffin was of 629 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:29,320 Speaker 11: course with a little glass window, and saw three children, 630 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:33,080 Speaker 11: saw our papa, three years after he had died. 631 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:51,880 Speaker 1: The Butterfly King is a production of Blanchard House and 632 00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:57,760 Speaker 1: Exactly Right Media, hosted by me Becky Milligan. It's written 633 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:02,319 Speaker 1: and produced by Emma Jane Kirby. Original music is by 634 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:07,959 Speaker 1: Daniel Lloyd Evans. Louis nank Manell and Toby Mattamong. Sound 635 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:12,600 Speaker 1: design and engineering by Toby Mattamong and Daniel Lloyd Evans, 636 00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:19,760 Speaker 1: artwork by Vanessa Lilac. The managing producer is Amka Schortino Nolan. 637 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:25,040 Speaker 1: The creative director of Blanchard House is Rosie Pye. The 638 00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:29,080 Speaker 1: executive producer and head of Content at Blanchard House is 639 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:34,640 Speaker 1: Lawrence Grizzel. For Exactly Right Media, the executive producers are 640 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:41,239 Speaker 1: Karen Kilgareff, Georgia Hardstark, and Daniel Kramer, with consulting producer 641 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:46,240 Speaker 1: Kyle Ryan. The Butterfly King is inspired by the book 642 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:50,520 Speaker 1: Hitler and the King by John Hall Spencer.