1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: Hello, We'd like to introduce you to Exactly Wright's newest 2 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 1: historical true crime limited series, The Butterfly King. 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 2: The premiere episode you're about to hear is called The 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 2: Mender of Broken Dishes, which takes place during a crucial 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 2: turning point in World War Two. 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 1: Join journalist Becky Milligan as she unravels eighty years of history, 7 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: lies and deceit to answer the question who killed the 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: Butterfly King. 9 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 2: Please enjoy this premiere episode of The Butterfly King, and 10 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 2: then when you're done, go to The Butterfly King feed 11 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 2: in your podcast app and listen to the second. 12 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: Episode, and don't forget to follow, rate and review to 13 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: show your support for our newest limited series, The Butterfly King. 14 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 3: Goodbye Europe. 15 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 4: August nineteen forty three, location classified across the globe. The 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 4: Second World's War, the deadliest war in history, is raging. 17 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 4: This summer is a crucial turning point in the Southwest Pacific. 18 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,199 Speaker 4: The US has just overcome the Japanese on the Eastern Front. 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 4: The Soviets have inflicted huge losses on Nazi Germany. Mussolini 20 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 4: has fallen, and Italy is about to defect to the Allies. 21 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 4: The balance of power is wavery Could we possibly cut 22 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 4: the typewriter effects? 23 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 5: Please? 24 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 4: Thanks. I think it's just a bit of a cliche, 25 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 4: so as I was saying, this location's classified, it's a 26 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 4: military complex. But what I can tell you is there's 27 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 4: a plane coming into land on a narrow air strip, 28 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 4: a military plane in the middle of dense woodland. It's 29 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 4: baking hot, the grass is scorched. There's a pungent smell 30 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 4: of pine. And this place is top secret. Almost no 31 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 4: one knows it exists. The bunker walls are seven meters thick. 32 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 4: They're surrounded by ten kilometers of minds. I'm Becky Milligan 33 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 4: and I reported and broke stories for the BBC for 34 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 4: almost thirty years. You can trust me to report the facts, 35 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 4: the truth. It's what I do. But I warn you 36 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 4: to be on your guard because where I'm about to 37 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 4: take you, the truth is extremely hard to find. 38 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 6: War is a terrible thing. You never know who your 39 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 6: enemy or your friend is. You just don't know who 40 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 6: is who. 41 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 4: Millions have already died in this war, and millions more 42 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 4: lives are now at stake. Trust is fraying between the 43 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 4: conflict's key players, as countries U turn and switch sides. 44 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 4: The passenger in the plane has just landed in the 45 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 4: midst of it. He knows this place, He's been here before. 46 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 4: He's sweating, but not just because of the heat. He's nervous, 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 4: really nervous. Tomorrow morning he has the most crucial meeting 48 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 4: of his life. For him, pretty much everything's riding on it. 49 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 7: Could you imagine what kind of pressure during a war 50 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 7: and you are alone on the top of the power pyramid, 51 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 7: what kind of pressure you have? 52 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 4: The man is his majesty, King Boris, the third of Bulgaria. 53 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 4: Look on the map and you'll see Bulgaria's a small 54 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:33,079 Speaker 4: country in southeastern Europe, in the Balkans, squashed between Romania 55 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 4: to the north and Greece and Turkey to the south, 56 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 4: and at this moment in the conflict, Bulgaria finds itself 57 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 4: in a very tight spot. This meeting is crucial to 58 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 4: the direction of the war. The reception seems cordial enough, 59 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 4: but only a fool would take a man at his word. 60 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,119 Speaker 4: Here this is the last place on earth the king 61 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 4: wants to be. That night, he sleeps in a concrete bunker. 62 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 4: It's airless, stifling. The king tosses and turns next morning, 63 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 4: the meeting takes place. It lasts eight hours, eight long 64 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 4: and very difficult hours, and it all takes place behind 65 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 4: closed doors with no witnesses. There are just two men 66 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 4: in that room, the Bulgarian King and actually, no, let's 67 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 4: not go into that room quite yet, because that meeting 68 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 4: was ugly. The king returns home to Bulgaria, but after 69 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 4: a day or so he starts to feel a bit unwell. 70 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 4: He's usually fit and sporty, but soon he's so sick 71 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 4: he has to take to his bed. He goes seriously downhill, 72 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 4: until after six days of agony as a continent, the 73 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 4: forty nine year old monarch is dead. The news reports 74 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 4: tell us he died suddenly of a heart attack. That 75 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,039 Speaker 4: was the official line, and it's been the official line 76 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 4: ever since. 77 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 2: Does he may science? 78 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 8: But hang on a minute. 79 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 4: This is where my journalistic instincts kick in suddenly, since 80 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 4: when does a sudden death span six days? And here's 81 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 4: another thing that strikes me as odd. King Boris's skin 82 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 4: was covered with spots. Now, I'm no doctor, but that 83 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 4: does not sound like a heart attack to me. And 84 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 4: I'm not the only one. Plenty of people think the 85 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 4: official cause of death was a complete lie. 86 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 9: The blotches do sound like a hypersensitive reaction to me 87 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 9: to something they do. 88 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 3: Maybe a poison poison. 89 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 7: The king was poisoned. 90 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 10: I think it's a poisoning. 91 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 8: Poison, a cocktail of dog sins. 92 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 5: I'm convinced that something was put into his soup. 93 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 7: This blameless king has fallen victim to most vulgar murder. 94 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 4: In the middle of a global war and with Bulgaria's 95 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 4: future hanging in the balance. The king is dead? Who 96 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 4: killed him? And why? From Blanchard House and exactly right, media, 97 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 4: this is the Butterfly King. 98 00:06:58,320 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 8: I'm Becky Milligan. 99 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 4: Chapter one, The Mender of Broken Dishes. Let me tell 100 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 4: you a little bit about me. I'm Becky Milligan, and 101 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 4: I covered stories all over the world for the BBC 102 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 4: Walls in Afghanistan, arm scandals in Sierra Leone, and I've 103 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 4: uncovered a whole raft of abuse and misconduct in the 104 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 4: British Parliament. But I've never investigated a story quite like 105 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 4: this one before because regicide, the killing of a king, 106 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 4: that's a big brief to take on. But once my 107 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 4: curiosity is peaked, I just can't walk away because for years, 108 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 4: people across Bulgaria. People in the know have been saying 109 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 4: that someone silenced Boris, the Third of Bulgaria, the last 110 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 4: crowned King of Bulgaria, and I'm determined to find out 111 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 4: who that was. I start all my investigations by interviewing 112 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 4: every witness I can find. And although this story has 113 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 4: its roots in the nineteen forties, I've tracked down two 114 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 4: people who lived through it. They're in their eighties now, 115 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 4: but they're rather important leads in more ways than one, 116 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 4: because they're actually members of the royal family. King Boris's children, 117 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 4: his son and his daughter, and they've invited me and 118 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 4: my producer EJ to visit them at their home. It's 119 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 4: just outside Sofia, Bulgaria's capital. Good morning, are you okay 120 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 4: to take us to Rana Palace? 121 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 11: You know here? 122 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 9: It is on the Mapana Palace. 123 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 4: Imagine jumping into a cab in London telling the driver 124 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 4: to take you to Buckingham Palace, only to have him 125 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,319 Speaker 4: turn around and ask you for the address. Well, that's 126 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 4: exactly what happens in Bulgaria. 127 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 11: King Simeon his home. 128 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 4: To be fair, the whole royal thing here is a 129 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 4: bit confusing these days, Bulgaria's a republic. It no longer 130 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 4: has a monarchy that was all scrapped under the Communists 131 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 4: who arrived at. 132 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 2: The end of the war. 133 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 4: Except Bulgaria does still have a sort of king, and 134 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 4: that sort of king is Simeon. Simeon was forced into 135 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 4: exile after the war, but he never actually abdicated, so 136 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 4: technically he is still king, if only in name. But actually, 137 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 4: let's save some of the more complex constitutional details for later, 138 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 4: because if it's confusing for a Bulgarian, do you see 139 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 4: where it is? So this is it's like a big park. 140 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 4: I'm clearly getting nowhere here, so I call for back 141 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 4: up from the receptionist at our hotel. 142 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 9: He'll drag a. 143 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 8: Brilliant thank you so much, thank you for your health. 144 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 4: Right half an hour later. 145 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 8: And can't quite see the panel at the moment, but 146 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 8: I think this is the part. It looks quite barren. 147 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,199 Speaker 4: Let's just say this is not the Palace of Versailles. 148 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 8: It's a bit like a scrap metal yard. In fact, 149 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 8: it looks a bit like a dumping brow in a way. 150 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 8: I hope this is the right place at the moment. 151 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 8: It doesn't feel like it. 152 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:25,960 Speaker 4: Too, despite appearances. It is the right place. Rana Palace 153 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 4: was where King Boris lived too. It was his country pad. 154 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 11: Yeah, the next one. 155 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 8: So I think we go up here? This is more 156 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 8: like it's relief. Didn't fancy getting out where that dog 157 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 8: was looking at us like that. Still very desolately dilapidated, though, 158 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 8: Is that it really is? I think this is where 159 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 8: we are, Yes, I think so. I think I think 160 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:54,959 Speaker 8: we've we're being. 161 00:11:54,840 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 4: Dumped in its heyday. Rana must have been a dyllic. 162 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 4: It's surrounded by mixed woodlands and long tree lined avenues. 163 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 4: Some of the trees were planted by Boris himself and 164 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 4: by Ferdinand, Boris's father. They weren't just weekend gardeners. They 165 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 4: were both serious botanists. 166 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 8: Shut the gate quickly. 167 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 11: So there are signposts here, it says in English, as 168 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 11: well as Bulgarian pallace. So are we gonna set off 169 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 11: up here? 170 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 4: Rana was really Boris's go to place. He was a 171 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 4: country by at heart, and he loved the great outdoors 172 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 4: to be in nature, peace and quiet, and. 173 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,559 Speaker 3: He liked mounting butterflies. 174 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 4: Yes, she said mounting butterflies. She's Tessa Dunlop, a historian 175 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 4: and an expert on both royal and Eastern European history. 176 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,839 Speaker 4: You might find her a little blunt. She certainly likes 177 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 4: to tell. 178 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 5: It how it is. 179 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 3: They caught them, and he mounted them, and he spent 180 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 3: hours working out which kind of butterfly they was. I mean, 181 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:18,079 Speaker 3: he was a geek. 182 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 4: Well, he certainly knew his insects. Back to front Entomology 183 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 4: was his great passion, and his knowledge was second to none. 184 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 4: He was well respected in the natural history world. Boris 185 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 4: was at his happiest pottering around his grounds with his 186 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 4: old floppy hat and butterfly nets. He was a gentle soul, 187 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 4: the kind of king who wouldn't hurt to fly. Well, 188 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 4: actually he probably would hurt to fly if it was 189 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 4: a rare one and he wanted it for his scrapbook. 190 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 4: But you can see where I'm coming from. He was inoffensive. 191 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 4: All that pomp and splendor, it just wasn't him. 192 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 3: He found himself really pretty unexceptional. He got terribly anxious 193 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 3: about sort of standing up in Pult, especially early on. 194 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 3: He said, little do they know that I have to 195 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 3: go to the loo five times before I confront them. 196 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 4: I think what she's trying to say is that King 197 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 4: Boris was not at all what you might expect in 198 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 4: a king. 199 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 3: You know, he was not a man who was imbued 200 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 3: with huge amounts of confidence, And I expect part of 201 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 3: that was his physical appearance and his size. It helps 202 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 3: if you're a big man. 203 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 4: Why does history always demand handsome heroes. I'm starting to 204 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 4: feel rather sorry for Boris. 205 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 3: He was small to look at, eminently unremarkable. You wouldn't 206 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 3: notice him in a room, diminutive, aggressive building, early on, 207 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 3: watery gray eyes, the long protruding Habsburg knows. I mean, 208 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 3: the only afrodisiac attached to Boris was the fact he 209 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 3: was a monarch. And that does some things for some women, 210 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 3: doesn't it. 211 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 4: Well, I wouldn't know Tessa anyway. Back to Varana Palace. 212 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 8: These lookers, though they might be the sort of more 213 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 8: modern quarters where Simeon lives, actually. 214 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 9: Do you know what I mean? 215 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 12: Oh, there's another guard dog. Let's go and find a 216 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 12: doorbell somewhere. Goodness knows where you find a doorbell on 217 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 12: a palace. Maybe it's up here. 218 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 4: I suppose when most of us think of a palace, 219 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 4: we'd think of something we see in the crown, or 220 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 4: down to an abbey, towering turrets, Gothic windows, colonnades. Well, 221 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 4: Rana's a little more down at heel. The architecture's charming, 222 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 4: a sort of hotch potch of styles, but it could 223 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 4: do with a lick of paint. Simeon's doing it up 224 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 4: bit by bit, but he has to do that from 225 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 4: his own pocket. As he's only a sort of king, 226 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 4: he can't really ask the Bulgarian taxpayers to foot the bill. 227 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 4: So while parts of it are lovely, the rest is, 228 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 4: let's say, shabby chic. 229 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 5: I know. 230 00:15:58,480 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 11: Early, I know what. 231 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 4: Yes, that's the King's aid, Jarville meeting us, and he's 232 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 4: precisely how you'd imagine a king's aid, sharp suited, charming 233 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 4: and perfectly poised, even when the palace guard dog gets 234 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 4: a little frisky. 235 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 6: I have a dog, so yes, but she's too lovely, lovely, 236 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 6: good dog. 237 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 8: She is worth. 238 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 4: Sometimes Chica is too lovely, She's not your typical guard dog. 239 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 4: Meeting a monic is a nerve wrecking experience. Luckily, Jarville 240 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 4: tells us we don't have to curtsy to Simeon, but 241 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 4: there are certain royal protocols which we need to stick to, 242 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 4: such as not touching the ornaments and royal bric a 243 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 4: brac in the drawing room. 244 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 8: But there are so. 245 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 4: Many fascinating bits and pieces it's really hard not to, 246 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 4: including a rather fine filigree box, which was a birthday 247 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 4: gift to Simeon from a fellow king or something, and 248 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 4: which I very nearly break. 249 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 12: Yes, I love that sort of thing. That's really very. 250 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 8: Good, difficult, Please don't break the palace. 251 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 4: Anyway, that's lovely. I'm sure he's insured. 252 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 8: Are kings insured? 253 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 4: His Majesty's drawing room is light and airy and is 254 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 4: everything you'd imagine in a stately home. The herringbone wooden 255 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 4: floor is scattered with plush persian rugs, The walls are 256 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,919 Speaker 4: plastered with icons and oil portraits, and the elegant chairs 257 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,439 Speaker 4: on which we're invited to sit are painted gold and 258 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 4: bricaded in dusky pink silks. And just like in most 259 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 4: people's houses, the mantlepiece is crowded with photos. 260 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 8: This is someone I recognize. 261 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 9: Of course. 262 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 3: Two years ago, the Pope visit Bulgaria and he wants 263 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,880 Speaker 3: a private visit to the royal family. 264 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,679 Speaker 4: Simeon's family is not exactly ordinary. He's descended from the 265 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:12,199 Speaker 4: Saxe Coburg Gotha dynasty. That basically means he's connected to 266 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 4: pretty much every royal clan in Europe, including the Windsors. 267 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 4: King Charles is a kind of distant cousin. In fact, 268 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 4: back in the days before the war, King Boris even 269 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,680 Speaker 4: used to take his holidays with the British Royals. Shooting 270 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:28,199 Speaker 4: in Scotland. 271 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 8: There's a huge. 272 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,880 Speaker 4: Portrait of Boris hanging on the drawing room wall and 273 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 4: looking at it you get a strange sense of deja vu. 274 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, they do all look like each other. I mean 275 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 3: you can see quite a strong trace of our current 276 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 3: British royal family I think in Boris, and that strong 277 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:48,160 Speaker 3: some would say aristocratic, others inbred profile that he has. 278 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:49,960 Speaker 3: I won't name names, but take a look at him 279 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 3: and then well, yes, peru's the current royal landscape. Prince 280 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,400 Speaker 3: William a little bit. I mean, poor Prince William. It's 281 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 3: not his fault. As Harry said, he does have aggressive 282 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:01,719 Speaker 3: premity or bolding. 283 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 4: Well, it's true. There's definitely more William than Harry in Boris. 284 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 3: Anyway, moving on. 285 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 4: Yes, I think we probably should because it's time to 286 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 4: meet the king. 287 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 13: To see you. Thank you so much for making the time. 288 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,639 Speaker 4: I'm Becky, this is Emma j and we're delighted that 289 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 4: we're able to talk to you and really appreciated. King 290 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 4: Simeon wears a dark suit and tie. He's got a 291 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 4: thin white mustache that's anchored by a chin strap beard 292 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 4: and okay, yes he's completely bald. He's one of those 293 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:54,120 Speaker 4: people who seem taller than they really are. He might 294 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,160 Speaker 4: be eighty six, but he still knows how to carry himself. 295 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 4: He's very charming. He's also very much an old school 296 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 4: sort of king. 297 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 10: I'm not the type of person who communicates easily, and 298 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 10: I like to keep my feelings to myself. 299 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 4: So if you're expecting him to get all confessional and 300 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 4: Prince Harry on you, you might be disappointed. But having 301 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,919 Speaker 4: said that, once you get to know him, he's quite 302 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 4: the tease. 303 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 10: Not to ram him. 304 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 4: It's important to laugh where we can, because I'm afraid 305 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 4: this story is a dark one. For a child to 306 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 4: lose a parent is always desperately sad, and Simon was 307 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 4: just six years old when his father died so mysteriously, 308 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,439 Speaker 4: a mystery which still haunts him. 309 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 7: To this day. 310 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 10: It's still we cannot really either blame anybody or point 311 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 10: our fingers at anybody, and yet we have this, I 312 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 10: would say, ghastly suspicion that something was wrong. 313 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 4: Now, remember that military plane which Boris had taken to 314 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 4: his secret meeting. Simeon got taken to see it after 315 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 4: it landed back in Bulgaria. 316 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 10: We went to the airport to greet my father when 317 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 10: he came back from this meeting. We were fascinated. My 318 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 10: mother drove us to the airport to see this huge 319 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,400 Speaker 10: plane that had landed there. 320 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:28,199 Speaker 4: Little did Simeon know that his father had just flown 321 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 4: home to meet his death. It all seemed like harmless 322 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:40,159 Speaker 4: fun to a little boy. Poor King Boris had a 323 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:45,359 Speaker 4: very difficult relationship with his father. Ferdinand was fiery, and 324 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 4: Boris was frightened of him. Boris had lost his mother 325 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 4: as a very young boy, and that meant he lost 326 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 4: her gentle protection too. He felt he never quite measured 327 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 4: up to his father's exacting expectations. Ferdinand was certainly a 328 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 4: force to be reckoned with. Boris was determined not to 329 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 4: make the same mistakes with his own children, so he 330 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 4: was her hands on dad. Whenever he got a day off, 331 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 4: he'd head to the hills with the family. 332 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 10: Oh on the hike. It was always fun because he 333 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 10: would teach us all sorts of things and btaneer or 334 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:26,159 Speaker 10: on nature or on wildlife and so forth. So to 335 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 10: ask this was a great treat. 336 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 8: I will say. 337 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 4: Now, I'm not just here to speak to Simeon, because 338 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 4: behind every great king is a bossy big sister. 339 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 5: So you don't know. How do I get in touch 340 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 5: with you? 341 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 13: In half an hour? 342 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:48,479 Speaker 4: Scom Her Royal Highness Maria Louisa is four years senior 343 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 4: to Simeon. She's a plain speaking kind of princess. 344 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 5: That was a lot of bs. 345 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 4: Excuse me if Simeon's wary about speaking his mind, Maria 346 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,160 Speaker 4: Louisa gives it to you straight, no matter who you are. 347 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 4: Just before the war, King Boris invited British King Edward 348 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,880 Speaker 4: the Eighth to the palace. He's the king who abdicated 349 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 4: so he could marry American divorcee Wallace Simpson. Boris proudly 350 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 4: presented his little daughter to Edward, but Maria Louisa refused 351 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 4: to perform. 352 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 5: I was I think four or what? And I got 353 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 5: bored and I said, now I have to go and play. 354 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 5: And King Edwin an. 355 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 4: In her black trousers and trainers. Her raw Highness is 356 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 4: more casual than her brother, but still stylish. She broke 357 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,719 Speaker 4: her leg last year, so she's walking with a stick. 358 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 4: It's a glittery burgundy red one, and it matches her 359 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 4: polar neck sweater. Occasionally she flashes her cane a look 360 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 4: of contempt. You can see she hates being dependent. She's 361 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 4: as sharp as attack, basically the kind of ninety year 362 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,919 Speaker 4: old we all have hoped to be. Maria Louisa was 363 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 4: exceptionally close to her father, King Boris. In the next room, 364 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 4: there's a tear jerkingly beautiful black and white photo of 365 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 4: them together. She's wearing a string of pearls and she's 366 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 4: drawing or coloring something while Boris looks on dotingly. In 367 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 4: the photo, she's about eight, maybe nine years old. She's 368 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,120 Speaker 4: concentrating hard, but her free arm is sloped around her 369 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 4: father's neck, just keeping him with her. She was ten 370 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 4: when he died. 371 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 5: He was always there for us, and it was always 372 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 5: at feet when he came and told us stories. And 373 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 5: he would take us sometimes for a little walk in 374 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 5: the forest and tell us stories about gnomes that lived 375 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,919 Speaker 5: under mushrooms and came out at night, and you know, 376 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 5: wonderful children's stories that we cherished enormously. 377 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 4: When Maria, Louisa and Simeon talk about King Boris, they 378 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 4: both often look away or stare at the floor for 379 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 4: a second or two while they composed themselves. 380 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 5: Ah, it's it's very difficult to sort of empty one soul. 381 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 5: A very loving father were time for his children, definitely 382 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 5: for us. He was just loving Papa. 383 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:22,920 Speaker 4: And there wasn't even a proper goodbye. He disappeared so suddenly, and. 384 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 5: The Monday morning he came into a room where Sian 385 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 5: and I were playing, and it just said I'm going 386 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 5: to Sofia for work, you know, kissed us and said 387 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,160 Speaker 5: I'll see you tonight, and we never saw him again. 388 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 4: They were such a close knit family, but someone out 389 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 4: there clearly didn't care for King Boris at all. Once 390 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 4: on his deathbed, the King didn't just slip peacefully away. 391 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 4: As we know, his so called cardiac arrest spanned six 392 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 4: long days and nights. He fought to stay alive that summer. 393 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,200 Speaker 4: He really battled against his failing heart. 394 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,879 Speaker 9: Crushing chest pain as if there's a metal band around 395 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 9: your chest, feelings of sweatiness and nausea, the feeling of 396 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 9: impending doom. 397 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 4: That's Dr Stewart Hamilton. More from him later, but he's 398 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,880 Speaker 4: bang on the money with the prediction of doom. Simeon 399 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 4: seen the medical reports from his father's doctors. 400 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:33,400 Speaker 10: He was feeling sick. Then his liver eventually didn't function, 401 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:39,679 Speaker 10: and there was also pneumonia, and he lasted for so 402 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:45,679 Speaker 10: long from Monday to Saturday, he lost his conscience. 403 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 4: The king wasn't short of doctors in that sick room. 404 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,680 Speaker 4: The palace was crawling with them. But it was nineteen 405 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 4: forty three. What did they have to offer Paul Boris 406 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 4: accept a bit of oxygen and sedation. Well, here's one 407 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 4: thing they didn't offer him, the comfort of his wife. 408 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:05,920 Speaker 4: The queen was on holiday in the mountains with the 409 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,640 Speaker 4: royal children. She wasn't even told her husband was ill 410 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 4: until it was pretty much over. Now that seems deeply odd, 411 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 4: and not just to me. 412 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 5: My mother was. I should was convinced he was done 413 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 5: in by somebody. 414 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 4: And here's another thing that makes me suspicious. Once the 415 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 4: king was bedbound, no one was allowed to leave the palace. 416 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:32,640 Speaker 8: They were literally locked. 417 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 4: In for the first few days. Even Boris's government was 418 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 4: kept in the dark. Whatever happened in that sickroom, stayed 419 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:40,959 Speaker 4: in that sickroom. 420 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 10: Finally, the doctors who came in all that kept everything 421 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 10: very i'd say confidential or secret, and that was also 422 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 10: one of the reasons that people thought there was foul playing. 423 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 4: In the final stage of his illness, King Boris developed 424 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,919 Speaker 4: a high fever. When the doctors couldn't control his temperature, 425 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:12,360 Speaker 4: he began convulsing, and on the twenty eighth of August 426 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 4: it was all over. The King's casket was carried to 427 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:37,199 Speaker 4: its final resting place by train drivers. His enthusiasm for 428 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 4: engines and locomotives was legendary. The railway workers even made 429 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,560 Speaker 4: him an honorary member of their guild. He was a 430 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 4: skilled engineer. He once joked that if everything's went badly 431 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,200 Speaker 4: for him and he lost his throne, he'd just head 432 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 4: off to America and get a job as a mechanic. 433 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 10: He remember once took us along a railroad because she 434 00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 10: was very fond of trains. 435 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 4: He was desperate to pass on his passion to his children, 436 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 4: so he took little Simeon into a tunnel. A train 437 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 4: appeared suddenly and roared past them in the dark. 438 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 10: The conductor reported the next station, there were some lunatics 439 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 10: who had been walking in the track just when the 440 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 10: train came by, and so forth, and of course it 441 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,479 Speaker 10: was great fun after when they realized that it was 442 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 10: my father who had induced us to take this walk. 443 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 4: Maria Louisa remembers other times when her father's enthusiasm almost 444 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 4: got the better of him. 445 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,720 Speaker 5: We would go horseby riding, and not too far from 446 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 5: here was a railroad crossing, and we would stop because 447 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 5: the barriers were down, the trains were coming, and since 448 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 5: my father loved driving trains, we were standing with the 449 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 5: horses there and the train would pass, and if the 450 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 5: machine is recognized my father, of course it would blow 451 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 5: the whistle and that was catastrophic for the horses and 452 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 5: for US. 453 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 3: Historian Tessa Dunlop, you know the hours he spent pulling 454 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 3: the levers of locomotives, so much so that the engine 455 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 3: drivers of the Orient Express were told watch out for 456 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 3: Boris because he literally will steal into your engine and 457 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 3: drive off with it. That was the level of his obsession. 458 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 4: Boris was a royal who had the common touch. He 459 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 4: fitted in everywhere. Think of the late Queen Elizabeth the 460 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 4: iond the second longest reigning monarch in history, Yet somehow 461 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 4: most Brits thought of her as their own granny. Think 462 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 4: of Princess Diana, who instinctively knew how to charm a crowd. 463 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:59,040 Speaker 4: Unlike his father Ferdinand, Boris was popular, and whatever you 464 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 4: think about training, being a committed railway enthusiast is hardly 465 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 4: a motive for murder. And this is where some red 466 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 4: flags are popping up for me, because I feel like 467 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 4: I'm getting a somewhat filtered version of the truth here. 468 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 4: So far, we've only really heard from Boris's children, and 469 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 4: I mean, is anyone objective about their own parents? Affectionate 470 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 4: stories about Boris are threaded through Bulgarian folklore. There are 471 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 4: countless tales of the king picking up hitchhikers in his 472 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 4: car incognito. He'd drive them around for miles, chatting away. 473 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 4: Simeon told me about one time when Boris pulled his 474 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 4: bet you can't guess who I am prank on a 475 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:47,440 Speaker 4: hapless young soldier. 476 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,719 Speaker 10: My father thought of those hilarious, which it really was? 477 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 4: Would he roar with laughter? 478 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 10: Well, yes, and I suppose a soldier almost fainted. Not 479 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,480 Speaker 10: because but she says it's the king it's the king. 480 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 4: And some of the legends sound like they're straight out 481 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 4: of a fairy tale, like when King Boris was caught 482 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 4: in a rainstorm when he was out butterfly hunting in 483 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 4: the mountains. Apparently, he'd often pitch up at a villager's 484 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 4: door in the hope of a hot bowl of broth 485 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 4: and some shelter. Once home, he'd always thank the villager 486 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 4: for their hospitality by sending on parcels and gifts. 487 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 3: Do we believe that? Do we actually believe that? 488 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 4: I don't think so well, Tessa. From what I've read, 489 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 4: at least some of these accounts really are true. There's 490 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 4: evidence to back them all up. But like Tessa, the 491 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 4: skeptical journalist in me is starting to smell a rat 492 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 4: because my research shows me that we're getting a very 493 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 4: sanitized version of history here. This is not Disney. It's 494 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,200 Speaker 4: a real life story rooted in war, and wars always 495 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,560 Speaker 4: a dirty business, and if I dig around a bit 496 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 4: in Boris's past, it's not hard to unearth a less 497 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 4: polished reality. 498 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 3: Without wishing to denigrate Bulgaria in any way. 499 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 4: I get the feeling she's about to denigrate Bulgaria in 500 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 4: some way. 501 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 3: It was a nation of peasants, told you, I mean, 502 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 3: we love our peasants. Now it's quite diregard to be 503 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,640 Speaker 3: a peasant, isn't it, But back then less so. It's 504 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 3: kind of weirdly lonely for Boris. He was known as 505 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 3: the lonely King, actually, because who'd you hang out with 506 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 3: if your new country doesn't have any proper posh landowners. 507 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 3: There was not much between Boris and the peasants. So 508 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 3: when we say, oh, Boris really got on with the peasants, 509 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 3: I'm like, yeah, who else did he have to play with? 510 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 4: Really, Boris's bloodline was undeniably blue, but it wasn't so 511 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 4: undeniably Bulgarian. Let me explain with a whistle stop tour 512 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 4: of the country's history. Established in the seventh century, Bulgaria 513 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 4: is one of the oldest countries in Europe, but at 514 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 4: the end of the fourteenth century it fell into the 515 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 4: hands of the Turks of the Ottoman Empire, and that's 516 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 4: where it stayed in eighteen seventy eight until Russia went 517 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 4: to war with Turkey and liberated Bulgaria. 518 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 5: Again. 519 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:12,720 Speaker 4: Delighted with their newfound independence, the Bulgarians set about reinstating 520 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 4: the monarchy The problem was it had been so long 521 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 4: since they'd had a king they couldn't trace back the bloodline. 522 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 4: They hadn't got a clue who their real royals were. 523 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 4: The solution simple, import a new royal family. 524 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 3: Where's the obvious place to import a royal from Germany? 525 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,720 Speaker 3: It's got an abundance of slightly pointless. The little dukes 526 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 3: and princes of the man are born without quite enough 527 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,280 Speaker 3: to do so. Ideally, you want someone who's been gifted 528 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 3: to you with international approval. 529 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:54,760 Speaker 4: Their first attempt at importing a royal was German Prince 530 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 4: Alexander Battenberg, but he proved so unpopular that they were 531 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 4: soon back to the rowing board. The next bit sounds surreal, 532 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:09,000 Speaker 4: but I promise you it's true. The Bulgarians went shopping 533 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 4: for a king. Three royal headhunters trailed around all the 534 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,360 Speaker 4: royal courts of Europe, but to no avail. They just 535 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 4: couldn't find a suitable or willing candidate. Downcast, they decided 536 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,040 Speaker 4: to cheer themselves up with a trip to the opera 537 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 4: in Vienna, and sitting right under their noses in the 538 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 4: royal box was the perfect man for the job. They 539 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 4: intercepted him at intermission sh it's intermission. Anyway, he was 540 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,400 Speaker 4: a suave German prince by the name of Ferdinand. He 541 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 4: had away with the ladies and with the men. Actually 542 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:50,720 Speaker 4: he lived for pleasure. 543 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 3: Yes, he did swing both ways. I think all bisexual 544 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 3: and of course, if you're a king you can really 545 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 3: do what the hell you like. Is a grand signeur 546 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 3: to the point of decadence. He loved fine clothes, he 547 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,320 Speaker 3: loved fine wine. He liked jewels. He wore many jewels 548 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,319 Speaker 3: on his fingers. He was not the most quote comfortable 549 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 3: of husbands. No, I shouldn't think he was if he 550 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,400 Speaker 3: was boning the local No, I mean, I can't say that. 551 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 4: On the radio, of course, he was known as Foxy Ferdinand, 552 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,560 Speaker 4: and not in a good way. His cousin, the British 553 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:26,000 Speaker 4: Queen Victoria, hated him. She described him as eccentric, effeminate 554 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,120 Speaker 4: and totally unfit. Other relators wrote him off as weird 555 00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:33,800 Speaker 4: and ridiculous. But he got the job anyway. There weren't 556 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:41,040 Speaker 4: really any other applicants. Bulgaria's love affair with Foxy didn't 557 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:46,800 Speaker 4: last long. He got a reputation for being sly and untrustworthy, 558 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,799 Speaker 4: and crucially, during the first World War, he joined the 559 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:55,360 Speaker 4: wrong side, the losing side. His alliance with Germany cost 560 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:59,520 Speaker 4: the lives of one hundred thousand Bulgarian soldiers, and in 561 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:03,920 Speaker 4: the peace treaty that ended the war, Bulgaria was severely punished. 562 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:09,560 Speaker 4: The country lost huge swathes of territory, including the strategically 563 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 4: important Thrace, a region bordering Greece and the AEGNC and Macedonia, 564 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:19,240 Speaker 4: which was given to Yugoslavia. Do remember the names Thrace 565 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,400 Speaker 4: and Macedonia, as they're going to be quite important. A 566 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:27,239 Speaker 4: little further on in our story, Ferdinand had cost his 567 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 4: country dearly. He was forced to abdicate and was exiled, 568 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 4: and his throne, still warm, was handed to his son, 569 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 4: twenty four year old Boris. Was Boris's murder a simple 570 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:44,200 Speaker 4: case of payback for the sins of the father. Ferdinand 571 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,480 Speaker 4: might have made some bad choices, but they weren't Boris's choices. 572 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,760 Speaker 4: In fact, the two could not have been more different. 573 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 4: While Ferdinand loved a good row king, Boris hated conflict 574 00:37:55,680 --> 00:38:01,200 Speaker 4: of any kind, especially war. He jokingly nicknamed himself the 575 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:06,040 Speaker 4: mender of broken dishes. That's perhaps a tiny bit lost 576 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 4: in translation, but you get the sense. Boris was a diplomat, 577 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:12,920 Speaker 4: the kind of king who picked up the pieces and 578 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:16,399 Speaker 4: glued them back together, not the kind of king who 579 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:21,200 Speaker 4: threw tantrums and smashed things. And he never aspired to be. 580 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:22,840 Speaker 8: On the throne. 581 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:28,319 Speaker 4: But unfortunately that's precisely where he found himself as the 582 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:33,239 Speaker 4: world went to war again in nineteen thirty nine, and 583 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,799 Speaker 4: it was in the darkest part of the middle of 584 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,640 Speaker 4: that war that Boris died, a brutal and baffling death. 585 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:46,160 Speaker 4: Why murder a peace lover? It was wartime, his daughter 586 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:47,360 Speaker 4: Maria Louisa. 587 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:50,160 Speaker 5: There were many, many people who would have been happy 588 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:50,759 Speaker 5: to get rid. 589 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 4: Of him, as I suspected. The king had several known enemies, 590 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,600 Speaker 4: but as far as the identity of his assassin goes, 591 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:02,800 Speaker 4: the clues a few and far between. Boris's son Simeon, 592 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 4: has tried to crack this case himself in the past, 593 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:08,920 Speaker 4: but his slewing has proved fruitless. 594 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:16,280 Speaker 10: It's amazing. I mean, so many years, so many archives, investigations, 595 00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:20,200 Speaker 10: questions or what have you, and there still hasn't been 596 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:24,879 Speaker 10: any proof. And I mus siven, I mean as a sun. 597 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,120 Speaker 10: It's disturbing and. 598 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 4: There's no nice way to put this. Time's running out 599 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:35,320 Speaker 4: for Simeon and Maria Louisa to find answers to the 600 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,600 Speaker 4: question that haunts them. 601 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:41,279 Speaker 5: Never forget it still, you know, you go to a 602 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:42,959 Speaker 5: funeral and it all comes back. 603 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,839 Speaker 10: Not that one looks for the revenge or anything like it, 604 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:48,880 Speaker 10: but simply to know. 605 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,600 Speaker 4: And I want to know too, So I'm going to 606 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:59,319 Speaker 4: pick up this case where Simeon left off. Time to 607 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:02,920 Speaker 4: recap and to fill you in on one of Boris's 608 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:09,840 Speaker 4: dirty little secrets. Remember its wartime, and in war, difficult 609 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:10,920 Speaker 4: choices have. 610 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:12,279 Speaker 8: To be made. 611 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,319 Speaker 4: We know Boris hated bloodshed, so at the start of 612 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:20,400 Speaker 4: the war, Bulgaria opted for neutrality. But Bulgaria has an 613 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:25,840 Speaker 4: unfortunate geographical position. Rumania, on its northern border, had joined 614 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:30,240 Speaker 4: sides with Hitler. That meant very quickly there were German 615 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:38,560 Speaker 4: troops breathing right down Bulgaria's neck. Meanwhile, on Bulgaria's southern border, 616 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:43,160 Speaker 4: the Italian army invaded Greece. They needed back up, and 617 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:48,400 Speaker 4: Hitler was itching to help. Little Bulgaria was sandwiched between 618 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:53,279 Speaker 4: hostile players. She found herself backed into a corner. And 619 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:55,960 Speaker 4: when you're backed into a corner, you have to pick 620 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:00,120 Speaker 4: a side and in nineteen forty one, King Boris did 621 00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:02,439 Speaker 4: pick a side. 622 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,920 Speaker 3: We know that Boris was a political survivor and then 623 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,120 Speaker 3: he died. But he was, and he'd survived for a 624 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:10,560 Speaker 3: very long time. Now what do you do if you're 625 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:13,720 Speaker 3: a survivor, You work out which way the wind's blowing 626 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:14,920 Speaker 3: and you travel with it. 627 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,680 Speaker 4: So let's go back to that top secret bunker once again, 628 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,359 Speaker 4: the one where Boris is about to walk into the 629 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:25,680 Speaker 4: most important meeting of his life. It's now August nineteen 630 00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:33,480 Speaker 4: forty three. In the stifling bunker, Boris has been trying 631 00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:36,319 Speaker 4: to get his head straight, but he's played all his 632 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:38,080 Speaker 4: cards and he knows it. 633 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:41,840 Speaker 3: This man is eminently reasonable relative to what's going on 634 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:46,240 Speaker 3: around him, and he's also got a very good political brain. 635 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:48,640 Speaker 3: For Bulgaria, they need to survive. 636 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:49,680 Speaker 7: That's the game. 637 00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 4: But the game's up. Boris is out of time. It's 638 00:41:55,280 --> 00:42:07,640 Speaker 4: time to meet Adolf Hitler. Yes, Boris, the so called 639 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:11,319 Speaker 4: Mender of Broken Dishes, is an ally of the most 640 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 4: evil man in history. He has been for eighteen months 641 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:21,400 Speaker 4: and this military hideway it's the Wolf's Layer, the secret 642 00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:26,120 Speaker 4: Nazi headquarters in what is now Poland, And just like Germany, 643 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:30,880 Speaker 4: King Boris, the third of Bulgaria, has declared war on 644 00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 4: Britain and America. 645 00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:35,120 Speaker 9: Now. 646 00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,120 Speaker 4: So far, in the time they've been allies with Germany, 647 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:42,839 Speaker 4: Bulgaria's involvement has been pretty passive. While thousands of men 648 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:46,239 Speaker 4: across Europe are losing their lives on the battlefields, not 649 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:50,400 Speaker 4: a single Bulgarian soldier has been involved in active combat, 650 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:55,880 Speaker 4: and as yet not a single Bulgarian Jew has been deported. 651 00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:01,480 Speaker 4: But now Hitler wants that to change. To up the ante, 652 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:06,040 Speaker 4: he's demanding, Boris's troops must help the Germans on the 653 00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:10,400 Speaker 4: front line, and he's determined to send each one of 654 00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:17,239 Speaker 4: Bulgaria's fifty thousand Jews to the gas chambers. This is 655 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,799 Speaker 4: not what King Boris signed up for, and this is 656 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:26,200 Speaker 4: why he's here. He's about to disobey Hitler's orders to 657 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:30,399 Speaker 4: tell him he won't do as Hitler commands. You don't 658 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:33,120 Speaker 4: need to know much about history to know what happens 659 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:36,960 Speaker 4: to people who anger Hitler. Less than two weeks after 660 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:41,640 Speaker 4: leaving the Wolf's Layer, King Boris will be dead. 661 00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:45,880 Speaker 3: Given the hand he was served, Boris did bloody well 662 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,560 Speaker 3: to squeeze almost half a century out of this planet. 663 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:53,480 Speaker 4: So was it Hitler, who personally ordered his murder. He 664 00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:57,799 Speaker 4: had a motive, he had the opportunity. But I gave 665 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:00,719 Speaker 4: my word that I would tell this story of objectively, 666 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:03,640 Speaker 4: and that means telling you all the facts I know, 667 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:08,160 Speaker 4: even those which don't quite fit the narrative. And there's 668 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:11,560 Speaker 4: something here that doesn't quite square with me. Because things 669 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,440 Speaker 4: weren't shaping up well for Hitler by the summer of 670 00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:18,560 Speaker 4: nineteen forty three, with heavy losses on the Eastern Front 671 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:22,520 Speaker 4: and Italy on the verge of surrender, Hitler needed all 672 00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:25,560 Speaker 4: the friends he could get. Would he really kill one 673 00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:28,560 Speaker 4: of his only allies? Or did his need for revenge 674 00:44:28,719 --> 00:44:33,759 Speaker 4: overcome his reason? Eighty years on from Boris's death, I'm 675 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:35,800 Speaker 4: determined to get to the truth. 676 00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:39,440 Speaker 10: Who would want to cover up after so many. 677 00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:48,400 Speaker 4: Years coming up this season in the Butterfly. 678 00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:51,520 Speaker 10: Came everybody started suspecting everybody else. 679 00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:57,120 Speaker 7: A Russian special services, Starting's special services killed King Boris. 680 00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,919 Speaker 5: I mean it would make sense to be the Germans, right, 681 00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:05,400 Speaker 5: because it would be safer for the Germans if he 682 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:06,400 Speaker 5: was out of the picture. 683 00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:10,520 Speaker 8: Could have paint the Bulgariats an inside job. 684 00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:14,879 Speaker 7: It was a typical Balkan death. 685 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:19,120 Speaker 4: What do you mean by a typical broken death. 686 00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:22,040 Speaker 7: I mean in the Bocles there were more political murders 687 00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:24,960 Speaker 7: than in the rest of Europe for this period. 688 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:28,000 Speaker 6: This does not have the whole box of British or 689 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:33,400 Speaker 6: American intelligence, but these sort of things have happened in 690 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:33,880 Speaker 6: the past. 691 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:39,239 Speaker 4: It's a long list of suspects. There's just one other 692 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:42,800 Speaker 4: tricky problem I need to share with you. For Simeon 693 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:47,200 Speaker 4: and Maria Louisa King Boris was just dear, sweet Papa, 694 00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:52,200 Speaker 4: but others, well they saw him very differently. 695 00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:56,080 Speaker 8: I really don't care how he died. 696 00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:00,240 Speaker 9: For me, He's a great. 697 00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:25,600 Speaker 4: The Butterfly King is a production of Blanchard House and 698 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:31,480 Speaker 4: Exactly Right Media, hosted by me Becky Milligan. It's written 699 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:36,040 Speaker 4: and produced by Emma Jane Kirby. Original music is by 700 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:41,720 Speaker 4: Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis nank Manell and Toby Mattamong. Sound 701 00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:46,320 Speaker 4: design and engineering by Toby Mattamong and Daniel Lloyd Evans. 702 00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:52,480 Speaker 4: Artwork by Vanessa Lilac. The managing producer is a Mika 703 00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:58,280 Speaker 4: Schortino Nolan. The creative director of Blanchard House is Rosie Pye. 704 00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:01,640 Speaker 4: The executive producer and the head of Content at Blanchard 705 00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:06,759 Speaker 4: House is Lawrence Grizzell for Exactly Right Media. The executive 706 00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:13,279 Speaker 4: producers are Karen Kilgareth Georgia Hardstark, and Danielle Kramer, with 707 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:19,719 Speaker 4: consulting producer Kyle Ryan. The Butterfly King is inspired by 708 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:24,440 Speaker 4: the book Hitler and the King by John Hall Spencer