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Speaker 1: Hello, We're so excited to share the first episode of

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Speaker 1: Royal Swindle, our brand new limited series from Exactly Right Media,

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Speaker 1: Blanchard House and USG Audio.

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Speaker 2: Royal Swindle tells the story of two larger than life

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Speaker 2: Australian women who arrive in England in the nineteen nineties

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Speaker 2: and charm their way into the world of old money,

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Speaker 2: high society, and of course, horses in fact.

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Speaker 1: Episode one is entitled The Horsey Set and it follows

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Speaker 1: Evelyn Burton and her lover Leila Andre as they blow

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Speaker 1: into town promising rich British investors spectacular return.

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Speaker 2: They're welcomed into rarefied social circles and even make plans

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Speaker 2: to buy a massive country house with a full staff.

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Speaker 2: But behind this rich facade, these women are hiding a

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Speaker 2: dark past and some seriously diabolical intentions.

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Speaker 1: So listen to Royal Swindle right now, episode one, The

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Speaker 1: Horsey Set, and then you can go see photos from

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Speaker 1: the story at exactly Right on Instagram.

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Speaker 2: New episodes of Royal Swindle drop every Thursday on the

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Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, And.

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Speaker 1: While you're there, don't forget to like, subscribe, and review

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Speaker 1: Royal Swindle.

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Speaker 2: And now here's episode one of Royal swind Or.

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Speaker 3: Goodbye.

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Speaker 4: A quick warning this story contains adult themes and strong language.

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Speaker 4: Nineteen ninety seven, England. The Royal Windsor Horse Show an

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Speaker 4: absolute must for the cream of British high society. But

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Speaker 4: this is no ordinary year. In fact, it'll be remembered

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Speaker 4: for a very long time. There's show jumping, carriage driving,

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Speaker 4: dressage and at this prestigious event. Nowhere is more prestigious

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Speaker 4: than the Royal Enclosure. And this year, guess who's been

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Speaker 4: spotted chatting to the Queen, talking and laughing with Queen

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Speaker 4: Elizabeth the second two Australian women. Now these OSSes are

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Speaker 4: very charismatic and here they are gossiping away to Her

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Speaker 4: Majesty about the huge country house they're about to buy.

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Speaker 4: So it's all very jolly. But there's something the Queen

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Speaker 4: doesn't know about this pair, something none of the Royal

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Speaker 4: entourage knows, something no one in the whole of England knows.

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Speaker 4: This Ossie couple are a pair of crooks. They're cunning,

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Speaker 4: they're smart, and they're up to no good. They want

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Speaker 4: what these people have money and do anything to get it.

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Speaker 4: If the blue bloods and the landed gentry, and this

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Speaker 4: whole champagne coughing crowd had any idea what's really going on,

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Speaker 4: they'd run like wild horses. Now, nearly thirty years later,

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Speaker 4: one of those crooks is ready to talk.

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Speaker 3: I've regretted a lot of things. I've done a lot

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Speaker 3: of things. I sold my soul to the devil. Look

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Speaker 3: I would say I'm very sorry, But whether I'd mean

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Speaker 3: or not, that I don't know.

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Speaker 4: From usg Audio Blanchard House and exactly right, media, this

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Speaker 4: is royal swindle. I'm Becky Milligan, Episode one, The Horsey

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Speaker 4: set September nineteen ninety six, England's green and pleasant countryside,

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Speaker 4: where the upper crust live in ancient country houses set

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Speaker 4: in lush pastures passed down from generation to generation. Here

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Speaker 4: the aristocracy entertain friends on a grand scale and enjoy

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Speaker 4: their country pursuits. And there's one pastime they prize above

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Speaker 4: all others horses. Safia Money Coots is an author and journalist,

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Speaker 4: and lots of British people are really obsessed with horses.

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Speaker 4: They live, eat, breathe horses, breeding, riding, showing and racing horses.

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Speaker 4: And the people who move in These circles have a name,

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Speaker 4: the Horsey Set. These people really can't live without their horses,

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Speaker 4: and there's a sense of permanence to it all. Year in,

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Speaker 4: year out, same people, same shows, bloodlines that can be

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Speaker 4: traced back, centries, continuity, a reassuring rhythm and natural order,

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Speaker 4: and the cost of maintaining this natural order is phenomenal.

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Speaker 5: We were talking into the millions.

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Speaker 4: But there's one thing you need to know about this

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Speaker 4: world of old money. There's not always that much actual

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Speaker 4: money knocking around. It's not all like downtown Abbey. There

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Speaker 4: is that expression asset rich, cash poor, which applies to

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Speaker 4: a lot of posh people in this country. The money's

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Speaker 4: tied up in all those crumbling, old stately homes which

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Speaker 4: cost a fortune to run. So when someone new turns up,

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Speaker 4: someone who's really wealthy, people can get quite excited, even

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Speaker 4: if that someone doesn't quite fit in. And that's what

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Speaker 4: happens in autumn nineteen ninety six when two charismatic outsiders

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Speaker 4: blow in with plenty of spare cash. Two Australian millionaires,

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Speaker 4: Lilah Andre and Evelyn Burton have arrived in the UK. Now,

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Speaker 4: if the Horsey said aren't in their jobpers and riding boots,

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Speaker 4: caked in mud in the saddle. They dress a bit

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Speaker 4: like the late Queen, rather conservative pearls headscarves, tweed skirts

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Speaker 4: and padded giles their body warmers. And let's just say

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Speaker 4: Evelyn and Lilah looked rather different, and they both had

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Speaker 4: rather contrasting styles.

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Speaker 2: Well.

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Speaker 6: Evelyn Burton was a very large lady, not very feminine,

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Speaker 6: dressed in a pair of very baggy jeans and a

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Speaker 6: bomber jacket and some boots I think, and this short

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Speaker 6: haircut and Layla was the complete opposite.

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Speaker 7: Red hair, Lilah, masses and masses and masses of red

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Speaker 7: hair and fingernails, everyone painted in a different color.

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Speaker 3: The clothes are so very very colorful, to all these

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Speaker 3: flamboyant hats and the makeup and everything else like that.

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Speaker 6: And it was the lipstick. She almost looked like a

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Speaker 6: pantomime dame.

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Speaker 5: She's a bit of odd looking.

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Speaker 4: They're flamboyant and larger than life. Hello, holy buddy, that's

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Speaker 4: Lila Andre.

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Speaker 3: Of course it flowed, Oh, the champagne flowed, absolutely flowed.

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Speaker 3: You know, I just would spoil myself.

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Speaker 4: And the thing about these millionaires Lila and Evelyn They're

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Speaker 4: not just business partners. They're much more than that. Lia

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Speaker 4: remembers the first time they met, twenty years earlier.

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Speaker 3: In Walks. Evelyn love at first sight. I saw this

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Speaker 3: woman and that was it. She had this aura around

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Speaker 3: her and I just could not believe what I will saying,

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Speaker 3: and I'm saying to myself, this is the woman that

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Speaker 3: I want to live with. This is the woman that

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Speaker 3: I want.

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Speaker 4: The attraction was intoxicating.

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Speaker 3: She was just beautiful. Everything about it was just beautiful.

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Speaker 3: Her voice, the way she talked, her face, her eyes,

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Speaker 3: her mouth, look, she was stunning. She was the woman

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Speaker 3: that I wanted, and I'd wanted for a long long time.

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Speaker 4: Lilah is bowled over by Evelyn, and now the Horsey

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Speaker 4: Set of Rural England is about to be bowled over

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Speaker 4: by Evelyn and Lilah. The appeal is well, there's only

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Speaker 4: one way to describe it.

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Speaker 5: It was intoxicating stuff.

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Speaker 4: That's Marjorie Ramsey. If any couple embodies the Horsey set,

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Speaker 4: it's got to be the Ramses. Marjorie and Richard know everyone,

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Speaker 4: and everyone knows them. Now our Australian millionaire, Evelyn is

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Speaker 4: some kind of financial wizard and has turned thousands into

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Speaker 4: millions seemingly overnight. Evelyn's got investors all over the place, Ireland,

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Speaker 4: Sweden and now the rural shires of England.

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Speaker 5: She had this man that she was always on the

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Speaker 5: phone to in America, and she too walked in millions

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Speaker 5: of dollars and millions of pounds.

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Speaker 4: Marjorie has never met anyone like Evelyn before. Even the

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Speaker 4: way Evelyn says the word millions feels exotic meons.

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Speaker 5: She didn't pronounce the ls. That's weird, yes, but she

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Speaker 5: was Australian.

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Speaker 4: Lila and Evelyn have just entered Marjorie and Richard's world.

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Speaker 4: H Should that be the other way round? Anyway, their

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Speaker 4: lives are going to change forever.

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Speaker 8: You know, all this business of I can turn any

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Speaker 8: money you hand over to me. I can make it

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Speaker 8: double treble what it is.

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Speaker 4: And the thing about Evelyn and Lilah is that they

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Speaker 4: don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk too.

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Speaker 4: They may not have the bloodline, but they definitely have

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Speaker 4: the credit line. It's only the very best of everything,

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Speaker 4: first class travel, chauffeur driven rolls, royces, top not restaurants,

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Speaker 4: and the very finest wines.

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Speaker 3: Ch lafitetur. I mean even had all this money.

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Speaker 4: So Lila and Evelyn have made quite the entrance. But

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Speaker 4: these two OSSes aren't just here on their summer vacation.

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Speaker 4: They're here to stay. And they have a plan, an

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Speaker 4: ambitious plan. Part one by property, not an ordinary property, oh, no,

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Speaker 4: more like a country estate or a stately home in

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Speaker 4: the rolling English countryside. And the police will need to

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Speaker 4: be big because of part two of their big plan.

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Speaker 4: Evelyn and Lilah want to start a stud farm. They

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Speaker 4: want to breed horses. A big house takes a while

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Speaker 4: to find and then of course it takes a while

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Speaker 4: for the sale to go through. So in the meantime

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Speaker 4: they've taken up residents in one of London's finest hotels,

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Speaker 4: the Berkley, in the heart of Belgravia. And they've not

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Speaker 4: just booked any old room here, whole suite of.

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Speaker 3: Rooms then absolutely Yet everyone wanted everything.

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Speaker 4: They pay upfront in cash and it's perfect.

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Speaker 3: The boys they loved her and whenever anyone delivered anything

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Speaker 3: to the room, they were given a five pound note.

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Speaker 3: Whenever she went out in the car, she'd blick a

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Speaker 3: one pound coin. It was to one of the boys.

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Speaker 3: The staff loved her.

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Speaker 4: Did they Yes. The thing about London's posh hotels is

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Speaker 4: that they might be in the hustle and bustle of

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Speaker 4: the big city, but they're like an extension of the

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Speaker 4: English countryside. Everyone knows everyone, especially if there's money to

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Speaker 4: be made.

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Speaker 8: Has said to the dorman at the Barkley, if you

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Speaker 8: have anybody who appears who might want to buy property

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Speaker 8: and country, give.

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Speaker 3: Us a shot.

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Speaker 4: Upmarket real estate agent Jonathan Harrington gets the tip off

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Speaker 4: from the dorman.

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Speaker 7: That's how it started.

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Speaker 4: He's round at the Berkley before you can blink, meeting

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Speaker 4: the two women in their suite. He isn't disappointed. They

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Speaker 4: don't make any secret of just how loaded they are.

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Speaker 5: It's sort of billy big talk.

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Speaker 4: He means, they're boasting.

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Speaker 8: We have braceholese, we have private jets, we have cars,

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Speaker 8: and we need a wonderful country house.

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Speaker 4: A property with all the trimmings.

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Speaker 8: Twenty thirty acres, cottage, stables, garaging.

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Speaker 3: Eighteen bedrooms, lounge room, butler's pantry, seven stoves, you name.

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Speaker 4: It, a tree lined drive, large gardens. The list goes on.

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Speaker 3: A lovely country home in the British countryside where I

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Speaker 3: might know one or two of the neighbors, but not

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Speaker 3: very well. But if I needed a cup of sugar,

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Speaker 3: I could bust them.

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Speaker 4: So the real estate agent, Jonathan is looking for Evelyn

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Speaker 4: and Lilah's dream home. But every big country house needs

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Speaker 4: a household staff. They're pretty specific about their requirements, and

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Speaker 4: when it comes to male staff, there's one non negotiable.

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Speaker 3: They've got to be gay guys. They're usually clean. You

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Speaker 3: can talk to them. I'd had a lot to do

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Speaker 3: with them, and they were what I wanted.

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Speaker 4: Lila and Evelyn needs someone who recruits high end staff

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Speaker 4: for high end clients. Enter Francis Hutchinson. She's worked for

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Speaker 4: a whole host of VIPs.

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Speaker 7: From popstar to footballer to king or queen. They're very

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Speaker 7: wealthy and they're people who can pay for the best,

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Speaker 7: and so you introduce them to the best.

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Speaker 4: Perfect just what our two millionaires require. Lilah organizes a meeting,

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Speaker 4: but she and Evelyn aren't quite what Francis is expecting.

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Speaker 7: Certainly not the normal kind of client that I've dealt with.

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Speaker 4: But that isn't a problem. Francis has been brought up

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Speaker 4: not to judge a book by its cover and what

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Speaker 4: our couple like, say in class, they make up for

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Speaker 4: with their enormous bank balance.

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Speaker 7: So when these ladies came along, they wanted everything. Nice

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Speaker 7: car with a driver, estate manager, the head gardener and

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Speaker 7: junior gardeners keeping stuff.

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Speaker 3: There was the butler, there was the under butler. There

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Speaker 3: was a twenty.

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Speaker 4: Which a little personal maid.

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Speaker 3: No, a tweeny. Oh Tweeny's a little person who works

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Speaker 3: between everybody else. Everyone else cleaned, and she follows them

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Speaker 3: and just tidied up what they haven't.

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Speaker 4: And Evelyn clearly has the cat to pay for it all.

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Speaker 7: She would keep a stash at fifty pound notes down

224
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Speaker 7: her bra down how what her bra She would put

225
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Speaker 7: her hands down her shirts and put out a fifty

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Speaker 7: pound notes. And there was somebody sleeping rough outside Harrod's

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Speaker 7: and she had the driver pull over and she got

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Speaker 7: out of the car and just pulled this fifty pound

229
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Speaker 7: note out.

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Speaker 4: That's about one hundred and fifty dollars today. So Evelyn

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Speaker 4: likes to look after people, and likes to look after

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Speaker 4: one person above all.

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Speaker 7: She really took care of Lina, and she actually said

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Speaker 7: to me one day, everybody's job is to take care

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Speaker 7: of Lila.

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Speaker 3: I want Lida to be happy, and that means a lot.

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Speaker 7: Of beauty appointments and probably quse a lot of hair

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Speaker 7: appointments to keep that color.

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Speaker 3: I would imagine.

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Speaker 4: Francis opens her contact book, picks up the phone and

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Speaker 4: starts recruiting the butler's, the gardeners, and the tween is

242
00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:24,680
Speaker 4: fifteen staff in total, and she's thrilled to be helping

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Speaker 4: this ossie couple make England their home. She takes them

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Speaker 4: as she finds them, honest, eccentric but extremely charming millionaires.

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Speaker 4: But there's rather more to them than that, because Evelyn

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Speaker 4: and Lilah have a history, quite a history back in

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Speaker 4: Australia in the nineteen seventies. Well, I'll let Lila tell.

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Speaker 3: You, well, I was working. I wasn't working girl.

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Speaker 4: Yes, she was a sex worker. In fact, both Evelyn

250
00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,320
Speaker 4: and Lila were sex workers for many, many years.

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Speaker 3: The best clients in the world of trades and truck doors,

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Speaker 3: they really are. Why because they're polite, they're courteous, they're

253
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Speaker 3: kind if friendly. They're usually come in dirty that go

254
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Speaker 3: out clean because they wash, and they're talkative.

255
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Speaker 4: And Lila knew all the tricks of the trade.

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Speaker 3: So the longer you spent on the lassage, the less

257
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Speaker 3: she spent on the screwing, right, and you only gave

258
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,040
Speaker 3: them three pumps anyway, guys only last three minutes.

259
00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:48,720
Speaker 4: Lilah had one rule that she lived by, swore by.

260
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Speaker 3: You never ever go with anyone with a tie and

261
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Speaker 3: a collar, because they're usually bastards.

262
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,520
Speaker 4: Actually, Evelyn and Lilah met through the sex trade in

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Speaker 4: the nineties teen eighties. By then, Lilah was running a

264
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Speaker 4: brothel and Evelyn was running a whole chain of brothels,

265
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Speaker 4: eventually sixteen of them. And let's just say Evelyn's approach

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Speaker 4: to abuse was zero tolerance.

267
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Speaker 3: If the man had some trouble, she would range for

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00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,680
Speaker 3: someone to go and you know, break a league, which

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Speaker 3: league that sort of thing.

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Speaker 4: Now, as we've heard, when Lilah first crossed paths with Evelyn,

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Speaker 4: the attraction was instant.

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00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,320
Speaker 3: She was wearing a mallet and it suited her beautifully,

273
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:41,120
Speaker 3: really dark hair, and the curls in it were just brilliant.

274
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Speaker 3: I just couldn't take my eyes off her.

275
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Speaker 4: But Evelyn, on the other hand, took far longer to

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Speaker 4: come round.

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Speaker 3: She just didn't have clue, did not have a clue thinking,

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Speaker 3: why doesn't you bloody, wake up? What did it matter

279
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Speaker 3: with her?

280
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 4: But Lilah was patient and persistent.

281
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:08,720
Speaker 3: I just waited and waited and waited until I got

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Speaker 3: my shot, like a spider collecting something in its web.

283
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:22,640
Speaker 4: And when Lilah finally snared her prey, it was passionate, intense.

284
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Speaker 3: I was walking through the door and she was walking

285
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Speaker 3: through the door as well, and she slammed the door

286
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Speaker 3: shut and grabbed me and kissed me, and she said,

287
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Speaker 3: and that's when I fell in love with you.

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00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,280
Speaker 4: It's as if Evelyn and Lila were made for each other.

289
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,240
Speaker 4: They have so much in common. They both had tough childhoods,

290
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,400
Speaker 4: and cash was always tight. Now they've found each other.

291
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 4: Evelyn vows that money will never be a problem ever again,

292
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,560
Speaker 4: that poverty is well and truly behind them, and what

293
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,600
Speaker 4: lies ahead is a life of luxury and comfort, a

294
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:07,080
Speaker 4: life well lived.

295
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 3: She promised, and promised and promised me the world.

296
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:18,560
Speaker 4: The only thing is the path Evelyn and Lilah godown

297
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,120
Speaker 4: in order to live the good life. Means that there

298
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:27,240
Speaker 4: always just one step away from losing it all, because

299
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:32,240
Speaker 4: none of it is really theirs. As Lilah says of Evelyn,

300
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:34,080
Speaker 4: quite simply.

301
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 3: She was terrible. Oh, she was a little thief. She was.

302
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,920
Speaker 3: She was a little thief, naughty little thief. The bad elf,

303
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:43,880
Speaker 3: you know, the really bad elf.

304
00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 4: And Evelyn was a bad elf with a bad habit,

305
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,359
Speaker 4: a very bad habit.

306
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,000
Speaker 3: I always said that to Evon from the very first day.

307
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,760
Speaker 3: A mirror. You talk too much.

308
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:01,679
Speaker 4: It's Evelyn's achilles heel, and it makes they're already perilous

309
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:06,720
Speaker 4: position even more perilous, our duo. No, their good life

310
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,920
Speaker 4: can be snatched away at any moment, and that's exactly

311
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:15,439
Speaker 4: what happens. In nineteen ninety six. Lila and Evelyn are

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00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,360
Speaker 4: living in Melbourne and have all the luxury and comfort

313
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,720
Speaker 4: they ever wished for. But suddenly they start to feel

314
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:29,880
Speaker 4: the heat on multiple fronts and they need to escape fast,

315
00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:40,680
Speaker 4: and that's how they end up in the UK. Yes,

316
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:53,199
Speaker 4: they're on the run. For Lila and Evelyn, it's a

317
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:57,479
Speaker 4: blank slate, a new page, a chance to have another

318
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:05,680
Speaker 4: shot at the good life at other people's expense. All

319
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,919
Speaker 4: of this, of course, is lost on the Horsey Set.

320
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:14,680
Speaker 4: They're blissfully unaware. No, to them, Evelyn and Lilah are

321
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,400
Speaker 4: just a slightly eccentric Ossie couple who want to buy

322
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 4: a big house, fill it with staff and start a

323
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,880
Speaker 4: stud farm, in other words, breed horses for show jumping.

324
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:33,040
Speaker 4: As it happens, the couple are driven all around rural

325
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,680
Speaker 4: England for viewings of vast country estates.

326
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:44,200
Speaker 3: The only one that stood out was one in new Market.

327
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Speaker 4: A town a couple of hours away from London and

328
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Speaker 4: the home of horse racing.

329
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 3: It was gorgeous. There was a pool and there was

330
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 3: everything you'd want.

331
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Speaker 4: Now, this wasn't just one property. It was virtually a

332
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Speaker 4: small village.

333
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 3: It was very prey. It had about six or eight

334
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,640
Speaker 3: other little cottages and they all had names of flowers,

335
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:07,479
Speaker 3: which was lovely.

336
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 4: So they've chosen the house. Now they need to find

337
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:15,120
Speaker 4: horses for their stud and it's only the very best

338
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 4: breed for Evelyn, the revered Arabian horse. That's when they

339
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:27,240
Speaker 4: hear about Lucille and Larry, who apparently have just what

340
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 4: Evelyn and Lila are after a young Arab Philly for sale.

341
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:35,879
Speaker 6: I thought they were going to be really horsy people,

342
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,959
Speaker 6: but they weren't anything like I expected.

343
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 4: Lucille Clark Smith and her husband Larry invite the asses over.

344
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,200
Speaker 6: Later, coming down with the peristiletto heels on and dressed

345
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,439
Speaker 6: like very flamboyantly with all this color, with loads of

346
00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,679
Speaker 6: makeup on, and she wore these outrageous hats.

347
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,840
Speaker 5: I mean they were right pleasant.

348
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,440
Speaker 3: I mean Layla was a real lady.

349
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,720
Speaker 5: But the other one looked like the stable lad.

350
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 4: Lucille and Larry show them their filly, and Evelyn falls

351
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 4: in love. The horse is magnificent and perfect for her

352
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:24,800
Speaker 4: new stud. A deal is done. Fifteen thousand pounds that's

353
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 4: about forty five thousand US dollars today. Now no money

354
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,159
Speaker 4: actually changes hands on the day. The funds are on

355
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:39,480
Speaker 4: their way, though, Evelyn says. Now, Lucille and Larry are

356
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 4: completely charmed by Evelyn and Lilah. But things don't quite

357
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,879
Speaker 4: add up. These Aussie millionaires who've just blown in to

358
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 4: set up a stud farm.

359
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,720
Speaker 6: Knew nothing about horses. That was quite clear. They knew

360
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 6: nothing about horses.

361
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,280
Speaker 4: So if Lilah and Evelyn are going to make a

362
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,400
Speaker 4: go of their stud farm, they'd better find someone who

363
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 4: knows about horses and show jumping fast. Well. Remember Richard

364
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 4: and Marjorie, who were intrigued by the way Evelyn said

365
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:16,960
Speaker 4: the word.

366
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,160
Speaker 5: Millions, mions. She didn't pronounce the.

367
00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:25,439
Speaker 4: Els well, they know a lot about show jumping. In fact,

368
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,920
Speaker 4: they're two of the most respected people in the show

369
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,360
Speaker 4: jumping world, and they're very good friends with Francis Hutchinson,

370
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,320
Speaker 4: who's busy finding staff for Lila and Evelyn's massive new house.

371
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 4: Before long, Richard and Marjorie are invited to a business

372
00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,920
Speaker 4: meeting at a very smart hotel in London.

373
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Speaker 8: There was this not very tall but very wide lady

374
00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:01,200
Speaker 8: in a gray pinstripe suit with slightly curly gray hair.

375
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 4: Lila's memory of Richard, on the other hand, is a

376
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 4: little more hazy.

377
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 3: I know, remember, wouldn't a membrum from a toothpeeck? Heven't

378
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 3: got a clue.

379
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:17,160
Speaker 4: Coffee and biscuits are served, and Evelyn gets straight down

380
00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:17,840
Speaker 4: to business.

381
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,879
Speaker 8: She said, I want to buy this huge property and

382
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:28,440
Speaker 8: start up a show jumping stud and I really want

383
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 8: to go into this big time.

384
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:36,480
Speaker 4: Richard is impressed. Evelyn then offers Marjorie the job of

385
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 4: a lifetime stud manager on Evelyn's new estate.

386
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 5: It's very wonderful to be offered something that you would

387
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 5: really really like to do and could never afford to

388
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 5: do it on your own. She was offering me exactly

389
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:54,719
Speaker 5: what I would like.

390
00:28:55,600 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 4: In fact, this is Marjorie's dream job. Doesn't stop there.

391
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:05,040
Speaker 8: She tells Richard, if Marjorie's going to be the stud manager,

392
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 8: we need her on the premises.

393
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 4: Richard frowns, but Evelyn nods and throws him one of

394
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 4: her charming smiles. It's okay, because.

395
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 8: There are cottages on the estate. You will have a

396
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,440
Speaker 8: lovely house, Dudydar of your own.

397
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 4: Richard and Marjorie are impressed by Evelyn and Lilah's generosity,

398
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 4: and their generosity doesn't end there. Evelyn starts to tell

399
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:38,080
Speaker 4: them about her lucrative investments.

400
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:43,719
Speaker 3: He will talk about bonds and banking and overnight money markets.

401
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 4: To be honest, Lilah says she's a bit bamboozled by

402
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 4: it all. Evelyn looks after all this stuff apparently, but

403
00:29:53,120 --> 00:30:00,360
Speaker 4: basically it involves complicated financial instruments called prime bank guarantee

404
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 4: and bonds. It's all managed by her American investment company,

405
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 4: and judging by their lifestyle, it's been hugely successful. And

406
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:15,840
Speaker 4: Evelyn has a bright idea. If Richard and Marjorie are

407
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 4: coming to live in one of her cottages, well they

408
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,400
Speaker 4: won't need their own house anymore, will they?

409
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 8: Now? The thing you need to do is to sell

410
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 8: your house. And obviously, if you sell your house, that money,

411
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,280
Speaker 8: if you give it to me, I will turn it

412
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 8: into mega.

413
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:44,400
Speaker 4: Money, mega money. So things are really coming together. Their

414
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 4: gorgeous house, with those lovely little cottages, the household staff,

415
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,719
Speaker 4: a manager for their stud farm, and their first beautiful

416
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 4: Arab horse. Evelyn and Lilah have truly joined the Horsey set.

417
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,000
Speaker 4: Except well, you may have worked this out by now,

418
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 4: but all of it, and I mean all of it,

419
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 4: is an illusion. Evelyn and Lilah will never buy their

420
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:22,000
Speaker 4: English stately home. There won't be a stud farm, there

421
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 4: won't be lovely little cottages for the staff, and there

422
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:32,720
Speaker 4: won't be any dream jobs. And those prime bank guarantees,

423
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,800
Speaker 4: the ones Evelyn is persuading Richard and Marjorie to pour

424
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:41,440
Speaker 4: their life savings into the proceeds of their house sale.

425
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 4: Those prime bank guarantees aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

426
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 4: But the real question is this, why on earth does

427
00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,960
Speaker 4: everyone take these two OSSes, totally out of place in

428
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 4: the shires of England so very seriously and continue to

429
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:09,880
Speaker 4: take them seriously. Well, Lilah thinks it's very simple.

430
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 3: Everyone needs to work on greed.

431
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:21,000
Speaker 4: She understood human nature. But this is just the beginning

432
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 4: in her bid to give Lida the life she's always

433
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:31,760
Speaker 4: dreamed of. Evelyn is aiming high, very high. She's wormed

434
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:35,960
Speaker 4: her way into the Horsey set. Now she's got her

435
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 4: sight set on the Royal Set. You've been listening to

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Speaker 4: Royal Swindle at Blanchard House production for USG Audio in

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Speaker 4: partnership with Exactly Right Now Media, Hosted by me Becky Milligan.

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Speaker 4: It's written and produced by me Becky Milligan and Sarah Jones.

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Speaker 4: Original music is by Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Langmannell and

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Speaker 4: Toby Mattimon. Sound design and mixed engineering is by Vulcan Kisseltook,

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Speaker 4: Toby Mattimoon and Daniel Lloyd Evans. Story development by Duncan Barber.

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Speaker 4: The managing producer is Amka Schortino Nolan. Production support from

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Speaker 4: Josh la Longi at USG Audio. The creative director at

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Speaker 4: Blanchard House is Rosy Pye. The executive producer and Head

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Speaker 4: of Content at Blanchard House is Lawrence Grisell. Our executive

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Speaker 4: producer from USG Audio is Josh Block