Windsors & Losers

As far as rock bottoms go, Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson has hit a few. In this final episode of the Fergie season, hosts Allie and Eva revisit the aftermath of two of Fergie's biggest scandals and her subsequent efforts at redemption (or, should we say re-branding) with the assistance of none other than Oprah and Dr. Phil. Fergie's road from "second-tier Sloane" to Duchess, to exiled royal and back again, has been a winding one. And yet, with steady and cheerful determination, she's reemerged once more as a palace player at the highest levels. Our story ends with Fergie's soft relaunch as a royal, and an examination of the ways in which the Fergie of today can be called a survivor — even as her legacy remains tainted.

Can one ever truly be friends with a reigning monarch? According to Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, she and the late Queen were the best of pals. At the end of her reign, Elizabeth granted Fergie a royal funeral at St. George's Chapel, Windsor and a place in the family plot. The Queen also invited Fergie to what would be her final family Christmas. Was this evidence of a deep and enduring friendship? Perhaps. After all, Fergie and QE2 had so much in common: horses, dogs, and also, horses. It was Fergie who inherited the Queen's beloved corgis, Sandy and Muick. And, surely, that tells us something about their relationship? In this penultimate episode of the "Finding Fergie" season, hosts Allie and Eva go looking for what that "something" is.

Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson divorced "her prince" in 1996, a decade after she (metaphorically) stumbled down the aisle at Westminster Abbey and (metaphorically) fell into Andrew's (literal) giant pile of teddy bears. Her life as an official working royal was marred by money troubles, tabloid scandals, and oh-so-brief moments of rebirth. The same can be said for her life as a single working mom. In episode five of "Finding Fergie," hosts Allie and Eva pick up where they left off: on Fergie's journey for self-discovery, redemption, and... cash. Adrift from the royals after a duo of photo scandals involving Texan men, Fergie set off to find herself in America. There she found a more forgiving public — and Oprah. But just as Fergie seemed to be rising from the ashes as a self-actualized working gal with brand partnerships, another scandal was lurking just 'round the corner.

Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson and Princess Diana were cousins, sisters-in-law, and co-conspirators against the royal family. Their relationship, and their centrality in the royal family during the late twentieth-century, was the stuff of legends — and tabloid headlines. Friends since adolescence, they fell out sometime in the mid '90s... and never spoke again. In the latest episode of Windsors & Losers's Fergie season — dubbed "Finding Fergie" — our hosts Eva and Allie look back at Fergie’s unique and tumultuous friendship with Princess Diana.

After there was young Fergie, there was... teen Fergie and young adult Fergie. And then, finally, Sarah Ferguson metamorphosed into her fully-realized self: royal Fergie. In this episode of the "Finding Fergie" season, Allie and Eva revisit the Duchess of York's late teens and early twenties. These were crucial, vital years in Fergie's life, where she lived with a girlfriend South of the river in London, went traveling without a credit card, borrowed her stepmother's clothes, and dated an older man with a massive Swiss chalet and a wine collection bought at Sotheby's. But Fergie's life path took a hard left when her friend (and cousin) Princess Diana reintroduced her to the the Queen's second son. From there, Fergie's path to duchess-hood was set.

Windsors & Losers is back! This season is about Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, who is perhaps the most maligned modern royal. But in 1986 when Fergie married into the Windsor clan, she was hailed as the future of the monarchy: a confident, smiling, and up-for-anything country lass. She was just the sort to endear herself to the Queen — and the tabloids! But of course, the party didn't last long... In episode one of this season — which we are calling "Finding Fergie" — Eva and Allie go back to Fergie's formative years and dive into her seemingly cookie-cutter country upbringing (complete with ponies), her cad-ish and clueless polo playing dad, and her beautiful mother, who bolted from their home, and England, to marry an Argentine hunk. Editors' note: This episode was recorded before recent breaking royal news, including King Charles's cancer diagnosis.

When Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson joined the British royal family in 1986 she was hailed as the future of the monarchy and "a breath of fresh air." A decade later she was divorced, broke, and exiled to the land of misfit (and embarrassing) royals, leaving a trail of scandal in her wake. Poking fun at her clothes and weight became a national bloodsport. Prince Philip apparently couldn't even stand to be in the same room as her. And let’s be honest: it’s never been easy to be a Windsor Wife, as Diana and Meghan both have shown. But now, Fergie is somewhat back in the royal fold. She did, after all, inherit the late queen's corgis. Is Sarah, the Duchess of York, proof that by sticking around long enough, the disruptor becomes the establishment? In a new season of Windsors & Losers, coming early 2024, we're reassessing the life and times of the one-named royal wonder, Fergie.

Mark Bolland pulled off many coups during his seven-year tenure as Charles and Camilla's palace spin doctor... but he wasn't there to make friends. “There was an awful man there," one senior figure said 20 years later. "Absolutely destructive beyond belief." So who is this Rasputin-like magician who turned Camilla from most reviled woman in Britain into future queen? In the final episode of "The Camilla Season," Eva and Allie follow the mighty rise and unceremonious end of Camilla's most ruthless and dogged courtier.

Can queens be friends with their exes? Camilla is the first divorced queen in British history with a living husband. And — oh, is he ever living! The charming and roguish Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles is still a key member of Camilla’s inner circle, beloved by all, including Camilla, despite his cad antics. He regularly attends ceremonial occasions as Camilla’s guest and has on at least one occasion acted as her official representative. In fact, it could be argued (by us) that Andrew and Camilla, not Gwyneth and Chris, are the true originators of “conscious uncoupling.” In the penultimate episode of The Camilla Season, Eva and Allie take a look back at the surprisingly civil divorce of Camilla and Andrew in 1995. But... maybe that's what happens when your marriage is one of "electric indifference", as Tina Brown once put it.

As any royal biography will tell you, people really like Queen Camilla — they really, really like her. This week, hosts Eva and Allie are deep-diving into the former Camilla Parker-Bowles’s wide world of friendships. Camilla’s inner circle is a big one, from throwback childhood horse and pony pals to the six grown-up female friends she’s hooked up with (unpaid) jobs at the Palace. We meet this motley crew of royal BFFs, including the one who’s Charles’s cousin and the one whose husband proposes to strangers. And we can't forget to mention Camilla's long history of befriending reporters. Camilla just has a way of making royal journos feel less “reptilian,” and in return, they cover her glowingly.

Central to Queen Camilla’s public image is the idea that she’s an unfussy, no-nonsense, ruddy British everywoman. But those with a nose for useless royal miscellany (ahem, your dedicated hosts) have picked up on Camilla’s frequent under-the-radar visits to an idyllic holistic health spa in southern India run by the charismatic healer to the (British) stars, Dr. Issac Mathai. The Soukya International Holistic Health Centre is frequented by the likes of Emma Thompson, Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson, and yes, Queen Camilla, who we can't say for certain DOESN'T get the "reverse childbirth" colonic irrigation. When she’s not in India, Dr. Mathai is flying to the UK to treat Camilla and Charles at home (something Mathai claims to do frequently). So who is this shadowy healer? Well, for one thing, he’s not shadowy at all. He’s surprisingly loose-lipped about his royal connections, for which we are eternally thankful.

In episode six of "The Camilla Season," Eva and Allie bravely go where no one ever wanted to go again... back to 1993, year of "Tampongate." This was the iconic conversation in which, as you will reluctantly recall, Charles talked about becoming Camilla's tampon. It wasn’t the future king's finest hour, nor was it the finest hour of the “amateur radio enthusiast” who taped someone else’s private phone call and sold it to the tabloids. But there’s more to Tampongate than just that tampon moment. The conversation reveals much about Charles and Camilla’s private world, the people willing to keep their affair secret, and even — dare we say — a modicum of tenderness. Here Eva and Allie reenact and annotate Tampongate. Please forgive them.

An unnamed relative of Queen Camilla’s once described her as “the laziest woman to have been born in England in the 20th century.” This was an assessment often (and rudely!) repeated by staffers, former staffers, biographers, and tabloid journalists to describe Camilla’s pre-royal work ethic. As far as Eva and Allie can tell, Camilla’s only paid gig was as gofer for a prestigious interior design firm in the 1960s… from which she was unceremoniously fired. But is it fair to call a woman who raised two children, ran a large household, had numerous hobbies, and who would go on to become Queen of England lazy? In this episode of Windsors & Losers, Eva and Allie run through Camilla’s professional CV and break down what "work" means for a woman of her class and position.

In Roman times, Diana was known as the goddess of the hunt — but nowadays, Queen Camilla is the British aristocrat most associated with the countryside past-time. In episode four of Windsors & Losers's "The Camilla Season," hosts Eva and Allie revisit Camilla's long association with the world of ponies and, eventually, hunting. It's a passion she shared with husband King Charles III — that is, until it was ruled illegal and the royals had to stop terrorizing foxes on horseback. We take a look back at Camilla's inherited love of all things horse, and — for better or worse — try to unpack the psychological connection between hunting and... yes... sex.

Keen (but formally untrained) royal anthropologists Eva and Allie have noticed that Queen Camilla seems to spend an awful lot of time at a mystery house called “Ray Mill” in Wiltshire, England. It turns out that Ray Mill is Camilla’s private home, one she’s hung onto from her pre-royal days. It’s where she flees on weekends, holidays, and pretty much anytime she fancies a big ol’ G&T in front of Coronation Street, her favorite soap, and a show which Charles reportedly loathes. In episode 4 of Windsors & Losers's “The Camilla Season,” Eva and Allie attempt to untangle Charles and Camilla’s $25 billion dollar property empire and answer the simple question: “Why does the very married Queen hold onto her own house?”

Camilla Parker Bowles, soon-to-be Queen, is many things. And one of those things is: a mom. This week's episode of Windsors & Losers — part of our "Camilla Season" — is all about Camilla's two "royally adjacent" children, Tom and Laura. Learn about how the now King Charles was a regular visitor at their childhood home, why Tom calls himself “a camp old raver,” how Laura married an underwear model, and why both Eva and Allie are always and forever #TeamTom.

On February 18th of 2005, The Guardian published the decidedly unglamorous headline “Charles and Camilla Forced to Wed in Local Register Office.” The tabloids, meanwhile, crowned future queen Camilla Parker Bowles the "Town Hall Bride.” So how did King Charles's second wife come to have her own second wedding in such an understated location when royal nuptials are usually held in more august venues? In episode one of Windsors & Losers's “The Camilla Season,” hosts Eva and Allie revisit Camilla’s low-key (second) wedding day — and how she could barely get out of bed that morning.

Windsors & Losers, the podcast that tells you a lesser-known story about the British royal family in every episode, will be back with a new season just in time for the coronation on May 6! And this time it’s all about the new queen, Camilla. Let’s really get to know the woman formerly known as “Mrs. PB” (for Parker Bowles) by palace staff, and “the other woman” by Fleet Street — independent of the Charles and Diana love triangle. What makes this new queen tick? Who are her kids, Tom and Laura? Why did she and Charles get married at town hall? Why doesn’t the palace want us to know about her regular trips to a homeopathic wellness spa in India? And lastly, do we regret exploring the connection between fox hunting and Charles and Camilla's physical relationship? Yes, yes we do. Be sure to subscribe!

The year was 1960, and Princess Margaret, along with her new husband Anthony Armstrong-Jones, made a fateful trip ashore to the tiny Caribbean island of Mustique during their six week (checks notes — yes, six week) honeymoon aboard the royal yacht. Margaret's party pal from back in London, Colin Tennant (later, Glenconner), had just purchased the island and he cannily offered the princess a plot of land as a wedding gift. It would be another few years before "Margo" cashed in the I.O.U, but when she did, she also asked for a house — naturally. Thus began Margaret's long love affair with the hedonistic party paradise that Colin developed on Mustique. It's where Margaret escaped the glare of public life in London, enjoyed getaways with her boyfriend, and later suffered a series of serious health episodes. In this final episode Windsors & Losers season one, Eva and Allie mentally head to Mustique to revisit what Margaret and the rest of the 1970s glitterati got up to down there. Hint: it once involved spray-painting palm trees gold, outfitting waiters in just gold coconut shells, and polluting the sand with gold glitter.