Admit it, y'all, some of you are obsessed with royal families, whether that's watching them or gossiping about them, wanting to be them, it's the stuff of fantasy.

But in reality, for real-life royals, the crown jewels can be more like shiny handcuffs.

Being a king or queen might seem enticing, but more often than not, it comes at the

expense of everything else, like your freedom, your privacy, and sometimes even your head.

After all, there's expectations and rules, and if you break them, the consequences are big and

very public.

Well, y'all wonder he's got a new podcast called Even the Royals,

and it pulls back the curtain on royal families, past and present from all over the world,

showing you the darker side of what it means to be royalty.

They cover folks like Grace Kelly, the Oscar-winning

actress turned Princess of Monaco, who saw the world as the ultimate good girl. She mastered

playing a happy wife and mother, but beneath it all, she was desperately lonely. Grace spent her whole life working towards perfection,

and it ultimately cost her her happiness. Then there's King Ludwig II from Bavaria. He was only

18 when his father died, leaving the crown to him and a duty to rule that he never wanted. So he just refused to lead

and used the funds from the royal treasury to further his extreme love of opera. And this choice

eventually cost him his crown as well as his life. So y'all, I'm going to go ahead and play you a preview of

Even the Royals, but while you're listening, be sure to go follow Even the Royals on the

Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

A quick note about our show. We do a lot of research for our stories, but we also aren't your

boring high school history class, so some details and scenes are dramatized. And today's

episode contains swearing that's not exactly suitable for high society, so please be advised.

So, Eresha, in the summer of 2023, a life-changing event happened.

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