Three beautiful sisters, a fortune in the bank, a famous French painter, and a family saga that takes us from the glittering salons of Paris to the horrors of Auschwitz.

In the 1880s, the daughters of a fabulously wealthy Jewish banking family were immortalised by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Their portraits captured all the elegance and extravagance of the Belle Époque, when Parisian high society was awash with money, mistresses, aristocrats and royalty.

But what became of the girls in those famous paintings?

Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams are joined by bestselling author Catherine Ostler, whose new book The Renoir Girls uncovers an extraordinary story of love, scandal, ambition and survival.

There's a mother who runs off with her daughter's future husband, an heiress who elopes with her horse trainer, a young Prince Philip playing football on the lawn of a French château, and enough aristocratic intrigue to fill several novels.

Yet behind the glamour lies a much darker story. As two world wars tear Europe apart, the sisters' fortunes take dramatically different turns: one survives through connections with Nazi collaborators, another risks everything to rescue her grandchildren, while the third falls victim to the Holocaust.

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

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How did a builder's lamp, a velvet curtain and a tea break nearly destroy 900 years of royal history?

On 20 November 1992, fire broke out at Windsor Castle, turning one of Britain's greatest royal landmarks into an inferno. It was Queen Elizabeth II's 45th wedding anniversary, and the latest catastrophe in a year she would famously describe as her annus horribilis.

Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams revisit the extraordinary events of that day, from the frantic rescue of priceless paintings and royal treasures to the Queen's arrival at the burning castle. Robert also reveals what Prince Philip told him about the disaster and how the fire spread through Windsor's ancient rooms and hidden passageways.

But the flames were only the beginning. As the damage mounted, so did public fury. Why should taxpayers foot the bill for repairing the home of one of the world's wealthiest families? With royal popularity already in freefall, the fire threatened to become a constitutional and public relations disaster.

And then came the extraordinary rebuilding project, complete with proposals for a wave machine, a glass roof and even an eternal flame.

From a royal inferno to a remarkable restoration, this is the story of how Windsor Castle nearly went up in smoke.

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guy Fawkes: Who Was Really Behind the Gunpowder Plot?

Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder, a plot to blow up the King and Parliament, and a mysterious letter that may have saved them all. But was there more to the Gunpowder Plot than meets the eye?

In 1605, a band of Catholic conspirators hatched one of the most audacious assassination plots in British history. Their plan? Blow King James I and the entire political establishment to smithereens, kidnap his nine-year-old daughter and put her on the throne.

Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams revisit the extraordinary story of Guy Fawkes and his fellow plotters, from secret meetings in a London pub and barrels of bargain-basement gunpowder to a spectacularly bungled escape in which the conspirators managed to blow themselves up.

But who betrayed them? Why did the authorities wait so long to act on a letter warning of the plot? And could the King's own ministers have allowed the conspiracy to unfold for political advantage?

With torture, treachery, religious persecution and a royal dynasty hanging in the balance, Robert and Kate explore the real story behind Bonfire Night, and ask whether Guy Fawkes was quite the villain we've been led to believe.

Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams

Series Producer: Ben Devlin

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

Content Editor: Joseph Palmer

Executive Producer: Bella Soames

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.