Royal historian and author Tracy Borman returns to The Gilded Gentleman following her appearance on Crown & Scepter: The Coronation Show last year.

Tracy is a noted historian and a frequent guest and commentator on the BBC as well as many documentaries and programs internationally. Tracy's most recent book "Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter That Changed History" serves as the basis for this episode, along with Tracy's insights on the mother daughter relationships in the lives of two modern monarchs - Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.

Mother daughter relationships can be loving, supportive and at times challenging. In this episode, Tracy Borman discusses several royal mother/daughter relationships that may have changed history. Elizabeth I was barely three years old when her father Henry VIII ordered her mother's execution for failing to provide a royal male heir. Tracy's revelatory new research and insight explains just how Elizabeth honored, and even emulated her mother throughout her own long reign and how she continued to dispel myths that had been created by a malicious court.

Like Elizabeth I, neither Queen Victoria nor Queen Elizabeth II ever thought that they would be queens themselves and Tracy offers additional in-depth insight as to how these women - along with their own mothers influenced the throne.

Just over a year ago, as Broadway opened a revival of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd, The Gilded Gentleman was honored to sit down with one of the stars of the original 1979 Broadway production.

Sarah Rice, who went on to a distinguished career in opera as well as leading roles in musical theatre, originated the role of Johanna playing opposite such Broadway legends as Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou.

Sarah covered how she got started in theatre, came to New York with two cats and a piano to join the cast of the original The Fantasticks, and then was cast in her career changing role as Broadway's first Johanna. Perhaps most fascinating in Sarah's chat with Carl were her reminiscences and recollections of being directed and prepared for the role by the great masters Hal Prince and Stephen Sondhiem themselves. Sarah ultimately became one of today's most important interpreters of Stephen Sondheim's music.

Sarah passed away suddenly earlier this winter and her loss is a profound one for those who knew her personally and those who were touched by her beautiful voice and many appearances on stage.

As a tribute to her memory and her artistry, The Gilded Gentleman is revisiting the interview portion of last Spring's show as a tribute to her memory.

Join Carl and British country house historian Curt DiCamillo for a look into the world of the Edwardian country house. Audiences became fascinated in these houses through the blockbuster Julian Fellowes series "Downton Abbey" and his earlier film "Gosford Park", with their colliding worlds of upstairs and downstairs and interlocking social dramas.

Curt discusses this fascinating period in British history and how the country house in Edwardian times brought society closer to a modern age. Curt explains how country houses as estates for the British aristocracy evolved over centuries and how they reached their height in the reign of King Edward VII, who took the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

The country house greatly expanded during this time and some interiors reflected influences from Britain's growing empire. Grand dinners, shooting parties, and elegant tea parties were all backdrops to great social intrigue and sometimes scandal.

In this show, Curt shares several examples of great Edwardian country houses (including one current royal estate), what they looked like, how they operated, and how they can be visited today. The Edwardian period was a glittering one, much like America's Gilded Age, but a short one, which vanished from view as Britain and Western Europe entered a world-changing war.

Related show with Curt DiCamillo: The British Crown Jewels: History and Mystery