Original subtitles

for a thousand years kings and queens of

Europe had absolute power but absolute

power corrupts absolutely

greed revenge sex madness

witchcraft murder every monarch had

their royal secrets

throughout history Kings have the power

to pick lovers on a whim

female Royals also enjoyed the same

power but unfortunately for their men

Russian czarina Catherine the Great and

French Queen Margaret of Valois both

bestowed upon their lovers the kiss of

death margaret of valois was a renowned

beauty she fed a lifelong hunger for

passion with countless lovers

unfortunately for the hapless men in her

life one after the other they met

hideous bloody ends known as Queen

Margot Marguerite grew up with three

murderous brothers who became kings of

France and with a ruthlessly ambitious

mother Queen Catherine de Medici Margot

was to marry and divorce French King

Henry the fourth she was surrounded by a

royal court steeped in intrigue and

corruption and each of her lovers came

to an unlucky end her later years were

haunted by the memory of her many lost

loves

in her youth mago was a fair complexion

with blue eyes abundant black tresses

and a provocative figure Don Juan of

Austria was blinded by her beauty when

he met her she looked more like a

goddess of heaven than a princess of

Earth that charms were better suited to

ruin men than to save them her beauty

was centred amis the young Margot was

torn between religion and politics by

her bullying family it was a time of

religious war in France in 1572 her

mother devised a diplomatic scheme for

the Catholic Margot to marry Protestant

Prince Henry the reluctant 19 year old

Margot had to be physically forced to

the altar for the arranged marriage she

never said I do during the ceremony one

of her brothers had to push her at the

appropriate moment and the nod of her

head was taken as her affirmation of the

vows

the marriage was a cynical trap set by

Margo's mother to lure the unsuspecting

Protestants to Paris six days after the

wedding the religious bloodbath of st.

Bartholomew's Eve erupted as Catholics

turned in hatred against their

Protestant enemy thousands of

Protestants were cut down in the streets

and slaughtered in their homes Bargo

bravely sheltered her new Protestant

husband who would otherwise have been

hacked to pieces by the angry Catholic

mob

despite this Margo's marriage to Prince

Henry was loveless from the start but

Margo and Henry stayed married for

political reasons and although they

lived apart they became close friends

and allies for the rest of their lives

shortly after her wedding Margo took the

first of her many lovers

boniface de la mole was a dashing figure

the best dancer at court and an

incurable ladies man the charming la

mole became hopelessly infatuated with

Margo the love affair didn't last long a

wax effigy was found in his room and he

was accused of plotting to kill Margo's

brother King Charles the knights by

witchcraft Margo's mother Catherine

ordered him executed imprisoned here in

the Conciergerie in Paris la mole was

first horrific ly tortured with the boot

a device that crushed every bone in the

foot Margo's lover was then the headed

and quartered in the Place de Greve

legend has it he asked the crowd of the

scaffold to tell Margo his last thoughts

were of her for her part

Margo made a point of publicly wearing

mourning for him it was said that she

herself retrieved her lover's skull so

that it could be given a decent burial

Lamaze execution was the beginning of a

lifelong pattern of thwarted love for

Margo time and again she would find

herself robbed of happiness

Margot's brother Charles the ninth died

soon afterwards to be succeeded by her

next brother Henry the third he was to

brutally bully and rule her life for

years when she took a new lover Marga's

reputation as a loose woman was

confirmed rumors circulated at court

that she had been found in a

compromising position with a young noble

Jacques de Harley and it was even said

that she had an affair with a Duke

balance on her youngest brother angered

by the vicious court gossip swirling

around his sister Margo's brother King

Henry decided to discipline his errant

sister Henry asked Margot to be his

hostess at a ball held in the Louvre at

the height of the party he falsely

accused her of having a child by de

Harley the King went on to list all her

liaisons in intimate detail and ordered

her to deliver the court from her

contagious presence Jack de Harley

prudently decided a relationship with

Margot was too dangerous and deserted

her early the next morning disgraced and

furious Margot fled Paris into exile

even as she was making her escape she

was followed and humiliated by a group

of men sent by her brother the king

Margeaux settled in a fortress in the

Auvergne region of France where she had

her own bodyguards and considered

herself in a state of war with her

brother Henry the third

Margot's jinx in love followed her she

fell seriously ill and was nursed back

from the brink of death by the son of

the local apothecary he fell hopelessly

in love with her but one of Margot's

bodyguards was desperately in love with

her too in a jealous fit the bodyguard

burst into Margot's bedroom and stabbed

his rival to death undaunted by this

string of tragedies Margot found another

lover to the annoyance of her brother

she now fell for an army captain Margot

described him as a touching figure who

in an earlier century would have

inspired the songs of troubadours

trying to escape henry spies the lovers

were betrayed and apprehended by the

Kings troops Margaux tried to save her

lover by hiding him in a chimney but he

was found and Henry ordered him executed

in front of Margaux to teach his sister

a lesson kissing a fragment of one of

Margo's blue velvet gowns the

unfortunate young man was strung upside

down until his head filled with blood

still breathing

he was then dropped headfirst into an

open grave and buried alive Margo was

finally released from her royal

brother's brutal meddling when he was

assassinated in 1589 Margaux was at last

free from her dangerous and hated

brother Margo's estranged husband now

became Henry the fourth middle aged and

still without an heir Henry needed to

secure a dynastic grip on the throne in

order to be able to marry again he would

have to divorce Margo

Margeaux agreed to the split but her

price was a large annual allowance and a

huge settlement the divorce made Margot

a rich woman now known as the pearl of

France

Margot continued to look for love still

seeking virility she democratically

chose her lover's from all walks of life

there was a cathedral choir tenor the

son of a local carpenter a shepherd

a valet de chambre and even a strolling

musician

Margeaux eventually persuaded king henry

to let her leave the provinces and

return to paris but she was a parody of

her former self now in her 50s Margaux

still insisted on dressing in the style

and fashions of her youth she had grown

very fat and wore a great deal of makeup

she had lost her glossy abundant dark

hair and wore huge blonde wigs half a

foot higher than the current fashion for

a constant supply of hair blonde footmen

were kept at hand to be Shawn whenever

she needed a new wig

Margot's unlucky affairs continued to

cost her hapless lovers their lives she

took two lovers at once a

twenty-year-old named San Julian and an

18-year old called them all they were

rivals them all murdered San Giulia

shooting him through the head in front

of Margot as they were returning from

Mass Margot was so incensed she insisted

Verma be hanged on the spot and offered

to donate her garters for the purpose he

was hanged the next day outside her home

Margot was so distressed she moved to a

new home opposite the Louvre where she

lived with her lovers holding raucous

Knightly banquets

she became popularly known as queen

Venus her ex-husband King Henry begged

her to stop carousing and act her age a

Jesuit preacher denounced Margo's

licentiousness from the pulpit of not

Rodham Cathedral complaining that her

habit of displaying her ample bosom

had been adopted by the impressionable

young girls of Paris stories about her

abounded that she was so a beast she

couldn't get through doors but she had

emergency wigs under the folds of her

huge skirts in case of accidents that

she kept little scented bags under her

girdle containing the embalmed hearts of

all her dead lovers

despite a lifetime of Dangerous Liaisons

Mago outlived her entire family she

ended her days attended by her young

lovers and died peacefully just before

her 62nd birthday in 1615 her body was

laid to rest in the Cathedral of San

Denis but when the tombs of her mother

and father were later transferred to

another church Margo's remains

mysteriously disappeared for this day

they have never been found

200 years later in Russia another royal

proved to have the kiss of death

but unlike Margo this monarch loved

power as much as she loved her paramours

she was Catherine the Great

Zarina of all the Russia's

the year was 1745 and Catherine was

married to Peter the third heir to the

Russian throne Peter was the commander

of one of Europe's greatest armies and

fought many great battles all of them in

his head Peter loved to play with his

toy soldiers he drilled and maneuvered

regiment upon regiment in every room of

his palace at peterhof for Peter had the

mind of a child Peter liked to occupy

himself with weighty matters such as the

case of the nibbled guardsmen in one

incident Peter caught a large rat which

he believed had eaten some of his toy

soldiers

the rat was formally court-martialed and

summarily executed its body left

suspended on a toy gallows as a lesson

to other rats who might want to attack

the Royal regiments under the

circumstances Catherine's marriage to

Peter was not a happy Union Catherine

once remarked that to be the dullest

book was a pleasure

when Peter walked into the room the

couple's bedroom was not a place for

love but a stage for Peters toy army the

child like Peter neglected his young

wife who remained a virgin for years

after their marriage the weak unstable

Tsar was completely under the control of

his aunt the Empress Elisabeth and Peter

had failed in his main duty to sire an

heir with no interest in having sex with

Catherine the chance of fulfilling this

task was remote the Empress Elisabeth

suggested Catherine take a lover a man

who could provide an heir but who would

be willing to fade into the background

after the birth

allowing Peter to take the credit at a

masked ball in the autumn of 1753

Catherine met sergey sall shook off a

dashing young officer in the Imperial

Guard Catherine was still a shy

unhappily married virgin Sergei was

married to a dull lady-in-waiting who

knitted sweaters for Catherine's pet

poodle Catherine thought Sergei as

handsome as the dawn and her passion for

him blossomed to avoid the prying eyes

of vicious court gossips Catherine and

her lover resorted to secrecy and took

great risks to meet

Catherine sanctuary from her bizarre

husband was in her beloved sir gays arms

but that was about to end Catherine

became pregnant with that news Sergei

was removed from court his duty done

when she gave birth to a son the baby

was taken from her and sent to the

Empress Elisabeth to be raised as the

future heir to the Russian throne

Catherine was alone once more after her

affair with Sergei it was clear to

Catherine that she could never returned

to her old celibate life consequently

one half of the road to temptation was

already covered and it's only human in

such situations that one should not be

left halfway Catherine soon took another

lover Grigory grigoryevich odd off

dashing dangerous and exciting he was

notorious for his wild lifestyle

Catherine could not resist him she grew

to enjoy the danger of their secret

liaisons even disguising herself in

slipping past palace guards to make each

secret rendezvous

when Catherine became pregnant again

even the feeble-minded Peter might have

noticed so she took steps to hide her

conditional

her pregnancy was disguised under large

hooped skirts when she went into labor

one of her servants agreed to burn down

his own house to distract Peter unable

to resist a good fire

Peter rushed to watch the flames leaving

Catherine to have all offs child in

privacy

in all Katherine had three children by

Olof Empress Elizabeth died in 1762 and

Peter was proclaimed Tsar of all the

Russia's Peter sexuality awakened when

he took a mistress and fell in love he

took steps to divorce Katherine and

banished her to a convent she had to

take action

aided by Catherine Grigory all off and

his brother Alexei fermented resistance

to czar Peter many army officers were

only too willing to see the mad and

inept ruler deposed on the 28th of June

Catherine seized her chance with her

husband Tsar Peter away from st.

Petersburg and the city empty of guards

Catherine urged her lover all off to

take action willing to do anything for

his beloved Catherine within hours all

off had his rebel forces marching to

some Petersburg

before Peter even knew of the coup

catherine had placed the imperial crown

on her own head in kazan cathedral the

army acclaimed her as the new Russian

ruler as the news spread more and more

Nobles rallied behind her

Peter the third short reign was over the

devoted Olaf took the former Tsar into

custody but he and his brother

Alexei were Restless guarding the

prisoner they referred to as the monster

Alexei

wrote to Catherine our monster has

fallen very sick and has had an

unexpected attack of colic I'm afraid

that he might die tonight and fear still

more that he may live the first year I

have because he shatters pure nonsense

and that amuses us and the second fear

because he really is dangerous for all

of us often speaking as if he was still

czar fortunately for the Olaf brothers

Tsar Peter recovered but mysteriously

their royal prisoner then fell ill once

again almost certainly due to poisoning

to be sure the former Tsar wouldn't

recover the olaf's beat him to death

with Peter safely out of the way

Catherine showered her lover with titles

and gave him vast estates

as arena Catherine now held immense

power

but her lover Olaf the man who

engineered her rise would not remain in

her affections for long his growing

arrogance and lust for power were

becoming excessive as he became more

demanding Catherine began to lose

interest and her attention turned

elsewhere empowered by her freedom and

position Catherine the Great

took on a series of lovers all handsome

all young and all soldiers the desperate

Olaf tried to regain his place in

Catherine's affections by buying one of

the most precious gifts in the world the

gem that would become known as the all

off diamond this huge stone weighed

nearly 200 carats and was said to have

been the eye of an idol in a temple in

India Paul off in an unashamed display

of the wealth Catherine had showered on

him gave her the diamond Catherine took

the gift but refused to take him back as

a lover he had made an expensive mistake

realizing he would never again be master

of her heart all off left Russia and

married his cousin

Grigoriy Orlov died in 1783 in the end

he went insane obsessed and haunted by

the party played in the murder of Tsar

Peter Catherine herself died on the 6th

of November 1796 aged 67 it was said by

her enemies at the time that she died

trying to make love to a horse whose

harness broke crushing the unfortunate

Zarina the rumour has survived but in

fact all her lovers were human and she

died from a stroke here in the Winter

Palace in st. Petersburg Catherine the

Great used her passions to secure a

throne Queen Margot bedded any man she

wanted both loved an army of unlucky men

who unwittingly suffered the kiss of

death