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A total of 73 million households worldwide have watched royal drama <\/span>The Crown<\/em><\/span> since it began in 2016, according to figures <\/span>released by Netflix<\/span><\/a>. Now, royal fans are about to be delivered another must-consume series that draws from the same history: “<\/span>The Firm: Blood, Lies and Royal Succession<\/span><\/a>.”<\/span><\/p>\n The highly anticipated 12-part podcast released its trailer on June 7 \u2014 <\/span>listen to the trailer here<\/span><\/a> \u2014 with the series\u2019 producers saying they believe the original audio series documenting the controversies, scandals, and cover-ups of the British monarchy will, like <\/span>The Crown<\/em><\/span>, also become part of the global cultural zeitgeist.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cInterest in the royals has perhaps never been higher, but today\u2019s scandals<\/a> are really only the beginning when it comes to The Firm,\u201d said <\/span>Melissa Cronin<\/strong><\/span>, executive producer of the series.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c’<\/span>The Firm: Blood, Lies and Royal Succession’<\/span><\/a> will offer listeners compelling insight into the truth about the royal family, its history, and how the institution has evolved and adapted over time despite unprecedented challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cListeners will hear the real stories behind the airbrushed fairytales, and will learn the lengths to which the Firm will go \u2013 and has gone \u2013 in order to keep those secrets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n News of the podcast comes in the immediate aftermath of <\/span>Queen Elizabeth II<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s Platinum Jubilee<\/a>. The 96-year-old monarch ended four days of celebrations with a much-loved appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Dressed in a green coat and hat, white gloves and her signature pearls, the Queen stood alongside her oldest son and heir to the throne, <\/span>Prince Charles<\/strong><\/span>, and his wife, <\/span>Camilla<\/strong><\/span>, Duchess of Cornwall.<\/span><\/p>\n Directly to their left were the future heirs, <\/span>Prince William <\/strong><\/span>and his son, <\/span>Prince George<\/strong><\/span>, 8, and the rest of the Cambridge family, including<\/a><\/span> Kate<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, Duchess of Cambridge, and <\/span>Princess Charlotte<\/strong><\/span>, 7, and <\/span>Prince Louis<\/strong><\/span>, 4.<\/span><\/p>\n Notably absent was <\/span>Prince Andrew<\/strong><\/span>, who is the subject of <\/span>The Firm\u2019s first chapter<\/span><\/a> titled \u201cThe Prince and the Pedophile.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It will revisit how convicted pedophile <\/span>Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong><\/span> thrust the House of Windsor into an intense international spotlight that threatened the very bedrock of the monarchy to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n Coming on the heels of reports that senior royals \u2014 including the Queen and Prince Charles \u2014 deliberately cut Andrew out of last week\u2019s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the episode will use cutting-edge technology to expose Prince Andrew\u2019s lies, according to a press release.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, <\/span>Lady Colin Campbell<\/strong><\/span>, an expert on the British aristocracy, will explain how Epstein was a \u201chate figure\u201d among aristocratic circles, known to be \u201cstraight as a corkscrew.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Firm will investigate a strict hierarchy of Royals<\/a> based on the line of succession, and how it has steered the British monarchy through 600 years of scandals that threatened its very existence, Cronin added.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBehind the opulence and regal tradition lies a dark underbelly comprising generations of hundreds of men and women who make up the royal household \u2014 from servants, to consultants, advisers, and protectors of the House of Windsor,\u201d Cronin said. \u201cTogether, these disciples of the monarch have kept the institution humming, all under a reign of duty and destiny dating back to the ninth century.”<\/span><\/p>\n Dylan Howard<\/strong><\/span> is also an executive producer of <\/span>The Firm<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>journalist<\/span><\/a> who took listeners on a <\/span>real-time investigation<\/span><\/a> into the death of Hollywood actress <\/span>Natalie Wood<\/strong><\/span> in the podcast “<\/span>Fatal Voyage: The Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood<\/span><\/a>.” It was one of Apple\u2019s <\/span>most downloaded podcasts<\/span><\/a> in 2018, described by <\/span>Rolling Stone<\/em><\/span> as a \u201cdramatic whodunit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The podcast was also named a 2019 Webby Best Series honoree by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and led <\/span>Dr. Phil McGraw <\/strong><\/span>to say, “You don’t want to let the sun set before you start listening to this because it is intriguing.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe institution of the Monarchy is also a business, and <\/span>The Firm: Blood, Lies, and Royal Succession<\/span><\/a> is a striking tribute to unforgettable stories in its history. The series dissects the business of the royals, and how they covet influence by leveraging a strong and powerful brand. Such a potent cocktail inevitably leads to schadenfreude and sinister decisions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He added, \u201cIt is a telling of how the most powerful and influential figures of generations are dealt one constitutional crisis after another, the kind of which make you believe you are listening to fiction. But these twists and turns are not. These layered and complicated stories are brilliantly woven together to reveal how the royals have avoided scrutiny and protected their brand \u2014 at virtually all costs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Other weekly chapters will revisit subjects such as Queen Elizabeth I<\/strong>, the \u201cVirgin Queen\u201d who survived war, betrayal, numerous threats to her life and supposedly sacrificed her very womanhood for the country; <\/span>Princess Diana<\/strong><\/span>, whose tragic early death triggered the greatest peacetime threat to the monarchy in centuries; the madness of <\/span>George III<\/strong><\/span>, the King who lost America and died locked in his own personal insane asylum; and the treachery of <\/span>Edward VIII<\/strong><\/span>, who prepared to sell out Britain to Nazi Germany at the time of his nation\u2019s greatest need.<\/span><\/p>\n The trailer, released June 7, promised “The Firm: Blood, Lies, and Royal Succession” will reveal that throughout each of the threats to the Family\u2019s existence, there has been the overriding principle of protecting the institution above all else \u2026 and at whatever cost.<\/span><\/p>\n