# MFM Presents… Royal Swindle

An episode of [My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1074507850), 24 Jul 2026, 34 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/bdde8bb3-169d-43b1-91d3-b24c0047969c/ac70a84c-9875-45e4-9bb8-b48d01327dfe/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=f450d41f-16bc-4ecd-8f6c-b24c004796e2

My Favorite Murder presents the premiere episode of our newest limited series podcast, Royal Swindle, produced by Exactly Right Media, Blanchard House and USG Audio and hosted by Becky Milligan. This is the story of two fabulously wealthy Australian women, who break onto the British social scene in 1996, promising rich investors spectacular returns. In Episode One, “The Horsey Set,” Evelyn Burton and her lover Laila Andre charm their way into the rarefied world of horses, old money and British high society. But behind the country houses, lavish plans and irresistible confidence, the couple are concealing a dark past and diabolical intentions. Head to Royal Swindle’s feed to follow the show and find additional episodes. New episodes drop every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Hello, We're so excited to share the first episode of
[0:03] Speaker 1: Royal Swindle, our brand new limited series from Exactly Right Media,
[0:07] Speaker 1: Blanchard House and USG Audio.
[0:09] Speaker 2: Royal Swindle tells the story of two larger than life
[0:11] Speaker 2: Australian women who arrive in England in the nineteen nineties
[0:14] Speaker 2: and charm their way into the world of old money,
[0:16] Speaker 2: high society, and of course, horses in fact.
[0:19] Speaker 1: Episode one is entitled The Horsey Set and it follows
[0:23] Speaker 1: Evelyn Burton and her lover Leila Andre as they blow
[0:26] Speaker 1: into town promising rich British investors spectacular return.
[0:29] Speaker 2: They're welcomed into rarefied social circles and even make plans
[0:33] Speaker 2: to buy a massive country house with a full staff.
[0:36] Speaker 2: But behind this rich facade, these women are hiding a
[0:38] Speaker 2: dark past and some seriously diabolical intentions.
[0:41] Speaker 1: So listen to Royal Swindle right now, episode one, The
[0:44] Speaker 1: Horsey Set, and then you can go see photos from
[0:47] Speaker 1: the story at exactly Right on Instagram.
[0:50] Speaker 2: New episodes of Royal Swindle drop every Thursday on the
[0:52] Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, And.
[0:56] Speaker 1: While you're there, don't forget to like, subscribe, and review
[0:59] Speaker 1: Royal Swindle.
[1:00] Speaker 2: And now here's episode one of Royal swind Or.
[1:03] Speaker 3: Goodbye.
[1:06] Speaker 4: A quick warning this story contains adult themes and strong language.
[1:18] Speaker 4: Nineteen ninety seven, England. The Royal Windsor Horse Show an
[1:27] Speaker 4: absolute must for the cream of British high society. But
[1:33] Speaker 4: this is no ordinary year. In fact, it'll be remembered
[1:38] Speaker 4: for a very long time. There's show jumping, carriage driving,
[1:45] Speaker 4: dressage and at this prestigious event. Nowhere is more prestigious
[1:53] Speaker 4: than the Royal Enclosure. And this year, guess who's been
[1:58] Speaker 4: spotted chatting to the Queen, talking and laughing with Queen
[2:02] Speaker 4: Elizabeth the second two Australian women. Now these OSSes are
[2:11] Speaker 4: very charismatic and here they are gossiping away to Her
[2:15] Speaker 4: Majesty about the huge country house they're about to buy.
[2:20] Speaker 4: So it's all very jolly. But there's something the Queen
[2:26] Speaker 4: doesn't know about this pair, something none of the Royal
[2:32] Speaker 4: entourage knows, something no one in the whole of England knows.
[2:40] Speaker 4: This Ossie couple are a pair of crooks. They're cunning,
[2:48] Speaker 4: they're smart, and they're up to no good. They want
[2:53] Speaker 4: what these people have money and do anything to get it.
[3:04] Speaker 4: If the blue bloods and the landed gentry, and this
[3:08] Speaker 4: whole champagne coughing crowd had any idea what's really going on,
[3:16] Speaker 4: they'd run like wild horses. Now, nearly thirty years later,
[3:28] Speaker 4: one of those crooks is ready to talk.
[3:33] Speaker 3: I've regretted a lot of things. I've done a lot
[3:37] Speaker 3: of things. I sold my soul to the devil. Look
[3:46] Speaker 3: I would say I'm very sorry, But whether I'd mean
[3:51] Speaker 3: or not, that I don't know.
[4:07] Speaker 4: From usg Audio Blanchard House and exactly right, media, this
[4:13] Speaker 4: is royal swindle. I'm Becky Milligan, Episode one, The Horsey
[4:52] Speaker 4: set September nineteen ninety six, England's green and pleasant countryside,
[5:07] Speaker 4: where the upper crust live in ancient country houses set
[5:11] Speaker 4: in lush pastures passed down from generation to generation. Here
[5:17] Speaker 4: the aristocracy entertain friends on a grand scale and enjoy
[5:23] Speaker 4: their country pursuits. And there's one pastime they prize above
[5:28] Speaker 4: all others horses. Safia Money Coots is an author and journalist,
[5:36] Speaker 4: and lots of British people are really obsessed with horses.
[5:39] Speaker 4: They live, eat, breathe horses, breeding, riding, showing and racing horses.
[5:53] Speaker 4: And the people who move in These circles have a name,
[5:57] Speaker 4: the Horsey Set. These people really can't live without their horses,
[6:04] Speaker 4: and there's a sense of permanence to it all. Year in,
[6:08] Speaker 4: year out, same people, same shows, bloodlines that can be
[6:12] Speaker 4: traced back, centries, continuity, a reassuring rhythm and natural order,
[6:20] Speaker 4: and the cost of maintaining this natural order is phenomenal.
[6:26] Speaker 5: We were talking into the millions.
[6:28] Speaker 4: But there's one thing you need to know about this
[6:31] Speaker 4: world of old money. There's not always that much actual
[6:36] Speaker 4: money knocking around. It's not all like downtown Abbey. There
[6:41] Speaker 4: is that expression asset rich, cash poor, which applies to
[6:44] Speaker 4: a lot of posh people in this country. The money's
[6:47] Speaker 4: tied up in all those crumbling, old stately homes which
[6:51] Speaker 4: cost a fortune to run. So when someone new turns up,
[6:56] Speaker 4: someone who's really wealthy, people can get quite excited, even
[7:02] Speaker 4: if that someone doesn't quite fit in. And that's what
[7:10] Speaker 4: happens in autumn nineteen ninety six when two charismatic outsiders
[7:17] Speaker 4: blow in with plenty of spare cash. Two Australian millionaires,
[7:25] Speaker 4: Lilah Andre and Evelyn Burton have arrived in the UK. Now,
[7:32] Speaker 4: if the Horsey said aren't in their jobpers and riding boots,
[7:35] Speaker 4: caked in mud in the saddle. They dress a bit
[7:39] Speaker 4: like the late Queen, rather conservative pearls headscarves, tweed skirts
[7:45] Speaker 4: and padded giles their body warmers. And let's just say
[7:49] Speaker 4: Evelyn and Lilah looked rather different, and they both had
[7:54] Speaker 4: rather contrasting styles.
[7:57] Speaker 2: Well.
[7:57] Speaker 6: Evelyn Burton was a very large lady, not very feminine,
[8:01] Speaker 6: dressed in a pair of very baggy jeans and a
[8:05] Speaker 6: bomber jacket and some boots I think, and this short
[8:10] Speaker 6: haircut and Layla was the complete opposite.
[8:14] Speaker 7: Red hair, Lilah, masses and masses and masses of red
[8:18] Speaker 7: hair and fingernails, everyone painted in a different color.
[8:21] Speaker 3: The clothes are so very very colorful, to all these
[8:25] Speaker 3: flamboyant hats and the makeup and everything else like that.
[8:29] Speaker 6: And it was the lipstick. She almost looked like a
[8:31] Speaker 6: pantomime dame.
[8:33] Speaker 5: She's a bit of odd looking.
[8:34] Speaker 4: They're flamboyant and larger than life. Hello, holy buddy, that's
[8:42] Speaker 4: Lila Andre.
[8:44] Speaker 3: Of course it flowed, Oh, the champagne flowed, absolutely flowed.
[8:50] Speaker 3: You know, I just would spoil myself.
[8:54] Speaker 4: And the thing about these millionaires Lila and Evelyn They're
[8:58] Speaker 4: not just business partners. They're much more than that. Lia
[9:03] Speaker 4: remembers the first time they met, twenty years earlier.
[9:10] Speaker 3: In Walks. Evelyn love at first sight. I saw this
[9:16] Speaker 3: woman and that was it. She had this aura around
[9:19] Speaker 3: her and I just could not believe what I will saying,
[9:25] Speaker 3: and I'm saying to myself, this is the woman that
[9:28] Speaker 3: I want to live with. This is the woman that
[9:31] Speaker 3: I want.
[9:32] Speaker 4: The attraction was intoxicating.
[9:38] Speaker 3: She was just beautiful. Everything about it was just beautiful.
[9:42] Speaker 3: Her voice, the way she talked, her face, her eyes,
[9:49] Speaker 3: her mouth, look, she was stunning. She was the woman
[9:54] Speaker 3: that I wanted, and I'd wanted for a long long time.
[10:00] Speaker 4: Lilah is bowled over by Evelyn, and now the Horsey
[10:04] Speaker 4: Set of Rural England is about to be bowled over
[10:08] Speaker 4: by Evelyn and Lilah. The appeal is well, there's only
[10:12] Speaker 4: one way to describe it.
[10:14] Speaker 5: It was intoxicating stuff.
[10:17] Speaker 4: That's Marjorie Ramsey. If any couple embodies the Horsey set,
[10:23] Speaker 4: it's got to be the Ramses. Marjorie and Richard know everyone,
[10:28] Speaker 4: and everyone knows them. Now our Australian millionaire, Evelyn is
[10:37] Speaker 4: some kind of financial wizard and has turned thousands into
[10:42] Speaker 4: millions seemingly overnight. Evelyn's got investors all over the place, Ireland,
[10:49] Speaker 4: Sweden and now the rural shires of England.
[10:54] Speaker 5: She had this man that she was always on the
[10:57] Speaker 5: phone to in America, and she too walked in millions
[11:01] Speaker 5: of dollars and millions of pounds.
[11:05] Speaker 4: Marjorie has never met anyone like Evelyn before. Even the
[11:09] Speaker 4: way Evelyn says the word millions feels exotic meons.
[11:15] Speaker 5: She didn't pronounce the ls. That's weird, yes, but she
[11:19] Speaker 5: was Australian.
[11:21] Speaker 4: Lila and Evelyn have just entered Marjorie and Richard's world.
[11:26] Speaker 4: H Should that be the other way round? Anyway, their
[11:29] Speaker 4: lives are going to change forever.
[11:32] Speaker 8: You know, all this business of I can turn any
[11:35] Speaker 8: money you hand over to me. I can make it
[11:40] Speaker 8: double treble what it is.
[11:43] Speaker 4: And the thing about Evelyn and Lilah is that they
[11:46] Speaker 4: don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk too.
[11:51] Speaker 4: They may not have the bloodline, but they definitely have
[11:54] Speaker 4: the credit line. It's only the very best of everything,
[12:00] Speaker 4: first class travel, chauffeur driven rolls, royces, top not restaurants,
[12:05] Speaker 4: and the very finest wines.
[12:08] Speaker 3: Ch lafitetur. I mean even had all this money.
[12:13] Speaker 4: So Lila and Evelyn have made quite the entrance. But
[12:17] Speaker 4: these two OSSes aren't just here on their summer vacation.
[12:20] Speaker 4: They're here to stay. And they have a plan, an
[12:24] Speaker 4: ambitious plan. Part one by property, not an ordinary property, oh, no,
[12:32] Speaker 4: more like a country estate or a stately home in
[12:36] Speaker 4: the rolling English countryside. And the police will need to
[12:40] Speaker 4: be big because of part two of their big plan.
[12:45] Speaker 4: Evelyn and Lilah want to start a stud farm. They
[12:49] Speaker 4: want to breed horses. A big house takes a while
[12:59] Speaker 4: to find and then of course it takes a while
[13:01] Speaker 4: for the sale to go through. So in the meantime
[13:05] Speaker 4: they've taken up residents in one of London's finest hotels,
[13:12] Speaker 4: the Berkley, in the heart of Belgravia. And they've not
[13:16] Speaker 4: just booked any old room here, whole suite of.
[13:19] Speaker 3: Rooms then absolutely Yet everyone wanted everything.
[13:24] Speaker 4: They pay upfront in cash and it's perfect.
[13:29] Speaker 3: The boys they loved her and whenever anyone delivered anything
[13:33] Speaker 3: to the room, they were given a five pound note.
[13:35] Speaker 3: Whenever she went out in the car, she'd blick a
[13:40] Speaker 3: one pound coin. It was to one of the boys.
[13:43] Speaker 3: The staff loved her.
[13:44] Speaker 4: Did they Yes. The thing about London's posh hotels is
[13:52] Speaker 4: that they might be in the hustle and bustle of
[13:54] Speaker 4: the big city, but they're like an extension of the
[13:57] Speaker 4: English countryside. Everyone knows everyone, especially if there's money to
[14:04] Speaker 4: be made.
[14:09] Speaker 8: Has said to the dorman at the Barkley, if you
[14:11] Speaker 8: have anybody who appears who might want to buy property
[14:15] Speaker 8: and country, give.
[14:16] Speaker 3: Us a shot.
[14:18] Speaker 4: Upmarket real estate agent Jonathan Harrington gets the tip off
[14:22] Speaker 4: from the dorman.
[14:23] Speaker 7: That's how it started.
[14:25] Speaker 4: He's round at the Berkley before you can blink, meeting
[14:29] Speaker 4: the two women in their suite. He isn't disappointed. They
[14:35] Speaker 4: don't make any secret of just how loaded they are.
[14:40] Speaker 5: It's sort of billy big talk.
[14:42] Speaker 4: He means, they're boasting.
[14:44] Speaker 8: We have braceholese, we have private jets, we have cars,
[14:47] Speaker 8: and we need a wonderful country house.
[14:49] Speaker 4: A property with all the trimmings.
[14:52] Speaker 8: Twenty thirty acres, cottage, stables, garaging.
[14:56] Speaker 3: Eighteen bedrooms, lounge room, butler's pantry, seven stoves, you name.
[15:03] Speaker 4: It, a tree lined drive, large gardens. The list goes on.
[15:09] Speaker 3: A lovely country home in the British countryside where I
[15:14] Speaker 3: might know one or two of the neighbors, but not
[15:18] Speaker 3: very well. But if I needed a cup of sugar,
[15:21] Speaker 3: I could bust them.
[15:24] Speaker 4: So the real estate agent, Jonathan is looking for Evelyn
[15:28] Speaker 4: and Lilah's dream home. But every big country house needs
[15:33] Speaker 4: a household staff. They're pretty specific about their requirements, and
[15:40] Speaker 4: when it comes to male staff, there's one non negotiable.
[15:45] Speaker 3: They've got to be gay guys. They're usually clean. You
[15:49] Speaker 3: can talk to them. I'd had a lot to do
[15:52] Speaker 3: with them, and they were what I wanted.
[15:57] Speaker 4: Lila and Evelyn needs someone who recruits high end staff
[16:01] Speaker 4: for high end clients. Enter Francis Hutchinson. She's worked for
[16:07] Speaker 4: a whole host of VIPs.
[16:10] Speaker 7: From popstar to footballer to king or queen. They're very
[16:16] Speaker 7: wealthy and they're people who can pay for the best,
[16:18] Speaker 7: and so you introduce them to the best.
[16:21] Speaker 4: Perfect just what our two millionaires require. Lilah organizes a meeting,
[16:28] Speaker 4: but she and Evelyn aren't quite what Francis is expecting.
[16:33] Speaker 7: Certainly not the normal kind of client that I've dealt with.
[16:37] Speaker 4: But that isn't a problem. Francis has been brought up
[16:40] Speaker 4: not to judge a book by its cover and what
[16:43] Speaker 4: our couple like, say in class, they make up for
[16:47] Speaker 4: with their enormous bank balance.
[16:51] Speaker 7: So when these ladies came along, they wanted everything. Nice
[16:54] Speaker 7: car with a driver, estate manager, the head gardener and
[16:58] Speaker 7: junior gardeners keeping stuff.
[17:01] Speaker 3: There was the butler, there was the under butler. There
[17:05] Speaker 3: was a twenty.
[17:06] Speaker 4: Which a little personal maid.
[17:08] Speaker 3: No, a tweeny. Oh Tweeny's a little person who works
[17:11] Speaker 3: between everybody else. Everyone else cleaned, and she follows them
[17:16] Speaker 3: and just tidied up what they haven't.
[17:18] Speaker 4: And Evelyn clearly has the cat to pay for it all.
[17:22] Speaker 7: She would keep a stash at fifty pound notes down
[17:25] Speaker 7: her bra down how what her bra She would put
[17:29] Speaker 7: her hands down her shirts and put out a fifty
[17:32] Speaker 7: pound notes. And there was somebody sleeping rough outside Harrod's
[17:37] Speaker 7: and she had the driver pull over and she got
[17:39] Speaker 7: out of the car and just pulled this fifty pound
[17:41] Speaker 7: note out.
[17:42] Speaker 4: That's about one hundred and fifty dollars today. So Evelyn
[17:47] Speaker 4: likes to look after people, and likes to look after
[17:50] Speaker 4: one person above all.
[17:53] Speaker 7: She really took care of Lina, and she actually said
[17:57] Speaker 7: to me one day, everybody's job is to take care
[18:00] Speaker 7: of Lila.
[18:00] Speaker 3: I want Lida to be happy, and that means a lot.
[18:04] Speaker 7: Of beauty appointments and probably quse a lot of hair
[18:07] Speaker 7: appointments to keep that color.
[18:08] Speaker 3: I would imagine.
[18:11] Speaker 4: Francis opens her contact book, picks up the phone and
[18:15] Speaker 4: starts recruiting the butler's, the gardeners, and the tween is
[18:20] Speaker 4: fifteen staff in total, and she's thrilled to be helping
[18:24] Speaker 4: this ossie couple make England their home. She takes them
[18:28] Speaker 4: as she finds them, honest, eccentric but extremely charming millionaires.
[18:36] Speaker 4: But there's rather more to them than that, because Evelyn
[18:40] Speaker 4: and Lilah have a history, quite a history back in
[18:52] Speaker 4: Australia in the nineteen seventies. Well, I'll let Lila tell.
[18:57] Speaker 3: You, well, I was working. I wasn't working girl.
[19:01] Speaker 4: Yes, she was a sex worker. In fact, both Evelyn
[19:05] Speaker 4: and Lila were sex workers for many, many years.
[19:10] Speaker 3: The best clients in the world of trades and truck doors,
[19:13] Speaker 3: they really are. Why because they're polite, they're courteous, they're
[19:18] Speaker 3: kind if friendly. They're usually come in dirty that go
[19:22] Speaker 3: out clean because they wash, and they're talkative.
[19:27] Speaker 4: And Lila knew all the tricks of the trade.
[19:31] Speaker 3: So the longer you spent on the lassage, the less
[19:34] Speaker 3: she spent on the screwing, right, and you only gave
[19:38] Speaker 3: them three pumps anyway, guys only last three minutes.
[19:42] Speaker 4: Lilah had one rule that she lived by, swore by.
[19:48] Speaker 3: You never ever go with anyone with a tie and
[19:50] Speaker 3: a collar, because they're usually bastards.
[19:56] Speaker 4: Actually, Evelyn and Lilah met through the sex trade in
[19:59] Speaker 4: the nineties teen eighties. By then, Lilah was running a
[20:03] Speaker 4: brothel and Evelyn was running a whole chain of brothels,
[20:07] Speaker 4: eventually sixteen of them. And let's just say Evelyn's approach
[20:12] Speaker 4: to abuse was zero tolerance.
[20:16] Speaker 3: If the man had some trouble, she would range for
[20:20] Speaker 3: someone to go and you know, break a league, which
[20:24] Speaker 3: league that sort of thing.
[20:26] Speaker 4: Now, as we've heard, when Lilah first crossed paths with Evelyn,
[20:30] Speaker 4: the attraction was instant.
[20:33] Speaker 3: She was wearing a mallet and it suited her beautifully,
[20:36] Speaker 3: really dark hair, and the curls in it were just brilliant.
[20:41] Speaker 3: I just couldn't take my eyes off her.
[20:44] Speaker 4: But Evelyn, on the other hand, took far longer to
[20:48] Speaker 4: come round.
[20:50] Speaker 3: She just didn't have clue, did not have a clue thinking,
[20:55] Speaker 3: why doesn't you bloody, wake up? What did it matter
[20:58] Speaker 3: with her?
[21:00] Speaker 4: But Lilah was patient and persistent.
[21:04] Speaker 3: I just waited and waited and waited until I got
[21:08] Speaker 3: my shot, like a spider collecting something in its web.
[21:16] Speaker 4: And when Lilah finally snared her prey, it was passionate, intense.
[21:23] Speaker 3: I was walking through the door and she was walking
[21:26] Speaker 3: through the door as well, and she slammed the door
[21:29] Speaker 3: shut and grabbed me and kissed me, and she said,
[21:35] Speaker 3: and that's when I fell in love with you.
[21:39] Speaker 4: It's as if Evelyn and Lila were made for each other.
[21:43] Speaker 4: They have so much in common. They both had tough childhoods,
[21:48] Speaker 4: and cash was always tight. Now they've found each other.
[21:52] Speaker 4: Evelyn vows that money will never be a problem ever again,
[21:57] Speaker 4: that poverty is well and truly behind them, and what
[22:01] Speaker 4: lies ahead is a life of luxury and comfort, a
[22:05] Speaker 4: life well lived.
[22:09] Speaker 3: She promised, and promised and promised me the world.
[22:14] Speaker 4: The only thing is the path Evelyn and Lilah godown
[22:19] Speaker 4: in order to live the good life. Means that there
[22:22] Speaker 4: always just one step away from losing it all, because
[22:27] Speaker 4: none of it is really theirs. As Lilah says of Evelyn,
[22:32] Speaker 4: quite simply.
[22:34] Speaker 3: She was terrible. Oh, she was a little thief. She was.
[22:38] Speaker 3: She was a little thief, naughty little thief. The bad elf,
[22:42] Speaker 3: you know, the really bad elf.
[22:44] Speaker 4: And Evelyn was a bad elf with a bad habit,
[22:49] Speaker 4: a very bad habit.
[22:50] Speaker 3: I always said that to Evon from the very first day.
[22:54] Speaker 3: A mirror. You talk too much.
[22:56] Speaker 4: It's Evelyn's achilles heel, and it makes they're already perilous
[23:01] Speaker 4: position even more perilous, our duo. No, their good life
[23:06] Speaker 4: can be snatched away at any moment, and that's exactly
[23:11] Speaker 4: what happens. In nineteen ninety six. Lila and Evelyn are
[23:15] Speaker 4: living in Melbourne and have all the luxury and comfort
[23:18] Speaker 4: they ever wished for. But suddenly they start to feel
[23:22] Speaker 4: the heat on multiple fronts and they need to escape fast,
[23:34] Speaker 4: and that's how they end up in the UK. Yes,
[23:41] Speaker 4: they're on the run. For Lila and Evelyn, it's a
[23:53] Speaker 4: blank slate, a new page, a chance to have another
[23:57] Speaker 4: shot at the good life at other people's expense. All
[24:05] Speaker 4: of this, of course, is lost on the Horsey Set.
[24:09] Speaker 4: They're blissfully unaware. No, to them, Evelyn and Lilah are
[24:14] Speaker 4: just a slightly eccentric Ossie couple who want to buy
[24:18] Speaker 4: a big house, fill it with staff and start a
[24:21] Speaker 4: stud farm, in other words, breed horses for show jumping.
[24:27] Speaker 4: As it happens, the couple are driven all around rural
[24:33] Speaker 4: England for viewings of vast country estates.
[24:39] Speaker 3: The only one that stood out was one in new Market.
[24:44] Speaker 4: A town a couple of hours away from London and
[24:47] Speaker 4: the home of horse racing.
[24:49] Speaker 3: It was gorgeous. There was a pool and there was
[24:52] Speaker 3: everything you'd want.
[24:54] Speaker 4: Now, this wasn't just one property. It was virtually a
[24:57] Speaker 4: small village.
[24:59] Speaker 3: It was very prey. It had about six or eight
[25:03] Speaker 3: other little cottages and they all had names of flowers,
[25:06] Speaker 3: which was lovely.
[25:08] Speaker 4: So they've chosen the house. Now they need to find
[25:11] Speaker 4: horses for their stud and it's only the very best
[25:15] Speaker 4: breed for Evelyn, the revered Arabian horse. That's when they
[25:22] Speaker 4: hear about Lucille and Larry, who apparently have just what
[25:27] Speaker 4: Evelyn and Lila are after a young Arab Philly for sale.
[25:33] Speaker 6: I thought they were going to be really horsy people,
[25:36] Speaker 6: but they weren't anything like I expected.
[25:44] Speaker 4: Lucille Clark Smith and her husband Larry invite the asses over.
[25:50] Speaker 6: Later, coming down with the peristiletto heels on and dressed
[25:53] Speaker 6: like very flamboyantly with all this color, with loads of
[25:56] Speaker 6: makeup on, and she wore these outrageous hats.
[25:59] Speaker 5: I mean they were right pleasant.
[26:01] Speaker 3: I mean Layla was a real lady.
[26:04] Speaker 5: But the other one looked like the stable lad.
[26:10] Speaker 4: Lucille and Larry show them their filly, and Evelyn falls
[26:14] Speaker 4: in love. The horse is magnificent and perfect for her
[26:18] Speaker 4: new stud. A deal is done. Fifteen thousand pounds that's
[26:24] Speaker 4: about forty five thousand US dollars today. Now no money
[26:30] Speaker 4: actually changes hands on the day. The funds are on
[26:34] Speaker 4: their way, though, Evelyn says. Now, Lucille and Larry are
[26:39] Speaker 4: completely charmed by Evelyn and Lilah. But things don't quite
[26:44] Speaker 4: add up. These Aussie millionaires who've just blown in to
[26:49] Speaker 4: set up a stud farm.
[26:51] Speaker 6: Knew nothing about horses. That was quite clear. They knew
[26:54] Speaker 6: nothing about horses.
[26:58] Speaker 4: So if Lilah and Evelyn are going to make a
[27:01] Speaker 4: go of their stud farm, they'd better find someone who
[27:04] Speaker 4: knows about horses and show jumping fast. Well. Remember Richard
[27:13] Speaker 4: and Marjorie, who were intrigued by the way Evelyn said
[27:16] Speaker 4: the word.
[27:16] Speaker 5: Millions, mions. She didn't pronounce the.
[27:20] Speaker 4: Els well, they know a lot about show jumping. In fact,
[27:25] Speaker 4: they're two of the most respected people in the show
[27:29] Speaker 4: jumping world, and they're very good friends with Francis Hutchinson,
[27:33] Speaker 4: who's busy finding staff for Lila and Evelyn's massive new house.
[27:42] Speaker 4: Before long, Richard and Marjorie are invited to a business
[27:45] Speaker 4: meeting at a very smart hotel in London.
[27:49] Speaker 8: There was this not very tall but very wide lady
[27:56] Speaker 8: in a gray pinstripe suit with slightly curly gray hair.
[28:01] Speaker 4: Lila's memory of Richard, on the other hand, is a
[28:04] Speaker 4: little more hazy.
[28:06] Speaker 3: I know, remember, wouldn't a membrum from a toothpeeck? Heven't
[28:11] Speaker 3: got a clue.
[28:13] Speaker 4: Coffee and biscuits are served, and Evelyn gets straight down
[28:17] Speaker 4: to business.
[28:19] Speaker 8: She said, I want to buy this huge property and
[28:24] Speaker 8: start up a show jumping stud and I really want
[28:28] Speaker 8: to go into this big time.
[28:31] Speaker 4: Richard is impressed. Evelyn then offers Marjorie the job of
[28:36] Speaker 4: a lifetime stud manager on Evelyn's new estate.
[28:41] Speaker 5: It's very wonderful to be offered something that you would
[28:45] Speaker 5: really really like to do and could never afford to
[28:49] Speaker 5: do it on your own. She was offering me exactly
[28:53] Speaker 5: what I would like.
[28:55] Speaker 4: In fact, this is Marjorie's dream job. Doesn't stop there.
[29:01] Speaker 8: She tells Richard, if Marjorie's going to be the stud manager,
[29:05] Speaker 8: we need her on the premises.
[29:08] Speaker 4: Richard frowns, but Evelyn nods and throws him one of
[29:12] Speaker 4: her charming smiles. It's okay, because.
[29:16] Speaker 8: There are cottages on the estate. You will have a
[29:20] Speaker 8: lovely house, Dudydar of your own.
[29:24] Speaker 4: Richard and Marjorie are impressed by Evelyn and Lilah's generosity,
[29:29] Speaker 4: and their generosity doesn't end there. Evelyn starts to tell
[29:34] Speaker 4: them about her lucrative investments.
[29:38] Speaker 3: He will talk about bonds and banking and overnight money markets.
[29:44] Speaker 4: To be honest, Lilah says she's a bit bamboozled by
[29:48] Speaker 4: it all. Evelyn looks after all this stuff apparently, but
[29:53] Speaker 4: basically it involves complicated financial instruments called prime bank guarantee
[30:00] Speaker 4: and bonds. It's all managed by her American investment company,
[30:05] Speaker 4: and judging by their lifestyle, it's been hugely successful. And
[30:10] Speaker 4: Evelyn has a bright idea. If Richard and Marjorie are
[30:15] Speaker 4: coming to live in one of her cottages, well they
[30:19] Speaker 4: won't need their own house anymore, will they?
[30:23] Speaker 8: Now? The thing you need to do is to sell
[30:26] Speaker 8: your house. And obviously, if you sell your house, that money,
[30:33] Speaker 8: if you give it to me, I will turn it
[30:35] Speaker 8: into mega.
[30:36] Speaker 4: Money, mega money. So things are really coming together. Their
[30:44] Speaker 4: gorgeous house, with those lovely little cottages, the household staff,
[30:49] Speaker 4: a manager for their stud farm, and their first beautiful
[30:53] Speaker 4: Arab horse. Evelyn and Lilah have truly joined the Horsey set.
[31:02] Speaker 4: Except well, you may have worked this out by now,
[31:06] Speaker 4: but all of it, and I mean all of it,
[31:11] Speaker 4: is an illusion. Evelyn and Lilah will never buy their
[31:16] Speaker 4: English stately home. There won't be a stud farm, there
[31:22] Speaker 4: won't be lovely little cottages for the staff, and there
[31:26] Speaker 4: won't be any dream jobs. And those prime bank guarantees,
[31:33] Speaker 4: the ones Evelyn is persuading Richard and Marjorie to pour
[31:36] Speaker 4: their life savings into the proceeds of their house sale.
[31:41] Speaker 4: Those prime bank guarantees aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
[31:49] Speaker 4: But the real question is this, why on earth does
[31:54] Speaker 4: everyone take these two OSSes, totally out of place in
[31:59] Speaker 4: the shires of England so very seriously and continue to
[32:05] Speaker 4: take them seriously. Well, Lilah thinks it's very simple.
[32:10] Speaker 3: Everyone needs to work on greed.
[32:13] Speaker 4: She understood human nature. But this is just the beginning
[32:22] Speaker 4: in her bid to give Lida the life she's always
[32:25] Speaker 4: dreamed of. Evelyn is aiming high, very high. She's wormed
[32:31] Speaker 4: her way into the Horsey set. Now she's got her
[32:36] Speaker 4: sight set on the Royal Set. You've been listening to
[32:53] Speaker 4: Royal Swindle at Blanchard House production for USG Audio in
[32:58] Speaker 4: partnership with Exactly Right Now Media, Hosted by me Becky Milligan.
[33:03] Speaker 4: It's written and produced by me Becky Milligan and Sarah Jones.
[33:07] Speaker 4: Original music is by Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Langmannell and
[33:11] Speaker 4: Toby Mattimon. Sound design and mixed engineering is by Vulcan Kisseltook,
[33:17] Speaker 4: Toby Mattimoon and Daniel Lloyd Evans. Story development by Duncan Barber.
[33:23] Speaker 4: The managing producer is Amka Schortino Nolan. Production support from
[33:28] Speaker 4: Josh la Longi at USG Audio. The creative director at
[33:32] Speaker 4: Blanchard House is Rosy Pye. The executive producer and Head
[33:37] Speaker 4: of Content at Blanchard House is Lawrence Grisell. Our executive
[33:42] Speaker 4: producer from USG Audio is Josh Block

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