Royal biographer Hugo Vickers, author of over 20 books, joins Secrets of Statecraft for a fascinating conversation about Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III, and the hidden diplomatic power of monarchy. Drawing on decades of access, research, and personal experience, Vickers explains how Elizabeth II used restraint, duty, and quiet persuasion to help heal old wounds—from Germany and Ireland to the Commonwealth—while remaining above politics. Vickers also shares remarkable stories about Prince Philip, Diana, Harry and Meghan, Margaret Thatcher, and why the Netflix series The Crown is more fiction than fact. The conversation is a candid look at the personalities, crises, and statecraft that shaped the modern royal family.
Recorded on May 1, 2026.
Event
The Hoover History Lab and Northeast Asia History Working Group hosted The Russia-DPRK Alliance & the Development of the Military-Economic Complex in North Korea on April 1, 2026.
September 23, 2026
Videos
What to make of the Cold War rivalry over AI and the prospects of a Chinese move on Taiwan? Hoover fellow and Sino expert Eyck Freymann discusses the state of U.S.-China relations, followed by a look at Russia’s war of attrition and Vladimir Putin’s options 55 months after his country launched this century’s second invasion of Ukraine.
September 23, 2026
Videos
H.R. McMaster and Vladimir Kara-Murza discuss the state of the war in Ukraine, the prospects and perils facing Russia's opposition, the shifting currents of Russian domestic politics, the effort to organize the Russian diaspora into a coherent political force, and prospects of a post-Putin Russia.
September 23, 2026
