WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680 I want you to try and visualize a very specific 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.480 image for a second. Okay, I'm picturing it. Picture 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:11.119 a piece of heavy, expensive, cream -colored stationery. 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:13.060 You know, the kind where the ink just sits perfectly 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:14.980 on the paper. Oh, they're really good stuff. 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:18.760 Exactly. And at the top, embossed in gold, is 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:23.379 a name. Princess Patricia Anne, Zoo, Hohenlo, 00:00:23.739 --> 00:00:26.960 Baldenberg, Schilling's first. Wow. I mean, that 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.079 is a name that takes up the entire width of the 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:31.579 envelope. It really does. It just, uh, it drips 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:34.079 with old world aristocracy, you hear that, and 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.200 your brain goes straight to Vienna, to centuries 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:38.579 of lineage, maybe a drafty castle in the Alps 00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:40.159 somewhere. Right. It sounds like someone who's 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:43.219 just born wearing silk. But the woman who owned 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:45.320 that stationery, she wasn't born in a castle. 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:48.179 Not at all. She didn't grow up attending debutante 00:00:48.179 --> 00:00:50.659 balls in Vienna. Yeah. She started her life in 00:00:50.659 --> 00:00:53.079 a chaotic, overcrowded house in Macon, Georgia 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:56.500 in 1913. A very different world. And back then, 00:00:56.579 --> 00:00:59.539 her name was just Patricia Wilder, or, well, 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:01.719 to everyone who actually knew her, Honeychelle. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:05.540 It is arguably one of the most jarring contrasts 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:08.180 in 20th century social history. It was wild. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:11.599 You have the Honeychelle persona. this dizzy, 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:14.980 loud southern bell just colliding head on with 00:01:14.980 --> 00:01:18.239 the highest echelons of rigid European royalty. 00:01:18.459 --> 00:01:20.260 And that is exactly what we are unpacking in 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:23.780 this deep dive. We've pulled a stack of biographical 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:28.420 records, career archives, and contemporary accounts 00:01:28.420 --> 00:01:31.200 to look at the life of Patricia Wilder. It's 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:33.920 a fascinating paper trail. It really is. And 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.680 honestly, The mission today isn't just to recount 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:39.099 a biography. Anyone can just read a timeline. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.920 We want to figure out the mechanics of this trajectory. 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:44.939 Right, because on paper this life just does not 00:01:44.939 --> 00:01:47.280 make sense. It really doesn't. How do you go 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:49.439 from being one of 13 children in the American 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.500 South during a time when social mobility wasn't 00:01:52.500 --> 00:01:54.680 exactly easy? Right, the early 20th century. 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:56.640 Yeah, to ending your days in Greenwich, Connecticut 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:59.219 as a European princess with a romantic detour 00:01:59.219 --> 00:02:01.370 involving the King of Egypt in between. I mean, 00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:03.930 it sounds like a screenplay that a studio executive 00:02:03.930 --> 00:02:06.549 would reject for being too unrealistic. Totally. 00:02:06.689 --> 00:02:08.729 But it happened. And if we look closely at the 00:02:08.729 --> 00:02:11.150 sources, it wasn't just a series of lucky accidents. 00:02:11.610 --> 00:02:14.110 It looks much more like a masterclass in personal 00:02:14.110 --> 00:02:16.889 branding, social intelligence, and navigating 00:02:16.889 --> 00:02:20.069 the specific celebrity ecosystem of the 1930s 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:22.710 and 40s. So let's start at ground zero, the origin 00:02:22.710 --> 00:02:27.409 story. September 8th, 1913. make in Georgia. 00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:29.590 A completely different world from where she ended 00:02:29.590 --> 00:02:32.610 up. And the key detail here, the one that I think 00:02:32.610 --> 00:02:35.530 defines her entire psychological makeup, is the 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:38.210 household she was born into. Oscar and Laura 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:40.669 Wilder's house. Yes. She wasn't just from a big 00:02:40.669 --> 00:02:44.090 family. She had 12 brothers and sisters. 13 kids 00:02:44.090 --> 00:02:47.110 in one house. I mean, just pause on that for 00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:50.129 a second. The logistics alone are a nightmare. 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:53.020 It's a crowd. It's a literal fight for resources. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:55.000 And I don't just mean food or clothes, though 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.340 obviously that too. I mean attention. Just to 00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:00.460 be seen. Exactly. In a 13 -child household, silence 00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:03.039 is basically non -existent. And individual visibility 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:05.900 is incredibly low. You are just one of the pack. 00:03:06.020 --> 00:03:07.759 You're fighting for oxygen in that room. You 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:10.080 have to develop a strategy just to be noticed 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.219 by your own parents. Precisely. Psychologists 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:15.659 often talk about birth order and family size, 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:18.219 and children in that kind of environment often 00:03:18.219 --> 00:03:21.300 develop very loud or very distinct personalities 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:24.240 as a survival mechanism. It makes sense. You 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.500 have to be the funny one, or the loud one, or 00:03:26.500 --> 00:03:28.740 the chowing one, or you simply disappear into 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:32.460 the background noise. You become invisible. And 00:03:32.460 --> 00:03:36.340 Patricia Wilder clearly chose charming, but she 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:39.740 did it with a very, very specific flavor. This 00:03:39.740 --> 00:03:41.060 is where we have to talk about the nickname. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:44.439 Honeychelle. Honeychelle. It's iconic. And the 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:47.139 backstory of the name is actually quite revealing 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:49.080 about her operating style. Because she didn't 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:51.360 get it passively. Right. She didn't get the nickname 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:53.699 because people looked at her and said, oh, aren't 00:03:53.699 --> 00:03:55.740 you a sweet honey child? No, the records say 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:58.259 it was reciprocal. She got it because she had 00:03:58.259 --> 00:04:00.740 a habit of calling everyone else honey child. 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:04.259 Which is a brilliant, if perhaps unconscious, 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.520 bit of personal branding. It really is. Think 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:08.860 about it. She leaves Georgia, heads north to 00:04:08.860 --> 00:04:11.539 New York, and eventually out west. In those environments, 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:14.039 a thick, syrupy southern accent could actually 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:16.560 be a liability. Oh, for sure. It could mark you 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.079 as provincial or uneducated to certain high society 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:22.660 crowds. Especially in the 30s, right? When everyone 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:25.240 in movies and radio was trying to do that sharp 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:28.500 clipped transatlantic accent. Exactly. The mid 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:31.079 -Atlantic voice was the absolute standard for 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:33.680 sophistication. But instead of trying to hide 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.670 her roots, Wilder just leaned all the way in. 00:04:36.670 --> 00:04:39.149 She owned it. By calling everyone Honey Child, 00:04:39.689 --> 00:04:42.050 she turned her background into a trademark. She 00:04:42.050 --> 00:04:44.050 wasn't just a girl with an accent, she was a 00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:47.610 character. She was Honey Child. It's so disarming, 00:04:47.910 --> 00:04:50.149 too. Yeah. It's hard to be intimidated by or 00:04:50.149 --> 00:04:51.870 dismissive of someone who just called you honey 00:04:51.870 --> 00:04:54.129 child with a big smile. It breaks down barriers 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:56.449 immediately. Yeah, it creates instant intimacy. 00:04:56.509 --> 00:04:59.490 It's a social lubricant. And that ability to 00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:02.529 disarm people became her primary currency because 00:05:02.529 --> 00:05:04.910 she didn't stay in Macon very long. By the mid 00:05:04.910 --> 00:05:08.050 1930s, she's in New York City. Moving fast. And 00:05:08.050 --> 00:05:10.389 she isn't working a quiet shift at a library 00:05:10.389 --> 00:05:13.120 somewhere. She's at the Palace Theater. The Palace. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.079 Now, for those who aren't deep into theater history, 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:16.939 that's not just a theater. That was the venue 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:19.980 for Vaudeville, right? It was the absolute summit. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:22.740 There's a famous saying, you haven't played Vaudeville 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:25.300 until you've played The Palace. If you were on 00:05:25.300 --> 00:05:28.079 that stage, you had made it. And working there 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:30.660 as a showgirl put her in the immediate orbit 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:33.379 of the era's biggest talent. And this is where 00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:35.819 we see the first and arguably most important 00:05:35.819 --> 00:05:38.420 connection of her life. The big break. She starts 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:41.660 working for Bob Hope. Bob Hope. And this wasn't 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:44.660 just a quick hello goodbye situation, was it? 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:47.339 No, and this is crucial for understanding her 00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:49.620 career longevity. This wasn't a one off gig. 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:52.800 The archives show this established a professional 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:55.319 relationship, an alliance really that lasted 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.300 her entire career. That's a massive jump. One 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:00.040 minute, you're fighting for a scoop of potatoes 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:02.540 with 12 siblings in Georgia. The next, you're 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:04.540 in the inner circle of one of the fastest -rising 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:06.660 entertainers in American history. It shows she 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:09.399 had grit, certainly. But more than that, she 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:12.279 had... Incredible social intelligence. You don't 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:14.839 stay in Bob Hope's orbit just by being a quirky 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:18.060 character. Exactly. You stay there because you're 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:20.819 reliable, you're funny, and you add actual value 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:23.459 to the act. Bob Hope needed people who could 00:06:23.459 --> 00:06:25.699 feed him lines, who could react, who understood 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:28.339 comedic timing. She clearly could hold her own 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:31.600 on stage. So she conquers New York. Or... at 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:34.500 least makes a very solid dent in it. Then, naturally, 00:06:34.620 --> 00:06:37.379 the gravity shifts west. It's the 1930s. If you 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:39.939 want to be famous, you go to Hollywood. The Hollywood 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:42.800 Hustle. She arrives in town, and again, looking 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:45.420 at her filmography, she skips the whole extra 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:47.319 phase where you're just a blur in the background 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:49.519 of a crowd scene. Right, to do credits. Her first 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.899 credited film role is in 1936. The movie is called 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:55.959 Speed. and her co -star, which is a guy named 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:58.800 James Stewart. Jimmy Stewart. Now, granted, 1936 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:01.540 is early for him too, but he's already clearly 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:04.160 on the projectory to becoming a legend. Oh, absolutely. 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:06.800 For her to walk onto a set for her first credited 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.360 gig and be opposite a talent like that, that's 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:11.259 as the studio saw something in her right away. 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:13.459 They saw a spark. She was busy that year too. 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:16.379 She wanted Jane Turner in Walking on Air in 1936 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:19.540 as well. And Walking on Air is the key one there, 00:07:19.779 --> 00:07:21.959 because who else is in Walking on Air? Bob Hope 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:24.709 again. Exactly. She brought her network with 00:07:24.709 --> 00:07:27.470 her. The text notes she stayed in close alliance 00:07:27.470 --> 00:07:29.949 with him working on radio shows alongside the 00:07:29.949 --> 00:07:32.089 films. That ecosystem strategy you mentioned? 00:07:32.230 --> 00:07:34.889 Yes. She wasn't out there auditioning alone in 00:07:34.889 --> 00:07:37.069 the wilderness. She was part of the Bob Hope 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:39.629 package. It's so smart. If he gets work, you 00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:42.589 get work. It's the buddy system. but for Hollywood 00:07:42.589 --> 00:07:46.529 stardom. And Bob Hope was a multimedia giant 00:07:46.529 --> 00:07:50.769 film radio stage. By attaching herself to his 00:07:50.769 --> 00:07:53.629 projects, she ensured constant visibility. Right. 00:07:53.910 --> 00:07:55.689 She might not have been the top billed star on 00:07:55.689 --> 00:07:58.329 the poster. She wasn't the romantic lead usually, 00:07:58.870 --> 00:08:00.819 but she was always in the mix. But she wasn't 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:03.339 just in Bob Hope movies. I was looking at her 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:07.300 credits for 1937 and 1938, and the list of co 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:10.139 -stars is basically a who's who of the era. It 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:12.980 really is. She's in New Faces of 1937 with Milton 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:15.180 Berle. She's working with Robert Woolsey. These 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:18.259 are the absolute kings of comedy. And don't forget, 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:20.660 the biggest star on the planet at the time. Shirley 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:22.959 Temple. Right. Patricia Wilder was in Little 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.620 Miss Broadway with Shirley Temple. And my lucky 00:08:25.620 --> 00:08:28.660 star with Buddy Ebsen and Cesar Romero. Just 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:30.800 paints a picture of someone who was omnipresent 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:32.860 on the lot. She was everywhere. She was what 00:08:32.860 --> 00:08:35.419 we would call a featured player. In the studio 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:37.159 system, these were the people who filled out 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:39.340 the world. The character actors. Exactly. They 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:41.700 weren't the leads carrying the heavy dramatic 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:44.519 plot, but they provided the flavor, the comedy, 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:47.419 the energy. And Patricia Wilder with that honey 00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:51.629 child persona, the voice, the attitude. was perfect 00:08:51.629 --> 00:08:53.590 for that. She was distinct. You remembered her 00:08:53.590 --> 00:08:56.470 when she walked off screen. Her last film was 00:08:56.470 --> 00:09:00.149 Thanks for the Memory in 1938, which, fittingly, 00:09:00.429 --> 00:09:02.850 starred Bob Hope. A very tight loop. Her film 00:09:02.850 --> 00:09:05.289 career is actually incredibly short. Really just 00:09:05.289 --> 00:09:09.350 1936 to 1938. Three years. But packed. But in 00:09:09.350 --> 00:09:11.870 that window, she worked with the absolute heavy 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:14.409 hitters. So here's the question. She's a working 00:09:14.409 --> 00:09:16.450 actress. She's got this great brand. She's pals 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:20.419 with Bob Hope. But she stops. She doesn't become 00:09:20.419 --> 00:09:22.759 Bette Davis. She doesn't fight for that Oscar 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.039 -winning role. No, and I think that's because 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.080 her ambition lay elsewhere. Or perhaps she realized 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.299 that the Honey Child Act had a ceiling in Hollywood. 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.399 You can only play the dizzy southern girl so 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.899 many times. But it had no ceiling in high society. 00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:38.320 Thirsty. This is where the story pivots from 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:42.259 film history to social climbing 101 because her 00:09:42.259 --> 00:09:45.159 romantic resume is honestly more impressive than 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:48.399 her IMDB page. It is a progression of status 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.750 that is Almost mathematically precise. It's like 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:52.710 she had a flip chart. Let's look at the latter. 00:09:52.970 --> 00:09:56.129 Rung number one. Husband number one. Robin Curly 00:09:56.129 --> 00:09:59.110 -Harris. Married in 1935. He was a reporter. 00:09:59.669 --> 00:10:01.669 Right. Respectable. Solid. He's a guy who tells 00:10:01.669 --> 00:10:04.409 stories. But in the grand scheme of power and 00:10:04.409 --> 00:10:07.049 influence, he's a civilian. Yeah. This marriage 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:09.370 ends in divorce, which fits the pattern of a 00:10:09.370 --> 00:10:11.289 starter marriage. Someone from her immediate 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:13.049 circle when she was just starting out in New 00:10:13.049 --> 00:10:16.230 York. But then, fast forward to 1941. Husband 00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:18.389 number two. Albert Cernados. And his job title 00:10:18.389 --> 00:10:20.909 is significantly better than reporter. He was 00:10:20.909 --> 00:10:23.750 an Argentine millionaire. We have jumped tax 00:10:23.750 --> 00:10:26.850 brackets entirely. We've jumped continents. We've 00:10:26.850 --> 00:10:29.909 jumped social stratospheres. This signals that 00:10:29.909 --> 00:10:32.090 she had successfully moved out of the working 00:10:32.090 --> 00:10:34.330 actress grind and into the international jet 00:10:34.330 --> 00:10:36.440 set crowd. because that meant something very 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:38.740 specific back then. Oh, definitely. Yeah. You 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:41.940 have to understand, in the 1940s, Argentine millionaire 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:45.019 carried a massive weight. It meant old money, 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:48.539 polo matches, international travel during a time 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:51.059 when much of the world was literally at war. 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:52.679 So she's not waiting for a callback anymore. 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:55.539 She's secured wealth. She's secured access. But 00:10:55.539 --> 00:10:58.940 that marriage also ends. And then we get to the 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:02.240 1940s and the plot twist that I frankly didn't 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:05.120 see coming when I first opened the file. She 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:07.179 wasn't just dating millionaires anymore. She 00:11:07.179 --> 00:11:10.100 entered a relationship with King Farouk of Egypt. 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:12.899 King Farouk. I mean, this is a man who is a massive 00:11:12.899 --> 00:11:14.919 historical figure. A massive figure and a very 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:17.799 notorious one. Farouk was the last king of Egypt. 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:21.059 He was known for this incredibly lavish, excessive 00:11:21.059 --> 00:11:23.799 lifestyle. Just opulent. Very. He was a gambler, 00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:26.120 a gourmand. He had enormous appetites. He was 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.179 a larger -than -life controversial monarch who 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:31.980 was constantly in the headlines. And here's Honey 00:11:31.980 --> 00:11:34.659 Chilly Wilder. the girl from the crowded house 00:11:34.659 --> 00:11:37.539 in Georgia, hanging out in the palaces of Egypt 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:41.059 with the king. It feels like a fever dream. It's 00:11:41.059 --> 00:11:43.740 totally surreal. But what I love most about this 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:46.899 chapter is her reflection on it. Because usually 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:48.860 when people talk about Farouk, they talk about 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:52.759 his corruption or his wealth or his endless collection 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:55.350 of cards. Right. But she gave an interview about 00:11:55.350 --> 00:11:57.850 him, and she didn't mention the jewels or the 00:11:57.850 --> 00:12:01.509 cars. No. She said that of all her lovers, King 00:12:01.509 --> 00:12:03.769 Farouk had the best sense of humor and made her 00:12:03.769 --> 00:12:06.470 laugh the most. I find that so fascinating. It 00:12:06.470 --> 00:12:08.629 humanizes him completely. It does. It strips 00:12:08.629 --> 00:12:11.149 away the crown and the politics, but it also 00:12:11.149 --> 00:12:13.230 tells us something very important about Patricia 00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:16.259 Wilder. What's that? She valued humor. Remember, 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:18.759 she came up with Bob Hope. She worked with Milton 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:21.019 Berle. She spoke the language of comedy that 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:23.159 was her native tongue. Right. The fact that she 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:25.620 connected with the king on the basis of humor 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:27.779 suggests she wasn't just there as arm candy. 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:30.259 She was actively engaging with him. She could 00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:32.440 hold her own. If you can banter with Bob Hope 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:34.720 on live radio, you can probably handle the wit 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.110 of a king. Exactly. It suggests real agency. 00:12:38.269 --> 00:12:40.409 She wasn't just a passive beauty being collected 00:12:40.409 --> 00:12:43.110 by these powerful men. She was a participant. 00:12:43.269 --> 00:12:45.710 She was fun. And that's rare in those circles. 00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:49.190 Absolutely. For men who are surrounded by sycophants 00:12:49.190 --> 00:12:51.789 like a king, someone who can actually make you 00:12:51.789 --> 00:12:55.350 laugh, who might be a little irreverent, is incredibly 00:12:55.350 --> 00:12:58.289 rare and valuable. But even the king wasn't the 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:00.870 final destination. The ultimate rung on the ladder 00:13:00.870 --> 00:13:04.940 was still ahead. May 21st. 1951, Greenwich, Connecticut. 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.159 Husband number three. And this is the one that 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.799 changed the stationery we talked about at the 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:12.220 very beginning. Prince Alexander's Zoo, Hohenlohe, 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:14.200 Waldenburg, Schilling's first. I'm so glad you 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:16.159 had to say that, not me. It is quite a mouthful, 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:18.720 but the pedigree is very real. He was the son 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.679 of an Austrian diplomat, Prince Alfred, and an 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:23.879 American mother, Catherine Britton of Washington, 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:27.159 D .C. So officially, Patricia Wilder becomes 00:13:27.159 --> 00:13:29.980 a princess. Princess Patricia. It is the ultimate 00:13:29.980 --> 00:13:32.379 transformation. from Honeychell the showgirl 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:35.960 to a bona fide European princess living in Greenwich. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.059 And unlike the reporter and the millionaire, 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:41.080 this one's stuck. Yes. The records show they 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:43.679 remain married until the prince's death in 1984. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.240 That's over 30 years. That's a lifetime, especially 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.360 in that world. where marriages could literally 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:51.940 last a weekend. It really suggests that she finally 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.960 found where she fit. She had navigated the reporter, 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.740 the millionaire, the king, and settled with the 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:00.659 prince. She found her level. When you them out 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:05.440 and look at the full arc, born 1913, died August 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.500 11th, 1995 in New York City. She lived to be 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:11.580 81. A full life. The geography of that life is 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:15.000 just breathtaking. Macon, the Palace Theater. 00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:19.669 Hollywood sound stages, Egyptian palaces, Greenwich 00:14:19.669 --> 00:14:21.990 estates. And finally, passing away in New York 00:14:21.990 --> 00:14:24.409 City as an Austrian princess. It really highlights 00:14:24.409 --> 00:14:26.210 something about the mid -20th century that we 00:14:26.210 --> 00:14:28.549 often overlook. What's that? Well, we tend to 00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:30.750 think of class structures back then as very rigid. 00:14:30.970 --> 00:14:32.610 You know, you were born into your station and 00:14:32.610 --> 00:14:34.659 you stayed there. But for entertainers... There 00:14:34.659 --> 00:14:37.139 was a trap door. Exactly. Entertainment was one 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:39.500 of the few vehicles for rapid social mobility. 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:43.059 If you had charisma, talent, or just that ineffable 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:44.980 star quality, you could bypass the traditional 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:47.600 gatekeepers. You could skip the line. Yes. You 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.700 could enter rooms that were previously totally 00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:51.519 closed to someone of your background. But you 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:53.759 had to be smart about it. A lot of people entered 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:56.019 those rooms and just got chewed up. That's the 00:14:56.019 --> 00:14:59.200 key. You had to be a strategist. And looking 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.159 at Patricia Wilder's life, I see a brilliant 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.059 social strategist. She leveraged everything she 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.500 had. She leveraged the Honey Child Web personality. 00:15:07.740 --> 00:15:09.860 It made her memorable but non -threatening. She 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:12.279 leveraged humor. She knew that making powerful 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:14.759 men laugh, whether it was Bob Hope or King Farouk, 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:17.299 was a currency more valuable than just being 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:20.399 pretty. Pretty is common in Hollywood. Funny 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.159 and charming is rare. And she leveraged connections. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.299 She didn't burn bridges. That alliance with Bob 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:29.509 Hope... kept her working for years. It's a literal 00:15:29.509 --> 00:15:32.230 master class in networking. She didn't have the 00:15:32.230 --> 00:15:34.309 film career of a Katharine Hepburn. She didn't 00:15:34.309 --> 00:15:37.009 win Oscars. But she ended up with a title that 00:15:37.009 --> 00:15:39.529 even Hollywood royalty couldn't buy. It makes 00:15:39.529 --> 00:15:41.210 you wonder about the definition of success in 00:15:41.210 --> 00:15:44.169 that town. We focus on the stars whose names 00:15:44.169 --> 00:15:47.309 are on the sidewalk. But maybe the real winners 00:15:47.309 --> 00:15:49.490 were the ones who used the system to build a 00:15:49.490 --> 00:15:51.450 completely different kind of life. I think that's 00:15:51.450 --> 00:15:54.019 the ultimate takeaway here. History is often 00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:56.600 made by the people standing right next to the 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:59.419 icons. Little true. We focus so much on Bob Hope 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:02.639 or King Farouk, but there was this woman, this 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:05.940 vivid, funny, ambitious woman who is right there 00:16:05.940 --> 00:16:09.019 in the mix, influencing the mood, shaping the 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:11.000 social scene. And proving that you can start 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.620 with nothing, just one face in a crowd of 13 00:16:14.620 --> 00:16:17.840 kids in Georgia and end up wearing a tiara. It 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.179 challenges our assumptions about agency. Was 00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:22.299 she just lucky? I really don't think so. You 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:24.899 don't marry a prince by accident. You don't befriend 00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:27.000 Bob Hope by accident. That brings me to the thought 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:28.940 I want to leave you, our listener, with today. 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:30.820 Yeah. We've talked a lot about her nickname, 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:33.559 Honeychell. It sounds dizzy, right? It sounds 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:36.559 like the dumb blonde stereotype of the era, just 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.740 with a southern accent. The dizzy southern belle. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:41.580 It's a total cliche. Exactly. But looking at 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:43.919 this incredibly rich, well -traveled life, I 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:46.690 want you to consider this. Was that honey child 00:16:46.690 --> 00:16:49.690 persona actually a calculated shield? Oh, that's 00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:52.230 interesting. Was playing the dizzy, charming 00:16:52.230 --> 00:16:55.210 southern girl, the very armor that allowed a 00:16:55.210 --> 00:16:58.470 brilliant social strategist to navigate rooms 00:16:58.470 --> 00:17:02.370 full of wolves, Hollywood producers, kings, millionaires, 00:17:02.850 --> 00:17:05.210 and come out on top every single time. It's the 00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:07.369 ultimate camouflage. If they underestimate you, 00:17:07.410 --> 00:17:10.009 they never see you coming. And nobody saw Patricia 00:17:10.009 --> 00:17:12.490 Wilder coming until she was already a princess. 00:17:13.150 --> 00:17:14.990 Indeed. That's all for this deep dive into the 00:17:14.990 --> 00:17:17.009 life of the one and only Honey Challenge. Thanks 00:17:17.009 --> 00:17:19.250 for exploring this incredible life with us. Until 00:17:19.250 --> 00:17:21.650 next time, keep looking at the people standing 00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:23.329 next to the spotlight. See you then.