It’s 1998 and petty thief Daniel Blanchard is on honeymoon in Vienna, Austria, when something catches his eye. A sparkling jewel. It’s the last Sisi star. Daniel knows instantly he must have it, whatever it takes. But unbeknown to Daniel, the star’s original owner, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, would also do anything for those stars.  ﻿Contact:Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BlanchardHouseStories/">@BlanchardHouseStories</a>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/blanchardhousestories/?hl=en">@BlanchardHouseStories</a>X (formerly Twitter): <a href="https://twitter.com/blanchardtweets?lang=en">@BlanchardTweets</a>Blanchard House website: <a href="http://blanchard-house.com/">blanchard-house.com</a> Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

The Only Way Is Up | 02

A 19th-century empress chases eternal beauty, while a 20th-century thief risks everything to steal her crown jewel. Their fates are fixed to the same dazzling treasure: a perfect cluster of diamonds, the Sisi Star.  
Empress Elisabeth of Austria loves that star. She uses it to defy the rules of her time and carve out her own legacy of beauty and power. Its pursuit drives her to her very limits.
And when petty crook Daniel Blanchard spies the jewel, it's the challenge he's been waiting for. His plan to steal it is high-stakes: a daring night-time parachute jump. If he can get his hands on the star, he knows it will launch him into the criminal big-leagues.
His exploits unleash a relentless game of cat-and-mouse, as a determined police team tracks Daniel across continents – even as time and again he vanishes from their grasp. But how long can Sisi’s star stay lucky for Daniel?
A Most Audacious Heist is a gripping tale of ambition, risk and obsession, as host Seren Jones tracks the empress and the thief across two centuries, to find out just how far they'll go to get what they desire.
New episodes every Tuesday, starting January 28, 2025