Rex Factor

Having covered his life and reign, this week on Rex Factor we review George VI. Hear of his exploits serving in the battle of Jutland, doing his bit in the Second World War and stoically keeping calm and carrying on through speech impediment, ill health and nationalisation. Does his record in two world wars grant him battleyness beyond compare? Does his dedication and oversight of the National Health Service win him subjectivity points to be dreamed of? Did he even bother chasing after scandal? And mo...

After the shock of the Abdication Crisis in 1936, George VI came to the throne in less than ideal circumstances. And with a history of ill health, a stammer and an aversion to the limelight, George was perhaps less than the ideal future monarch. However, in his favour was a strong sense of duty, personal stoicism and a charismatic wife in the form of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon - just as well, as after the Abdication Crisis came the Second World War. In this episode, we examine George VI’s life, the Se...

In 1936, a very different character came to the throne in the shape of Edward VIII. He was handsome, charismatic and a modern man with modern interests. Unfortunately, he was also in love with a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson, at a time when the Church of England would not tolerate re-marriage while the former spouse(s) was still alive. At odds with his Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, and Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang, Edward abdicated after less than a year on the throne, the only mo...

George V came to the throne in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis and from that point on things didn’t really get any easier. As monarch, George faced hung Parliaments, social upheaval, the Great Depression and the horrors of the First World War - arguably one of the toughest in-trays for any British monarch. For a man who was rather averse to change and preferred the quiet life of a country squire, this represented something of a challenge and that the monarchy was left still standing...

After the epic reign of Victoria, Edward VII (known as Bertie) had a lot to live up to. Lacking in academic rigour, romping and making scandal like his Hanoverian forefathers, Bertie was a source of anxiety for both his parents and the country at large. However, after a nearly 60-year wait, Bertie became King Edward VII in 1901 and proved surprisingly good at kinging. His natural charm and laid-back indulgence was a breath of fresh air and characterised the Edwardian age. Edward  found himself at the...

After four episodes, we finally review Queen Victoria in full. From the spirited young girl who resisted Conroy’s Kensington System to the dumpy old lady celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, Victoria had her fair show of up’s and downs. Some would criticise her for an often partisan and stubborn approach to politics, while her never-ending mourning for Prince Albert got so tiresome that republicanism even started to raise its head. However, Victoria’s resume can also boast the British Em...

This week we look at Victoria’s Prime Ministers following the death of Lord Palmerston in 1865. Victoria was heavily into mourning Prince Albert, but the efforts of Lord John Russell and the Earl of Derby to introduce electoral reform started to coax her back into national affairs. However, it was the rivalry of the two great politicians of the age - the charming Benjamin Disraeli and the severe William Gladstone - saw her re-emerge as a dominant figure. To Victoria’s great distress, Glads...

Having looked at Victoria’s personal life, we now look at the events of her reign through her Prime Ministers. In this first of two episodes, we encounter the first six of her ten leaders. Her first PM, Melbourne, was an old-school Whig with a penchant for anecdotes and little work, while Sir Robert Peel’s efforts to modernise the Conservative party saw a split that threw politics into confusion for the next ten years. Lord John Russell (Whig) and the Earl of Derby (Conservative) both stru...

Following the death of her beloved husband, Albert, Victoria plunged into mourning, wearing black for the rest of her life and refusing to perform her duties in public. Her reclusive habits saw her popularity plunge and the spectre of republicanism being discussed even in Parliament. However, the efforts of two prime ministers, Gladstone and Disraeli, to coax her back into public life, plus the support of a Scottish ghillie, John Brown, started to have some effect. The turning point proved to be the i...

In the first of four podcasts we look at the life and reign of Queen Victoria, beginning in 1817 with the death of the Prince Regent’s only legitimate child, Princess Charlotte, and the race among George III’s sons to produce a legitimate heir. The Duke of Kent was the winner, but he did not have long to enjoy it, leaving Victoria under the thumb of Sir John Conroy and her mother in the Kensington System, keeping her under strict control. In this episode, we follow her stand against Conroy...