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...

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 W...

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...

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 woul...

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 c...

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 pen...

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...

In the first of five 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 hei...

Sandwiched between the Georgians and Queen Victoria, poor old William IV is perhaps the most forgotten of monarchs. Little was expected of William IV as a young man - an excitable character sent off to the navy by George III, he lived the typical life...

When George III descended into his final madness in 1811 his eldest son became the Prince Regent, finally becoming George IV in 1820. Unlike his sober and dutiful father, George IV was a drinking, gambling, womanising figure of huge controversy who was...

In the second part of the George III podcast we review his reign in the traditional fashion. However, reviewing George III is no easy task, for his epic reign contains some of the most glorious highs and disastrous lows of any reign. From the...

It's a slight change in format this episode as we split George III in half (so to speak) - this episode will focus on the events and background to his reign while the next will see us review him in the usual fashion and decide whether he has the R...

It's a case of history repeating itself when George II comes to the throne in 1727 - like his father, he has Robert Walpole as his 'prime minister', is at odds with his eldest son, has a Jacobite rebellion to deal with, gets involved in ...

A lack of Protestant Stuarts in 1714 meant the start of a new dynasty with George I and the Hanoverians. Poor George wasn't the happiest of monarchs - he was perfectly happy in Hanover and went back as often as he could, while his British subjects...

The tumultuous Stuart dynasty comes to an end in this episode with Queen Anne, but otherwise it's an era of new beginnings. John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) leads England to military glory against Louis XIV, particularly at Blenheim, while at ...

With the removal of James II in 1688 in the Glorious Revolution came the unusual position of joint rulers: the husband and wife team of William III and Mary II. William held executive power and spent most of his time fighting wars against his arch...

The monarchy was left in a pretty good state by Charles II in 1685, but the trickiest part of his reign had been to prevent Parliament excluding his Catholic brother, James, from the throne, so how would Parliament react to its first Catholic ruler...

After the republican interlude of the Commonwealth, Charles II leads the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. After an adventurous youth alongside his father in the Civil War and a thrilling escape from Cromwell's clutches in 1651, Charles was int...

The execution of Charles I in 1649 created something of a dilemma for England, needing to find a completely new way to govern itself. Various parliamentary outfits were tried, but throughout it all one man dominated until in 1653 he officially became...

Charles I's accession in 1625 would prove a momentous moment in English history, leading to numerous conflicts with Parliament which resulted in civil war and the abolition of the monarchy. Charles's early years were blighted by military fail...

The Tudor dynasty came to an end in 1603 to be replaced by the Stuarts, headed by James VI of Scotland (now James I of England). James had much promise as an experienced king in Scotland with a tendency towards religious toleration, peaceful rule and...

After the short and troubled reign of Mary I, Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 facing numerous challenges: a country deeply divided on religion, threatened by France and Scotland (via Mary Queen of Scots), an awkward relationship with Mary's...

A lack of male Tudors meant that in 1553 a woman would, for the first time, inherit the throne. Edward VI wished his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, to take the throne but instead it was his older sister, Mary. Mary was Henry VIII's oldest child had seen ...

After the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII, in 1547 his young son Edward VI comes to the throne. As a minor, Edward's reign is dominated the machinations of the key men at court, particularly his uncles (Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and Thomas...

In a departure from our usual fare, this week we take a closer look at Henry VIII and consider how it was that the promising 17 year-old who came to the throne in 1509 should turn into the tyrannical monster that died in 1547. Was his personality...