Your knowledge of British history / culture

[VelvetTrews]

I live abroad and have done so since I was 20. My friends and acquaintances always have so many questions for me about British culture, the royal family, politics, the commonwealth etc. I have to admit i don’t always know the answers and everyone always seems so surprised.
DH (not British) says I am lacking in general knowledge about my own country. I feel quite far from the UK having lived abroad for nearly 20 years but still a bit stupid when people ask me things about my own country and I can’t answer .

A few examples of questions:

• The history of South Africa and the Commonwealth
• How many siblings Prince Phillip had
• What was the exact relationship of Lord Mountbatten to Prince Charles

That was just last night! I clearly need to go on a crash course in British history

All I can tell you is I know very little about the royal family. Reading through some threads on here where people are chatting about the royal siblings and lady and lord this that and the other, I haven’t got a clue. And it’s not something I’d ever be arsed to read about either!
I know who Charles and camilla are, I know his kids and could probably name some of their kids but as for anyone else? Names might be familiar but I honestly couldn’t tell you any of their relationships!
I also don’t know much about number 1
Boot me out of the country at once!!

I am British but have lived abroad for most of my adult life.

I know a little about South Africa and I know that Mountbatten (who was actually a Battenberg, albeit not a cake) was blown up by the IRA but wouldn't have known what relationship he had to anyone else.

I certainly don't know who Prince Philip's siblings are/were and would be really surprised if that was regarded as general knowledge.

I occasionally go down a little Wikipedia rabbit hole about some or other European king or queen and in the end it's just confusing because there is so much inbreeding.

I have a lot of British and Irish friends who also live abroad and I would be really surprised if any of them knew much about the British royal family beyond the current top tier. They are all very clued up on current politics though, which is much more important than knowing who Princess Anne's children are.

@elp30 Prince Philip had 4 siblings. So the documentary wasn't correct.
@thevassal Prince Philip's sisters married German aristocrats, two of whom joined the Nazi party.
They may have been Nazi supporters or they may have done as many did and acted out of self preservation.
One of the aristocrats was implicated in the July 20th plot.

@ShonkyCat knowing about Mountbatten is absolutely central to the last days of colonialism in India and also his role in bringing Philip and Elizabeth together.
If you remember The Seymours from Tudor times then Mountbatten was a similar figure in modern history. Obviously he couldn't have people murdered but he used his influence to the fullest extent!

[quote Oneeyeopen]@ShonkyCat knowing about Mountbatten is absolutely central to the last days of colonialism in India and also his role in bringing Philip and Elizabeth together.
If you remember The Seymours from Tudor times then Mountbatten was a similar figure in modern history. Obviously he couldn't have people murdered but he used his influence to the fullest extent![/quote]
@Oneeyeopen, you have piqued my interest by describing him as "like the Seymours". I shall have to fill that gap in my general knowledge.

@ShonkyCat I hope you're not disappointed and I haven't over egged the pudding.
History fascinates me and I love to imagine how present day events will be taught to future generations.
One day the second Elizabethan era will be an exam paper, probably divided into sections due to longevity.
Eg. The early years after colonialism ended and the Commonwealth took on a greater significance.
The 70's to 90's including the strikes, the first female pm and privatisation.
The Falklands may be a separate category.
The fall of Thatcher and the Blair years.
The Iraq war.
The recession.
The austerity years.
The great pandemic.

Lots of subjects for me to look up here
I am quite interested in current affairs, history etc. but not very good at remembering facts so when I get questions, I forget things and get confused.
Maybe I should get a specialist subject to swot up on and change the subject to that whenever possible!

The education system in the UK is spectacularly shit at teaching general knowledge

More that people in the UK think that general knowledge should come from school, rather than from life. Reading, learning and paying attention throughout life.
Someone (from the UK) on a thread recently said they couldn't possibly be expected to know anything at all about Northern Ireland as they hadn't learned it in school...a part of their own country with a big impact on politics/history etc....how could you avoid knowing something about it if you even slightly engaged in the world around you?

Read books, read newspapers, watch films, this is where you learn general knowledge. Just in paying attention in life.

I totally agree with @Rukaya. I think those complaining about what is taught in British schools should try reading the National Curriculum, see just how much we have to try and cram in, say what they would like to leave out and what they would like it to be replaced with.

My dc are in their early 20's now, and I'm continually amazed at what they have never been taught

Shouldn't that be embarrassed at what YOU never taught them?

@elp30 Prince Philip had 4 siblings. So the documentary wasn't correct

Elp30 stated clearly how many siblings Jimmy Carter had, in response to that question

I wrote a book about the role of women during the Plantagenet reign, essentially exploring gender politics and power in the Middle Ages. I have expert-level knowledge of British history 1154-1485.

Decent-ish basic knowledge of the reign of the Tudors. The English Civil War. And I know a lot about Britain's role in WWII and the events leading up to WWII, e.g. the Treaty of Versailles.

Everything else is pretty hazy. I know about the death of Queen Anne and the huge impact her dying childless had on our country, re not permitting Catholic rulers, and how that directly put obscure distant German cousins on the throne.

@Rukaya

My dc are in their early 20's now, and I'm continually amazed at what they have never been taught

Shouldn't that be embarrassed at what YOU never taught them?

I don't know how the poster you quoted has approached it but I am constantly trying to inject my children with little bits of knowledge (we were talking about the extent of the British Empire yesterday) but it's clear to me that sometimes they are simply not interested and I try not to overdo it because I remember feeling the same when my parents would start on about some topic that seemed completely irrelevant to my life at that age.

Now I'm in my 40s, I am suddenly finding things that didn't interest me when I was 15 absolutely fascinating and I am plugging away at lots of gaps in my general knowledge. My parents certainly tried but there is only so much force feeding of knowledge that they - and I - could put up with.

@Oneeyeopen - It's all good - I love having new things to read about!

don't know how the poster you quoted has approached it but I am constantly trying to inject my children with little bits of knowledge (we were talking about the extent of the British Empire yesterday) but it's clear to me that sometimes they are simply not interested and I try not to overdo it because I remember feeling the same when my parents would start on about some topic that seemed completely irrelevant to my life at that age

I agree, but my point was I would not look at my adult childrens lack of general knowledge as the SCHOOLS fault. It would be mine or it would be theirs, it would not be the education system, which is not their to give your children all the info they should know for their whole lives!

I have a history degree and usually pretty good general knowledge. I don't know huge amounts about the current royal family, nor the Mountbattens, despite having lived in Romsey. But I am good at googling. And I’ve done pretty well in most of the online test versions of the Life in the UK quiz thing (bit weak on the different levels of courts, which I thought could be more useful than much of the rest of it.)

And if you want to know about the 1842 Mines Act, I'm yer woman.

@ohforarainyday

I wrote a book about the role of women during the Plantagenet reign, essentially exploring gender politics and power in the Middle Ages. I have expert-level knowledge of British history 1154-1485.

Decent-ish basic knowledge of the reign of the Tudors. The English Civil War. And I know a lot about Britain's role in WWII and the events leading up to WWII, e.g. the Treaty of Versailles.

Everything else is pretty hazy. I know about the death of Queen Anne and the huge impact her dying childless had on our country, re not permitting Catholic rulers, and how that directly put obscure distant German cousins on the throne.

I’d be interested in reading this

I couldn't answer those questions off pat and I like history and feel I know reasonable amount on the subject!

I'm not sure anyone other an ardent royalist or history graduate could adequately.

I'm not sure anyone other an ardent royalist or history graduate could adequately

I'm neither and can answer them all with reasonable accuracy.

I'm a history graduate, read history books, watch history programmes and listen to history podcasts. I still couldn't answer 2 or 3. They're very specific and quite niche. Maybe I should have watched The Crown.

Niche? Lord Moutbatten was a pretty famous figure, you don't need to have watched the crown to know he was Philips uncle, surely? Last Viceroy of India, blown up on a boat in 1979..none of this is very niche.

I agree with the pp who said that different things interest you at different times. I also have a terrible memory so even if I had learnt all about the Windsors at school I would have forgotten it by now. Re: siblings- I seem to remember that the Duke's favourite sister died in an air crash while giving birth. I remember this because it was so shocking and must have been dreadful for the family.

@Rukaya

I'm not sure anyone other an ardent royalist or history graduate could adequately

I'm neither and can answer them all with reasonable accuracy.

Neither am I, and I'm not British, and I could certainly make a reasonable fist at answering them. Mountbatten's murder by the IRA on the same day as Warrenpoint was a major event in the Troubles, quite apart from anything else, and Prince Philip's fractured family background by the time of WW2, several sisters marrying prominent Nazis and the necessity to 'rebrand' him strenuously as British before he married the Queen is pretty common knowledge, I would have said.

@Gerla

I agree with the pp who said that different things interest you at different times. I also have a terrible memory so even if I had learnt all about the Windsors at school I would have forgotten it by now. Re: siblings- I seem to remember that the Duke's favourite sister died in an air crash while giving birth. I remember this because it was so shocking and must have been dreadful for the family.

It's a horrible story -- I think I only remembered it because it must have been mentioned in the press since PP died. I believe they found the baby's body in the wreck of the plane and concluded she'd given birth mid-flight, which was why the pilot tried to land in poor conditions.

Rukaya, I wouldn't have a clue on any of the the three questions because royalty and the commonwealth doesn't interest me,those are very niche areas.
However if you want to know which animals have become extinct in the uk in recorded history by date and the possible reasons I can give you a good answer. But I don't look down on others who don't know that.

I've never head of Lord mountbatten for example. His relevance to my life is precisely zero.