I’ve always been crap with history but!

[Snap8TheCat]

How could I not have realised we had another king between Edward VII and Edward VIII?

So it goes Edward, George, Edward, George?

I blame the fact that none of them use their bloody real names! How confusing.

Genuinely thought Edward VII was Edward VIII and George VI father. I know nothing!

It’s fascinating! I think I’d like to watch The King’s speech. Is it any good?

The King's speech is good, Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter.

The Crown is also very good, and in the flashbacks to when Elizabeth was a girl you get a bit more of the previous history. Queen Mary (wife of your missing George) is still around in the beginning too.

If you want to learn about a fascinating character who is often overlooked then read up on Lady Jane Grey who was Queen for 9 days between Edward VI and Mary I at the age of (approx) 15.

Also there was a great BBC Four series called “She Wolves of England” about the early Queens which is worth trying to catch.

There is also a film about Lady Jane Grey with Helena Bonham Carter as Jane.

Poor George V!
He was monarch when my father was born, and from what I gather was pretty popular.
Why do people forget about him?

There’s a very good historical fiction book about Lady Jane Grey called “Innocent Traitor”. It’s written by historian Alison Weir so although it is a work of fiction it is based in fact and more credible than the Phillipa Gregory books, for example, although I love those too!

• Poor George V! He was monarch when my father was born, and from what I gather was pretty popular. Why do people forget about him?*

Maybe one of the reasons is because he didn't have an era named after him. The Edwardians would maybe be better called the Georgians, but that had been used already.

I always felt sorry for Arbella Stuart. On paper she had a splendid claim to the throne after Elizabeth I and the advantage of not already being ruler of another country. But politics got in the way.

I'm fascinated by all the kings and queens we never had because they died before they could succeed. Like Arthur, named after the legendary King Arthur, born to be the living symbol of joining the ancient kings of Britain (a fair amount of inventive rewriting of history by pro-Tudor spin doctors there!) and the Plantagenets. And it all goes tits up when he dies aged just 16. Unlike his brother Henry (VIII) he'd been comprehensively educated for the job of king, whereas Henry had been educated for a career in the Church.

And also the Henry who was the eldest son of James I and VI. Again his name was chosen with an eye for the future, a symbol of his Tudor heritage. By all accounts he was an intelligent and likeable boy, he looked the part, being tall and fair. His early death left Charles as heir and later king, who had a lifelong chip on his shoulder due to being incredibly short.

What do you think Edward VIII would have been like?

An absolute disaster Vanilla! I honestly think he would have been the end of the monarchy here if he had become King. He was only interested in himself and having fun, absolutely no sense of duty.

I think Noel Coward summed it up well when he said:

“A statue should be erected to Mrs. Simpson in every town in England for the blessing she had bestowed upon the country.”

I totally agree @CaveMum Edward VIII was a fundamentally weak character with some extremely odd friends.

I read the biography of all the Curzon sisters a few years ago, who were contemporaries of Edward and moved in the highest circles. One of them married one of Edward's best friends, and the demands he made of the friendship and the way he dumped them when they were no longer of value was disgraceful.

I’m sure I read something once about him walking out halfway through the presentation of the Debutants. I mean it’s obviously an utterly archaic thing to do, parading young women in front of the Monarch before they’re “out” in society, but for him to just decide he was bored and leave the room gives you a good idea of the character of the man.

This is completely fascinating! Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and knowledge.

I can’t find The Crown on tv?

The second series of The Crown will start on Netflix on Friday 8th December.

Apparently one of the scenes was shot in the sitting room of DS’s current flat (but before he moved in)

cavemum that song is hilarious! So quick but I’m going to show it to ds2 as he loves that kind of thing. Thank you.

Oh Netflix I didn’t realise thank you.

The Horrible Histories stuff is great, even though it’s for kids it is all accurate stuff.

I also love their RAF Battle of Britain Pilot’s song, done in a boyband-style

They do loads of songs about individual mo arch’s too if you want to lose some time on You Tube!

Henry viii online dating is a good HH sketch I use with year 8 when teaching the Reformation.

When Henry VIII was casting round for wife number 4 after the death of Jane Seymour a suitable candidate from Milan declined the offer with the riposte that she might have considered him if she had had two heads! (a reference to his beheading of Anne Boleyn).

Also there was a great BBC Four series called “She Wolves of England” about the early Queens which is worth trying to catch.
I've just finished watching this and thoroughly recommend it too. I'm reading a book about The Wars of the Roses and it is so confusing that so many potential princes are named after the ruling monarch to ingratiate themselves with the monarchy. I am very confused between the various Henrys and Richards!

Also, the George V Hotel in Paris is named such in honour of our George V for the help and support given in the First World War.

I am surprised people forget him, he wasn't a nonentity. He did the first ever Christmas Message from the Monarch broadcast live on radio from Sandringham.

Re the ‘kings and queens we never had’, out of 42 monarchs proclaimed since the Norman Conquest, only 11 were the eldest son of the previous monarch. And that includes Edward V and Edward VIII who were never crowned and Charles II who had to wait 11 years after his father was executed to succeed.

There were lots of reasons - some were daughters of the previous monarch, some, like Richard I, had an elder brother who died before succeeding, others like William III and George I were imposed by Parliament. William II succeeded William the Conqueror in England, as a consolation prize, as his elder brother Robert got Normandy, which was thought of as the ‘real’ inheritance.

I think George V’s reputation as a nonentity might owe something to the quote from his biographer Harold Nicolson that ‘for 17 years he did nothing but kill animals and stick in stamps’. But that was just the time between his brother’s death and his own accession, before that he’d had a career in the Navy which he had to give up when ‘Eddie’ died.

We should have had Queen Matilda very early on (she features heavily in the She Wolves programme). She was named by Henry I as his successor (her younger brother, who was heir apparent, had died) but ended up being usurped by her cousin Stephen.

She got her own back eventually as when Stephen died her son took the throne as Henry II

Matilda was proclaimed in London as ‘Lady of the English’ which was accepted as a precursor to crowning her queen, but she managed to piss off the Londoners to such a degree that she had to retreat from London and the coronation never took place.