Rex Factor

While Ali continues to recuperate from his bicycle injury, some Rex Factor fans have provided something to fill the audio void: History According to Ali. Trawling through every episode of Rex Factor, they have picked out some of Ali's best moments and put them all together with summaries for every monarch from Alfred the Great to George VI. Ali is coming on well and looking forward to Queen Elizab...

Unfortunately a nasty bike accident for Ali means that there's a bit of a delay in reviewing Queen Elizabeth II. I'm sure you'll all want to wish Ali well and if you want to send him a message then you can contact us in the following ways: email - rexfactorpodcast@hotmail.com twitter - @rexfactorpod facebook - the Rex Factor Podcast facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/rexfactorpodcast The pla...

This week on Rex Factor we put right what once went wrong and step back 1,000 years in history to review England's first Viking ruler, Sweyn Forkbeard. Sweyn was the father of the legendary Cnut and the first Viking to be acknowledged as full king of England when he forced Aethelred the Unready from the throne in 1013, adding to his crown in Denmark and overlordship of Norway and Sweden. So why di...

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 Hea...

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 t...

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, an...

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 cou...

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-ba...

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...

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 W...

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 f...

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 su...

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 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...

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 of a sailor and came home with rough habits and bad language. When he came to the throne in 1830 he proved hard-working, conscientious and arguably...

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 extremely unpopular in a difficult period of economic and political strife. However, he was also one of the monarchy's most entertaining characters...

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 disastrous loss of America Britain moves to the defeat of Napoleon via its two greatest military heroes, Nelson and Wellington. George's interference in poli...

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 Rex Factor. So why does "Mad King George" need two episodes? Besides the madness, George's reign encompasses the end of the Seven Years War, the American...

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 the wars and diplomacy of continental Europe and is keen to get back to Hanover as much as possible. Where George II does differ, however, is in his strong and hap...

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 weren't too enamoured with him as a dull German who didn't speak much English. Nevertheless, George's was an interesting reign, seeing the defeat of Jac...

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 home the Act of Union with Scotland sees the creation of Great Britain. In many ways a glorious reign, and yet Anne's reputation has never been very good...

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 nemesis, Louis XIV of France (the Sun King), as well as stopping James II clawing his way back to England. As well as the wars, this was a period of sig...

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 since Mary I? James's life and reign proved to be somewhat turbulent and to a large degree the difficulties were of his own making. Would he be able to...

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 intent on having a good time and taking things easy. However, increasing tensions around foreign policy and religion (specifically the Catholicism of Charle...

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 the Lord Protector for the Commonwealth and Free State of England. This man was from the lower gentry, at one time a farmer, and little known until t...

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 failures under the Duke of Buckingham and conflict with Parliament, leading to the Personal Monarchy where he ruled by his own stead. Conflict with Scotland force...