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[Music]
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the story of the kings and queens of
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England is more surprising than you
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might think it's a fine drama a thousand
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years of tales of lust and betrayal of
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heroism and cruelty of mysteries murders
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tragedies and triumphs oh you're
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probably thinking that applies to
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medieval kings all right
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but this programs about the modern
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monarchy from Victoria to the home life
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of our own dear Queen and there's not
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much of that sort of thing going on here
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really keep watching what you may wonder
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did lust have to do with the matronly
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Queen Victoria well she was young once
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and her husband Prince Albert gave his
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name to more than just a bridge a
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concert hall and a memorial no other
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British royal has a body-piercing named
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after him and we can't show you where
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the ring goes in a Prince Albert you'll
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just have to guess kept Victoria happy
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nine children and this isn't only a
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collection of royal trivia for the
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tabloids we can reveal for the first
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time on television that the present
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Queen's grandfather George the fifth
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actually took over the running of the
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country secret personal rule for a few
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days in 1931
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he believed it was the only way to save
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the country from revolution most of the
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papers relating to this are still hidden
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how much do we really know about what
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goes on
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[Music]
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in 1867 Walter Badger wrote a book on
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the British constitution which said that
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it had two parts the efficient part and
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the dignified the dignified part was
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headed by the Queen it was a piece of
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theatre whose only purpose was to make
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people feel loyalty the actual power was
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entirely held by the efficient part
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which he said was a secret committee
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called the cabinet everyone believed
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Badger's book the government encouraged
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people to believe it so did the royal
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family then and now well they would
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wouldn't then the truth has been rather
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different obviously when the 18 year old
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Victoria came to the throne in 1837 she
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wasn't in much of a position to try to
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run the country she'd had a rather odd
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upbringing her father had been a brother
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of George the fourth and William before
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but he died when she was a baby
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a beau was a straight-laced
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German princess who was determined that
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her daughter should not be part of the
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disreputable life of the court or
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murdered as her mother thought possible
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by one of her terrible uncles who wanted
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the throne himself she was brought up in
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isolation in Kensington Palace which in
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those days was rather cut off from
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London her main interest on becoming
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Queen was to finally cut free of her
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mother and supervisor and move out of
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her mother's bedroom and when she was 19
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she fell hopelessly abyssal in love with
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her first cousin the 20 year old younger
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son of the Duke of saxe-coburg-gotha
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[Music]
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he's excessively handsome such beautiful
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eyes my heart is quite going he
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certainly tried hard to look good that
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notorious ring piercing if it did exist
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no one can be quite sure was attached to
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a chain to assist in smoothing the line
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of his britches they married in 1840
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she wasn't hugely popular at the time
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headstrong willful she actually blocked
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a change of government because it would
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have upset her domestic arrangements the
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prime minister Lord Melbourne had given
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her the wives and daughters of his own
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supporters as the ladies of her
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bedchamber when his wig government fell
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and Robert Peel came to power Peale
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insisted that the Queen should replace
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at least some of the ladies so that the
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court wasn't a complete one-party state
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Victoria refused Peale felt forced to
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resign and Melbourne came briefly back
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to power people didn't like what she was
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doing they didn't like her and they
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didn't like the stiff German Prince
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Albert Peale came back to power and
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refused to grant him much more than half
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the allowance Victoria demanded saying
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that people were very hard up which they
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were the position of the throne seemed
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pretty shaky it didn't seem likely that
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this would become the most secure and
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richest monarchy in the world how did
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that happen
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when Victoria came to the throne all she
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had as her own was the revenue of the
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Duchy of Lancaster 27 thousand pounds a
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year the Sunday Times Rich List for 1990
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showed Elizabeth the second as being
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worth six point seven billion pounds
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that's nearly 10 billion in today's
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money the richest person in the land by
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a huge margin it's true that the latest
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rich list shows her being worth a mere
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250 million as she lost 97 percent of
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her money on the horses did she give it
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all away to charity no the latest figure
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is a guess based on an instruction
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to the Sunday Times not to count
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anything she holds on trust for the
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nation obviously she can't sell the
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crown jewels and pocket the proceeds but
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actually most rich people hold much of
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their wealth in trust yet it still
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treated as theirs because they have the
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use of it the royal move into profit
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began when Albert took charge of the
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royal finances he wasn't allowed to be
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king there was deep suspicion of him but
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Victoria let him manage her Affairs and
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he did an astonishing job of it
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the royal household was an incredible
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gothic antique to clean a window in
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Buckingham Palace was a job for the Lord
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Chamberlain stuff unless it was a
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kitchen or scullery window then they had
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to call on the lord steward and neither
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could touch the outside of the glass
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which was looked after by the office of
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woods and forests laying a fire was the
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Lord stewards job but lighting it the
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Lord Chamberlain's as their staff were
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not on good terms the Queen froze other
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Palace staff were paid for jobs whose
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very purpose and even existence had been
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forgotten
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enter Albert with boiling water and a
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hatchet he sorted that knot out and cut
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victoria's costs dramatically he had a
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huge capacity for work and organization
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so when he came up with the idea for a
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great exhibition of the world's Arts and
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Industry no one should have doubted that
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he could make it happen of course they
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did that they had no confidence in the
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exhibition hall the Crystal Palace a
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giant greenhouse erected by a gardener
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and when they realized that thousands
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would congregate there they thought that
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it would be a rallying point for
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revolutionaries the opening of the Great
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Exhibition on May the 1st 1851 was a
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thrilling day for the nation and the
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Victorian
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the royal couple began to be viewed with
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some enthusiasm and it was quite
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understandable that the next year an
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eccentric miser should leave the Queen
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half a million pounds in his will
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Albert's influencing government rose
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visibly which of course soon put an end
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to his popularity by 1854 it was
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generally believed that Albert the
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foreigner was a traitor in league with
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Russia forcing loyal ministers out of
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office crowds gathered round the tower
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under the impression that Albert and
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Victoria had been arrested for treason
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that frenzy died down but at the back of
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it were two things that were going to be
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permanent problems one was that the
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Queen and her consort must have some
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role in running the country but that
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couldn't be squared with any kind of
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representative government and the other
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was that people were realizing that the
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monarch was making a profit and they
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didn't like it the solution was to
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conceal what was really happening under
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a cloak of secrecy and that cloak is
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still in place when I was researching a
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book on the most sensitive part of this
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story I needed to see some papers that
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should have been released by the
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Ministry of Defence the then Navy
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Minister David Owen read the file and
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released it but the crucial documents
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weren't there he suggested they would
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have been treated as the private
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property of the crown and kept in the
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royal archive Private Eye wasn't allowed
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in Albert's own role was pretty secret
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he was in reality acting as King of
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England that that was behind the scenes
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the title he was eventually given in
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1857 was just Prince Consort he took it
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very seriously and worked himself to
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death his last act as the hidden King of
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England was at the end of 1861 to stop
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the Prime Minister from sending an angry
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dispatch to the American government if
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it had been sent England would probably
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have been pushed into the American Civil
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War on the side of the south
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when Albert died Victoria utter
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terrible shriek she never recovered she
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retired to Scotland and went into what
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seemed to be everlasting morning she and
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Albert had built a number of retreats
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for themselves I was born on the Isle of
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Wight
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Sandringham in Norfolk and her favorite
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Balmoral here she hid for months at a
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time with the faithful Highland retainer
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John Brown he was allowed enough
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familiarity for the Queen to be widely
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referred to as mrs. Brown Victoria
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herself could see no reason to take part
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in public ceremonies like the opening of
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Parliament she thought that her hidden
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role at the head of her government was
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enough but that of course led many
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people to wonder why they had to pay for
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her upkeep at all she received as she
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had done from the start of her reign
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three hundred and eighty five thousand
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pounds a year from the government it was
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more than she needed her court was
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nowhere near as expensive as for
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instance George the fourths have been
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and without her being visible many
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people could see no point in our having
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this money by the 1870s there was a
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strong republican movement expressing
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itself in newspapers large public
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meetings and environment the nature of
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the country was changing dramatically
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new industrial cities were darkening the
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landscape with smoke and soot a new kind
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of society was formed a society of
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factory workers and low paid artisans of
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builders and miners and metal workers
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these were people outside the political
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world with no natural attachments to
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traditional political structures and
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there were a lot of them the anti
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royalist head of steam built up every
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time Parliament was asked for extra
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grants to Victoria's children when they
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came of age or married but in fact it
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was very probably these children who
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saved her throat no British statesman
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wanted to see the royal family given its
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marching orders when their marriages
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offered such a useful back door into the
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chancellors of Europe Victoria's eldest
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daughter was married to the heir to the
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Kaiser of the new German Empire and was
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a strong and useful
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influence on her husband and a thorn in
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Bismarck's flesh the heir to the British
276
00:12:01,830 --> 00:12:04,560
throne Albert Edward had married
277
00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:06,150
Alexandra daughter of the King of
278
00:12:06,150 --> 00:12:08,520
Denmark and sister of the king of Greece
279
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:12,300
the Greek crown had actually been
280
00:12:12,300 --> 00:12:14,220
offered to another of Victoria's sons
281
00:12:14,220 --> 00:12:16,890
Alfred the Greeks had sacked their own
282
00:12:16,890 --> 00:12:19,080
King and held a national vote on who
283
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,800
should get the throne 95% of them voted
284
00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:24,990
for Alfred who was at the time an
285
00:12:24,990 --> 00:12:26,970
eighteen-year-old midshipman in the
286
00:12:26,970 --> 00:12:29,910
Royal Navy the government made him turn
287
00:12:29,910 --> 00:12:31,680
it down because they had promised to
288
00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:34,050
keep their hands off Greece never mind
289
00:12:34,050 --> 00:12:36,720
it went as a sort of hand-me-down to the
290
00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:38,940
son of England's good friend the King of
291
00:12:38,940 --> 00:12:42,330
Denmark and in 1874 Alfred married the
292
00:12:42,330 --> 00:12:44,550
daughter of Tsar Alexander the second
293
00:12:44,550 --> 00:12:46,530
which was jolly useful given the Anglo
294
00:12:46,530 --> 00:12:48,210
Russian competition on the edges of
295
00:12:48,210 --> 00:12:49,670
India
296
00:12:49,670 --> 00:12:52,050
these were marriages that would produce
297
00:12:52,050 --> 00:12:56,610
many many well distributed children by
298
00:12:56,610 --> 00:12:59,520
the time Victoria died in 1901 she had
299
00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,150
over 90 living descendants it was a
300
00:13:03,150 --> 00:13:05,100
full-time job just getting them birthday
301
00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:08,250
presents the rulers of Germany Greece
302
00:13:08,250 --> 00:13:11,940
Romania Norway Russia Yugoslavia Spain
303
00:13:11,940 --> 00:13:14,460
and Sweden would all trace their descent
304
00:13:14,460 --> 00:13:18,210
from this little lady there was a
305
00:13:18,210 --> 00:13:20,220
downside to all this royal into marriage
306
00:13:20,220 --> 00:13:22,950
Victoria was a carrier of hemophilia the
307
00:13:22,950 --> 00:13:24,270
condition that prevents blood from
308
00:13:24,270 --> 00:13:26,640
clotting and the Spanish Prussian and
309
00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:28,800
Russian royal families were consequently
310
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,230
affected by it but even if the British
311
00:13:31,230 --> 00:13:33,030
government had known about that they
312
00:13:33,030 --> 00:13:34,710
wouldn't have shed many tears over it as
313
00:13:34,710 --> 00:13:37,950
a system for exercising influence abroad
314
00:13:37,950 --> 00:13:41,010
the monarchy was well worth the money it
315
00:13:41,010 --> 00:13:43,230
also ought to have the advantage at home
316
00:13:43,230 --> 00:13:45,480
of inducing people to be loyal to their
317
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,640
country even if they detested its
318
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,500
government which is obviously very
319
00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:51,080
useful if you ran their government but
320
00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,670
to sell monarchy to the British public
321
00:13:53,670 --> 00:13:58,010
that monarchy needed rebranding enter in
322
00:13:58,010 --> 00:13:59,190
1867
323
00:13:59,190 --> 00:14:02,060
a new Tory prime minister mr. Disraeli
324
00:14:02,060 --> 00:14:05,640
just the man to do it he flattered
325
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,370
flirted and lured Victoria out of
326
00:14:08,370 --> 00:14:09,540
mourning and
327
00:14:09,540 --> 00:14:12,149
to public life creating her Empress of
328
00:14:12,149 --> 00:14:16,009
India turning her into the Queen empress
329
00:14:16,009 --> 00:14:18,870
Britain was now a world power with an
330
00:14:18,870 --> 00:14:20,639
international trade that dwarfed all
331
00:14:20,639 --> 00:14:23,610
others its Navy dominated the oceans and
332
00:14:23,610 --> 00:14:26,220
its empire expanded on the simple
333
00:14:26,220 --> 00:14:28,290
principle that trade follows the flag
334
00:14:28,290 --> 00:14:30,750
and if the Union Jack is flying in each
335
00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:32,970
remote corner of the globe and other
336
00:14:32,970 --> 00:14:36,810
flags aren't the problem was for a small
337
00:14:36,810 --> 00:14:39,329
country with a very small army to rule
338
00:14:39,329 --> 00:14:42,029
ever more of the Earth's surface that
339
00:14:42,029 --> 00:14:44,370
rule couldn't be maintained by force it
340
00:14:44,370 --> 00:14:46,259
required the consent of the governed and
341
00:14:46,259 --> 00:14:49,829
the grand theatricality of Dizz railings
342
00:14:49,829 --> 00:14:52,649
Victorian imperialism invited people
343
00:14:52,649 --> 00:14:54,300
throughout the empire to take pride in
344
00:14:54,300 --> 00:14:57,019
being subjects not of a bunch of
345
00:14:57,019 --> 00:14:59,970
industrialists and politicians but of a
346
00:14:59,970 --> 00:15:03,410
prim and matronly great sovereign
347
00:15:03,410 --> 00:15:05,420
[Music]
348
00:15:05,420 --> 00:15:08,370
Victoria became the logo of the British
349
00:15:08,370 --> 00:15:08,850
Empire
350
00:15:08,850 --> 00:15:11,100
her portrait spread all over the world
351
00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:13,440
thanks especially to the introduction of
352
00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,680
postage stamps her statue would appear
353
00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,930
in virtually every ambitious town and
354
00:15:18,930 --> 00:15:21,329
city of the British Empire and where
355
00:15:21,329 --> 00:15:22,980
there was no statue there would
356
00:15:22,980 --> 00:15:25,050
certainly be a victorious Street or
357
00:15:25,050 --> 00:15:28,410
Victoria Park or Victoria something the
358
00:15:28,410 --> 00:15:30,750
whole process came to a glorious climax
359
00:15:30,750 --> 00:15:34,380
in her golden jubilee of 1887 the great
360
00:15:34,380 --> 00:15:37,019
processions in London of representatives
361
00:15:37,019 --> 00:15:39,540
of her dominions were followed by an
362
00:15:39,540 --> 00:15:41,850
eruption of ugly public halls clock
363
00:15:41,850 --> 00:15:44,610
towers fountains and statues disfiguring
364
00:15:44,610 --> 00:15:46,620
public spaces over about a quarter of
365
00:15:46,620 --> 00:15:49,860
the planet by the time Victoria died
366
00:15:49,860 --> 00:15:52,079
hardly anyone even remembered that her
367
00:15:52,079 --> 00:15:54,689
throne at once seemed endangered and she
368
00:15:54,689 --> 00:15:58,470
drained so long 64 years that hardly
369
00:15:58,470 --> 00:16:00,689
anyone could even remember any other
370
00:16:00,689 --> 00:16:02,240
sovereign
371
00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:06,110
her death in 1901 22 days into the new
372
00:16:06,110 --> 00:16:09,110
century seemed portentous she'd become
373
00:16:09,110 --> 00:16:11,420
synonymous with Britain and its Empire
374
00:16:11,420 --> 00:16:14,149
and now Britain's would leave the 19th
375
00:16:14,149 --> 00:16:16,850
century without the security of the
376
00:16:16,850 --> 00:16:33,499
Great Mother in Victoria would cast a
377
00:16:33,499 --> 00:16:36,470
long shadow Elizabeth the second coming
378
00:16:36,470 --> 00:16:38,059
to the throne fifty-one years later
379
00:16:38,059 --> 00:16:40,699
would be the first of her successors who
380
00:16:40,699 --> 00:16:44,569
had no personal memory offer her oldest
381
00:16:44,569 --> 00:16:46,819
son Albert Edward the new King Edward
382
00:16:46,819 --> 00:16:51,230
the seventh was already 59 years old the
383
00:16:51,230 --> 00:16:53,449
funeral of the Queen Empress and Edwards
384
00:16:53,449 --> 00:16:56,179
coronation involved a huge invention of
385
00:16:56,179 --> 00:16:58,759
traditions and ceremonies and in this
386
00:16:58,759 --> 00:17:00,470
atmosphere it's not surprising that
387
00:17:00,470 --> 00:17:02,959
Edward was granted an annular Lance even
388
00:17:02,959 --> 00:17:05,599
greater than Victoria's a few voices
389
00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:07,909
said that it was unnecessary for the
390
00:17:07,909 --> 00:17:10,549
King to have as big an income as Andrew
391
00:17:10,549 --> 00:17:13,339
Carnegie the Bill Gates of his day but
392
00:17:13,339 --> 00:17:16,490
no one took much notice Edward had been
393
00:17:16,490 --> 00:17:18,289
given a miserable and oppressive
394
00:17:18,289 --> 00:17:21,319
childhood Victoria had measured him by
395
00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:23,329
the impossible yardstick of her hero
396
00:17:23,329 --> 00:17:25,099
worship of the perfect man
397
00:17:25,099 --> 00:17:28,789
his father naturally young Bertie had
398
00:17:28,789 --> 00:17:31,580
rebelled of course his first visit to a
399
00:17:31,580 --> 00:17:34,970
prostitute shocked his parents deeply it
400
00:17:34,970 --> 00:17:36,710
happened to be followed by Albert's
401
00:17:36,710 --> 00:17:38,870
fatal illness which Victoria had
402
00:17:38,870 --> 00:17:43,130
inevitably blamed on her wicked son she
403
00:17:43,130 --> 00:17:44,690
had arranged his marriage shortly
404
00:17:44,690 --> 00:17:46,340
afterwards in the hope that domestic
405
00:17:46,340 --> 00:17:48,440
discipline would rein him in princess
406
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,110
Alex of Denmark was beautiful but she
407
00:17:51,110 --> 00:17:55,610
was also deaf and dull company with
408
00:17:55,610 --> 00:17:57,380
nothing much else to do Bertie had
409
00:17:57,380 --> 00:17:59,210
become the living epitome of the life of
410
00:17:59,210 --> 00:18:01,399
the Belle époque a life of champagne
411
00:18:01,399 --> 00:18:03,919
drinking cigar smoking horse-racing
412
00:18:03,919 --> 00:18:06,590
gambling and entertaining showgirls and
413
00:18:06,590 --> 00:18:08,790
pretty a married ladies
414
00:18:08,790 --> 00:18:11,250
he was naturally drawn to the company of
415
00:18:11,250 --> 00:18:14,280
outsiders not just shady characters but
416
00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,470
Jews and Catholics bankers and
417
00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:18,360
foreigners and he was outspokenly
418
00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:20,970
outraged by the casual racism of the
419
00:18:20,970 --> 00:18:24,060
Empire because a man has a black face
420
00:18:24,060 --> 00:18:26,250
and a different religion than our own
421
00:18:26,250 --> 00:18:28,260
there is no reason why he should be
422
00:18:28,260 --> 00:18:30,990
treated as a brute he sat on a
423
00:18:30,990 --> 00:18:32,910
commission on working class housing and
424
00:18:32,910 --> 00:18:35,250
even invited a member of the working
425
00:18:35,250 --> 00:18:38,250
class to stay at Sandringham admittedly
426
00:18:38,250 --> 00:18:40,920
the man in question was an MP and a
427
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,200
fellow member of the Commission and he
428
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:44,610
had to eat in his bedroom because he
429
00:18:44,610 --> 00:18:46,320
didn't have the right clothes to come
430
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:51,210
down to dinner but still by the time
431
00:18:51,210 --> 00:18:53,550
Edward came to the throne he was a big
432
00:18:53,550 --> 00:18:56,160
fat old man with a social conscience and
433
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,440
a comforting mistress Alice Keppel who
434
00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,950
understood him perfectly Edward saw
435
00:19:01,950 --> 00:19:03,690
himself as something like a nursery
436
00:19:03,690 --> 00:19:06,150
rhyme monarch magnificent and jolly
437
00:19:06,150 --> 00:19:11,160
caring and helpful in 1903 completely
438
00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:12,960
ignoring his government he went to
439
00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:14,940
France and started negotiations for a
440
00:19:14,940 --> 00:19:16,650
treaty that would become the on tante
441
00:19:16,650 --> 00:19:20,880
cordial isolating germany he detested
442
00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,820
his nephew the Kaiser he persuaded the
443
00:19:23,820 --> 00:19:25,800
press and then the government to back a
444
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:27,930
treaty which guaranteed that if Germany
445
00:19:27,930 --> 00:19:30,510
attacked France Britain would go to war
446
00:19:30,510 --> 00:19:36,560
so that's what happened in 1914
447
00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,180
he determinedly resisted any increase in
448
00:19:41,180 --> 00:19:43,400
democracy in Britain and was a firm
449
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,820
opponent of votes for women the crunch
450
00:19:46,820 --> 00:19:48,680
over his reaction reviews came when
451
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,030
Lloyd George planned to introduce
452
00:19:50,030 --> 00:19:53,990
old-age pensions in 1909 to raise the
453
00:19:53,990 --> 00:19:56,660
cash there would have to be new taxes on
454
00:19:56,660 --> 00:19:59,630
income the Tory majority in the House of
455
00:19:59,630 --> 00:20:01,550
Lords voted down what was called the
456
00:20:01,550 --> 00:20:03,680
people's budget and when the Liberal
457
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,420
government threw up legislation to take
458
00:20:05,420 --> 00:20:07,940
that power away from the Lord's they
459
00:20:07,940 --> 00:20:11,720
voted that down too obviously so the
460
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:13,430
Prime Minister told the king he needed
461
00:20:13,430 --> 00:20:17,000
to create about 250 new peers to swing
462
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,690
the vote Edward was not enthusiastic
463
00:20:19,690 --> 00:20:23,540
would he actually defy the government in
464
00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:28,010
May 1910 in the middle of the battle he
465
00:20:28,010 --> 00:20:33,620
died in 1910 Edward's 44 year old son
466
00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:46,070
George inherited the throne he was the
467
00:20:46,070 --> 00:20:48,470
late Kings second son he'd worked as a
468
00:20:48,470 --> 00:20:50,180
commander in the Navy to which he was
469
00:20:50,180 --> 00:20:54,470
deeply attached but in 1892 his elder
470
00:20:54,470 --> 00:20:56,750
brother Clarence had died and he'd
471
00:20:56,750 --> 00:20:59,900
unexpectedly become heir to step into
472
00:20:59,900 --> 00:21:02,030
his brothers shoes he'd left his job and
473
00:21:02,030 --> 00:21:03,530
married the woman who'd been betrothed
474
00:21:03,530 --> 00:21:05,990
Clarence a relative called Princess Mary
475
00:21:05,990 --> 00:21:10,100
of Teck he now inherited a fortune worth
476
00:21:10,100 --> 00:21:12,800
around 140 million in today's prices and
477
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:17,750
a political crisis as part of the deal
478
00:21:17,750 --> 00:21:19,400
with the government to pass the budget
479
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,290
and cut the powers of the House of Lords
480
00:21:21,290 --> 00:21:23,750
it was agreed that the crown could stop
481
00:21:23,750 --> 00:21:26,690
paying any income tax in return the King
482
00:21:26,690 --> 00:21:30,160
would pay for his own trips abroad
483
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,260
the new constitutional deal drew the
484
00:21:33,260 --> 00:21:35,780
teeth of the House of Lords whatever the
485
00:21:35,780 --> 00:21:37,280
elected government in the Commons
486
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:41,300
decided to do it now could do the only
487
00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:43,430
possible brake on its power was now the
488
00:21:43,430 --> 00:21:45,350
king and the question was of course
489
00:21:45,350 --> 00:21:47,890
whether he would ever exercise it and
490
00:21:47,890 --> 00:21:53,570
what would happen if he tried at first
491
00:21:53,570 --> 00:21:56,240
the crown was too weak to try when war
492
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,060
began with Germany in 1914 George was
493
00:21:59,060 --> 00:22:01,730
seen naturally enough as a German which
494
00:22:01,730 --> 00:22:05,390
he was he kept a bit quiet about his
495
00:22:05,390 --> 00:22:08,030
courtesy titles of Field Marshal General
496
00:22:08,030 --> 00:22:10,430
of the Prussian army and Admiral of the
497
00:22:10,430 --> 00:22:14,210
Imperial German Navy to make himself
498
00:22:14,210 --> 00:22:16,850
seem more British and therefore more
499
00:22:16,850 --> 00:22:20,210
secure in July 1917 George felt forced
500
00:22:20,210 --> 00:22:22,210
to change his family name from
501
00:22:22,210 --> 00:22:24,890
saxe-coburg-gotha to Windsor and stop
502
00:22:24,890 --> 00:22:29,140
being a German Prince and Duke of Saxony
503
00:22:29,140 --> 00:22:32,330
revolution was a real danger cousin
504
00:22:32,330 --> 00:22:34,610
Nicky the Tsar of Russia was deposed in
505
00:22:34,610 --> 00:22:37,910
February 1917 the new Russian government
506
00:22:37,910 --> 00:22:39,740
asked Britain to give him asylum and
507
00:22:39,740 --> 00:22:42,740
Lloyd George agreed to it but King
508
00:22:42,740 --> 00:22:44,990
George was terrified of being associated
509
00:22:44,990 --> 00:22:47,570
with a man now labeled tyrant by
510
00:22:47,570 --> 00:22:49,640
revolutionaries so he forced the
511
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,980
government to adorn the offer the
512
00:22:51,980 --> 00:22:54,200
Bolsheviks took over Russia in October
513
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,940
and Nicholas and his family was
514
00:22:55,940 --> 00:22:58,240
slaughtered
515
00:23:02,179 --> 00:23:05,269
to protect the Kings reputation it was
516
00:23:05,269 --> 00:23:07,669
put about that lloyd-george had refused
517
00:23:07,669 --> 00:23:09,529
to rescue them despite the king's
518
00:23:09,529 --> 00:23:14,360
cleaning then in november 1918 a german
519
00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,070
revolution forced the kaiser cousin
520
00:23:16,070 --> 00:23:18,619
Willy to abdicate and Germany gave up
521
00:23:18,619 --> 00:23:23,570
the war the whole political landscape
522
00:23:23,570 --> 00:23:25,610
had been transformed there had been six
523
00:23:25,610 --> 00:23:27,759
Emperor's when George was crowned by
524
00:23:27,759 --> 00:23:31,369
1925 he was the only one left and his
525
00:23:31,369 --> 00:23:34,850
world was not exactly safe most of the
526
00:23:34,850 --> 00:23:36,289
southern Irish were committed
527
00:23:36,289 --> 00:23:38,240
Republicans attempts to hold that
528
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,369
country by force were disastrous and in
529
00:23:40,369 --> 00:23:43,039
1922 the Irish Free State had come into
530
00:23:43,039 --> 00:23:45,320
being King George had lost a
531
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,039
considerable chunk of his kingdom the
532
00:23:49,039 --> 00:23:51,289
wealth of the royal family continued to
533
00:23:51,289 --> 00:23:54,320
grow due largely to Queen Mary's
534
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:56,360
enthusiasm for collecting valuable
535
00:23:56,360 --> 00:24:00,259
trinkets at special prices the Romanovs
536
00:24:00,259 --> 00:24:02,090
hadn't been allowed to join the British
537
00:24:02,090 --> 00:24:04,700
Royals but a substantial chunk of their
538
00:24:04,700 --> 00:24:08,299
jewelry did people began hiding their
539
00:24:08,299 --> 00:24:09,830
treasures if the Queen was coming to
540
00:24:09,830 --> 00:24:12,440
call as she would end strongly that she
541
00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,350
expected to be given them sometimes take
542
00:24:15,350 --> 00:24:17,059
them anyway so that embarrassed aides
543
00:24:17,059 --> 00:24:21,700
had to quietly return them later in 1924
544
00:24:21,700 --> 00:24:24,289
Ramsay MacDonald became Britain's first
545
00:24:24,289 --> 00:24:27,669
Labour Prime Minister the old political
546
00:24:27,669 --> 00:24:30,309
establishment had been given a kicking
547
00:24:30,309 --> 00:24:33,820
no one knew where this might lead and
548
00:24:33,820 --> 00:24:36,830
then came the Wall Street Crash of 1929
549
00:24:36,830 --> 00:24:40,429
and financial disaster the government
550
00:24:40,429 --> 00:24:42,679
needed huge loans which were conditional
551
00:24:42,679 --> 00:24:45,110
on cuts in unemployment benefits and the
552
00:24:45,110 --> 00:24:47,149
pay of public servants and the Armed
553
00:24:47,149 --> 00:24:50,090
Forces the labor cabinet wouldn't do it
554
00:24:50,090 --> 00:24:52,690
and MacDonald went to the king to resign
555
00:24:52,690 --> 00:24:55,460
George was pretty sure this was a
556
00:24:55,460 --> 00:24:58,940
decisive moment if these harsh policies
557
00:24:58,940 --> 00:25:01,159
were forced through by conservatives
558
00:25:01,159 --> 00:25:03,200
class war would probably break out
559
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,049
everything including himself might very
560
00:25:06,049 --> 00:25:08,400
well be swept away
561
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,720
so he refused to accept the resignation
562
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,730
he persuaded Ramsay MacDonald that it
563
00:25:14,730 --> 00:25:17,700
was his patriotic duty to stay on as the
564
00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:20,010
leader of a new coalition government to
565
00:25:20,010 --> 00:25:21,870
force through the cuts that way they
566
00:25:21,870 --> 00:25:25,559
were more likely to be accepted this was
567
00:25:25,559 --> 00:25:27,960
an extraordinary exercise of royal power
568
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,100
and it wasn't over yet when the cuts
569
00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:34,590
were announced in September 1931 the
570
00:25:34,590 --> 00:25:37,650
entire Atlantic Fleet went on strike
571
00:25:37,650 --> 00:25:40,140
this was the most powerful military
572
00:25:40,140 --> 00:25:42,600
force in the world and it was gathered
573
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,720
at in Bogor there was total panic in the
574
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,410
Admiralty mutiny the intelligence
575
00:25:49,410 --> 00:25:51,450
services warned that it was a communist
576
00:25:51,450 --> 00:25:53,309
plot and that the sailors were going to
577
00:25:53,309 --> 00:25:55,350
march to London rallying all the
578
00:25:55,350 --> 00:25:57,900
disaffected including the police on the
579
00:25:57,900 --> 00:26:00,840
way the financial markets went into a
580
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:02,940
tailspin and the Bank of England was
581
00:26:02,940 --> 00:26:05,100
forced to stop exchanging pounds for
582
00:26:05,100 --> 00:26:05,520
gold
583
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,770
going off the gold standard the
584
00:26:07,770 --> 00:26:10,830
Admiralty drew up plans to bombard the
585
00:26:10,830 --> 00:26:13,350
mutinous fleet from the land and sink
586
00:26:13,350 --> 00:26:17,280
its own ships and the king decided he
587
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,860
had to save the Navy and the country he
588
00:26:19,860 --> 00:26:21,300
knew sailors they weren't
589
00:26:21,300 --> 00:26:23,340
revolutionaries they just needed to be
590
00:26:23,340 --> 00:26:25,920
spoken to in the right way in complete
591
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,710
secrecy he took control appointing a
592
00:26:28,710 --> 00:26:30,179
retired Admiral to deal with the
593
00:26:30,179 --> 00:26:32,610
situation Admiral John Kelly was not
594
00:26:32,610 --> 00:26:34,140
appointed by the government or the
595
00:26:34,140 --> 00:26:36,000
Admiralty and was instructed not to
596
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,070
report to them but directly to King
597
00:26:38,070 --> 00:26:41,100
George he offered the sailors a deal
598
00:26:41,100 --> 00:26:43,230
if they sailed back to their home ports
599
00:26:43,230 --> 00:26:44,910
the king would see to it that their
600
00:26:44,910 --> 00:26:46,559
grievances were taken seriously
601
00:26:46,559 --> 00:26:50,010
and they would not be punished it was a
602
00:26:50,010 --> 00:26:53,460
sensible approach and it worked but all
603
00:26:53,460 --> 00:26:55,920
evidence of the king's role and Keller's
604
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,559
appointment was hidden we're not
605
00:26:58,559 --> 00:27:01,170
supposed to know what power royalty can
606
00:27:01,170 --> 00:27:04,140
wield of course the bit about mutineers
607
00:27:04,140 --> 00:27:07,200
not being punished was a lie once the
608
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,059
danger was passed the leaders were
609
00:27:09,059 --> 00:27:12,660
identified and quietly removed the
610
00:27:12,660 --> 00:27:15,750
following year 1932 King George gave the
611
00:27:15,750 --> 00:27:18,870
first Christmas radio message he was now
612
00:27:18,870 --> 00:27:20,640
a presence in homes throughout his
613
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:21,700
empire
614
00:27:21,700 --> 00:27:23,860
the Empire had changed his form of
615
00:27:23,860 --> 00:27:26,590
course and in 1931 the Dominions the
616
00:27:26,590 --> 00:27:28,330
white bits of the Empire Canada
617
00:27:28,330 --> 00:27:30,670
Australia and so on had become legally
618
00:27:30,670 --> 00:27:33,100
independent of Westminster they were the
619
00:27:33,100 --> 00:27:35,200
Commonwealth and the sovereign was its
620
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,530
institutional core as part of his
621
00:27:38,530 --> 00:27:40,060
program to make the monarchy seem
622
00:27:40,060 --> 00:27:43,720
British and so he hoped more secure he
623
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:45,700
decreed that his children need not marry
624
00:27:45,700 --> 00:27:48,490
partners of royal descent this would
625
00:27:48,490 --> 00:27:50,890
indeed transform the position of the
626
00:27:50,890 --> 00:27:55,290
monarchy but not in the way he expected
627
00:27:55,290 --> 00:28:01,240
in 1936 when George was 70 and dying his
628
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:02,140
doctor Lord
629
00:28:02,140 --> 00:28:04,510
Dawson decided to ensure that the death
630
00:28:04,510 --> 00:28:06,880
would not be reported first in the
631
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,510
vulgar evening papers you've heard of
632
00:28:10,510 --> 00:28:11,890
Lord Dawson of Penn
633
00:28:11,890 --> 00:28:14,620
he's killed any number of men and that's
634
00:28:14,620 --> 00:28:17,650
why we sing oh god save the king from
635
00:28:17,650 --> 00:28:21,820
Bertrand Lord Dawson Penn Lord Dawson
636
00:28:21,820 --> 00:28:24,070
met the times his deadline by giving the
637
00:28:24,070 --> 00:28:26,440
King a fatal injection called a
638
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,050
whiz-bang George was told he would soon
639
00:28:29,050 --> 00:28:31,390
be convalescing in Bogner his last words
640
00:28:31,390 --> 00:28:35,770
were bugger Bognor The Times was told
641
00:28:35,770 --> 00:28:48,760
he'd said how is the Empire his
642
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,150
successor his son Edward was 38 the
643
00:28:52,150 --> 00:28:53,950
poorly educated child of rather
644
00:28:53,950 --> 00:28:57,010
dysfunctional parents the Queen had been
645
00:28:57,010 --> 00:28:58,930
completely distant and King George
646
00:28:58,930 --> 00:29:01,510
famously said My father was frightened
647
00:29:01,510 --> 00:29:03,640
of his father I was frightened of my
648
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,920
father and I damn well going to see to
649
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,640
it the by children are frightened of me
650
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,530
Edward had escaped by travelling widely
651
00:29:11,530 --> 00:29:12,910
and as the world's most eligible
652
00:29:12,910 --> 00:29:15,190
bachelor enjoyed affairs with a number
653
00:29:15,190 --> 00:29:17,350
of marriage winning culminating in the
654
00:29:17,350 --> 00:29:18,070
love of his life
655
00:29:18,070 --> 00:29:20,410
the twice married elegant American
656
00:29:20,410 --> 00:29:23,130
Wallis Simpson
657
00:29:24,230 --> 00:29:26,970
at the time of Edwards succession the
658
00:29:26,970 --> 00:29:29,370
affair was in full swing and her husband
659
00:29:29,370 --> 00:29:31,380
had resigned himself to a divorce the
660
00:29:31,380 --> 00:29:33,570
British press completely censored the
661
00:29:33,570 --> 00:29:35,370
whole subject while the rest of the
662
00:29:35,370 --> 00:29:37,470
world was fascinated by it
663
00:29:37,470 --> 00:29:40,020
Edward insisted that he was going to
664
00:29:40,020 --> 00:29:42,390
marry Wallis and make her Queen the
665
00:29:42,390 --> 00:29:44,010
Prime Minister and the Archbishop of
666
00:29:44,010 --> 00:29:45,540
Canterbury said the country wouldn't
667
00:29:45,540 --> 00:29:49,020
stand for it were they right probably
668
00:29:49,020 --> 00:29:52,100
not Edward was actually pretty popular
669
00:29:52,100 --> 00:29:54,750
he wanted to go on the radio and appeal
670
00:29:54,750 --> 00:29:57,060
to the nation he wasn't allowed to do
671
00:29:57,060 --> 00:29:58,320
that he was told it would be
672
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,320
unconstitutional without a written
673
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,810
document the Constitution is what the
674
00:30:03,810 --> 00:30:06,360
government can get away with they had
675
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,360
their reasons these went beyond the
676
00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:11,460
court gossip that Wallis was said to be
677
00:30:11,460 --> 00:30:15,270
a lesbian or a man engaged in a
678
00:30:15,270 --> 00:30:17,960
sadomasochistic relationship with Edward
679
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,030
the crucial issue wasn't even that the
680
00:30:21,030 --> 00:30:22,380
head of the church shouldn't marry a
681
00:30:22,380 --> 00:30:24,930
divorcee or that secret investigators
682
00:30:24,930 --> 00:30:27,450
had reported that Wallis Simpson had two
683
00:30:27,450 --> 00:30:30,300
other lovers a car salesman and an Irish
684
00:30:30,300 --> 00:30:31,730
Pierre
685
00:30:31,730 --> 00:30:34,419
the real reason only came to light in
686
00:30:34,419 --> 00:30:38,809
2002 secret documents show that the FBI
687
00:30:38,809 --> 00:30:41,179
told the British government that Wallace
688
00:30:41,179 --> 00:30:44,110
had another lover the German ambassador
689
00:30:44,110 --> 00:30:48,139
von Ribbentrop in fact the FBI said she
690
00:30:48,139 --> 00:30:50,779
was a Nazi agent that was why the
691
00:30:50,779 --> 00:30:53,269
government insisted Edward must give her
692
00:30:53,269 --> 00:30:56,470
up to keep the throne
693
00:30:56,470 --> 00:30:58,940
Edward chose love rather than the crown
694
00:30:58,940 --> 00:31:01,880
he abdicated and took mrs. Simpson to
695
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:06,470
live in France the coronation went ahead
696
00:31:06,470 --> 00:31:09,049
but with his brother Albert sitting on
697
00:31:09,049 --> 00:31:25,070
the throne Albert was crowned as king
698
00:31:25,070 --> 00:31:27,529
George the six he was 18 months younger
699
00:31:27,529 --> 00:31:29,750
than Edward and completely lacked his
700
00:31:29,750 --> 00:31:32,299
brothers social grace he stammered he
701
00:31:32,299 --> 00:31:34,519
was shy but at least he was safely
702
00:31:34,519 --> 00:31:36,860
married to Elizabeth bowes-lyon the
703
00:31:36,860 --> 00:31:38,630
daughter of a minor Scottish aristocrat
704
00:31:38,630 --> 00:31:41,330
the first royal to legally marry a
705
00:31:41,330 --> 00:31:44,370
commoner since an reveal
706
00:31:44,370 --> 00:31:49,520
[Music]
707
00:31:52,700 --> 00:31:54,960
[Music]
708
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,390
George didn't have much in the way of
709
00:31:57,390 --> 00:32:00,870
winning ways but his wife enraged at
710
00:32:00,870 --> 00:32:02,910
what Edward had done was determined to
711
00:32:02,910 --> 00:32:05,340
help him through she arranged speech
712
00:32:05,340 --> 00:32:08,550
therapy to cure his stutter but when war
713
00:32:08,550 --> 00:32:11,550
with Germany began in 1939 they were not
714
00:32:11,550 --> 00:32:13,620
seen as a rallying point for patriotic
715
00:32:13,620 --> 00:32:16,170
fervor especially as they had publicly
716
00:32:16,170 --> 00:32:17,490
supported Neville Chamberlain's
717
00:32:17,490 --> 00:32:20,010
appeasement of Hitler when the royal
718
00:32:20,010 --> 00:32:22,980
couple visited the first bomb sites they
719
00:32:22,980 --> 00:32:25,980
were booed what's the 6th and Queen
720
00:32:25,980 --> 00:32:28,410
Elizabeth that's the woman we remember
721
00:32:28,410 --> 00:32:31,050
as Elizabeth the Queen Mother refused to
722
00:32:31,050 --> 00:32:33,000
allow themselves any doubt as to the
723
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,640
outcome of the Second World War when
724
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,040
Buckingham Palace was bombed the Queen
725
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,380
said she was glad it meant she could
726
00:32:40,380 --> 00:32:43,350
look the East End in the face at least
727
00:32:43,350 --> 00:32:45,090
it meant the royal couple wouldn't be
728
00:32:45,090 --> 00:32:46,950
booed any more when they visited other
729
00:32:46,950 --> 00:32:50,580
people's bombed out homes actually while
730
00:32:50,580 --> 00:32:52,350
they spent their days in London they
731
00:32:52,350 --> 00:32:54,120
retreated for the night to Windsor which
732
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,640
was considerably safer nevertheless they
733
00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:01,470
did have one really narrow escape as the
734
00:33:01,470 --> 00:33:03,630
war went on the royal couple became more
735
00:33:03,630 --> 00:33:05,550
and more identified with Churchill as
736
00:33:05,550 --> 00:33:07,860
the spirit of Britain dogged in their
737
00:33:07,860 --> 00:33:10,220
determination to see Nazism defeated
738
00:33:10,220 --> 00:33:13,140
when the victory celebrations came in
739
00:33:13,140 --> 00:33:15,930
1945 it seemed natural that they should
740
00:33:15,930 --> 00:33:19,620
revolve around Buckingham Palace by the
741
00:33:19,620 --> 00:33:21,750
time of his premature death from smoking
742
00:33:21,750 --> 00:33:25,020
in 1952 this shy country gentleman and
743
00:33:25,020 --> 00:33:27,120
his Queen had gone a very long way to
744
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:29,310
restoring the monarchy to its central
745
00:33:29,310 --> 00:33:31,980
place in British life it had vanished
746
00:33:31,980 --> 00:33:34,920
virtually everywhere else there had been
747
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:36,960
16 monarchies on the continent of Europe
748
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,050
when Victoria died now there was only
749
00:33:40,050 --> 00:33:43,380
Sweden monarchs were restored to Belgium
750
00:33:43,380 --> 00:33:46,590
Holland Norway and Denmark but as a pale
751
00:33:46,590 --> 00:33:49,990
shadow of the old European royalty
752
00:33:49,990 --> 00:33:56,549
[Music]
753
00:34:00,390 --> 00:34:03,400
the new queen the 25 year old elizabeth
754
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,610
ii seem to be a fairy tale remnant of a
755
00:34:06,610 --> 00:34:10,480
lost world of glamour her coronation was
756
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,418
a celebration of pageantry itself in a
757
00:34:13,418 --> 00:34:16,360
country that was a vast bomb site four
758
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:18,399
houses out of ten had been damaged or
759
00:34:18,399 --> 00:34:22,540
destroyed it was even shown on the new
760
00:34:22,540 --> 00:34:24,940
medium of television though the
761
00:34:24,940 --> 00:34:26,830
Archbishop of Canterbury feared men
762
00:34:26,830 --> 00:34:28,810
would watch in pubs without removing
763
00:34:28,810 --> 00:34:35,168
their hats by her side in the coronation
764
00:34:35,168 --> 00:34:38,230
coach wrote her husband like Albert he
765
00:34:38,230 --> 00:34:43,210
would never be crowned Philip Duke of
766
00:34:43,210 --> 00:34:45,340
Edinburgh was from the greek and danish
767
00:34:45,340 --> 00:34:46,239
royal house of
768
00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:48,719
schleswig-holstein-sonderburg-glücksburg
769
00:34:48,929 --> 00:34:52,300
he had no surname he was given the name
770
00:34:52,300 --> 00:34:53,770
of one of the branches of Elizabeth's
771
00:34:53,770 --> 00:34:59,080
family man Patton there was no question
772
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:01,150
of the Queen becoming a modest suburban
773
00:35:01,150 --> 00:35:03,940
sovereign like the restored European
774
00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:06,850
Royals George's Widow was sure her
775
00:35:06,850 --> 00:35:09,420
daughter should be regal and grand
776
00:35:09,420 --> 00:35:12,220
royalty required flunkies and castles
777
00:35:12,220 --> 00:35:15,490
and palaces and golden coaches she
778
00:35:15,490 --> 00:35:18,340
herself made do with six cars three
779
00:35:18,340 --> 00:35:21,970
chauffeurs five chefs two pages three
780
00:35:21,970 --> 00:35:24,630
footmen two dressers and thirty
781
00:35:24,630 --> 00:35:27,310
secretaries maids treasurer's and
782
00:35:27,310 --> 00:35:31,000
housekeepers and she was absolutely dead
783
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,620
set against royalty paying tax
784
00:35:34,620 --> 00:35:36,880
for a long time this was met with an
785
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:38,950
extraordinary degree of complicity from
786
00:35:38,950 --> 00:35:41,890
the governments of the day in 1947 when
787
00:35:41,890 --> 00:35:43,980
labor came to power amid all the
788
00:35:43,980 --> 00:35:45,940
nationalizations of the class war
789
00:35:45,940 --> 00:35:49,150
declarations of we other masters now had
790
00:35:49,150 --> 00:35:50,620
come an agreement that the government
791
00:35:50,620 --> 00:35:52,030
would take over the cost of running
792
00:35:52,030 --> 00:35:54,680
Buckingham Palace
793
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:56,010
[Music]
794
00:35:56,010 --> 00:35:58,390
now the Conservatives said the
795
00:35:58,390 --> 00:35:59,800
government would take over the cost of
796
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:01,900
the Royal Train and royal visits abroad
797
00:36:01,900 --> 00:36:04,840
and freed the Queen from paying tax on
798
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:05,560
property
799
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,260
apart from rapes on Sandringham and
800
00:36:08,260 --> 00:36:12,370
Palmyra in Edward Heath's time as Prime
801
00:36:12,370 --> 00:36:14,740
Minister it was officially stated for
802
00:36:14,740 --> 00:36:17,950
the first time that the Queen pays no
803
00:36:17,950 --> 00:36:23,500
tax in 1973 she was exempted from the
804
00:36:23,500 --> 00:36:25,150
new company's bill that could force
805
00:36:25,150 --> 00:36:27,940
shareholders to identify themselves even
806
00:36:27,940 --> 00:36:30,660
if they hid behind the names of nominees
807
00:36:30,660 --> 00:36:33,160
her shares are hidden in a company
808
00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,020
called the Bank of England nominees
809
00:36:35,020 --> 00:36:38,200
which can only be used by heads of state
810
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,020
and is uniquely exempt from disclosure
811
00:36:41,020 --> 00:36:45,340
laws and in 1965 when a Labour
812
00:36:45,340 --> 00:36:47,620
government introduced capital gains tax
813
00:36:47,620 --> 00:36:51,250
they declared that the Queen is exempt
814
00:36:51,250 --> 00:36:54,460
under these arrangements immense and
815
00:36:54,460 --> 00:36:56,950
unknowable riches were built up she has
816
00:36:56,950 --> 00:37:01,210
for example 600 works by Leonardo da
817
00:37:01,210 --> 00:37:04,240
Vinci we're told these riches are not
818
00:37:04,240 --> 00:37:06,250
really hers because she's not free to
819
00:37:06,250 --> 00:37:08,200
sell them but most of the royal
820
00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,140
collection is never publicly displayed
821
00:37:10,140 --> 00:37:16,270
why whose interest is being served
822
00:37:16,270 --> 00:37:18,980
it obviously means the monarchy can put
823
00:37:18,980 --> 00:37:21,290
on a heck of a show that goes far beyond
824
00:37:21,290 --> 00:37:23,240
their demand on the public purse and
825
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:25,100
they don't need to run the risk of
826
00:37:25,100 --> 00:37:27,200
asking us to funk the whole thing from
827
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:31,760
Texas we each contribute 61 pence a year
828
00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,100
of the last count that money just over
829
00:37:34,100 --> 00:37:36,950
36 million pounds is not enough to put
830
00:37:36,950 --> 00:37:38,810
on the grand regal show which the
831
00:37:38,810 --> 00:37:41,440
British monarchy seems to be about
832
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:43,730
certainly for a very long time it was
833
00:37:43,730 --> 00:37:45,920
simply not permitted to suggest that the
834
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:47,750
monarchy should be anything less than
835
00:37:47,750 --> 00:37:52,520
grand in 1957 Lord Altrincham wrote an
836
00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:54,230
article arguing for a modernized
837
00:37:54,230 --> 00:37:56,660
monarchy he called the court complacent
838
00:37:56,660 --> 00:37:58,610
and out of touch said the Queen was a
839
00:37:58,610 --> 00:38:00,350
pretty schoolgirl and said that the
840
00:38:00,350 --> 00:38:02,090
monarchy should not be as it was
841
00:38:02,090 --> 00:38:04,130
intimately associated with the upper
842
00:38:04,130 --> 00:38:06,560
classes Wow
843
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:08,660
the duke of argyll said that he should
844
00:38:08,660 --> 00:38:10,670
be hanged drawn and quartered and the
845
00:38:10,670 --> 00:38:13,100
BBC immediately dropped him from any
846
00:38:13,100 --> 00:38:13,900
questions
847
00:38:13,900 --> 00:38:16,490
in fact Altrincham had got him wrong
848
00:38:16,490 --> 00:38:18,980
lavish splendor was just what most of
849
00:38:18,980 --> 00:38:20,690
the public wanted from their monarchy
850
00:38:20,690 --> 00:38:23,090
they would have despised the Queen on a
851
00:38:23,090 --> 00:38:25,810
bicycle they wanted to be deferential
852
00:38:25,810 --> 00:38:30,920
they probably still do and there were 20
853
00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:33,140
more years of this kind of thing to come
854
00:38:33,140 --> 00:38:36,680
in 1977 the year of the Queen's Jubilee
855
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:39,380
the Sex Pistols anthem god save the
856
00:38:39,380 --> 00:38:41,990
queen and her fascist regime was banned
857
00:38:41,990 --> 00:38:43,910
from being broadcast even when it
858
00:38:43,910 --> 00:38:47,720
outsold all other records the puzzle
859
00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:49,490
becomes even more intriguing when you
860
00:38:49,490 --> 00:38:51,440
look at the apparently shrinking role of
861
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,530
the crown in public affairs the imperial
862
00:38:54,530 --> 00:38:56,060
title had already disappeared in the
863
00:38:56,060 --> 00:38:57,920
days of George the 6th when India and
864
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,070
Pakistan became independent the Empire
865
00:39:01,070 --> 00:39:03,410
became the Commonwealth and of the 58th
866
00:39:03,410 --> 00:39:05,740
past and present members of that vague
867
00:39:05,740 --> 00:39:09,020
organization only 16 have Elizabeth as
868
00:39:09,020 --> 00:39:13,550
their head of state and falling why did
869
00:39:13,550 --> 00:39:15,740
it matter so much to protect and sustain
870
00:39:15,740 --> 00:39:19,250
royalty partly perhaps it's more to do
871
00:39:19,250 --> 00:39:20,840
with the Queen herself than the
872
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:22,940
institution of monarchy Elizabeth the
873
00:39:22,940 --> 00:39:26,270
1st Victoria Elizabeth the second the
874
00:39:26,270 --> 00:39:28,480
rule of elderly matriarch
875
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:30,910
seems to be particularly proper to the
876
00:39:30,910 --> 00:39:34,660
English and it may provide important
877
00:39:34,660 --> 00:39:38,320
social glue as the population of Britain
878
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:39,790
became more heterogeneous with
879
00:39:39,790 --> 00:39:41,740
substantial immigration from
880
00:39:41,740 --> 00:39:43,480
Commonwealth countries by people who
881
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,700
feel excluded from political life and
882
00:39:45,700 --> 00:39:47,530
often from the legitimate economy
883
00:39:47,530 --> 00:39:49,660
perhaps there was a hope that the Queen
884
00:39:49,660 --> 00:39:52,180
would be a focus of patriotic attachment
885
00:39:52,180 --> 00:39:54,369
after all she's the linchpin of the
886
00:39:54,369 --> 00:39:55,030
Commonwealth
887
00:39:55,030 --> 00:39:57,609
it's graciously enthusiastic forgetting
888
00:39:57,609 --> 00:40:00,700
and promoting the image of a glamorous
889
00:40:00,700 --> 00:40:03,430
and golden royalty above and outside
890
00:40:03,430 --> 00:40:05,920
politics that is synonymous with Britain
891
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:08,800
may be a very useful way of creating
892
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:10,930
legitimacy for a state that might
893
00:40:10,930 --> 00:40:16,329
otherwise look rather shabby the last
894
00:40:16,329 --> 00:40:18,220
great moment of this mrs. Camilla
895
00:40:18,220 --> 00:40:19,030
parker-bowles
896
00:40:19,030 --> 00:40:21,880
Alice kepples great-granddaughter Diana
897
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:23,680
said that on the honeymoon he was more
898
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:25,329
interested in reading eight books by
899
00:40:25,329 --> 00:40:28,300
Lawrence and the Post than in her and he
900
00:40:28,300 --> 00:40:31,240
wore Charles Camilla cufflinks and when
901
00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:33,430
she became distressed she felt strongly
902
00:40:33,430 --> 00:40:35,670
that the royal family turned against her
903
00:40:35,670 --> 00:40:40,300
in 1992 it all blew apart in what the
904
00:40:40,300 --> 00:40:42,970
Queen called her annus horribilis her
905
00:40:42,970 --> 00:40:45,400
second son Andrew separated from his
906
00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:47,560
wife Sarah Ferguson who was pictured
907
00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:49,900
topless being kissed by her financial
908
00:40:49,900 --> 00:40:52,690
adviser her daughter Princess Anne
909
00:40:52,690 --> 00:40:56,290
divorced captain Mark Phillips Charles
910
00:40:56,290 --> 00:40:58,510
and Diana split up with spectacular
911
00:40:58,510 --> 00:41:00,910
accusations being made in the press and
912
00:41:00,910 --> 00:41:04,240
on television and Windsor Castle caught
913
00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:06,940
fire that was when the ground really
914
00:41:06,940 --> 00:41:09,339
began to shift at least when it was
915
00:41:09,339 --> 00:41:11,260
explained that the forty million pound
916
00:41:11,260 --> 00:41:13,660
repair bill would be paid by the public
917
00:41:13,660 --> 00:41:18,160
there was a huge collective breath of no
918
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,880
it won't and so the Queen decided it
919
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:23,530
would be matched the wisest thing to
920
00:41:23,530 --> 00:41:25,780
offer to pay 70 percent of the cost
921
00:41:25,780 --> 00:41:27,970
she opened up some of her homes to the
922
00:41:27,970 --> 00:41:30,970
public to raise the cash there was still
923
00:41:30,970 --> 00:41:33,400
astonishingly little direct criticism of
924
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,160
the Queen in an age when television and
925
00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:37,720
the press had the power to pull down
926
00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:40,270
anyone the Queen and her mother were
927
00:41:40,270 --> 00:41:43,329
treated with respect even devotion
928
00:41:43,329 --> 00:41:45,859
but the rest of the royal family had
929
00:41:45,859 --> 00:41:48,410
become fair game and were subjected to a
930
00:41:48,410 --> 00:41:51,549
ferocious assault of public humiliation
931
00:41:51,549 --> 00:41:54,920
why did we support the royal family and
932
00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,559
all their wealth why were we giving them
933
00:41:57,559 --> 00:42:01,099
all this money the press pack was baying
934
00:42:01,099 --> 00:42:03,980
at their heels that's when the Queen
935
00:42:03,980 --> 00:42:05,960
agreed that she should voluntarily start
936
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,599
paying income tax and refund the
937
00:42:08,599 --> 00:42:10,369
parliamentary allowances received by
938
00:42:10,369 --> 00:42:12,880
other members of the royal family but
939
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,920
things didn't get any better and the
940
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,160
Queen herself began to be criticized in
941
00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:21,349
1997 when Princess Diana was killed in a
942
00:42:21,349 --> 00:42:25,220
car crash in Paris we all remember the
943
00:42:25,220 --> 00:42:27,559
shock and horror and the debate about
944
00:42:27,559 --> 00:42:29,150
the lack of public reaction by the
945
00:42:29,150 --> 00:42:33,170
senior members of the royal family there
946
00:42:33,170 --> 00:42:35,119
was a widespread feeling that at that
947
00:42:35,119 --> 00:42:37,940
moment they were not in fact part of the
948
00:42:37,940 --> 00:42:41,000
nation was the program started by george
949
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,880
v of integrating the monarchy into the
950
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,109
life of the nation coming unraveled
951
00:42:47,109 --> 00:42:49,430
instead of the monarch playing the role
952
00:42:49,430 --> 00:42:51,109
of warning and advising the prime
953
00:42:51,109 --> 00:42:52,880
minister which is supposed to be her
954
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:55,880
constitutional role the Prime Minister
955
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:57,920
warned and advised the sovereign to take
956
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,440
public action she had to be seen to
957
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:03,289
grieve or the monarchy itself might be
958
00:43:03,289 --> 00:43:09,200
in danger and now we wait to see what
959
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:12,769
happens next the heir to the throne and
960
00:43:12,769 --> 00:43:15,049
his mistress are forever tainted with
961
00:43:15,049 --> 00:43:16,759
the image of the princess that was
962
00:43:16,759 --> 00:43:20,269
publicly destroyed the Queen is an old
963
00:43:20,269 --> 00:43:22,670
lady with a reign that begins to rival
964
00:43:22,670 --> 00:43:25,039
Victoria's in length can anyone be
965
00:43:25,039 --> 00:43:26,869
certain that the country would accept
966
00:43:26,869 --> 00:43:30,380
her son as king there's always been a
967
00:43:30,380 --> 00:43:32,059
bargain at the heart of monarchy in this
968
00:43:32,059 --> 00:43:34,430
country the monarch has always been
969
00:43:34,430 --> 00:43:37,670
dependent on the people that bargain has
970
00:43:37,670 --> 00:43:40,819
been the key to survival it began when
971
00:43:40,819 --> 00:43:42,829
William the Conqueror realized that he
972
00:43:42,829 --> 00:43:44,900
and his friends couldn't actually run a
973
00:43:44,900 --> 00:43:46,309
country where they didn't speak the
974
00:43:46,309 --> 00:43:49,579
language or know the laws traditions or
975
00:43:49,579 --> 00:43:50,690
even the geography
976
00:43:50,690 --> 00:43:54,710
it was restated in a series of crises in
977
00:43:54,710 --> 00:43:56,020
which monarchs who tried to
978
00:43:56,020 --> 00:43:58,770
without consent were simply dumped
979
00:43:58,770 --> 00:44:00,010
Mathilda
980
00:44:00,010 --> 00:44:02,830
Jane Grey Richard Cromwell James the
981
00:44:02,830 --> 00:44:05,950
second and to give that consent people
982
00:44:05,950 --> 00:44:07,990
need to feel that the sovereign is
983
00:44:07,990 --> 00:44:10,780
entitled to be there and respects laws
984
00:44:10,780 --> 00:44:13,440
even though no court can enforce them
985
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:16,810
laws which today probably include having
986
00:44:16,810 --> 00:44:20,500
to pay tax partly of course the
987
00:44:20,500 --> 00:44:21,970
institution is sustained by the
988
00:44:21,970 --> 00:44:24,130
character of the Queen herself faced
989
00:44:24,130 --> 00:44:26,410
with enormous pressures and a job from
990
00:44:26,410 --> 00:44:28,660
which there is no possibility of rest
991
00:44:28,660 --> 00:44:31,360
she has retained a calm resilience and
992
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,000
exquisite constitutional carefulness
993
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,520
which guarantees her a respectful place
994
00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:41,530
in history in what the British monarchy
995
00:44:41,530 --> 00:44:43,930
is certainly a great addition to the
996
00:44:43,930 --> 00:44:47,980
gaiety of Nations partly as a soap opera
997
00:44:47,980 --> 00:44:51,160
partly as a walking talking anachronism
998
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:53,619
that makes other heads of state visibly
999
00:44:53,619 --> 00:44:57,240
uneasy but it does come at a price and
1000
00:44:57,240 --> 00:45:00,490
whether the price is too high for the
1001
00:45:00,490 --> 00:45:03,310
continued survival of this most
1002
00:45:03,310 --> 00:45:06,310
extraordinary form of government will
1003
00:45:06,310 --> 00:45:09,490
that of course will be the surprise
1004
00:45:09,490 --> 00:45:11,880
ending
1005
00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:19,620
and this Sunday evening exploring
1006
00:45:19,620 --> 00:45:21,510
ancient Egypt beginning with Michael
1007
00:45:21,510 --> 00:45:21,840
woods
1008
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:24,480
top 10 sites that's tonight from sex
1009
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:26,460
coming up the story at the strongest
1010
00:45:26,460 --> 00:45:28,800
sharpest blade that's ever been made a
1011
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decisive weapon
1012
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[Music]
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