Original subtitles

how did Victoria make weddings white and

Christmas green why did Edward the eight

give up the crown for the woman he loved

and why is the modern royal family

called Windsor the kings and queens of

Britain part eight the moderns are not

amused with George the Third's

oldest for sons dead the next in line to

the throne was a teenage girl Britain

like most countries had always preferred

to have a man on the throne but strong

women like Elizabeth the first and Queen

Anne had proof that a woman could do the

job just as well if not better than a

man

but how would Queen Victoria do Victoria

her father died when she was just a year

old she was raised by her controlling

mother who saw her only child as a meal

ticket the future Queen was kept

isolated from other children she had to

sleep in her mother's room until she was

18 and wasn't allowed to go up or down

stairs without holding someone's hand

lest she fall and hurt herself her

mother secretary John Conroy tried to

control her he bullied Victoria to sign

papers guaranteeing himself power when

she came to the throne but teenage

Victoria was strong-willed and refused

her uncle King William managed to live

just past her 18th birthday so she could

take the throne without her mother

pushing in as region once Victoria was

Queen she sent her mother away and

basked and her newfound freedom the

prime minister Lord Melbourne was her

mentor and she appointed the wives and

daughters of his friends as her

ladies-in-waiting when an election

ousted Melbourne in favour of Robert

Peel the new PM wanted some of the

ladies-in-waiting to be replaced with

his own supporters with us Victoria

refused and Peel resigned in protest

this was a big no-no monarchs were no

longer allowed to take sides in politics

and those who did sometimes lost their

heads

seeing what a large scandal has caused

Victoria acquiesced an allowed Pele to

come back as Prime Minister

Victoria fell in love with their

handsome German cousin Albert of

saxe-coburg and Gotha the Queen had to

propose to him as it would have been

improper for a man to ask a monarchs

hand in marriage at her wedding she

began the tradition of brides wearing

white before this women wore their best

dress whatever the colour Albert also

introduced the Christmas tree a German

tradition to Britain Victoria was quite

pleased with Albert in the bedroom as

well and the couple had nine children

but what should Albert be called Mary

the first had been happy to hand over

power to her husband the king of Spain

and that had been a disaster Elizabeth

the first refused to marry rather than

share the crown Mary the second husband

had been a co ruling King and Anne had

kept her husband as far away from the

throne as possible

Victoria loved and trusted Albert and

she might have allowed him to be king

Albert the first but the people wouldn't

stand for it they simply didn't trust

the foreign Prince Albert was named

Prince Consort

the title held by the current Queen's

husband Prince Philip not able to be

King Albert needed something to do he

had a good head for finance and did an

excellent job performing the Royal

pocketbook he discovered numerous

insufficiencies and the way the palace

was run and dozens of people on staff

who were paid for doing useless things

such as setting banquet tables every

night for King George who had long been

dead Albert got Victoria in the black

and secured the wealth of future

generations of the Finnish royal family

he also put his talents into arranging

the Great Exhibition which showcased new

inventions such as The Telegraph and

photography as well as cultural displays

from around the world the exhibition was

held at the Crystal Palace specially

built for the occasion Albert threw

himself into everything he did so much

so that he wore himself down and after

an argument with their eldest son Albert

contracted typhoid fever and died at 42

Victoria was heart bro

and she spent the rest of her life in

mourning popularizing many mourning

practices including wearing black

she kept Albert's bedroom as a shrine to

him and refused to ever let it change

she spent most of her time at Balmoral

Castle in Scotland where her closeness

to a servant named John Brown earned her

the nickname mrs. Brown she retreated

from public life leading many to wonder

why their tax money was going to pay for

a queen who didn't work for them the

Industrial Revolution was in full swing

the world had changed and many believed

that there was no place for a monarch

one Republican hung a for rent sign on

the gates of Buckingham Palace but the

government saw the use of the monarchy

the pageantry inspired the people to

patriotism and Victoria's nine children

made useful political marriages

spreading British influence all over

Europe Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

coaxed the Queen out of hiding with a

grand ceremony crowning her Empress of

India while Victoria had been in hiding

her army had been busy conquering and

colonizing a quarter of the planet and

creating the largest empire the world

had ever seen it was said that the Sun

never set on the British Empire and

Disraeli wanted the millions of subjects

around the world to see themselves not

under a conquering army and a bunch of

bureaucrats but under a matronly

unreason

victoria became the logo of the empire

and her likeness was seen everywhere she

celebrated a 50-year golden at a 60-year

diamond jubilee with parades and

celebrations by the end of her life

Victoria had 90 living descendants many

of whom carried her genes for porphyria

and Amelia the disease that would cause

the downfall of the Russian royal family

in 1917 Victoria broke the record with

her 64 year reign and set a pattern for

British royals

to be the focus of ceremony and the

emblems of their people but not involved

in politics

the house of saxe-coburg and Gotha

Edward the seventh like all the other

Hanoverians Victoria and her eldest son

Edward did not get along he could never

measure up to his saintly father Prince

Albert when his parents discovered that

the teenage Edward was visiting a

prostitute

the subsequent argument killed his

father and Victoria never forgave her

son to get him under control his mother

arranged a marriage to the beautiful

Princess Alexandra of Denmark but

Alexandra was deaf and spoke very little

Edward preferred the company of witty

mistresses and lived a playboy lifestyle

smoking cigars and guzzling champagne he

was 59 by the time he came to the throne

he had pretty liberal ideas he spoke

against racism and supported laborers

but he was against votes for women

Edwards eldest son and heir Prince

Albert Victor was a playboy like his old

man

he was twice embroiled in scandal once

when a homosexual brothel was discovered

by police and Albert's close friend was

exposed as a client later it was

speculated that Albert might have been

Jack the Ripper the serial killer who

mutilated five prostitutes in London and

was never caught Albert was almost

certainly not culpable in either case he

died at 28 during an influenza pandemic

and his younger brother became the heir

King Edward improved relations with

France but he did not get along with his

nephew kaiser wilhelm ii of germany

he signed a treaty against Parliament's

wishes promising that if Germany invaded

France Britain would go to war Edward

died at 68 after a nine-year reign

george v with his older brother long

dead George took the throne

George had always been more intelligent

than his brother anyway he had spent his

youth serving in the Royal Navy and was

a stiff man and strict disciplinarian

when his brother died months before

marrying Princess Mary of Teck George

decided not to waste a good royal match

and married Mary himself Mary turned out

to be a kleptomaniac she pocketed

jewelry and valuable trinkets everywhere

she went and her host had to let her get

away with it you couldn't say no to a

queen in 1914 George's cousin Kaiser

Wilhelm invaded France and Britain

declared war on Germany World War one

had begun with Germany so unpopular

George made the prudent decision to

renounce all his hereditary German

titles and changed the family name from

saxe-coburg and Gotha to the more

English founding Windsor the name of his

favorite Castle when his cousin tsar

nicholas ii of russia was deposed during

the Bolshevik Revolution George asked

Parliament to allow this our family

asylum in England but George got so

nervous about being associated with the

man now labeled a tyrant that he changed

his mind and didn't save them Nicholas

his wife and their five children were

gunned down in a basement in 1918

revolution in Germany forced Kaiser

Wilhelm to abdicate ending World War one

George decreed that his children no

longer need marry foreign Royals after

all there were so few left to choose

from George also lost a large chunk of

the United Kingdom Southern Ireland

wanted to be Republic and on the brink

of Civil War

George was forced to sign the Home Rule

bill making Ireland its own nation

several other parts of the British

Empire including Australia Canada and

Africa became legally independent they

are now the Commonwealth they have their

own governments but the British monarch

is still nominally their head of state

after the stock market crash in 1929 the

government had to make major cutbacks

and many workers including the Navy went

on strike

George an old naval man himself was able

to communicate with the sailors and end

the strike he also convinced the prime

minister not to resign but to form a

coalition government that could get

things done during the crisis in 1932

George gave the first Christmas speech

on the radio and has remained an annual

royal tradition ever since

on his deathbed at 70 his doctor was

horrified that the Kings impending death

might appear first in the vulgar evening

news so he gave the King a lethal

injection to ensure that he would make

the deadline for the more proper morning

edition Edward the eighth Edward was yet

another Hanoverian playboy who didn't

get along with his father he had many

affairs over the years but when the 32

year old came to the throne he was head

over heels for a married American Wallis

Simpson Wallace had already been

divorced once and wanted to divorce

again to marry the King the government

and the church in particular would not

stand for it

at that time divorce was not recognized

by the Church of England and Wallace was

not seen as an appropriate spouse for

the head of the church even worse than

her love life Wallace was also a Nazi

sympathizer and was sleeping with the

German ambassador Britton was on the

brink of war with the new German regime

and Wallace took Edward to Germany for a

friendly visit with Hitler

Edward was given the choice give up

Wallace or give up the crown he chose

the latter and announced his abdication

after only 11 months as king shocking

the nation he married Wallace and he

spent the rest of his life

aimless Slee wandering around the world

writing letters to the royal family

demanding a larger allowance and that

Wallace be called her Royal Highness

they refused

George the six after the application

Edwards brother was crowned George the

six he was a painfully shy man with a

stutter and had never expected to be

king but he saw it as his duty to serve

the people so he reluctantly stepped

into the role he was happily married to

the daughter of a minor Scottish noble

Elizabeth bowes-lyon making him the

first monarch to be married to a

commoner since Henry the eighth the

couple and their two daughters Elizabeth

and Margaret lived a quiet happy life

until they were thrust into the

spotlight right as Britain entered World

War Two the royal family remained in

London throughout the war even when

Buckingham Palace was long and they

narrowly escaped Princess Elizabeth

pitched in and worked as a driver and

mechanic for the Women's Auxiliary

George had a close relationship with

Prime Minister Winston Churchill and

became incredibly popular symbol of

British pride and courage the war ended

in 1945

George ruled another 7 years then died

suddenly of lung cancer at the age of 56

Elizabeth the second Elizabeth was in

Africa on a tour of the Commonwealth

when her father passed away and she

unexpectedly became Queen she was 25 the

same aides of her namesake took the

ground her youth and glamour were an

emblem of hope and a source of escapism

for Britain still recovering from the

devastating war her coronation was the

first to be televised and spurred

thousands to buy their first TV by her

side with her handsome husband Prince

Philip Philip was a member of the Greek

and Danish royal family but had become a

British citizen upon his engagement to

Elizabeth the two had been introduced by

Philips uncle Louis Mountbatten and when

they fell in love Louie was thrilled

that future generations of the British

family would bear the name Mountbatten

but it was decided that know the name of

the royal family would continue to be

Windsor Elizabeth famously bought her

wedding dress with war ration coupons in

fact she is very frugal despite her

millions of pounds

states and jewels she insist on eating

leftovers and having worn clothes

repaired

has been replaced Elizabeth and Philip

had four children Charles and Andrew and

Edward the eldest Charles was invested

as heir to the throne and Prince of

Wales in 1969 in the early 70s

Charles fell in love with a vivacious

young woman named Camilla when the pair

first met

Camilla introduced herself as the

great-granddaughter of Alice Keeble the

mistress of Charles's

great-great-grandfather Edward the

seventh the pair dated for several years

but it became clear that the royal

family was not accepting marriage

between the two Camilla was not from the

right sort of family seeing the

situation is hopeless

Camilla accepted a marriage proposal

from another young man but she and the

Prince couldn't keep away from each

other

they continued an on-off relationship

even as Charles married the woman

hand-picked for him Diana Spencer

Diana was demure and beautiful seen as a

fairytale princess but the public didn't

see the unhappiness in her marriage

until later on their honeymoon Charles

was more interested in reading than in

his new bride he tried to stay away from

canola at first but they were kindled

their affair and the Queen had very

little sympathy for her lonely

daughter-in-law

Diana became incredibly popular both for

her glamour and her charity work

particularly with victims of AIDS and

land mines

she was known as the people's princess

and the princess of heart so in 1992

when Charles and Diana divorce and the

unhappiness of their marriage was

exposed Charles and Camilla got to blame

that same year two of the Queen's other

children divorced and from Mark Spencer

and Andrew from Sarah her defense the

Queen called 1992 her honest horriblest

or horrible year because on top of all

the drama with her children her favorite

home and namesake

Windsor Castle caught fire and was

partially destroyed when it was

announced that the public would foot the

bill for the repairs the people were

outraged the Queen was already exempt

from paying tax

is on her massive fortune on top of that

she received millions of pounds a year

from the government many didn't and

still don't see the sense in public

funds going to a monarch the symbol of

an outdated system the queen finally

conceded that she would pay income tax

and pay allowances to minor Royals from

her own pocket in 1997 Diana died in a

car crash in Paris and the outpouring of

grief around the world was enormous but

was met with silence from the Queen

Charles reacted immediately with sadness

at the loss of the mother of his

children

but the Queen remained hidden for over a

week the people saw this as cold hearted

and out of touch Prime Minister Tony

Blair finally convinced her that she

needed to make a statement Queen

Elizabeth's reign had seen the British

Empire come into a modern era and that

includes the lost most of its

territories now part of the Commonwealth

or entirely independent nations she has

become the face of Britain around the

world and not just on stamps with the

jet age she's been able to visit dozens

of countries in person on state visits

as always the monarchy teeters between

popularity and ridicule Charles who will

be the next king assuming he outlived

his mother finally married his lifelong

love Camilla at least they are happy

because the public sentiment is mixed

Charles and Diana's eldest son and

probably future king william's married a

commoner Catherine Middleton and their

glamorous wedding and adorable children

have gone a long way to win back the

hearts of the public in 2013 just in

time for the birth of Will and Kate's

first child the new succession to the

crown Act was passed getting daughters

equal importance to sons in the line of

succession in 2015 Elizabeth surpassed

her great-great-grandmother Queen

Victoria's record and is now the longest

reigning monarch in English history it

remains to be seen what lies in store

for the future of the British monarchy

want to know more about what's in store

for the British royal family

check out my future of the British crown

series

thank you for watching

[Music]