All language subtitles for Royal History_s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley 2of3 George IV.srt - ave(2)

af Afrikaans
ak Akan
sq Albanian
am Amharic
ar Arabic
hy Armenian
az Azerbaijani
eu Basque
be Belarusian
bem Bemba
bn Bengali
bh Bihari
bs Bosnian
br Breton
bg Bulgarian
km Cambodian
ca Catalan
ceb Cebuano
chr Cherokee
ny Chichewa
zh-CN Chinese (Simplified)
zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)
co Corsican
hr Croatian
cs Czech
da Danish
nl Dutch
en English
eo Esperanto
et Estonian
ee Ewe
fo Faroese
tl Filipino
fi Finnish
fr French
fy Frisian
gaa Ga
gl Galician
ka Georgian
de German
el Greek
gn Guarani
gu Gujarati
ht Haitian Creole
ha Hausa
haw Hawaiian
iw Hebrew
hi Hindi
hmn Hmong
hu Hungarian
is Icelandic
ig Igbo
id Indonesian
ia Interlingua
ga Irish
it Italian
ja Japanese
jw Javanese
kn Kannada
kk Kazakh
rw Kinyarwanda
rn Kirundi
kg Kongo
ko Korean
kri Krio (Sierra Leone)
ku Kurdish
ckb Kurdish (Soranî)
ky Kyrgyz
lo Laothian
la Latin
lv Latvian
ln Lingala
lt Lithuanian
loz Lozi
lg Luganda
ach Luo
lb Luxembourgish
mk Macedonian
mg Malagasy
ms Malay
ml Malayalam
mt Maltese
mi Maori
mr Marathi
mfe Mauritian Creole
mo Moldavian
mn Mongolian
my Myanmar (Burmese)
sr-ME Montenegrin
ne Nepali
pcm Nigerian Pidgin
nso Northern Sotho
no Norwegian
nn Norwegian (Nynorsk)
oc Occitan
or Oriya
om Oromo
ps Pashto
fa Persian
pl Polish
pt-BR Portuguese (Brazil)
pt Portuguese (Portugal)
pa Punjabi
qu Quechua
ro Romanian
rm Romansh
nyn Runyakitara
ru Russian
sm Samoan
gd Scots Gaelic
sr Serbian
sh Serbo-Croatian
st Sesotho
tn Setswana
crs Seychellois Creole
sn Shona
sd Sindhi
si Sinhalese
sk Slovak
sl Slovenian
so Somali
es Spanish Download
es-419 Spanish (Latin American) Download
su Sundanese
sw Swahili
sv Swedish
tg Tajik
ta Tamil
tt Tatar
te Telugu
th Thai
ti Tigrinya
to Tonga
lua Tshiluba
tum Tumbuka
tr Turkish
tk Turkmen
tw Twi
ug Uighur
uk Ukrainian
ur Urdu
uz Uzbek
vi Vietnamese
cy Welsh
wo Wolof
xh Xhosa
yi Yiddish
yo Yoruba
zu Zulu
Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:02,024 --> 00:00:04,089 Royal history is at the heart of the stories 2 00:00:04,114 --> 00:00:06,478 we tell about the past. 3 00:00:06,503 --> 00:00:09,399 We often think it's definitive. 4 00:00:09,424 --> 00:00:12,089 Kings and queens, 5 00:00:12,114 --> 00:00:14,249 dates and facts, 6 00:00:14,274 --> 00:00:17,678 all unchanging and fixed forever. 7 00:00:19,474 --> 00:00:21,039 But it's not like that at all. 8 00:00:21,064 --> 00:00:24,119 History is a cacophony of voices, 9 00:00:24,144 --> 00:00:27,889 all of them competing to tell their own version of the story. 10 00:00:27,914 --> 00:00:30,449 And, when revolution's in the air, 11 00:00:30,474 --> 00:00:33,478 that competition gets really intense. 12 00:00:34,864 --> 00:00:37,199 In this series, I'm lifting the lid 13 00:00:37,224 --> 00:00:41,199 on three revolutionary moments in royal history. 14 00:00:42,194 --> 00:00:43,808 The French Revolution - 15 00:00:43,833 --> 00:00:48,678 Was it really a peasants' revolt or more of a bourgeois backlash? 16 00:00:51,024 --> 00:00:52,608 The Russian Revolution - 17 00:00:52,633 --> 00:00:55,959 Was it really a victory for Lenin and the Bolsheviks? 18 00:00:57,274 --> 00:01:01,319 And, in this episode, George IV and the Regency. 19 00:01:02,633 --> 00:01:05,319 When the madness of King George Ill 20 00:01:05,344 --> 00:01:08,889 forced him to hand power to his extravagant son. 21 00:01:10,114 --> 00:01:14,808 We think of the Regency as a genteel, well-ordered age, 22 00:01:14,833 --> 00:01:17,639 full of Jane Austen-type balls 23 00:01:17,664 --> 00:01:19,728 and beautiful architecture 24 00:01:19,753 --> 00:01:24,728 and gallant, red-coated officers thrashing Napoleon at Waterloo. 25 00:01:24,753 --> 00:01:27,759 But behind the facade of Georgian elegance 26 00:01:27,784 --> 00:01:32,558 was an age of rebellion, suppressed by fibs. 27 00:01:32,583 --> 00:01:36,889 Why was a British massacre airbrushed out of history? 28 00:01:36,914 --> 00:01:42,618 It becomes very dangerous to attack anyone connected to King George IV. 29 00:01:42,643 --> 00:01:46,269 Who really won the Battle of Waterloo? 30 00:01:49,324 --> 00:01:53,139 And was the United Kingdom as united as we think? 31 00:01:53,164 --> 00:01:58,339 It was the most astounding piece of propaganda in the 19th century. 32 00:01:58,364 --> 00:02:02,748 As the French Revolution inspired rebellion across Britain, 33 00:02:02,773 --> 00:02:06,269 the monarchy fought to stop a revolution at home. 34 00:02:07,643 --> 00:02:12,109 Maintaining royal power meant distorting the story, 35 00:02:12,134 --> 00:02:14,189 suppressing the story, 36 00:02:14,214 --> 00:02:17,979 sometimes even making the story up as you went along. 37 00:02:18,004 --> 00:02:21,939 So, what was really going on in the age of the Regency? 38 00:02:32,853 --> 00:02:36,828 In the 1780s, the British monarchy was in trouble. 39 00:02:37,964 --> 00:02:41,139 King George Ill had lost the American colonies 40 00:02:41,164 --> 00:02:44,139 in the Revolutionary War. 41 00:02:44,164 --> 00:02:48,828 Radical politicians were fighting to reduce the power of the Crown... 42 00:02:49,804 --> 00:02:52,549 ...and the Prince of Wales was using public money 43 00:02:52,574 --> 00:02:54,939 to go on a spending spree. 44 00:02:56,804 --> 00:02:59,339 He was partying and gambling, 45 00:02:59,364 --> 00:03:02,979 getting expensive renovations done to his grand London house, 46 00:03:03,004 --> 00:03:04,909 and he was thinking about buying 47 00:03:04,934 --> 00:03:07,859 an extravagant holiday house in Brighton as well. 48 00:03:07,884 --> 00:03:11,339 Very soon, the Prince of Wales had to ask Parliament 49 00:03:11,364 --> 00:03:14,549 for more money to clear his debts. 50 00:03:17,134 --> 00:03:20,139 But Parliament was fighting back. 51 00:03:20,164 --> 00:03:23,828 MPs were reluctant to give more money to Prince George, 52 00:03:23,853 --> 00:03:28,618 because of a royal scandal, which could stop him ever becoming King. 53 00:03:30,004 --> 00:03:33,498 A rumour was circulating in the press that the Prince of Wales 54 00:03:33,523 --> 00:03:37,219 had secretly married a Catholic, 55 00:03:37,244 --> 00:03:40,189 and this wasn't just a private matter. 56 00:03:44,934 --> 00:03:50,259 Angry MPs knew that if he really had secretly married a Catholic, 57 00:03:50,284 --> 00:03:53,659 he would've violated the Act of Settlement. 58 00:03:53,684 --> 00:03:56,939 The husband of a Catholic could never be king. 59 00:03:59,324 --> 00:04:01,549 MPs demanded to know if the prince 60 00:04:01,574 --> 00:04:03,939 had forfeited his right to the throne. 61 00:04:06,853 --> 00:04:10,549 Whig MP Charles James Fox, a close friend of the prince, 62 00:04:10,574 --> 00:04:13,259 stood up in Parliament to answer them. 63 00:04:15,773 --> 00:04:18,549 Fox said that this rumoured marriage, 64 00:04:18,574 --> 00:04:21,618 not only could never have happened legally, 65 00:04:21,643 --> 00:04:24,578 but in fact had never happened in any way whatsoever, 66 00:04:24,603 --> 00:04:28,189 and that to suggest otherwise was a malicious falsehood. 67 00:04:29,414 --> 00:04:31,498 But that wasn't quite true. 68 00:04:33,134 --> 00:04:37,498 In December 1785, the heir to the throne had indeed married 69 00:04:37,523 --> 00:04:40,139 Maria Fitzherbert, a Catholic. 70 00:04:42,324 --> 00:04:46,939 Caricatures were filled with images of the couple cavorting together. 71 00:04:49,494 --> 00:04:53,219 But marrying her was illegal on two counts, 72 00:04:53,244 --> 00:04:55,698 not only because his wife was Catholic, 73 00:04:55,723 --> 00:04:59,979 but also, the Prince couldn't marry without his father's permission. 74 00:05:01,603 --> 00:05:03,899 So, George had lied to Fox 75 00:05:03,924 --> 00:05:07,549 and told him that the marriage would never happen. 76 00:05:07,574 --> 00:05:10,828 And that's because George wasn't just the Prince of Wales, 77 00:05:10,853 --> 00:05:13,979 he was also the Prince of Fibs. 78 00:05:17,364 --> 00:05:21,779 George's lie helps keep the course of royal history right on track. 79 00:05:23,523 --> 00:05:27,828 The secret wedding was brushed aside as legally invalid, 80 00:05:27,853 --> 00:05:30,939 George could still one day be king. 81 00:05:32,214 --> 00:05:35,299 And this wouldn't be the only time royal fibs were used 82 00:05:35,324 --> 00:05:39,059 to cover up the truth in this volatile era. 83 00:05:47,964 --> 00:05:49,859 Three years after the secret wedding, 84 00:05:49,884 --> 00:05:53,549 another royal crisis would call for political spin. 85 00:05:55,393 --> 00:05:59,299 In November 1788, King George Ill was brought to Kew Palace 86 00:05:59,324 --> 00:06:03,939 to be treated for the first of several periods of mental illness. 87 00:06:05,674 --> 00:06:10,779 The madness of King George has come to define his place in history. 88 00:06:11,804 --> 00:06:18,259 George Ill is often remembered today as the "Mad King" who lost America. 89 00:06:18,284 --> 00:06:21,259 People have this idea of him as a weak king, 90 00:06:21,284 --> 00:06:26,389 volatile, running amok through the palace corridors, in his nightshirt. 91 00:06:26,414 --> 00:06:29,748 But to the people actually alive in the 18th century, 92 00:06:29,773 --> 00:06:31,748 it wasn't like that at all. 93 00:06:34,523 --> 00:06:37,389 George's subjects didn't see much of his madness 94 00:06:37,414 --> 00:06:40,828 and certainly not images of the King in freezing baths 95 00:06:40,853 --> 00:06:42,748 or straightjackets. 96 00:06:44,494 --> 00:06:47,339 In an age when print shop windows were full of cartoons, 97 00:06:47,364 --> 00:06:49,859 lampooning figures of authority, 98 00:06:49,884 --> 00:06:53,779 images of a mad King George are almost non-existent. 99 00:06:55,393 --> 00:06:58,029 The public's attention was being diverted 100 00:06:58,054 --> 00:07:00,189 to a different royal problem. 101 00:07:02,214 --> 00:07:05,649 This is the only known satirical print of King George Ill 102 00:07:05,674 --> 00:07:08,939 during the first period of his mental illness, 103 00:07:08,964 --> 00:07:11,828 and it's a sympathetic image. 104 00:07:11,853 --> 00:07:14,779 The poor guy's clearly suffering in his bed, 105 00:07:14,804 --> 00:07:19,059 unlike his son, who's bursting drunkenly in with his mates. 106 00:07:19,084 --> 00:07:21,389 And he's shouting out, "Damn me, 107 00:07:21,414 --> 00:07:24,419 "l'lljust see if the old fellow's dead or not". 108 00:07:24,444 --> 00:07:29,289 It's pretty clear that one of these two is out of control and dangerous, 109 00:07:29,314 --> 00:07:32,189 but it's not the King, it's the Prince. 110 00:07:36,723 --> 00:07:39,899 The King's son had been a target for the cartoonists 111 00:07:39,924 --> 00:07:42,578 for most of his adult life. 112 00:07:42,603 --> 00:07:47,139 The Prince of Wales' lies and his louche lifestyle 113 00:07:47,164 --> 00:07:49,698 made him an excellent subject of satire. 114 00:07:49,723 --> 00:07:52,498 He was excessive in everything, 115 00:07:52,523 --> 00:07:55,618 in women, in wine, in food, 116 00:07:55,643 --> 00:07:58,109 in clothes and in art, 117 00:07:58,134 --> 00:08:01,779 but this caricature image didn't leave much room for nuance. 118 00:08:03,244 --> 00:08:08,748 To supporters of King George Ill, the Prince was trouble. 119 00:08:08,773 --> 00:08:13,219 Young George seemed to stand for everything his father hated. 120 00:08:13,244 --> 00:08:17,578 A friend of the Whigs, while his father preferred the Tories. 121 00:08:17,603 --> 00:08:22,859 An exuberant spendthrift, while his father lived a quiet life. 122 00:08:22,884 --> 00:08:25,109 The lover of a Catholic, 123 00:08:25,134 --> 00:08:29,828 while his father felt duty-bound to defend the Protestant faith. 124 00:08:34,494 --> 00:08:37,779 And the King's mental illness now meant the Prince 125 00:08:37,804 --> 00:08:40,669 was an even bigger political problem. 126 00:08:42,054 --> 00:08:46,029 The Prince might now have to step up and rule in his father's place. 127 00:08:46,054 --> 00:08:48,498 In other words, a regency. 128 00:08:50,773 --> 00:08:53,469 And as regent, the Prince would have the right 129 00:08:53,494 --> 00:08:55,389 to dismiss the Tory government 130 00:08:55,414 --> 00:08:58,578 and hand power to his friends in the Whig Party. 131 00:09:00,694 --> 00:09:03,748 Worried Tories fought to avoid a regency 132 00:09:03,773 --> 00:09:08,219 and pro-Tory cartoons emphasised the Prince's character flaws. 133 00:09:10,084 --> 00:09:14,309 The political crisis helped cement the Prince's terrible reputation. 134 00:09:15,773 --> 00:09:19,469 But mental illness had a very different effect 135 00:09:19,494 --> 00:09:22,259 on King George lll's image. 136 00:09:22,284 --> 00:09:25,469 What's interesting is that you might think that his image takes, 137 00:09:25,494 --> 00:09:28,618 you know, takes a dive, or that his image suffers 138 00:09:28,643 --> 00:09:30,618 during this period of the original madness. 139 00:09:30,643 --> 00:09:33,748 But, actually, I think historians really think that in some ways, 140 00:09:33,773 --> 00:09:37,139 once he recovers, his image actually improves. 141 00:09:37,164 --> 00:09:40,289 Well, in the period before that first illness, you know, 142 00:09:40,314 --> 00:09:42,779 he's not in a particularly good position. 143 00:09:42,804 --> 00:09:44,389 He's lost the American colonies. 144 00:09:44,414 --> 00:09:46,289 People aren't particularly happy about that. 145 00:09:46,314 --> 00:09:48,899 And he's sort of struggled through the first period, 146 00:09:48,924 --> 00:09:53,029 the first decades of his reign, but after his illness, 147 00:09:53,054 --> 00:09:57,109 his reputation really actually surprisingly improves quite a bit. 148 00:09:57,134 --> 00:10:00,259 I think, for the British nation, for the British people, 149 00:10:00,284 --> 00:10:05,539 he is seen as ever more resolute and there is a sense of his recovery 150 00:10:05,564 --> 00:10:08,029 as being enormously symbolically important. 151 00:10:08,054 --> 00:10:09,979 He seems stronger. 152 00:10:10,004 --> 00:10:14,389 The popular perception of the King as dangerously out of control 153 00:10:14,414 --> 00:10:17,818 didn't really get going until the 20th century. 154 00:10:19,204 --> 00:10:23,109 The notion of "George is mad", in a sense, for me, 155 00:10:23,134 --> 00:10:25,259 all comes down to the American bicentennial, 156 00:10:25,284 --> 00:10:27,899 the 200th anniversary of American independence, 157 00:10:27,924 --> 00:10:30,219 which, in America, was a very big deal. 158 00:10:30,244 --> 00:10:33,818 This 1976 moment was very, very big and it brought around, 159 00:10:33,843 --> 00:10:36,419 brought about a reconsideration of George Ill. 160 00:10:36,444 --> 00:10:39,179 It also elevated him to American consciousness. 161 00:10:39,204 --> 00:10:41,779 Everything, from the way that children in elementary schools 162 00:10:41,804 --> 00:10:43,698 are taught about the American Revolution, 163 00:10:43,723 --> 00:10:46,669 to the way that there are popular film and television shows, 164 00:10:46,694 --> 00:10:48,029 you need an antagonist, 165 00:10:48,054 --> 00:10:50,339 and George Ill probably serves that purpose pretty well. 166 00:10:50,364 --> 00:10:52,339 So, by the time we get to the famous film 167 00:10:52,364 --> 00:10:54,979 about the madness of George Ill, the damage is done. 168 00:10:55,004 --> 00:10:58,568 Yes. George Ill is out of control. He's unable to rule. 169 00:10:58,593 --> 00:11:01,179 Yes. He is clearly the enemy of America. Yes, yes. 170 00:11:01,204 --> 00:11:04,309 The American Revolution needs the King to have been, 171 00:11:04,334 --> 00:11:07,029 you know, an unsympathetic figure. You need an enemy. 172 00:11:07,054 --> 00:11:08,389 You need an enemy. 173 00:11:08,414 --> 00:11:11,859 He was seen as this kind of antagonist to American liberty 174 00:11:11,884 --> 00:11:16,259 and also mad and also, you know, mentally unstable. 175 00:11:16,284 --> 00:11:19,568 And for Americans, that's very handy to have it both ways, isn't it? 176 00:11:22,723 --> 00:11:26,539 In February 1789, the King recovered 177 00:11:26,564 --> 00:11:29,489 and the political crisis was resolved. 178 00:11:30,803 --> 00:11:34,269 Doctors' concerns that it might be a recurring illness 179 00:11:34,294 --> 00:11:37,939 were hidden from the people. 180 00:11:37,964 --> 00:11:42,508 Galas, processions and a huge Thanksgiving service at St Paul's 181 00:11:42,533 --> 00:11:46,299 ensured the public knew that their King was well. 182 00:11:50,174 --> 00:11:53,469 MUSIC: British National Anthem 183 00:11:54,853 --> 00:11:58,039 This image of a strong and healthy King 184 00:11:58,064 --> 00:12:00,599 would soon become even more important, 185 00:12:00,624 --> 00:12:03,659 because just three months after the celebrations, 186 00:12:03,684 --> 00:12:07,119 the French would rise up against their monarchy 187 00:12:07,144 --> 00:12:09,429 and start their revolution. 188 00:12:13,603 --> 00:12:17,508 Across the Channel, the people sent their king to the guillotine. 189 00:12:18,574 --> 00:12:23,119 Rallying public support for the British monarch was now vital. 190 00:12:23,144 --> 00:12:27,939 French revolutionary ideas were spreading across Europe. 191 00:12:27,964 --> 00:12:34,039 And in 1793, Britain went to war with France to stop them. 192 00:12:34,064 --> 00:12:39,039 This was a fight to secure the system of monarchy across Europe, 193 00:12:39,064 --> 00:12:41,679 and George wanted a part in it. 194 00:12:42,964 --> 00:12:47,828 Again and again, he had himself painted in military uniform. 195 00:12:50,733 --> 00:12:56,149 These portraits presented the Prince of Wales as a gallant man of action, 196 00:12:56,174 --> 00:12:58,628 about to gallop away on his horse, 197 00:12:58,653 --> 00:13:03,149 or else leading his troops through the smoke of the battlefield. 198 00:13:05,603 --> 00:13:10,069 This was an era of military heroes, like Nelson and Wellington. 199 00:13:12,424 --> 00:13:15,429 And in these paintings, George was one of them. 200 00:13:16,603 --> 00:13:18,789 Except that he wasn't. 201 00:13:18,814 --> 00:13:21,989 George never actually went to a war, 202 00:13:22,014 --> 00:13:25,859 and the military version of the Prince of Wales is a fib. 203 00:13:28,934 --> 00:13:32,109 Why was George so keen on being presented as an action hero? 204 00:13:33,454 --> 00:13:37,708 I think George wanted desperately to be part of a tradition 205 00:13:37,733 --> 00:13:43,958 that had both military, royal and celebrity association. 206 00:13:43,983 --> 00:13:48,989 He absolutely wanted to be that person to lead his forces 207 00:13:49,014 --> 00:13:51,469 and soldiers, to stand up for the nation. 208 00:13:51,494 --> 00:13:55,319 And he couldn't, he wasn't allowed. He wasn't allowed to go, basically, 209 00:13:55,344 --> 00:13:58,219 because to be able to be the next King of England, 210 00:13:58,244 --> 00:14:00,219 his safety was paramount. 211 00:14:00,244 --> 00:14:03,149 But I think if we're really brutally honest about it, 212 00:14:03,174 --> 00:14:06,149 he quite liked the military dress as well. 213 00:14:06,174 --> 00:14:09,508 And I think he also saw that celebrities of the time 214 00:14:09,533 --> 00:14:11,789 were often people who were returned, 215 00:14:11,814 --> 00:14:13,859 fresh from the battlefields, 216 00:14:13,884 --> 00:14:17,019 and he wanted a little bit of that public glamour as well. 217 00:14:17,044 --> 00:14:21,049 Who would see all these pictures of the Prince of Wales? 218 00:14:21,074 --> 00:14:24,159 Well, many of these pictures would have been on the walls 219 00:14:24,184 --> 00:14:28,229 of the Royal Academy, in the famous summer exhibition 220 00:14:28,254 --> 00:14:31,518 and it was somewhere that certainly, annually, 221 00:14:31,543 --> 00:14:35,799 had THE most popular exhibition in London town. 222 00:14:35,824 --> 00:14:38,999 And, in a way, I think that was the chance for George 223 00:14:39,024 --> 00:14:41,968 to engage with some of the things on the walls of the academy 224 00:14:41,993 --> 00:14:44,439 that he couldn't do in real life. 225 00:14:45,663 --> 00:14:48,689 As British troops fought against the French republic, 226 00:14:48,714 --> 00:14:51,919 these military paintings could strengthen the image 227 00:14:51,944 --> 00:14:53,508 of monarchy at home. 228 00:14:54,714 --> 00:14:57,559 He looks to the events of Revolutionary France 229 00:14:57,584 --> 00:15:01,799 with real horror and real concern for those involved, 230 00:15:01,824 --> 00:15:05,439 but also with a real sense that Britain still needs 231 00:15:05,464 --> 00:15:09,838 to express monarchy in a way that feels grand, 232 00:15:09,863 --> 00:15:12,949 and that inspires kind of awe. 233 00:15:12,974 --> 00:15:16,718 And I think it's making sure that in an age where people were far less 234 00:15:16,743 --> 00:15:19,799 frequently exposed to images of monarchy, 235 00:15:19,824 --> 00:15:24,971 there were at least ways that images could be seen by the public 236 00:15:24,996 --> 00:15:28,301 and they could really engage with that image. 237 00:15:28,326 --> 00:15:31,560 Very few people would be likely to see him in real life. 238 00:15:31,585 --> 00:15:35,171 So, if there was a gap between the image and the reality, 239 00:15:35,196 --> 00:15:37,131 most people just wouldn't be aware. 240 00:15:37,156 --> 00:15:38,921 Yeah, that's right. They wouldn't. 241 00:15:40,176 --> 00:15:43,810 In an age of revolution, the monarchy needed stability. 242 00:15:45,585 --> 00:15:48,331 Since his illegal wedding, the Playboy Prince 243 00:15:48,356 --> 00:15:50,891 had enjoyed other affairs. 244 00:15:50,916 --> 00:15:54,251 Now, he was to marry his Protestant cousin, 245 00:15:54,276 --> 00:15:58,171 Caroline of Brunswick, and produce an heir. 246 00:15:58,196 --> 00:16:01,381 Pictures painted this like a Jane Austen romance. 247 00:16:02,505 --> 00:16:04,411 But that's nonsense. 248 00:16:06,606 --> 00:16:10,581 This was the opposite of a fairy-tale royal wedding. 249 00:16:10,606 --> 00:16:13,251 When they met in the flesh, Caroline said, 250 00:16:13,276 --> 00:16:16,661 "Blimey, he wasn't that fat in his portrait!" 251 00:16:16,686 --> 00:16:20,331 And George said, "Look at her, I need brandy". 252 00:16:20,356 --> 00:16:23,381 They somehow stumbled through their marriage vows 253 00:16:23,406 --> 00:16:28,480 and then he spent the wedding night drunkenly asleep in the fireplace. 254 00:16:30,996 --> 00:16:34,451 Caroline and George stayed together just long enough 255 00:16:34,476 --> 00:16:36,121 to produce a daughter. 256 00:16:36,146 --> 00:16:38,690 After that, they lived apart. 257 00:16:40,326 --> 00:16:44,221 George would soon accuse Caroline of infidelity, 258 00:16:44,246 --> 00:16:46,661 and eventually, she left the country. 259 00:16:50,326 --> 00:16:54,051 But Britain hadn't seen the last of Caroline of Brunswick. 260 00:16:59,246 --> 00:17:01,371 While the Georgians tried to secure 261 00:17:01,396 --> 00:17:03,411 the future of the monarchy in Britain, 262 00:17:03,436 --> 00:17:06,121 a military hero was setting himself up 263 00:17:06,146 --> 00:17:09,251 as the alternative to monarchy in France. 264 00:17:10,866 --> 00:17:15,301 In 1804, 11 years after the execution of Louis XVI, 265 00:17:15,326 --> 00:17:18,810 Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor... 266 00:17:20,276 --> 00:17:24,251 ...and he, too, was using fibs to solidify his power. 267 00:17:25,796 --> 00:17:31,810 Napoleon's coronation was really the Napoleon propaganda spectacular. 268 00:17:31,835 --> 00:17:35,610 The whole thing was designed to legitimise his power. 269 00:17:35,635 --> 00:17:38,251 In this painting he commissioned of the event, 270 00:17:38,276 --> 00:17:40,411 he hasn't been afraid to ask for a few little 271 00:17:40,436 --> 00:17:43,021 tweaked improvements to reality. 272 00:17:44,585 --> 00:17:47,051 The artist originally painted the Pope 273 00:17:47,076 --> 00:17:48,921 with his hands on his knees, 274 00:17:48,946 --> 00:17:53,251 but he was told to show him blessing the coronation instead. 275 00:17:54,715 --> 00:17:58,121 Also the proportions of the church have been shrunk, 276 00:17:58,146 --> 00:18:02,891 and that was to make Napoleon look bigger. 277 00:18:02,916 --> 00:18:05,371 The French Revolution was an inspiration 278 00:18:05,396 --> 00:18:08,480 to radicals in Georgian Britain. 279 00:18:08,505 --> 00:18:12,730 Progressive politicians were now calling for electoral reform 280 00:18:12,755 --> 00:18:15,371 to give more British people a voice. 281 00:18:16,996 --> 00:18:20,451 Reformers said that the diadem of Napoleon 282 00:18:20,476 --> 00:18:24,730 was dimming the lustre of all the ancient crowns of Europe, 283 00:18:24,755 --> 00:18:26,171 and that, in Britain, 284 00:18:26,196 --> 00:18:29,971 the King was losing his hold upon the affections of his people. 285 00:18:29,996 --> 00:18:35,091 But he was also, once again, losing his hold upon his mind. 286 00:18:37,036 --> 00:18:40,531 In 1811, at the age of 48, 287 00:18:40,556 --> 00:18:45,251 the Prince of Wales finally became Prince Regent. 288 00:18:45,276 --> 00:18:49,251 George now presented himself as Napoleon's nemesis. 289 00:18:50,755 --> 00:18:52,891 Napoleon had redesigned Paris 290 00:18:52,916 --> 00:18:54,331 with a grand boulevard 291 00:18:54,356 --> 00:18:58,301 and triumphal arches to celebrate his military victories. 292 00:18:59,996 --> 00:19:05,581 George hopes to eclipse Napoleon with his own elegant boulevard, 293 00:19:05,606 --> 00:19:08,091 London's Regent Street. 294 00:19:10,036 --> 00:19:12,891 But it would take a battle, not architecture, 295 00:19:12,916 --> 00:19:16,940 to cut Napoleon's empire down to size. 296 00:19:21,686 --> 00:19:26,051 Waterloo has gone down in history as a great British victory, 297 00:19:26,076 --> 00:19:31,301 won by British troops, and it's given its name to a railway station, 298 00:19:31,326 --> 00:19:35,661 to a bridge, and to one of London's poshest streets. 299 00:19:35,686 --> 00:19:39,891 But this story of Waterloo as a distinctly British victory 300 00:19:39,916 --> 00:19:42,371 is a distortion of the truth. 301 00:19:45,436 --> 00:19:48,301 It's true that the troops at the Battle of Waterloo 302 00:19:48,326 --> 00:19:50,451 were led by the Duke of Wellington. 303 00:19:51,996 --> 00:19:54,761 But he led an allied army. 304 00:19:54,786 --> 00:19:59,331 Only around a third of Wellington's troops were British. 305 00:19:59,356 --> 00:20:02,730 The rest were Dutch, Belgian and Hanoverian. 306 00:20:04,276 --> 00:20:06,940 And in the decisive hours of the battle, 307 00:20:06,965 --> 00:20:09,971 Wellington's 68,000 allied troops 308 00:20:09,996 --> 00:20:14,251 were joined by 48,000 Prussians. 309 00:20:14,276 --> 00:20:18,091 Most of the soldiers who defeated Napoleon were German! 310 00:20:21,146 --> 00:20:24,971 So, how has it come to be remembered as this British victory? 311 00:20:26,505 --> 00:20:30,301 The spin started on the night after the battle 312 00:20:30,326 --> 00:20:34,451 when Wellington wrote the first definitive description of Waterloo. 313 00:20:36,606 --> 00:20:38,581 The Prince Regent was dining at a house, 314 00:20:38,606 --> 00:20:40,730 here, in St james's Square in London, 315 00:20:40,755 --> 00:20:43,301 when Wellington's dispatch reached him. 316 00:20:44,426 --> 00:20:46,531 In his report from the battlefield, 317 00:20:46,556 --> 00:20:49,971 Wellington graciously acknowledges the Prussians. 318 00:20:49,996 --> 00:20:53,690 He says that they gave cordial and timely assistance. 319 00:20:53,715 --> 00:20:56,761 But even this first dispatch helps make it sound 320 00:20:56,786 --> 00:20:58,761 like a British victory. 321 00:21:00,476 --> 00:21:04,171 Wellington's report gave the battle its name. 322 00:21:06,755 --> 00:21:09,301 The Prussian General Blucher wanted to call it 323 00:21:09,326 --> 00:21:14,371 the Battle of Belle Alliance, a nod to the allied victory. 324 00:21:16,715 --> 00:21:19,371 But Wellington wrote his victorious dispatch 325 00:21:19,396 --> 00:21:22,610 from a village three miles from the battlefield... 326 00:21:22,635 --> 00:21:24,371 ...called Waterloo. 327 00:21:28,226 --> 00:21:31,251 Very soon, Parliament was adding its weight 328 00:21:31,276 --> 00:21:33,581 to the British version of the story. 329 00:21:35,715 --> 00:21:37,841 Within a few clays of the victory, 330 00:21:37,866 --> 00:21:40,011 the Foreign Secretary, Lord Castlereagh, 331 00:21:40,036 --> 00:21:42,730 also acknowledged the assistance of the Prussians, 332 00:21:42,755 --> 00:21:46,480 but he went on to say that this was a triumph of British arms 333 00:21:46,505 --> 00:21:51,371 and that it exulted the military glory of the British nation. 334 00:21:54,916 --> 00:21:58,011 Politicians knew that taking credit for the victory 335 00:21:58,036 --> 00:22:02,011 would enhance Britain's power and authority in Europe. 336 00:22:03,635 --> 00:22:07,221 And soon, alternatives to the great British narrative 337 00:22:07,246 --> 00:22:08,891 were being silenced. 338 00:22:10,835 --> 00:22:14,581 In 1830, the Army commissioned cartographer 339 00:22:14,606 --> 00:22:18,730 Lieutenant William Siborne to make a model of Waterloo. 340 00:22:20,606 --> 00:22:24,251 Siborne spent eight months surveying the battlefield. 341 00:22:25,676 --> 00:22:28,221 To position his tiny soldiers, 342 00:22:28,246 --> 00:22:31,221 he wrote to hundreds of Waterloo veterans, 343 00:22:31,246 --> 00:22:33,201 asking them where they were 344 00:22:33,226 --> 00:22:36,531 at around 7pm on the night of the battle. 345 00:22:38,965 --> 00:22:40,730 When it came to making his model, 346 00:22:40,755 --> 00:22:42,651 was accuracy important to Mr Siborne? 347 00:22:42,676 --> 00:22:45,121 We have a letter in the collection where he actually says, 348 00:22:45,146 --> 00:22:47,891 "All I want is the truth and I'm going to..." 349 00:22:47,916 --> 00:22:50,531 The truth? Yes. That's a big thing to aim for. 350 00:22:50,556 --> 00:22:52,201 Absolutely. Yes. 351 00:22:52,226 --> 00:22:54,940 So, he definitely was... He was very meticulous. 352 00:22:55,996 --> 00:23:00,371 Siborne's research suggested that the role of the Prussians 353 00:23:00,396 --> 00:23:03,480 had been more important than the British had made out. 354 00:23:04,556 --> 00:23:07,480 Partway through the project, he lost his funding. 355 00:23:09,556 --> 00:23:11,690 During the project, 356 00:23:11,715 --> 00:23:16,331 he managed to make an enemy of Wellington, or that's how it seems. 357 00:23:16,356 --> 00:23:22,401 So, losing Wellington's favour actually made it impossible for him 358 00:23:22,426 --> 00:23:26,810 to get any government money to finance the project. 359 00:23:26,835 --> 00:23:29,841 Why? Why would the Duke of Wellington not want there to be 360 00:23:29,866 --> 00:23:32,730 a model of the Battle of Waterloo? You'd think he'd love it. 361 00:23:32,755 --> 00:23:36,730 Yeah, you would, but it seems like he was not particularly pleased 362 00:23:36,755 --> 00:23:39,221 with the prominence that he thought was given 363 00:23:39,246 --> 00:23:40,971 to the Prussian troops on the model. 364 00:23:40,996 --> 00:23:44,680 So, there were slight hints for a long period that, unfortunately, 365 00:23:44,705 --> 00:23:49,891 Siborne didn't get, about the fact that Wellington was not that happy, 366 00:23:49,916 --> 00:23:55,251 and by the time he realised that the Prussians were probably an issue, 367 00:23:55,276 --> 00:23:59,651 he made public that he would be happy 368 00:23:59,676 --> 00:24:03,331 to remove the Prussians and go with what Wellington thought was correct. 369 00:24:03,356 --> 00:24:05,581 It was a little bit too late and Wellington, 370 00:24:05,606 --> 00:24:07,841 I mean, he had lost interest. 371 00:24:07,866 --> 00:24:10,651 So, do you personally think that there might be 372 00:24:10,676 --> 00:24:13,221 a few Prussians missing here? 373 00:24:13,246 --> 00:24:18,011 There should be a few more appearing here. 374 00:24:18,036 --> 00:24:22,401 There aren't that many left, but there are certain documents 375 00:24:22,426 --> 00:24:26,971 that suggest that he removed some of the Prussians 376 00:24:26,996 --> 00:24:28,581 from the battlefield. 377 00:24:31,916 --> 00:24:34,610 Britain was determined to claim Waterloo as its own, 378 00:24:34,635 --> 00:24:38,610 but the real victor appeared to be monarchy itself. 379 00:24:40,885 --> 00:24:45,680 With Napoleon defeated, the French monarchy was restored. 380 00:24:45,705 --> 00:24:49,171 The ideals of the French Revolution had been crushed. 381 00:24:51,116 --> 00:24:54,371 But in Britain, revolutionary ideas didn't go away. 382 00:24:57,596 --> 00:24:59,480 In the aftermath of Waterloo, 383 00:24:59,505 --> 00:25:02,041 two very different pictures of Regency life 384 00:25:02,066 --> 00:25:04,041 were starting to appear. 385 00:25:06,246 --> 00:25:10,610 One was a nation of gallant heroes and a victorious Prince Regent, 386 00:25:10,635 --> 00:25:14,041 splashing cash on extravagant royal palaces. 387 00:25:15,526 --> 00:25:18,221 The other was less glorious. 388 00:25:18,246 --> 00:25:21,810 Soldiers returning from war faced mass unemployment, 389 00:25:21,835 --> 00:25:25,930 soaring food costs and a thirst for democracy. 390 00:25:30,426 --> 00:25:34,730 Fewer than 2% of the people in Regency Britain had the vote. 391 00:25:35,885 --> 00:25:38,221 The people wanted a voice 392 00:25:38,246 --> 00:25:42,680 and there were ever louder calls to extend the franchise. 393 00:25:42,705 --> 00:25:46,291 The Regent and his government feared revolution. 394 00:25:47,346 --> 00:25:50,041 On August 16th, 1819, 395 00:25:50,066 --> 00:25:55,371 60,000 men, women and children came flooding through here 396 00:25:55,396 --> 00:25:59,651 towards what was then St Peter's Field in Manchester. 397 00:25:59,676 --> 00:26:02,321 They'd come to attend a huge protest rally 398 00:26:02,346 --> 00:26:07,041 and to hear the exciting, celebrated orator, Henry Hunt. 399 00:26:09,146 --> 00:26:14,041 The authorities were determined to stamp out any hint of revolution, 400 00:26:14,066 --> 00:26:17,241 so they told a lie. 401 00:26:17,266 --> 00:26:21,880 They said the crowd was armed, violent and riotous. 402 00:26:21,905 --> 00:26:24,750 In fact, the crowd were keen that this should come across 403 00:26:24,775 --> 00:26:28,311 as a patriotic and a peaceful occasion. 404 00:26:28,336 --> 00:26:31,421 A lot of the women in the crowd were wearing white dresses, 405 00:26:31,446 --> 00:26:32,880 the colour of peace, 406 00:26:32,905 --> 00:26:36,311 and the protesters even sang God Save The King. 407 00:26:36,336 --> 00:26:41,981 MUSIC: British National Anthem 408 00:26:47,696 --> 00:26:51,671 Magistrates gave the order to arrest the speaker, Henry Hunt. 409 00:26:52,905 --> 00:26:57,591 The local militia charged in on horseback, brandishing sabres. 410 00:26:59,616 --> 00:27:04,551 Up to 700 people were injured, 18 were killed, 411 00:27:04,576 --> 00:27:07,341 including a two-year-old child. 412 00:27:08,725 --> 00:27:12,630 It became known as the Peterloo Massacre. 413 00:27:17,056 --> 00:27:21,031 After 20 minutes of bloodshed, a new battle began. 414 00:27:21,056 --> 00:27:25,141 The battle to control the story of what had happened. 415 00:27:26,855 --> 00:27:30,031 Officials continued to claim the militia were provoked, 416 00:27:30,056 --> 00:27:32,500 by an armed and dangerous crowd. 417 00:27:33,655 --> 00:27:36,521 In the People's History Museum, in Manchester, 418 00:27:36,546 --> 00:27:40,750 is a walking stick that belonged to one of the protesters. 419 00:27:40,775 --> 00:27:44,671 The magistrates were desperate to find weapons in this crowd. 420 00:27:44,696 --> 00:27:48,981 They believe that this was a violent mob intent on revolution, really. 421 00:27:49,006 --> 00:27:52,311 And an object like this would have been the perfect evidence 422 00:27:52,336 --> 00:27:55,031 that this was actually a violent crowd. 423 00:27:55,056 --> 00:27:59,031 So, after Peterloo, you can see an inscription written on it. 424 00:27:59,056 --> 00:28:02,341 "L was one of the dreadful bludgeons, 425 00:28:02,366 --> 00:28:07,311 "seen on the fields of Peterloo". 426 00:28:07,336 --> 00:28:11,271 There's Peterloo in the capital letters there. Yep. 427 00:28:11,296 --> 00:28:15,271 So, this is somebody being a bit ironic. This ordinary walking stick. 428 00:28:15,296 --> 00:28:17,981 Yeah, it's a kind of mocking reference to the fact 429 00:28:18,006 --> 00:28:20,061 that the government is saying this is a violent... 430 00:28:20,086 --> 00:28:21,521 A dreadful bludgeon. Yeah. 431 00:28:21,546 --> 00:28:23,671 I mean, clearly this is not a violent weapon, 432 00:28:23,696 --> 00:28:26,950 and it shows the really contested nature of this history, 433 00:28:26,975 --> 00:28:29,421 even in the months after Peterloo, 434 00:28:29,446 --> 00:28:31,421 that people are fighting over the meaning. 435 00:28:31,446 --> 00:28:35,671 What would Prince George himself say to us had happened? 436 00:28:35,696 --> 00:28:38,391 He's briefed by the military and by the government 437 00:28:38,416 --> 00:28:42,471 on what's happened, and he formally sends his thanks 438 00:28:42,496 --> 00:28:45,781 to the Yeomanry and to those who have crushed 439 00:28:45,806 --> 00:28:47,551 the demonstration at Peterloo. 440 00:28:47,576 --> 00:28:50,341 To us, the Prince Regent appears open to criticism. 441 00:28:50,366 --> 00:28:52,671 Did anybody criticise him at the time? 442 00:28:52,696 --> 00:28:57,161 Well, people did. So, in 1820, a radical newspaper 443 00:28:57,186 --> 00:29:03,391 writes that George is a flippant, callous leader, really, 444 00:29:03,416 --> 00:29:05,471 and these words become very dangerous. 445 00:29:05,496 --> 00:29:08,311 Actually, a shopkeeper, who sells this newspaper, 446 00:29:08,336 --> 00:29:11,830 goes to prison for selling these seditious words. 447 00:29:11,855 --> 00:29:13,981 The government brings in the Six Acts, 448 00:29:14,006 --> 00:29:18,700 so it becomes illegal to meet and to protest against the government. 449 00:29:18,725 --> 00:29:21,421 The radical newspapers, they're clamped down on, 450 00:29:21,446 --> 00:29:22,950 so the taxes are raised 451 00:29:22,975 --> 00:29:26,391 and the story of Peterloo goes underground, really. 452 00:29:26,416 --> 00:29:29,521 Anyone who tries to talk about what they've witnessed 453 00:29:29,546 --> 00:29:31,750 or what they've experienced at Peterloo 454 00:29:31,775 --> 00:29:34,551 really has the threat of imprisonment. 455 00:29:34,576 --> 00:29:37,231 We're veering towards a totalitarian state, then, 456 00:29:37,256 --> 00:29:40,031 when you cannot publish or even speak criticism. 457 00:29:40,056 --> 00:29:42,391 Yeah, I mean there's a huge clamp down on anyone 458 00:29:42,416 --> 00:29:44,620 who dares to speak out against the monarchy 459 00:29:44,645 --> 00:29:47,391 and those who supported the massacre. 460 00:29:47,416 --> 00:29:50,191 What do you think the authorities were trying to achieve 461 00:29:50,216 --> 00:29:54,341 by all of this censoring, silencing of the story? 462 00:29:54,366 --> 00:29:57,750 Well, the authorities were panicking at the idea of revolution, 463 00:29:57,775 --> 00:30:01,161 that the revolution in France, which was still in living memory, 464 00:30:01,186 --> 00:30:02,830 might spread to Britain, 465 00:30:02,855 --> 00:30:06,671 and so they hoped with these very authoritarian laws 466 00:30:06,696 --> 00:30:09,950 that they might stop that spread of revolution, 467 00:30:09,975 --> 00:30:13,341 and so there was a desperate attempt to stop any real reforms 468 00:30:13,366 --> 00:30:16,870 being given to ordinary people. 469 00:30:16,895 --> 00:30:19,620 Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley 470 00:30:19,645 --> 00:30:23,911 responded to Peterloo with The Masque of Anarchy. 471 00:30:25,855 --> 00:30:29,830 His poem called for the masses to rise like lions 472 00:30:29,855 --> 00:30:32,950 against the ruling elite of Regency Britain. 473 00:30:32,975 --> 00:30:34,471 He told the people to... 474 00:30:34,496 --> 00:30:37,671 Shake your chains to earth like dew 475 00:30:37,696 --> 00:30:41,031 Which in sleep had fallen on you 476 00:30:41,056 --> 00:30:45,231 Ye are many - they are few! 477 00:30:45,256 --> 00:30:48,750 But Shelley couldn't find a publisher in his lifetime. 478 00:30:48,775 --> 00:30:51,591 They were all too afraid to print it. 479 00:30:54,975 --> 00:30:58,111 To maintain power, monarchy and parliament 480 00:30:58,136 --> 00:31:01,231 had silenced the story of Peterloo. 481 00:31:02,696 --> 00:31:05,391 For the voice of the people to be heard, 482 00:31:05,416 --> 00:31:09,830 Reformers would now start spinning their own fibs. 483 00:31:11,136 --> 00:31:16,911 On January 29th, 1820, King George Ill died. 484 00:31:16,936 --> 00:31:19,620 After nine years of his Regency, 485 00:31:19,645 --> 00:31:23,801 the Prince could finally become King George IV. 486 00:31:29,336 --> 00:31:32,311 This is a whole lot of commemorative cups and plates, 487 00:31:32,336 --> 00:31:34,950 the sort of thing that's familiar from royal weddings, 488 00:31:34,975 --> 00:31:37,750 jubilees, that sort of thing. 489 00:31:37,775 --> 00:31:42,031 But these genteel royal knick-knacks are not what they seem. 490 00:31:42,056 --> 00:31:46,830 Each one of these represents a slap in the face to King George IV 491 00:31:46,855 --> 00:31:50,801 because this lot celebrate the woman he didn't want to be Queen. 492 00:31:52,256 --> 00:31:55,421 At the hint of a coronation, George's wife, Caroline, 493 00:31:55,446 --> 00:31:59,511 returned from Europe, determined to take her place as Queen. 494 00:32:02,496 --> 00:32:04,591 George was having none of it. 495 00:32:04,616 --> 00:32:08,341 He wanted a divorce but if he tried to get one, 496 00:32:08,366 --> 00:32:10,591 he might open himself up to criticism 497 00:32:10,616 --> 00:32:12,671 for the mistresses that he'd had. 498 00:32:13,725 --> 00:32:19,471 So, George decided to bring his case against Caroline before Parliament. 499 00:32:20,806 --> 00:32:23,191 Politicians, rather than a court, 500 00:32:23,216 --> 00:32:26,721 should decide if Caroline was guilty of adultery. 501 00:32:29,056 --> 00:32:32,671 This was effectively trial by Parliament. 502 00:32:32,696 --> 00:32:35,591 If Caroline wanted to be Queen, she'd have to put up 503 00:32:35,616 --> 00:32:39,830 with her sex life being trotted out and picked over 504 00:32:39,855 --> 00:32:41,981 in front of the entire nation. 505 00:32:43,775 --> 00:32:47,111 Witnesses told tales of debauchery, 506 00:32:47,136 --> 00:32:52,471 stained bedsheets and a bath shared with an Italian lover. 507 00:32:53,536 --> 00:32:57,471 But Caroline thought of a way of getting the upper hand. 508 00:32:57,496 --> 00:32:58,981 Ooh, thanks. 509 00:32:59,006 --> 00:33:01,471 By telling just a little lie, 510 00:33:01,496 --> 00:33:06,950 she could reposition herself as the people's radical Queen. 511 00:33:10,006 --> 00:33:12,700 Caroline was no political radical, 512 00:33:12,725 --> 00:33:15,781 but she did want revenge on her husband. 513 00:33:17,256 --> 00:33:22,830 So she made an alliance with the people fighting for the vote. 514 00:33:22,855 --> 00:33:26,750 During her trial, the radicals used the press and caricatures 515 00:33:26,775 --> 00:33:32,151 to spin Caroline into the figurehead for a wronged people. 516 00:33:32,176 --> 00:33:37,311 Tradesmen, shopkeepers and women's groups signed petitions of support. 517 00:33:39,336 --> 00:33:43,441 And Caroline's radical allies scripted replies in her name 518 00:33:43,466 --> 00:33:45,781 to fans across the country. 519 00:33:48,136 --> 00:33:50,341 To her supporters in Sunderland, 520 00:33:50,366 --> 00:33:54,311 Caroline said, "If the highest subjects in the land 521 00:33:54,336 --> 00:34:00,261 "can be divorced, dethroned, debased by an arbitrary power, 522 00:34:00,286 --> 00:34:02,671 "then the constitutional liberty 523 00:34:02,696 --> 00:34:05,830 "of the kingdom will be shaken to its base." 524 00:34:05,855 --> 00:34:08,341 The newspapers loved her. 525 00:34:08,366 --> 00:34:11,791 They called her the French revolutionary leader. 526 00:34:13,086 --> 00:34:15,791 Caroline's lawyer soon warned MPs 527 00:34:15,816 --> 00:34:18,261 that to save themselves and the Crown, 528 00:34:18,286 --> 00:34:20,591 they must find her innocent. 529 00:34:21,645 --> 00:34:25,341 So, every day that she goes down for the trial, 530 00:34:25,366 --> 00:34:29,031 there is a - what the government refers to as - mob 531 00:34:29,056 --> 00:34:31,591 waiting to roar support. 532 00:34:31,616 --> 00:34:34,620 It's an extraordinary time. 533 00:34:34,645 --> 00:34:39,620 It sounds like an unholy alliance between Caroline and the radicals. 534 00:34:39,645 --> 00:34:42,511 Why did the radicals want to help Queen Caroline? 535 00:34:42,536 --> 00:34:47,591 The radicals are certainly... 536 00:34:47,616 --> 00:34:53,721 ...seeing an opportunity coming after Peterloo, 537 00:34:53,746 --> 00:34:57,791 and then these coercive acts, 538 00:34:57,816 --> 00:35:00,191 following that by the government. 539 00:35:00,216 --> 00:35:03,151 By focusing on the Queen, 540 00:35:03,176 --> 00:35:07,671 they can attack the King and the government, 541 00:35:07,696 --> 00:35:09,950 but they're not criticising 542 00:35:09,975 --> 00:35:13,391 or saying anything seditious or treasonable, 543 00:35:13,416 --> 00:35:16,261 because they're saying the Queen is a wronged woman. 544 00:35:16,286 --> 00:35:20,620 So, a cheer for Queen Caroline is secretly a boo for the King, 545 00:35:20,645 --> 00:35:23,031 and for the Tory government. Absolutely. 546 00:35:23,056 --> 00:35:27,850 And an unspoken wish that the franchise could be extended. Yeah. 547 00:35:27,875 --> 00:35:31,251 Fear of revolution helped to sway Parliament's decision 548 00:35:31,276 --> 00:35:33,331 to abandon the trial. 549 00:35:35,196 --> 00:35:38,331 George's coronation could finally go ahead. 550 00:35:44,026 --> 00:35:48,100 In July 1821, George IV processed through the streets 551 00:35:48,125 --> 00:35:50,890 to Westminster Abbey. 552 00:35:50,915 --> 00:35:53,561 King George hopes that he could use his coronation 553 00:35:53,586 --> 00:35:57,001 to stabilise the monarchy and outshine Napoleon 554 00:35:57,026 --> 00:35:59,201 as a truly regal leader. 555 00:36:00,915 --> 00:36:03,970 But it didn't go entirely elegantly. 556 00:36:03,995 --> 00:36:07,491 There were complaints about the horrendous cost of it all, 557 00:36:07,516 --> 00:36:09,331 and there was an uninvited guest. 558 00:36:09,356 --> 00:36:12,531 Caroline turned up and she was banging on the door of the abbey, 559 00:36:12,556 --> 00:36:15,970 demanding to be let in, as Queen of England. 560 00:36:15,995 --> 00:36:20,451 But she was kept out and had to slink away humiliated. 561 00:36:22,795 --> 00:36:25,451 Once again, George would turn to art 562 00:36:25,476 --> 00:36:28,331 to tell his version of royal history. 563 00:36:33,795 --> 00:36:37,890 So, Kathryn, this is George's big moment, he's finally become King. 564 00:36:37,915 --> 00:36:41,640 What's he trying to express through this coronation portrait? 565 00:36:41,665 --> 00:36:45,171 Obviously, there's been huge political turmoil. 566 00:36:45,196 --> 00:36:46,921 There's been military turmoil in Britain. 567 00:36:46,946 --> 00:36:49,691 So, this is the moment where he can present himself 568 00:36:49,716 --> 00:36:52,081 in this magnificent way to his people 569 00:36:52,106 --> 00:36:56,131 and show them, here we are, monarchy is still strong. 570 00:36:56,156 --> 00:36:57,491 Monarchy is back! 571 00:36:57,516 --> 00:36:59,970 It summarises monarchy in every way you can think of, really. 572 00:36:59,995 --> 00:37:03,411 All that gold, the diamonds, everything is showing. 573 00:37:03,436 --> 00:37:05,441 And even just his pose. 574 00:37:05,466 --> 00:37:08,640 He appears in this portrait to be this towering figure. 575 00:37:08,665 --> 00:37:10,811 I don't think he was more than 5'7", 576 00:37:10,836 --> 00:37:14,640 but Lawrence makes him into this great majestic figure. 577 00:37:14,665 --> 00:37:17,611 You can see this great swagger of monarchy. 578 00:37:17,636 --> 00:37:20,890 So, it's not a portrait of a man, it's a portrait of an institution. 579 00:37:20,915 --> 00:37:23,921 What are the sort of hidden messages of the painting? 580 00:37:23,946 --> 00:37:25,770 Well, the key one, really, is the table, 581 00:37:25,795 --> 00:37:29,251 which just appears in the corner of the portrait. 582 00:37:29,276 --> 00:37:32,611 And, in fact, that was a table that was made for Napoleon, 583 00:37:32,636 --> 00:37:35,720 and after the defeat of Napoleon and the restoration of the monarchy, 584 00:37:35,745 --> 00:37:38,840 Louis XVIII presented it to George IV. 585 00:37:38,865 --> 00:37:41,561 And you can just see this lovely gesture that George, 586 00:37:41,586 --> 00:37:45,451 just with a single fingertip, is resting upon Napoleon's table. 587 00:37:45,476 --> 00:37:48,081 I think that just sort of sums up his attitude, 588 00:37:48,106 --> 00:37:52,890 that sort of slightly insolent nod to his defeat of Napoleon. 589 00:37:52,915 --> 00:37:55,451 There's a real sense of one-upmanship here, isn't there? 590 00:37:55,476 --> 00:37:56,970 There is, definitely. 591 00:37:56,995 --> 00:38:00,561 It's, "l can do it bigger and better, but also I've defeated you". 592 00:38:00,586 --> 00:38:03,640 I think that the political underpinning of that 593 00:38:03,665 --> 00:38:06,840 is really in response to what Napoleon is doing, 594 00:38:06,865 --> 00:38:09,331 and that he's trying to make sure 595 00:38:09,356 --> 00:38:11,331 that that's not going to happen again. 596 00:38:11,356 --> 00:38:13,921 George is clearly excellent at style, 597 00:38:13,946 --> 00:38:17,171 some people might say at the expense of substance, 598 00:38:17,196 --> 00:38:19,640 but perhaps, in an age of revolution, 599 00:38:19,665 --> 00:38:24,451 it's more important that kings project their majesty, do you think? 600 00:38:24,476 --> 00:38:27,411 I think he's very conscious of how he appears in public. 601 00:38:27,436 --> 00:38:30,531 This great glittering backdrop, this very sparkling court 602 00:38:30,556 --> 00:38:33,411 that he creates, is all designed, really, to present the monarchy 603 00:38:33,436 --> 00:38:36,281 in the place where he felt it belonged. 604 00:38:36,306 --> 00:38:40,051 George, really, is trying to protect the monarchy at that moment 605 00:38:40,076 --> 00:38:42,611 as the leaders of Europe. 606 00:38:43,836 --> 00:38:46,840 King George wanted to dazzle his people 607 00:38:46,865 --> 00:38:49,331 with the spectacle of monarchy, 608 00:38:49,356 --> 00:38:51,770 and that meant new bling. 609 00:38:53,386 --> 00:38:56,731 George had this diamond diadem created to wear 610 00:38:56,756 --> 00:38:58,879 on the way to his coronation. 611 00:39:02,544 --> 00:39:04,879 It's still worn by the Queen today. 612 00:39:10,674 --> 00:39:13,239 George wanted his diadem to contain symbols 613 00:39:13,264 --> 00:39:15,798 of all the different bits of the United Kingdom. 614 00:39:15,823 --> 00:39:19,848 So, it's got an Irish shamrock, the English rose 615 00:39:19,873 --> 00:39:22,009 and the Scottish thistle, 616 00:39:22,034 --> 00:39:25,519 he's setting out his stall as a unifying monarch. 617 00:39:28,703 --> 00:39:33,289 But to unify the country he'd have to rely on a few fibs. 618 00:39:34,904 --> 00:39:38,879 The union between Britain and Ireland had been forged in 1800 619 00:39:38,904 --> 00:39:41,928 to curb rebellion and help discourage an alliance 620 00:39:41,953 --> 00:39:43,848 with Revolutionary France. 621 00:39:45,753 --> 00:39:50,129 Part of the deal was the promise of Catholic emancipation. 622 00:39:50,154 --> 00:39:54,728 This would allow Catholics, who made up 80% of the Irish population, 623 00:39:54,753 --> 00:39:58,319 to hold public office and become MPs. 624 00:40:00,073 --> 00:40:02,928 But that promise had turned out to be a lie. 625 00:40:04,823 --> 00:40:08,569 George Ill had vowed never to allow Catholic emancipation. 626 00:40:08,594 --> 00:40:12,129 He felt it went against the oath he'd made at his coronation, 627 00:40:12,154 --> 00:40:14,519 which was to support the Protestant faith, 628 00:40:14,544 --> 00:40:17,489 but his son appeared to think otherwise. 629 00:40:19,034 --> 00:40:21,769 When George IV announced a trip to Ireland 630 00:40:21,794 --> 00:40:25,289 a month after his coronation in 1821, 631 00:40:25,314 --> 00:40:30,319 it seemed that Catholic emancipation might finally be on the horizon. 632 00:40:32,344 --> 00:40:37,048 George IV was welcomed to Dublin by cheering crowds. 633 00:40:37,073 --> 00:40:40,009 After all the negativity at the affair with Queen Caroline, 634 00:40:40,034 --> 00:40:41,928 this is a real tonic to him. 635 00:40:41,953 --> 00:40:46,009 He told the people he met implausibly, but sincerely, 636 00:40:46,034 --> 00:40:49,569 that his heart had, in fact, always been Irish. 637 00:40:53,034 --> 00:40:56,678 At the centre of the festivities was Daniel O'Connell, 638 00:40:56,703 --> 00:40:59,678 leader of the Campaign for Catholic Emancipation. 639 00:41:00,703 --> 00:41:04,948 In the past, O'Connell had publicly criticised George. 640 00:41:04,973 --> 00:41:08,769 Now, he was determined to gain maximum advantage 641 00:41:08,794 --> 00:41:10,649 from the King's visit. 642 00:41:11,873 --> 00:41:14,159 Patrick, what are both sides hoping to achieve 643 00:41:14,184 --> 00:41:16,769 from this visit to Dublin by George IV? 644 00:41:16,794 --> 00:41:20,079 I think the King was trying to show that he was 645 00:41:20,104 --> 00:41:23,519 the King of a United Kingdom, and a genuinely United Kingdom, 646 00:41:23,544 --> 00:41:27,519 that his subjects in Ireland loved him, that he loved them, 647 00:41:27,544 --> 00:41:31,239 and that they were part of this relationship 648 00:41:31,264 --> 00:41:34,099 that really was only in existence for 20 years. 649 00:41:34,124 --> 00:41:38,569 So, I think there was a good reason for the King to want to do it. 650 00:41:38,594 --> 00:41:41,209 For Daniel O'Connell, it was more cynical. 651 00:41:41,234 --> 00:41:45,798 It was about making this huge demonstration of Catholic loyalty, 652 00:41:45,823 --> 00:41:48,519 so that George IV might be persuaded, 653 00:41:48,544 --> 00:41:51,409 might be convinced, that the Catholics could be trusted 654 00:41:51,434 --> 00:41:54,129 and that therefore emancipation could be granted. 655 00:41:58,154 --> 00:42:02,598 George departed from Ireland, here from the quayside at Dun Laoghaire. 656 00:42:02,623 --> 00:42:05,959 The town was renamed Kingstown in his honour. 657 00:42:05,984 --> 00:42:07,489 And, before he went, 658 00:42:07,514 --> 00:42:12,439 Daniel O'Connell crowned him with the victorious wreath of laurel. 659 00:42:12,464 --> 00:42:15,879 Full of enthusiasm, George said to the cheering crowd, 660 00:42:15,904 --> 00:42:18,159 that if ever the opportunity arose for him 661 00:42:18,184 --> 00:42:21,718 to do something to serve Ireland, he would do it. 662 00:42:21,743 --> 00:42:25,239 This didn't turn out to be strictly accurate. 663 00:42:28,973 --> 00:42:34,239 George's visit celebrated the union and gave Irish Catholics hope. 664 00:42:35,623 --> 00:42:39,409 But, once again, he was fibbing. 665 00:42:39,434 --> 00:42:43,879 He'd sworn as King to defend the Protestant faith. 666 00:42:43,904 --> 00:42:47,798 Back in England, there was no movement on emancipation. 667 00:42:49,594 --> 00:42:51,649 So, what happened when it became clear 668 00:42:51,674 --> 00:42:54,489 that George really wasn't going to help the Catholics? 669 00:42:54,514 --> 00:42:57,399 Suddenly, you had a backlash against O'Connell, 670 00:42:57,424 --> 00:42:59,608 because O'Connell had been going around the country, 671 00:42:59,633 --> 00:43:01,969 wearing a fur cap that had a gold band on it 672 00:43:01,994 --> 00:43:06,219 and he'd been telling everyone that this had been a gift from the King. 673 00:43:06,244 --> 00:43:08,779 But as soon as it looked like the King 674 00:43:08,804 --> 00:43:10,219 wasn't going to change his mind, 675 00:43:10,244 --> 00:43:13,779 O'Connell had to deny that the cap was a gift he had. 676 00:43:13,804 --> 00:43:16,728 He said, "That was just a joke, I was only pretending". 677 00:43:16,753 --> 00:43:18,449 People began telling stories about 678 00:43:18,474 --> 00:43:21,978 how O'Connell had humiliated himself at Dun Laoghaire, at Kingstown. 679 00:43:22,003 --> 00:43:24,449 How he had waded out in the harbour 680 00:43:24,474 --> 00:43:28,299 to present this laurel crown to the King and O'Connell denied that. 681 00:43:28,324 --> 00:43:31,089 There was this belief that he had gone too far 682 00:43:31,114 --> 00:43:32,938 and had gained nothing in return. 683 00:43:32,963 --> 00:43:37,169 So, O'Connell started, once again, abusing the King 684 00:43:37,194 --> 00:43:39,499 and moving on from it. 685 00:43:40,724 --> 00:43:42,449 Over the next seven years, 686 00:43:42,474 --> 00:43:46,938 three emancipation bills were defeated at Westminster. 687 00:43:46,963 --> 00:43:50,019 Eventually, O'Connell tried a new tactic. 688 00:43:51,324 --> 00:43:53,708 He got himself elected! 689 00:43:53,733 --> 00:43:55,239 The government realised that 690 00:43:55,264 --> 00:43:58,249 denying O'Connell his parliamentary seat in London 691 00:43:58,274 --> 00:44:01,019 could spark a rebellion in Ireland. 692 00:44:02,324 --> 00:44:07,419 In 1829, the Catholic Relief Act granted emancipation. 693 00:44:07,444 --> 00:44:11,728 King George was finally forced to concede power to the people. 694 00:44:13,444 --> 00:44:16,938 Emancipation was cheered and celebrated by Irish people, 695 00:44:16,963 --> 00:44:19,958 who had no ambition to ever sit in Parliament, 696 00:44:19,983 --> 00:44:21,828 but it was still meaningful for them 697 00:44:21,853 --> 00:44:23,969 because it was a campaign for civil rights. 698 00:44:23,994 --> 00:44:26,529 The emancipation itself has to be understood 699 00:44:26,554 --> 00:44:28,579 because it's not just a religious thing 700 00:44:28,604 --> 00:44:30,728 and it's not really even a religious thing. 701 00:44:30,753 --> 00:44:34,169 It's a civil rights issue, a campaign to ensure that Catholics, 702 00:44:34,194 --> 00:44:37,808 who had the right to vote, would be able to sit in parliament, 703 00:44:37,833 --> 00:44:41,419 would be able to become judges and kings' councils. 704 00:44:41,444 --> 00:44:44,858 And also be equal in their own country, 705 00:44:44,883 --> 00:44:47,249 no longer feeling that they were inferior, 706 00:44:47,274 --> 00:44:49,339 no longer feeling that they were slaves, 707 00:44:49,364 --> 00:44:52,139 and that is why they gave O'Connell the name Liberator. 708 00:44:52,164 --> 00:44:53,808 And that is why O'Connell became 709 00:44:53,833 --> 00:44:55,969 one of the great figures in Irish history, 710 00:44:55,994 --> 00:44:59,169 because he had led this mass peaceful movement 711 00:44:59,194 --> 00:45:01,969 and he had brought the British Empire to its knees 712 00:45:01,994 --> 00:45:04,858 and he had done it without having to fire a single shot. 713 00:45:09,194 --> 00:45:11,938 A year after George's Irish trip, 714 00:45:11,963 --> 00:45:16,998 he embarks on another visit to quell rebellion - to Edinburgh. 715 00:45:18,624 --> 00:45:23,339 In 1820, Scottish workers had called a general strike 716 00:45:23,364 --> 00:45:27,419 under the revolutionary motto, Liberty or Death. 717 00:45:29,444 --> 00:45:33,369 The three leaders of the strike were hanged and beheaded. 718 00:45:34,724 --> 00:45:38,369 Could a royal visit inspire some loyalist spirit? 719 00:45:41,354 --> 00:45:46,359 The Edinburgh George IV visited was a tartan extravaganza. 720 00:45:46,384 --> 00:45:50,249 Everywhere you looked, there were clan chiefs or people 721 00:45:50,274 --> 00:45:53,369 holding Highland Bulls to celebrate the King. 722 00:45:53,394 --> 00:45:56,219 Even George himself had been persuaded 723 00:45:56,244 --> 00:45:59,369 to truss himself up into a tartan costume. 724 00:45:59,394 --> 00:46:02,579 But this tartan city was an illusion, 725 00:46:02,604 --> 00:46:06,009 a bit like the mythical village of Brigadoon. 726 00:46:09,684 --> 00:46:12,529 Tartan wasn't even an Edinburgh thing. 727 00:46:12,554 --> 00:46:14,969 It was a Highland tradition. 728 00:46:14,994 --> 00:46:18,089 England supporter, are you? Er, no, the other one. 729 00:46:18,114 --> 00:46:20,249 Aye. Funny that. Yeah. 730 00:46:20,274 --> 00:46:24,009 And it was associated with the Hanoverian's great rivals, 731 00:46:24,034 --> 00:46:26,089 the Jacobites. 732 00:46:26,114 --> 00:46:28,808 Just 77 years earlier, 733 00:46:28,833 --> 00:46:32,169 the Jacobite rebellion had fought to put a Stuart King 734 00:46:32,194 --> 00:46:34,139 back on the British throne. 735 00:46:35,684 --> 00:46:41,828 But in 1746, George's family had crushed them at Culloden. 736 00:46:41,853 --> 00:46:44,299 And the wearing of Highland dress, 737 00:46:44,324 --> 00:46:47,579 a sign of political allegiance to the jacobites, 738 00:46:47,604 --> 00:46:51,699 had been banned for 35 years. 739 00:46:51,724 --> 00:46:54,808 Now, the King's visit would rewrite history. 740 00:46:56,274 --> 00:46:59,089 The man in charge of it all was Sir Walter Scott, 741 00:46:59,114 --> 00:47:03,938 the best-selling author of romanticised historical fiction. 742 00:47:05,164 --> 00:47:08,938 This pamphlet was published just before the royal visit 743 00:47:08,963 --> 00:47:12,938 and it's called Hints To The Inhabitants Of Edinburgh, 744 00:47:12,963 --> 00:47:17,369 suggesting to them how to behave and what to wear. 745 00:47:17,394 --> 00:47:19,808 The author here is given as "An Old Citizen". 746 00:47:19,833 --> 00:47:23,009 Actually, that was Sir Walter Scott himself. 747 00:47:23,034 --> 00:47:27,169 And he says, basically, you can't wear too much tartan. 748 00:47:27,194 --> 00:47:30,608 Scott was a Tory unionist 749 00:47:30,633 --> 00:47:34,699 and he was willing to tweak the truth to support his cause, 750 00:47:34,724 --> 00:47:40,139 even if that meant turning Hanoverian George into a Scotsman. 751 00:47:40,164 --> 00:47:44,499 "He comes as the descendant of a long line of Scottish kings, 752 00:47:44,524 --> 00:47:48,499 "the blood of the heroic Robert Bruce, the blood of the noble, 753 00:47:48,524 --> 00:47:53,009 "the enlightened, the generous James I is in his veins." 754 00:47:53,034 --> 00:47:55,529 And he concludes, triumphantly, 755 00:47:55,554 --> 00:47:59,858 "that we are the clan and the King is our chief." 756 00:48:01,474 --> 00:48:06,009 300,000 people turned out to see George in Scotland. 757 00:48:06,034 --> 00:48:10,889 The image of the Tartan King was captured by court painters 758 00:48:10,914 --> 00:48:13,139 and mocked by cartoonists. 759 00:48:15,674 --> 00:48:19,299 What was Scott up to when he staged-managed this amazing visit 760 00:48:19,324 --> 00:48:21,369 to Edinburgh by George IV? 761 00:48:21,394 --> 00:48:25,289 In some ways, it was the most astounding piece of propaganda 762 00:48:25,314 --> 00:48:27,299 in the 19th century. 763 00:48:27,324 --> 00:48:32,978 The fact that you have a Hanoverian King, dressed up as a Jacobite, 764 00:48:33,003 --> 00:48:35,219 is quite striking, you know, 765 00:48:35,244 --> 00:48:38,089 given that only two generations beforehand, 766 00:48:38,114 --> 00:48:42,139 these people were trying to oust his whole family. 767 00:48:42,164 --> 00:48:45,728 But Scott nuances everything to say, 768 00:48:45,753 --> 00:48:50,009 "George IV is yourjacobite King". 769 00:48:50,034 --> 00:48:53,449 It invokes an idea of loyalty 770 00:48:53,474 --> 00:48:56,728 and it was trying to heal divisions 771 00:48:56,753 --> 00:49:01,499 between Hanoverian and Jacobite, between English and Scottish. 772 00:49:01,524 --> 00:49:05,339 Scott manages to somehow fuse all this together, 773 00:49:05,364 --> 00:49:08,699 into a cohesive whole that is Scotland 774 00:49:08,724 --> 00:49:12,249 and admits George IV as their King. 775 00:49:12,274 --> 00:49:14,649 And how did Scottish people themselves react 776 00:49:14,674 --> 00:49:17,449 to being encouraged to put on fancy dress? 777 00:49:17,474 --> 00:49:20,728 It was something which many of the other people, 778 00:49:20,753 --> 00:49:24,808 lowlanders like me, found quite objectionable, 779 00:49:24,833 --> 00:49:27,889 people refer to it as nauseous 780 00:49:27,914 --> 00:49:30,699 and Sir Walter has made us ridiculous 781 00:49:30,724 --> 00:49:33,009 by claiming we're all Highlanders. 782 00:49:33,034 --> 00:49:37,009 They simply didn't like it, but it was something that translates, 783 00:49:37,034 --> 00:49:41,259 and I think one can measure the success, 784 00:49:41,284 --> 00:49:44,608 if you look at any kind of cultural depiction 785 00:49:44,633 --> 00:49:48,449 of Scotland, nowadays, it's tartan. Yes. 786 00:49:48,474 --> 00:49:53,889 Doesn't matter if it's The Simpsons or if it's Braveheart, 787 00:49:53,914 --> 00:49:56,699 tartan equals Scotland, 788 00:49:56,724 --> 00:49:58,699 and that's what Scott did. 789 00:49:58,724 --> 00:50:02,139 We had this ancient garb, as he would've called it. 790 00:50:02,164 --> 00:50:04,449 Ancient garb. That's a great word for it. 791 00:50:04,474 --> 00:50:07,579 Ancient garbage, some might say! LUCY LAUGHS 792 00:50:07,604 --> 00:50:11,219 Did this help neutralise any actual Scottish rebellion 793 00:50:11,244 --> 00:50:13,449 that might have been otherwise brewing? 794 00:50:13,474 --> 00:50:14,889 I think it did. 795 00:50:14,914 --> 00:50:18,649 I think because there's a certain idea of... 796 00:50:18,674 --> 00:50:21,289 ...it alljust being a fiction. 797 00:50:21,314 --> 00:50:24,779 Of it not actually making any difference. 798 00:50:24,804 --> 00:50:28,449 There's a great sense that, look, what does it matter? 799 00:50:28,474 --> 00:50:32,579 And yet, it's so significant that through this, 800 00:50:32,604 --> 00:50:36,529 given that the 19th century will become the age of revolutions, 801 00:50:36,554 --> 00:50:38,928 and particularly nationalist revolutions 802 00:50:38,953 --> 00:50:41,889 from Finland through to Hungary, 803 00:50:41,914 --> 00:50:44,889 where doesn't have a revolution? 804 00:50:44,914 --> 00:50:46,009 Scotland. 805 00:50:46,034 --> 00:50:49,419 Well, the solution, obviously, is just put men into skirts. 806 00:50:52,554 --> 00:50:55,339 George's Edinburgh visit was a triumph. 807 00:50:57,444 --> 00:51:00,058 But winning over his people in person 808 00:51:00,083 --> 00:51:02,699 was becoming more of a challenge. 809 00:51:04,724 --> 00:51:08,608 The King was now in his '60s, obese and unhealthy. 810 00:51:10,034 --> 00:51:12,419 He began to think of his legacy. 811 00:51:14,444 --> 00:51:17,369 Once again, George was hoping that his lasting image 812 00:51:17,394 --> 00:51:20,728 would be as the vanquisher of Napoleon. 813 00:51:20,753 --> 00:51:25,449 In later life, he'd sometimes reminisce about how he himself 814 00:51:25,474 --> 00:51:27,808 had been on the battlefield at Waterloo, 815 00:51:27,833 --> 00:51:30,369 which left the Duke of Wellington, rolling his eyes 816 00:51:30,394 --> 00:51:35,499 and muttering about the madness that ran in the royal family. 817 00:51:35,524 --> 00:51:37,499 To cement his place in history, 818 00:51:37,524 --> 00:51:43,009 George would rely on his favourite spin doctors - art and architecture. 819 00:51:45,364 --> 00:51:49,619 In 1825, he began transforming London's Buckingham House 820 00:51:49,644 --> 00:51:52,089 into a grand palace. 821 00:51:53,804 --> 00:51:56,499 In front of Buckingham Palace was to be an arch 822 00:51:56,524 --> 00:51:59,369 to rival the Arc de Triomphe, 823 00:51:59,394 --> 00:52:02,499 celebrating Britain's victory over Napoleon 824 00:52:02,524 --> 00:52:05,449 and topped with a statue of George. 825 00:52:07,753 --> 00:52:10,619 At Windsor, he raised the height of the Round Tower 826 00:52:10,644 --> 00:52:13,928 to make it more imposing... 827 00:52:13,953 --> 00:52:17,858 ...and inside the castle, he planned to display portraits of the leaders 828 00:52:17,883 --> 00:52:22,139 who'd ended the march of French Republicanism at Waterloo. 829 00:52:23,594 --> 00:52:26,499 The paintings were all to be gathered together 830 00:52:26,524 --> 00:52:32,699 into one amazing room that's still called the Waterloo Chamber. 831 00:52:32,724 --> 00:52:34,928 What's being celebrated here 832 00:52:34,953 --> 00:52:37,728 is not so much the fighting on the battlefield. 833 00:52:37,753 --> 00:52:40,699 Instead, these people are the architects 834 00:52:40,724 --> 00:52:42,449 of the peace that followed. 835 00:52:42,474 --> 00:52:45,249 These are the builders of a new Europe. 836 00:52:45,274 --> 00:52:47,649 And this is a pantheon of heroes 837 00:52:47,674 --> 00:52:50,569 in which George could take his place. 838 00:52:53,554 --> 00:52:58,369 But George wouldn't live to see his version of history completed. 839 00:52:59,644 --> 00:53:02,169 He died in 1830. 840 00:53:03,914 --> 00:53:06,858 The money for his triumphal arch ran out, 841 00:53:06,883 --> 00:53:10,259 and the smaller version, now known as Marble Arch, 842 00:53:10,284 --> 00:53:13,699 was moved away from Buckingham Palace. 843 00:53:13,724 --> 00:53:18,649 George's heroic legacy remained a fantasy. 844 00:53:18,674 --> 00:53:22,169 Instead, he was remembered for his excesses 845 00:53:22,194 --> 00:53:24,978 and his extravagance. 846 00:53:25,003 --> 00:53:28,219 After his death, The Times was scathing. 847 00:53:28,244 --> 00:53:30,858 "There never was an individual less regretted 848 00:53:30,883 --> 00:53:34,699 "by his fellow creatures than this deceased King. 849 00:53:34,724 --> 00:53:38,419 "What eye has wept for him?" 850 00:53:38,444 --> 00:53:42,259 It was the caricature version of George that won out. 851 00:53:42,284 --> 00:53:45,569 He'd made countless attempts to control his own story, 852 00:53:45,594 --> 00:53:48,209 but, ultimately, he failed. 853 00:53:50,164 --> 00:53:51,779 After George's death, 854 00:53:51,804 --> 00:53:55,089 the memory of Peterloo could no longer be suppressed. 855 00:53:57,444 --> 00:54:00,808 Shelley's forbidden poem, The Masque of Anarchy, 856 00:54:00,833 --> 00:54:03,858 was finally published in 1832, 857 00:54:03,883 --> 00:54:06,728 the same year as the first of the great reform acts 858 00:54:06,753 --> 00:54:08,649 started to extend the vote. 859 00:54:11,364 --> 00:54:13,419 It was later quoted by Gandhi 860 00:54:13,444 --> 00:54:16,058 during the campaign for Indian independence... 861 00:54:17,753 --> 00:54:20,649 ...by students at Tiananmen Square in 1989... 862 00:54:22,114 --> 00:54:26,209 ...and by protesters in Cairo during the Arab Spring. 863 00:54:28,394 --> 00:54:30,928 And in Britain, fighters for democracy 864 00:54:30,953 --> 00:54:35,449 kept digging beneath the facade of the Regency for inspiration. 865 00:54:37,164 --> 00:54:41,419 In October 1905, Christabel Pankhurst and another suffragette 866 00:54:41,444 --> 00:54:44,619 came here to the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. 867 00:54:44,644 --> 00:54:47,978 They wanted to attend a big meeting at the Liberal Party. 868 00:54:48,003 --> 00:54:51,889 They had some questions for the party leaders about votes for women. 869 00:54:51,914 --> 00:54:55,089 Now, this place had enormous significance 870 00:54:55,114 --> 00:54:56,779 for Christabel Pankhurst 871 00:54:56,804 --> 00:55:01,499 because the building stands on what had been the field of Peterloo, 872 00:55:01,524 --> 00:55:05,899 where her own great-grandfather, as she'd often been told, 873 00:55:05,924 --> 00:55:09,089 had only just escaped being massacred. 874 00:55:11,524 --> 00:55:16,499 After disrupting the meeting, Pankhurst spat at police officers. 875 00:55:16,524 --> 00:55:18,569 These two were the first suffragettes 876 00:55:18,594 --> 00:55:21,699 to be imprisoned for militant action. 877 00:55:21,724 --> 00:55:23,909 And the Pankhursts would later point out 878 00:55:23,934 --> 00:55:27,748 that they and their ancestor had fought for democracy 879 00:55:27,773 --> 00:55:30,078 on the very same site. 880 00:55:32,494 --> 00:55:36,029 To the suffragettes then, the Regency wasn't a time 881 00:55:36,054 --> 00:55:38,359 of fancy balls and fancy manners, 882 00:55:38,384 --> 00:55:41,639 it was a time when rebellion was born. 883 00:55:43,184 --> 00:55:48,109 Georgian fibs were used to maintain power and control, 884 00:55:48,134 --> 00:55:52,919 and George's impact may have been greater than history remembers. 885 00:55:52,944 --> 00:55:58,389 Throughout his regency and reign, the monarchy remained intact. 886 00:55:58,414 --> 00:56:03,948 Napoleon was defeated and there was no revolution in Britain. 887 00:56:03,973 --> 00:56:07,469 George lived through a time when thrones were falling. 888 00:56:07,494 --> 00:56:09,359 The French Revolution had just happened. 889 00:56:09,384 --> 00:56:13,669 Does he bear any credit for seeing things through 890 00:56:13,694 --> 00:56:16,639 in Britain, without revolution? 891 00:56:16,664 --> 00:56:19,439 I think he probably doesn't bear much credit for it 892 00:56:19,464 --> 00:56:23,519 in terms of the actual military victories 893 00:56:23,544 --> 00:56:26,469 that kept Napoleon from our shores, 894 00:56:26,494 --> 00:56:30,868 but he certainly was preoccupied with what monarchy might seem 895 00:56:30,893 --> 00:56:35,748 or be or embody in his own time period. 896 00:56:35,773 --> 00:56:41,309 He argues for a state of splendour that would somehow set Britain 897 00:56:41,334 --> 00:56:46,868 on an international stage and give it that kind of credibility 898 00:56:46,893 --> 00:56:50,669 for monarchy-led constitution. 899 00:56:50,694 --> 00:56:55,389 I think George's legacy is absolutely the kind of pomp 900 00:56:55,414 --> 00:56:59,189 and circumstance that we have that surrounds monarchy today. 901 00:56:59,214 --> 00:57:03,439 That aspect of the glamour and the splendour of monarchy 902 00:57:03,464 --> 00:57:08,948 is something that we still want to see in the 21st century. 903 00:57:10,744 --> 00:57:14,389 Many of George's attempts to spin the story of Great Britain 904 00:57:14,414 --> 00:57:16,639 and its monarchy have survived. 905 00:57:19,254 --> 00:57:21,189 His version of the United Kingdom, 906 00:57:21,214 --> 00:57:23,479 whether that's tartan-clad spectacle 907 00:57:23,504 --> 00:57:25,389 or conquerors of Napoleon, 908 00:57:25,414 --> 00:57:28,839 is still how the nation presents itself to the world. 909 00:57:30,893 --> 00:57:33,748 His palaces are still the seat of monarchy. 910 00:57:35,214 --> 00:57:41,828 His diamond diadem still sparkles on our currency and our Queen. 911 00:57:41,853 --> 00:57:45,359 And maybe his excessive dazzle 912 00:57:45,384 --> 00:57:49,109 still blinds us to the truth to this day. 913 00:57:49,134 --> 00:57:53,948 This period of history is often remembered as genteel and refined. 914 00:57:53,973 --> 00:57:57,948 We concentrate on the style of it rather than the substance. 915 00:57:57,973 --> 00:58:01,279 But this was also an age which saw stirrings of revolution, 916 00:58:01,304 --> 00:58:05,639 even in Britain, and monarchy had to react to that. 917 00:58:05,664 --> 00:58:10,469 Stories about ridiculous George and his lavish lifestyle, 918 00:58:10,494 --> 00:58:13,509 tend to crowd out the grittier reality 919 00:58:13,534 --> 00:58:16,669 of the age of the Regency. 920 00:58:19,054 --> 00:58:22,868 Next time, the Russian Revolution. 921 00:58:22,893 --> 00:58:25,828 Was Lenin really the leader who toppled the monarchy? 922 00:58:27,944 --> 00:58:31,279 How did Eisenstein help create the cult of Lenin? 923 00:58:33,304 --> 00:58:37,948 And is Vladimir Putin the true heir to the czars? 109394

Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.