64 episodes

Charlie Higson's History of the Monarchy.
In each new weekly episode, Charlie and his friendly experts....(ie REAL historians)...learn all about one of our Kings or Queens and ask searching questions like:

Were they any good?What did they actually do?Why did so many die from an exploding stomach?
It's the story of families at war....literally!
New episodes every Friday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Willy Willy Harry Stee..‪.‬ Charlie Higson

    • History
    • 4.8 • 69 Ratings

Charlie Higson's History of the Monarchy.
In each new weekly episode, Charlie and his friendly experts....(ie REAL historians)...learn all about one of our Kings or Queens and ask searching questions like:

Were they any good?What did they actually do?Why did so many die from an exploding stomach?
It's the story of families at war....literally!
New episodes every Friday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    BONUS EPISODE - Live At HistFest

    BONUS EPISODE - Live At HistFest

    This special episode of Willy Willy Harry Stee was recorded live at HistFest, which took place in front of a full house at the British Library in April.
    Charlie Higson hosted a panel of proper historians to discuss the best ways to Survive A Tudor or Stuart Court.
    His guest panel comprised Ophelia Field, author of The Favourite, Nicola Clark, author of The Waiting Game - The untold story of the women who served the Tudor Queens and Alex Courtney, author of James VI, Britannic Prince.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 1 min
    George VI

    George VI

    Willy Willy Harry Stee, Harry Dick John Harry Three, One Two Three Neds, Richard Two, Henry's Four Five Six.........then who? Edward Four Five...Dick The Bad, Harry's Twain and Ned The Lad, Mary, Bessie, James The Vain, Charlie Charlie, James again. William & Mary, Anna Gloria, Four Georges, William and Victoria, then Edward, George and Ned The Eighth, quickly goes and Abdicat’th...Then Comes George
    We're up to our final George....King George VI. A man who, though never destined to be the monarch, actually turned out to be the right man for the job....and what a massive job it was as World War II dominated his reign.
    Helping Charlie Higson to unpick this member of the 'Good King Club' is James Holland, celebrated World War II historian and co-founder of the Chalke History Festival.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 20 min
    Edward VIII

    Edward VIII

    Willy Willy Harry Stee, Harry Dick John Harry Three, One Two Three Neds, Richard Two, Henry's Four Five Six.........then who? Edward Four Five...Dick The Bad, Harry's Twain and Ned The Lad, Mary, Bessie, James The Vain, Charlie Charlie, James again. William & Mary, Anna Gloria, Four Georges, William and Victoria, Edward, George.....and Ned The Eighth, quickly goes and Abdicath...
    Charlie Higson's monarchical quest moves one step closer to the present day as he reached Edward VIII, the only King to have given up the throne voluntarily.
    Was this due to his chivalric love and devotion to Wallace Simpson?...or was he just a selfish git?
    Helping Charlie answer this question is Alexander Larman, author of The Crown In Crisis and The Power & The Glory.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 12 min
    George V

    George V

    Willy Willy Harry Stee, Harry Dick John Harry Three, One Two Three Neds, Richard Two, Henry's Four Five Six.........then who? Edward Four Five...Dick The Bad, Harry's Twain and Ned The Lad, Mary, Bessie, James The Vain, Charlie Charlie, James again. William & Mary, Anna Gloria, Four Georges, William and Victoria, Edward, George.....
    Yes, we're up to George V, a man who didn't expect to be King, but ended up being quite good at it, in fact his actions saved the monarchy when all around Europe, others fell.
    Alex Churchill makes a welcome return to not only help Charlie Higson understand George, but also to understand the reasons behind the devastating First World War,

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 16 min
    BONUS EPISODE - Rise Of The Undead

    BONUS EPISODE - Rise Of The Undead

    In this special BONUS EDITION of Charlie Higson's history of the monarchy, he takes a fascinating look at how the real life horror of a volcanic eruption in 1815 gave birth to imaginary horrors that haunt us still.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 59 min
    Edward VII

    Edward VII

    Willy Willy Harry Stee, Harry Dick John Harry Three, One Two Three Neds, Richard Two, Henry's Four Five Six.........then who? Edward Four Five...Dick The Bad, Harry's Twain and Ned The Lad, Mary, Bessie, James The Vain, Charlie Charlie, James again. William & Mary, Anna Gloria, Four Georges, William and Victoria, Then Comes Edward.....
    King Edward VII to be precise, though you may call him Bertie. A man who, as Prince Edward, loved the good things in life but, as we'll hear, matured into a decent King, though, like our current monarch, had to wait a while before taking the throne.
    Helping Charlie Higson to dig a little deeper into this fascinating man is Professor Jane Ridley, author of Bertie, A Life Of Edward VII

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 12 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
69 Ratings

69 Ratings

jsisbckocnwmeownd ,

An absolute joy

Like listening to your favourite, slightly dotty uncle talking about history - Charlie Higson is funny, clever and makes a really good podcast presenter.

paulsplanet ,

George V expert’s “street” explanation of WW1 was offensive to everyone.

Have to score it down. WW1 was not about “stuff”. Rubbish.

LuisAbPl ,

Entertaining and educational

This podcast is truly a gem. Each episode gives you a clear image a monarch, and Charlie as a host is funny and makes complicated things easy to understand and follow. Highly recommend

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