Willy Willy Harry Stee...

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 and Lizzie II....and Charlie Next To See UsThrough......

And so, just over a year after he began, Charlie Higson reaches the end of his rhyme, though not the end of the podcast as you'll hear.

This is the story of Charles III, a man who had to wait 73 years before he succeeded as King.

Joining Charlie to discuss Charles is Stephen Bates, once royal correspondent for the Guardian, now author of The Shortest History Of The Crown.

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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....and Lizzie II

This episode is a first in that it deals with a Queen that some of us might actually have met. Charlie Higson did, albeit briefly and here, he brings us the story of a long and, for the most part, expertly handled reign.

Joining Charlie to discuss Elizabeth II is Dominic Sandbrook an author and himself a king.....sort of. King of historical podcasts as one half of the very successful series 'The Rest Is History'.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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,

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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.

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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

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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!

We're starting to move into familiar territory here as Charlie Higson looks at a Queen we all think we know. Victoria, but as we'll hear, we probably don't know anywhere near as much as we think.

Helping Charlie this episode is proper historian Alex Churchill, podcaster, sub-stacker and author of Victoria's story in Iain Dale's epic, Kings & Queens.

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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.....

After the extravagance of George IV, his more austere son King William IV is pushed into the spotlight. A latecomer to the throne, here was a man who would much rather have been on a battleship than in Buckingham Palace.

Helping Charlie Higson to make sense of this complex man is Roger Knight, author of 'William IV: A King At Sea' in the Penguin Monarchs series.

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