Whether monarchist, republican or indifferent, we are all entertained by the exploits of the rich and famous and few are as rich and hardly anyone as famous as our esteemed royal family. While the institution is centuries old, for the modern media, it still remains very newsworthy as recent events (like those concerning a certain former prince) illustrate.
This book is a condensation of nearly a thousand years of the British monarchy. However, it is no ordinary history book. Based on the author’s original podcast, it comprises short chapters on each of the monarchs from the time of the Norman conquest up to our current king.
The title is the first line of a rhyming ditty listing all the British monarchs from William the Conqueror to the present Charles III. It is illustrated with clever caricatures which leave no doubt who they depict.
Thanks to feature films and TV series, some of these monarchs are clearly more famous than others: we all know about Henry VIII’s unfortunate ‘wife expectancy’; George III’s decent into madness, Queen Victoria’s gaga infatuation with and excessive mourning for her consort Prince Albert and Edward VIII’s ‘scandalous’ affair which led to his abdication. These all figure along with their less famous ancestors. Included is a chapter on the puritan who temporarily abolished the monarchy by having Charles I beheaded.
‘Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee An Epically Short History of Our Kings and Queens’ by Charles Higson (With Illustrations by Jim Moir). London, Harper Collins, 2025.
It is accurate especially in the sense that it presents likely explanations for those grey areas where there are gaps in the historical record (like the fate of the princes in the tower and one or two other potential heirs to the throne who conveniently ‘disappeared’). History nerds will find only one significant inaccuracy: clue no Russian Tsar was ever the grandson of any British Queen regnant.
As a history of the monarchy, it covers not only the violence and brutality of previous centuries but also the regal foibles of later eras. All sorts of familial conflicts and rivalries are depicted along with the various monarchs’ more intimate indiscretions and dalliances. Naturally mistresses and royal favourites (usually, but not always, of the opposite sex) figure largely among them.
This entertaining volume encapsulates all the relevant facts of the crowned heads of the British empire and commonwealth with more than a few dabs of humour and touches of irreverence. These reminds us that the achievements and especially the indiscretions of our monarchs can easily outlive them, sometimes even by centuries.
As such, it is an ideal book for those who like to learn history without wading through ponderous academic tomes.