Rex Factor
Rex Factor is a fun podcast reviewing all the kings & queens of England & Scotland.
Episodes
April 26, 2024 • 68 mins
After a full biography episode last week, this time we review Prince Albert, scoring him on the factors and deciding whether or not he has the Rex Factor.
Sign up for ad-free episodes and lots of bonus content at https://www.patreon.com/rexfactor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
April 19, 2024 • 62 mins
In the first of two episodes, we do a full episode just looking at the life and consortship of Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria, with a full review episode to come next time. One of the most famous names in British royal history, Albert has perhaps been overshadowed by the extensive memorialisation undertaken by Victoria after his death, so we put the realm man centre stage: how did he come to marry Victoria, what was his r...
Mark as Played
April 16, 2024 • 41 mins
We are off for Easter for a couple of weeks before getting back to Prince Albert, so this week we're doing a feed swap with the History Daily Podcast, which releases c. 15 minute episodes every weekday covering an event in history. We are showcasing two of their episodes which should hopefully be of interest to Rex Factor Listeners: the jousting injury that changed the course of Henry VIII's life and reign, and the death of Elizabe...
Mark as Played
March 22, 2024 • 78 mins
We speak to the historian Dr Linda Porter about some of the most notable mistresses of Charles II (Lucy Walter, Barbara Villiers, Frances Stuart, Nell Gwynn, Hortense Mancini), discussing why we know so much about them, what they tell us about Charles and how this affected his wife and queen, Catherine of Braganza.
Sign up for bonus content (including ad-free episodes and hundreds of Patreon-exclusive bonus episodes) at https://www...
Mark as Played
March 8, 2024 • 64 mins
Adelaide is probably one of the least famous of Britain's consorts, wife of William IV. A very different character to her predecessor, Queen Caroline, Adelaide was quiet and kind but faced the challenge of an eccentric and uncouth husband in William and a febrile political atmosphere with agitation for reform. Will slow and steady win the race?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
February 23, 2024 • 70 mins
If Ali still had his scandal bell, this episode might break it! It's Caroline of Brunswick this week, consort to George IV despite his spending their entire marriage trying to prevent that eventuality. A poorly matched couple, Caroline lived life according to her own rules, creating scandal in England and then in European exile before returning for a grand battle as George tried to deny her her position as Queen. It certainly made ...
Mark as Played
February 9, 2024 • 63 mins
This week we review Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife and consort of King George III. We look at how she came to be queen at all, what was her role as consort and how her life was turned up side down by the Regency Crisis of 1788-89 when George III suffered a total collapse in his mental health. We will see whether her reaction to this, alongside her output as consort over a significant period of time, will be enoug...
Mark as Played
January 26, 2024 • 66 mins
It's the first Hanoverian consort proper this week with Caroline of Ansbach, queen consort to George II. She's not so famous now, but Caroline was a highly influential consort, loved and respected by her husband and enjoying great influence through an alliance with Robert Walpole (the country's first Prime Minister). However, she also had to manage the usual Hanoverian family conflicts, with each generation hating each other, as we...
Mark as Played
January 12, 2024 • 67 mins
Sophia Dorothea of Celle was the wife of King George I but she was not, technically, a consort. We'll explain why this was the case, taking in dynastic politics, an unhappy marriage, a passionate romance, high drama and a new heroic character mostly invented by Ali.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
December 29, 2023 • 67 mins
A little bonus to finish 2023, we've dipped into the archives and pulled out this recording of a live show we did at the We Have Ways of Making You Talk Festival in July 2022. We Have Ways of Making You Talk is a Second World War podcast, so we were talking about the royals during the war, specifically focusing on the former king (Edward VIII) and the actual king (George VI), looking at their different experiences of the war and so...
Mark as Played
December 15, 2023 • 74 mins
Before we get started on the Hanoverian consorts, we read through various listener correspondence as well as sharing previews of our bonus content, including our new special episode on Edgar the Ætheling.
You can sign up to join the Privy Council and gain access to all our bonus content here: https://www.patreon.com/rexfactor
And you can purchase the Edgar the Ætheling special episode (as well as all our other specials) here: https...
Mark as Played
December 1, 2023 • 68 mins
We speak to Dr Ellie Woodacre again, this time about male consorts. Our last mini series had two male consorts (Philip II and Prince George of Denmark) as well as covering the time period of Elizabeth I (with no consort) and William and Mary. We speak to Ellie about where England's experience fits in with other European countries - did England come to queens regnant late? What kind of roles, powers and titles did male consorts have...
Mark as Played
November 17, 2023 • 79 mins
We speak to Dr Emma Southon for the second time on the podcast, this time discussing her new book A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women (or A Rome of One's Own in the US), a fascinating look at women from Roman history that (mostly) people don't tend to have heard of, but who give us a fascinating alternative look at the history of Ancient Rome and the varying experience of women in that history.
For more on Emma, check out her...
Mark as Played
November 3, 2023 • 98 mins
We speak to the author and historian Lead Redmond about her book 'Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power', which looks at the lives of Catherine de' Medici (Queen Consort and Mother of France), Elisabeth de Valois (Queen Consort of Spain) and Mary Queen of Scots (Queen Regnant of Scotland and Consort of France). For a time, they all lived under one roof, but even when their paths diverged, they continue to be closely connec...
Mark as Played
October 20, 2023 • 83 mins
Having finished our mini-series on the Stuart consorts (plus a couple of others), we go through some of your messages, responding to corrections, points of debate and whatever else comes up.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
October 6, 2023 • 64 mins
It's the last of the Stuart consorts this time with the consort of Queen Anne, Prince George of Denmark. Often maligned by contemporaries, George nevertheless had a significant role as the first male consort not to be king. Derided by many but loved by Anne, George was a player in the tumultuous events of the late seventeenth century and a bit of a trailblazer for unambitious chaps, but is that enough for the Rex Factor?
Learn more...
Mark as Played
September 22, 2023 • 63 mins
Mary of Modena is not one of the more famous names for English consorts but subject to one of the most notorious incidents as mother to the so-called 'bedpan baby'. We look at the truth of this as well as Mary's life, second wife to the man who would become James II, at the eye of the storm for the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and then the life of the Jacobite Matriarch in French exile. Will the real Mary warrant her notoriety and d...
Mark as Played
September 8, 2023 • 64 mins
Catherine of Braganza has often been overshadowed by Charles II's numerous mistresses, but she has an interesting story in her own right. She faced a difficult start in England, finding her own space in a court where the mistresses were publicly honoured, as well as being a Catholic queen for a decidedly not Catholic country. She would need to find a way to adapt to the more relaxed Restoration court, assert her own place in Charle...
Mark as Played
August 25, 2023 • 62 mins
Elizabeth Cromwell was the wife to one of the most (in)famous figures in British history, but Oliver Cromwell's wife is something of a forgotten figure. Though the evidence for her life is limited, we track her from Essex and East Anglia to the dizzy heights of Lady Protector, seeing the Civil War and Protectorate from a different perspective. Elizabeth had to transition from managing a large but modest Puritan household to the pse...
Mark as Played
August 11, 2023 • 69 mins
Henrietta Maria of France was the highly controversial queen of Charles I. An avowed Catholic in an increasingly Puritanical country, her efforts to promote her religion were one of the factors that led to the Civil War. A forceful character, Henrietta played her part in the war (despite being a target for Parliamentarians), but would she be able to survive? And can such an unpopular queen be in the running for the Rex Factor?
Lear...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.