The crown passed to James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who now became James I of England and the first of the Stuarts. James was the great-grandson of Henry VIII sister, Margaret

The crown passed to James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who now became James I of England and the first of the Stuarts. James was the great-grandson of Henry VIII sister, Margaret who married king James IV of Scotland. James became the king of Scotland when he was 1 year old when his mother abdicated the throne never to see him or Scotland again. May be because of this he was the advocate of peace and the first action at his reign in England was to end war with Spain. Though a scholar and a poet, there was something essentially comic about him, “the wisest fool in kingdom” as he was called, he was a physical coward except when hunting. He had a constant dread of assassination and wore special clothes for protection, which he seemed to hardly ever wash. But he looked into our century in his interest to tobacco. In Scotland James ruled well as the first among equals, but in England his rule demanded more – as he was the head of the church and the state. In England he was not treated with awe as he believed in the divinity of the kings and his own special relationships with God. The task he set to himself was to unify England and Scotland under one crown and persuade Parliament to ground him with a regular income – the task which was carried out by his advised, Cecil. Like Elizabeth, James was religiously moderate in the age of intolerance. At he conference of the Parliament Puritans were put firmly in their places and ended in the king James authorised version of the Bible. And only the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 prevented him easing the Catholic persecution. Although he had a family, Anne of Denmark and was a loving father, he preferred the company of his young and handsome favourites, Robert Carr and George Villias and after James’ adviser – Cecil – death they governed for him with disastrous results. Villias was made duke of Buckingham. Without Cecil James’ relationships with the Parliament worsened so much that he said “I’m surprised that my ancestors should have permitted such an institution to come into existence”, but he had a feeling of survival which prevented him from pushing too hard.

The popular Henry, prince of Wales, died of fever in 1612, was succeeded by James’ I second son, Charles I in 1625. He was a shy, retarded boy tied to his brother. When a king, he had dignity, but unfortunately no humour or flexibility of mind. He believed in the holy Anglican Church and, like his father, in the divinity of the king’s power and thus he was responsible ONLY to the God himself. His concept of kingship is the best seen on the painting painted by Rubens. In it James I the Divine is seen exchanging his crown for a heavenly one and flights of angels bring him to his rest. Charles I married Henrietta Maria – a French catholic princess and Buckingham’s (adviser) wars with Spain and France didn’t make Parliament give Charles money he wanted. Because of that and the assassination of Buckingham in 1628, Charles decided to dispense with parliament all together and govern alone. Surprisingly he managed quite well for 9 years. Without Parliament he adopted the law of peace and took money from trade, which was constantly increasing. These were the happiest years of Charles, but his peace ended in 1637 with war with Scotland for religious matters. One of his weaknesses was that he believed the end justified the means, and broke promises and betrayed loyalty easily. He imprisoned and beheaded some nobles. These and some other reasons led to the Civil war between those who supported the monarch (Royalists or “Cavaliers”) and those, who supported the Parliament (Parliamentarians or “Roundheads”). The Parliamentarians won the war, Charles I was executed in January, 1649.

So followed the Interregnum (1649-1660), the period when there was no monarch. A period dominated by one man – Oliver Cromwell. The supporter of the Parliament ruled without it and was called lord-protector. The Period of Republic, as they call the rule of Oliver Cromwell, was extremely unpopular. Cromwell thought that his son Richard will continue the reign, but he was a failure. So in 1660 the Parliament with the help of the head of the army decided to bring back the monarchy in the shape of Charles II, the eldest son of James I and so the Restoration began. It was not since Elizabeth when a monarch was greeted with such joy.

Charles II, who showed devotion to his father and courage in wars, had been living in France and Holland in semi-poverty. He wasn’t going to live in poverty any more. He was the most human of kings, by nature lazy, a man of wit and toleration and a lover of beauty with an incredible charm. But like his father, there was something devious about him. For in spite of all his charm he didn’t inspire trust. During his reign a new form of government came into existence, the rule by Cabinet or Committee – it was called the Cabal (the initial letters of 5 ministers that made up this Committee: Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington and Lauderdale). Their government proved so unpopular that the word “cabal” became odious ever since. Two great political parties also appeared at those times: the Tories – originally the name for Irish Catholic bandits, were the party of the Anglican Church and the establishment; the Whigs – a name first given to the Scottish horse drovers, were the country squires and merchants upholding Parliament and nonconformity (people who didn’t support the Church of England and include modern Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians). Charles II married the princess of Portugal, the marriage gave no children. Charles, however, had about 14 children from different mistresses. For this and other reasons, Charles was constantly out of money. To solve his problem he signed a secret treaty with Louis XIV of France and got a pension from him on condition that he became his ally against the Dutch and convert into Roman Catholicism. Charles was to give that promise on his death-bed, saying it was the only religion for a true gentleman. His reign saw many disasters: the plague, the naval defeat by the Dutch and the Great Fire of London in 1666. But also his reign saw some enlightment and the growth of royal society, the foundings of Isaac Newton, the chemistry of Boyle, the architecture of Sir Christopher Wren and the wit of the Restoration theatre.

So when Charles II died 1685, his brother became king James II. He suggested the pro-catholic policy which the nation didn’t want, but as James was middle-aged, most of people preferred to wait for his protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange. Unexpectedly in 1688 James’ II second wife gave birth to a baby-boy. To prevent this boy from succeeding and getting a Catholic dynasty, Tories and Whigs united to invite William of Orange, the prominent protestant figure in Europe and who was the grandson of James I, to come with the army and defend the rights and liberties of the people of England. James II, who was a good soldier in his youth and an admiral at those times, proved to be a coward. William came with a small army and James panicked and escaped to France. They say that he threw the Great Seal of England into the Thames as he went. Such was the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

William III and Mary II – the only dual monarchy in the English history. Little but good is known of Mary II – she was said to be extremely beautiful, intelligent, majestic and truly English in everything she thought or did. Her husband, William, who had a slight hunchback and suffered from asthma, was since his youth trying to oppose the ambitions of Louis XIV of France. He passed the Bill of Rights in 1689 which guaranteed free speech, free elections, frequent meetings of Parliament and the Act of Settlement secured the protestant succession, which gave certain stability to the country. William favoured tolerance and impartiality and established the independence of the judiciary and secured the army. Why in spite of all these he wasn’t popular? Basically because he was Dutch, though his heart was always with his motherland, he did his duty in the face of England. In 1694 the Bank of England was founded and Mary II died of small pox leaving William to rule alone. 8 years later during his endless fight with Louis XIV William fell off his horse and died of injury.

As the marriage of William and Mary was childless, the crown passed to Mary’s II sister, queen Anne. She was a very unfortunate lady. She had married the prince of Denmark, George who can best be described as unremarkable and though she was pregnant 17 times by him, only 5 children were born alive. And of these 5 only 1 survived infancy to die at the age of 11 of fever, caused by excessive dancing on his birthday. Suffering greatly of gout, she grew extremely overweight and was moved around the palace in special chairs with wheels, also she was to be carried to the coronation. She was greatly influenced by her close friend, Sarah, the wife of John Churchill – perhaps England’s greatest military genius who was to become the commander of the armies.

The War of the Spanish succession in which Louis XIV tried to secure his grandson the throne of Spain began still in the times of William III. It was fought between France, Bavaria and Spain on the one side and England, Holland and Austria on the other. During the Anne’s lifetime, Churchill’s victories over Louis’ armies made England once again the triumphant military power in Europe. Strange, but the friendship between Anne and the Churchills cooled. The queen’s new friend Abigail Meacham was the instrument of the Tories who were opposed to the war – public opinion swung against it and it financial costs. So the queen dismissed John Churchill, although he never failed a battle or take a town in 10 (!) campaigns. Peace was made, though Anne’s mistake was to allow personalities interfere with the politics. The Act of Settlement made German George (Anne’s cousin) her heir. But she didn’t like George, so she forbade him to enter the country while she is still alive. Poor queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts, died in 1714. In the words of her doctor “sleep was never more welcomed to a weary traveller, than death that death was to her”.

George I (the elector of Hanover) – James’ I daughter Elizabeth married a German prince, Frederic and George I was their grandson. He was short, shy with bulbous blue eyes was not a particularly pleasant character. When his wife, tired of his constant infidelities, took a lover, George shut her up in a German castle for 32 years and never let her see her children again. The lover vanished form the face of the earth. Rumour has it that he was hacked to pieces and buried under the floor in one of his palaces. George came to England with his 2 mistresses nicknamed “the elephant in the castle” and the “maypole” – one was short and fat, the other tall and thin. He created them a duchess and a countess. George left the internal policies in hands of his ministers, only taking interest in foreign policy and the organisation of the army. George hardly spoke English and wasn’t very popular in England.

George II (son of George II) was more human than his father and though often unfaithful with her maids, loved his wife dearly. He had a terrible temper and lacked confidence. It was this lack of confidence that he relied on his prime-minister (Walpole) to lead the office, thus he favoured the development of the constitutional monarchy. Walpole’s policy was one of peace and one of his greatest allies was Queen Caroline (George’s II wife). However, there was a habit characteristic trait of the House of Hanover’s – it was always a son fighting with hi father for power. It happened between George II and his father, and was now to continue with George II and his elder son, Frederic. Soon Frederic’s opposition was strong enough to force Walpole’s resignation (1742). The new aggressive policy of the opposition, the “Patriot Boys” as Walpole called them brought England into the war with the Austrian succession. In this war George II was the last English monarch to lead his troops in battle. In this battle he died and as he had outlived his son 10 years, Frederic’s son became king in 1760.

George III inherited the British trade throughout the world which stretched from Newfoundland to Barbados and from New York to India that gave the country more wealth than ever before. He inherited the throne at the age of 22 being intentional to BE a king, as his mother, Augusta of Sax Gotha hated the Whigs and the constitutional monarchy and taught him to rule as a monarch. He therefore intended to govern his country and empire personally with men who’d be loyal to him, not to a party. One of them was him tutor, the earl of Bute, to him he submitted even in the affairs of the heart. In his letter he wrote “I esteem your friendship above every earthly joy”. Unlike the first two Georges, George III was British to the core. The only thing Bute did for his king was to arrange a happy royal marriage for George with the German princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg. This marriage would bring 13 children and George had always tried o give them the happy family life he had never known. After the Bute’s death, George always interfered with his minister’s affairs and the policy of one of them, Lord North, is associated with the greatest disasters of George’s reign. North’s ideas of taxation of the American colonies led to their rebellion and war for independence, which later, as we know, led to the appearance of a new country on the map of the world. America was lost, but as James Cook discovered Australia and New Zealand, England never lacked lands. The Industrial Revolution of this period turned most of the green lands into the workshop of the world. George learned from his mistakes and as he grew politically more mature, he made the son of his old enemy, William Pitt, the prime-minister at the age of 24. George, deeply religious, had a an unblemished private life, undoubtedly a good man, he kept himself fit by different exercises and loved botany, for that he was nicknamed “Farmer George”, but in 1788 at the age of 50 George III suffered his first strikes of madness, now known as porphyria. He recovered to lead the country into the dark period of the French Revolutionary War and with the years he became rather popular in England. Yet his obstinacy was obvious. He believed letting Roman Catholics into parliament would confront his coronation oath and forbade some of the laws, however approved banishing the slave trade in 1807. During his reign England saw the famous Trafalgar and Waterloo victories. But with the years George’s madness increased, he became violently insane and in 1811 parliament enacted the regency of the Prince of Wales. Fort he next 9 years George lived the twilight existence, growing blind and deaf, with long white hair and beard, he believed he was king Lear…indeed he was a tragic king. He experienced problems too great for any man and his conscience couldn’t ignore them. He had ruled for 60 years, longer than any other king.

George IV inherited the greatest power in the world, however with strong constitution and middle classes dissatisfied with the conditions of their work and pay. There were riots and plots and all other possible ingredients for a revolution. George IV was the worst possible king for such a period. Moreover, in youth he made a secret and illegal union with Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Catholic, and in middle years he grew so lazy that he rarely rose before 6 in the evening, and so fat that his belly fell beneath his knees when he got up. He only agreed to marry an ugly princess Caroline of Brunswick when the parliament suggested paying off his tremendous debts. But it was a disaster from the start as the couple soon separated, giving birth to a daughter, Charlotte. Caroline spent most of her time abroad in the company of handsome young men. George was SO unpopular that when he tried to divorce her, the public took her side. People booed and hissed every time he appeared in public, that’s why he was greatly relieved when Caroline died suddenly in 1821. All his reign he favoured the Tories, first under lord Liverpool, and since 1828 under lord Wellington. In 1829 he persuaded the king to grant Catholic Emancipation. Called the “First Gentleman of Europe” he was now addicted to alcoholic tincture of opium and had dyed hair and rouge cheeks. In spite of all that, he did have some positive moment during his reign: he loved and respected all his brothers and sisters, appreciated art and helped to find the National Gallery and with his architect John Nash he created Regents Street and Regents Park. Also Wordsworth, Shelly, Byron, Blake, Jane Austin, the Bronte’s and more wealth of genius lived and worked through his reign. As Charlotte, his only daughter, died at childbirth, he was succeeded by his brother, the duke of Clarence.

He became king William IV, the “sailor king” or “Silly Billy” as he was called. He was an eccentrical gentleman of 64, who disliked ostentation. He used to give people lifts as he drove through London. As a young man he had been in the nave and had become the friend of the great Nelson. Whilst he was a sailor, he visited New York – he was the only king to visit America. The enemies even tried to kidnap him, but they never succeeded. Though he lacked keen intelligence, he was still a better king that his brother. Wellington said of him that “he could do more business with William IV in 10 minutes than with George IV in 10 days”. During his reign there was a reform of voting process and a passenger railway line was built between Liverpool and Manchester. Though he was said to have over 10 bastards, he had no heir. So when he died, the daughter of his brother, the duke of Kent.

That daughter was called Victoria, whose long reign restored dignity and popularity of the British Crown. She was brought up in a simple atmosphere and they say that under the age of 12 she wasn’t unaware she could become queen one day. “I will be good”, she said when she heard the news. During her early reign, when she was 17, she was managed by her prime minister. In 1840 she married her cousin, Albert Saxe-Coburg and was devoted to Albert and had 9 children by him, 8 of whom married to the royal families of Europe. Albert was earnest, upright and moral, and slowly the young couple brought respectability to the monarchy. Albert was devoted to art and science, and the great achievement of his life was the exhibition organised in 1851 when the whole world saw and marvelled the British invention. But Albert died of typhoid in 1861, queen was devastated. “The world is gone for me”, she wrote. It was the following great prime ministers that did good for the country reforming the damaged sphere, also Tories gave way to the Conservatives and Whigs to the Liberals. The railways began to snake their way through the country, the science and technology were brought to be an industry. Thus more and more countries came under the domination of the Union Jack and the Empire on which the sun never set. Victoria became a mother, a widow, a grandmother, but her reign continued. In 1876 Victoria became the empress of India – and her triumph was complete. Meanwhile Victoria’s eldest son, prince Edward or “Berty” as he was called, led a playboy way of life, indulging in ladies, gambling and horse racing. Why? Because he had nothing much to do – the talent of his mother’s policy left him no worries. But Victoria died in 1901.

Edward VII became known as the “Peacemaker” as he was nicknamed being a king – he realized the growing threat from Europe and made several peace treaties with France. His reign saw the beginning of the welfare state with the old age pensions, national insurance, and the growing empire of the trade union. Though through his life there was a feeling that nothing could really change…he died in 1910.

The crown went to his elder surviving son who became king George V. He had joined the nave at the age of 12 and remained there during his formative years. He was sent to Germany to learn German in the favour of the continental monarchy, but at heart he remained the bluff English sailor. With the beginning of the war in 1914, there were strong anti-German feelings in England and thus the royal family’s name was changes from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha into Windsor. In the end of the war the British monarchy appeared to be the strongest on Europe, though the southern part of Ireland finally broke away and became independent, George and his family became the symbol of continuity and order, and soon George was began to be loved by people. The invention of the radio brought a new level of intimacy between the sovereign and the subject and in 1932 George V made the first Christmas broadcast to the people through the country. George V died of bronchitis at 11:55 pm on the 20^th of January 1936.

His eldest son, the popular Prince of Wales, Edward VIII, succeeded him and a few months later made his faithless broadcast to the people of the country where he discharged his duties as the king to his brother, duke of York, George.

George VI wasn’t prepared to the power as his brother, he stuttered and was shy, but he had a deep sense of duty and though he had never wanted the crown, devoted himself to restoring its dignity and power. With Churchill he led the empire against the Nazi Germany. The Buckingham Palace was bombed, but the king, his queen and their 2 daughters remained there to share the hardships of the war together with their people, with whom they grew ever closer.

In 1952 Elizabeth II succeeded during whose rein the world witnessed the transformation of the largest empire the world has ever seen into the Commonwealth of Nations. The peoples of different races and nations united under the ideas the English crown was to represent: liberty of consciousness, justice and freedom.

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