S4.01 Series 4 Introduction

Summary

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Rex Factor – S4.01: Series 4 Introduction

Release Date: March 27, 2026
Hosts: Graham Duke & Ali Hood

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Episode Overview

In this lively and informative episode, Graham and Ali kick off Series 4 of Rex Factor with an introduction to their new subject: the "Nearly Monarchs" of England and the United Kingdom. The focus this time will be on individuals who could—or perhaps should—have ascended to the throne, but didn’t, for reasons ranging from bad luck to outright usurpation. The hosts discuss their selection process, the reasons behind this theme, notable figures to be reviewed, and some adjustments to the famous Rex Factor scoring system.

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Key Discussion Points

1. What Is a Nearly Monarch?

• [01:55] Graham defines "Nearly Monarchs" as “the people who could or should have become the monarch only for fate to intervene.”
• Ali probes the categories: some are heirs who died before reigning, others claimants blocked by politics or war.
• Examples given:
  • Empress Matilda, passed over for Stephen [04:27]
  • Claimants through warfare or revolt, e.g. Harald Hardrada, Lady Jane Grey

Notable Quote:

“These are people who either should or could have become the monarch, only for fate to intervene.”
— Graham Duke [03:40]

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2. Why Cover the Nearly Monarchs?

• [05:56] The subject was chosen by the podcast’s Patreon supporters, beating out “Scottish Consorts” by a single vote.
• This series will address gaps left by previous seasons and introduce both famous and lesser-known historical figures.
• Opportunity for fun “what if” counterfactual speculation: what if certain nearly-monarchs had reigned? [07:40]
• The hosts discuss the joy and hazards of alternative history, referencing books like Fatherland by Robert Harris and the general academic skepticism toward counterfactuals.

Notable Quote:

“All of history is just finely balanced on these sliding door moments.”
— Ali Hood [08:14]

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3. Who Makes the List?

• The hosts unveil a provisional list of candidates, emphasizing there’s flexibility to add or drop people.
• General rules set: focus is on adults (not children), unless a child's death was historically pivotal.
• They stress avoiding obscure cases where there’s little available information, especially concerning very young heirs.

Selected Nearly Monarchs Mentioned ([11:48]–[22:33]):

• Anglo-Saxons: Aethelwold (Alfred the Great's nephew), Elfried and Edwin (Athelstan’s half-brothers), Edith of Wilton
• Norman and Post-Norman Claimants: Robert Curthose (eldest son of William the Conqueror), William Adeline, Empress Matilda, Stephen’s son Eustace
• Plantagenet Contenders: Henry the Young King, Arthur and Eleanor of Brittany, Louis VIII of France, The Black Prince, Richard Duke of York, Edward of Westminster
• Tudors & Stuarts: Arthur Tudor, Lady Jane Grey, James Duke of Monmouth, the various “Pretenders” of the Jacobite claim
• Hanoverians: Sophia of Hanover, Frederick Duke of York, Princess Charlotte, Albert Victor

Memorable Exchange:

Ali: “I might need an episode on John of Gaunt.”
Graham: “We did a whole special on him… probably three and a half hours of John of Gaunt.” [06:45]

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4. Explaining the Selection Criteria & Scoring System

• [23:47] Graham details the adaptation of the “Battleliness, Scandal, Subjectivity” categories from earlier series.
  • Subjectivity: More challenging for “legitimate heirs who die young.”
• Longevity and Dynasty scoring has been overhauled for fairness and consistency, using new mathematical formulas for series comparison.
  • Example: Only surviving children factor (Dynasty) now uses a square root formula to avoid giving high scores to zero or one child. [24:20–26:35]

Notable Quote:

“So basically I just asked Copilot, and it suggested using the square root.”
— Graham Duke [26:01]

• Combined historical spreadsheets allow for recalculation of scores across all series, giving a new “all-time top five.”

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5. The Role of Counterfactual Thinking

• There’s conscious balancing between rewarding actual achievement and considering potential (“what if” scenarios), but they don't plan to give out Rex Factor based solely on hypothetical greatness. [30:49]

Notable Quote:

“We need to find a balance … so we do reward actual achievements and star quality, but we are also mindful of the what if.”
— Graham Duke [30:45]

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6. Coming Up Next

• Special prequel episode: Interview with author Emily Murdoch Perkins (“Regina”), exploring women who could have been queens if succession rules had differed. [32:00]
• The main series will then begin with Aethelwold.

Teaser:

“Shedding a light on some of those forgotten figures that maybe could have been the ones in the front seats. I think that’d be an interesting way to start the series.”
— Graham Duke [32:25]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I might need an episode on John of Gaunt.”
  — Ali Hood [06:45]

• “Is there ever anyone who isn’t the daughter or son of a [monarch]?”
  — Ali Hood [04:20]

• “What even is a monarch claim?”
  — Ali Hood [10:34]

• “If you just keep saying the same one, ironically, most of them are called James…”
  — Graham Duke [18:39]

• “We will begin our nearly monarch odyssey with Aethelwold.”
  — Graham Duke [32:51]

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Timestamps for Major Sections

• [03:40] – Definition and types of "Nearly Monarchs"
• [05:56] – Why choose this theme?
• [09:55] – How the list was created and criteria
• [11:48–22:33] – Walkthrough of key Nearly Monarchs in series
• [23:47] – Explanation of the scoring change
• [30:45] – Rex Factor and the counterfactual challenge
• [32:00] – Announcement of next episode (Emily Murdoch Perkins interview)

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Tone & Style

The episode is marked by the hosts' cheeky humor, gentle ribbing, and deep historical enthusiasm. They maintain their trademark blend of approachable expertise and irreverent banter (“I can't take my trousers off [for video episodes],” jokes Ali), ensuring new and returning listeners feel welcome as the series embarks on fresh historical adventures.

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Summary

The launch of Series 4 is both an invitation and a roadmap for listeners: expect compelling stories about the almost-monarchs who shaped (or nearly shaped) British history, deep dives into key moments of dynastic drama, playful speculation, and a refined scoring system to ensure fairness across a diverse field. Next up: an interview warming up for a full exploration of alternative royal pasts.

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Transcript

[Ali Hood]

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[Graham Duke]

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[Ali Hood]

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[Ali Hood]

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[Graham Duke]

with your

[Ali Hood]

hosts Graham Duke and Ali Hood.

[Graham Duke]

Hello, hello and welcome to Rex Factor where we are going to be reviewing all the nearly monarchs of England from Aethelwold to Albert Victor, the people who could or should have become the monarch only for fate to intervene.

[Ali Hood]

We're just going straight in then. I feel like normally we do some. I suppose I've been working on it, you say.

[Graham Duke]

I feel normally we do some kind of introduction, get ourselves into what we're doing. Well, that's what this episode is. This is series four introduction.

[Ali Hood]

Okay. Okay, good.

[Graham Duke]

Which is useful for Ali because we are at the start of a big recording day, recording quite a few episodes in one go. But we thought it would be useful to have a little episode at the start of the series just to lay the ground and explain to people what we mean by nearly monarchs and indeed who the Nearly Monarchs are. All right, so that's what we're going to be doing today. If you want to find out more about us, head to our website, rexfactorpodcast.com and find all our links to social media pages. And if you want to hear more of us, then you can join the Privy Council and get loads of bonus content, including our Discord channel and over 450 bonus episodes, as well as ad free versions of the main [e-mail] RexFactor

[Ali Hood]

it's weekly Gubbins there, isn't it? Because we do Tuesday talks.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly. And you can also now watch the main podcast either on Spotify or YouTube. We are now doing videos for all of our main episodes, which means it takes us a lot longer to get

[Ali Hood]

going and I can't take my trousers off.

[Graham Duke]

Well, you are sort of, I think, top focused in terms of the video, so whatever's going on downstairs, I don't think the listeners need to know.

[Ali Hood]

Okay. I'd hate to lose that freedom. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Anyway, let's find out what we're doing in series four.

[Ali Hood]

Series concept.

[Graham Duke]

So, as I said at the top, and as I'm going to say in every episode for the next however long, it's all the Nearly monarchs of England and the United Kingdom, from Ethelwold to. To Albert Victor. But what is a Nearly Monarch? Yeah, well, these are people who either should or could have become the monarch, only for fate to intervene. So in some cases, this will be an eldest child of a monarch that predeceases their ruling parents. So they never get a chance to rule, but they should have done.

[Ali Hood]

Got you.

[Graham Duke]

Had they survived. Alternatively, there will be people who feel like they have a claim to the throne and they make an effort to get the throne, but are ultimately unsuccessful.

[Ali Hood]

Give us an example of him.

[Graham Duke]

So we could have.

[Ali Hood]

All I've got is Henry vii.

[Graham Duke]

All I've got is Henry vii. Who? He's a king. Because he's got that number. Well, I mean, you said give us an example of him, which is what fool me. So, I mean, the Empress Matilda, for example, is one who should have been monarch because she was her father's heir. But Stephen takes the throne and she has to fight this civil war and she never actually, technically.

[Ali Hood]

Is there ever anyone who isn't the daughter or son of a.

[Graham Duke]

Yes, we'll have those as well. So for. Well, we'll find out in a minute. I'm gonna go through this series. I'm gonna do a list, but. Yes, but that's what we're doing, basically. So some of them, it will be very clear they predeceased their parent. They should have been the monarch. But they die young.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Well, not necessarily young. If their parent lives a very long time or they have a claim to the throne, possibly a good one, possibly slight, tenuous, and they try to get it, whether by invasion or revolt or whatever, but they never quite manage it. Right. So quite different sort of stories that will be telling there. But in all cases, they are Nearly Monarchs. They don't quite make it.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. I'm just wondering which one we might end up giving more weight to. Because unlike previous series, where everyone has something in common, that they're a consort or they're the king, there's sort of two different nearlys.

[Graham Duke]

Yes. And we'll come to. We're going to have a little look at the scoring and our approach to that. But it is an interesting difference for this series that we're sort of doing unsuccessful people, but.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, well, that's it. There's unsuccessful people and just unlucky people who.

[Graham Duke]

Yes.

[Ali Hood]

Like. Yeah. So, okay, interesting.

[Graham Duke]

Now, why are we doing the Nearly Monarchs in this series? Well, the basic answer is that we had a vote with the Privy Councillors in the last, at the end of the last series, and beat the Scottish consort by one vote.

[Ali Hood]

That's ridiculous.

[Graham Duke]

Wow.

[Ali Hood]

So if you didn't vote and feeling disappointed.

[Graham Duke]

Well, if you didn't join the Privy Council. But in terms of what we're hoping to get from this series, one thing it's going to do, hopefully, is fill in some of the gaps in English and British history from the previous three series. So some big names like we mentioned, the Empress Matilda, the Black Prince, Lady Jane Grey, John of Gaunt. No, he's not really an early monarch. I mean, obviously we did do a special episode on him that you could get by signing up on Patreon. So you know exactly who he is, you're very comfortable with him. You no longer need an episode on John of Gaunt. Of course,

[Ali Hood]

I might. I might need an episode of John of Gaunt. We did a whole special on him.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. And I've got. And you get special episode extras where we do a bit more. So you got. You probably got about three and a half hours of John of Gaunt.

[Ali Hood]

I remember he's actually John of Ghent.

[Graham Duke]

Yes. There you go.

[Ali Hood]

You certainly.

[Graham Duke]

At least the first five minutes went in.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, that's. That's it. Well, that was helpful, though. Yeah. Jonathan. Yeah. So we're not doing him. All right.

[Graham Duke]

Not doing him. He was Never really in the frame.

[Ali Hood]

Lady Jane Grey.

[Graham Duke]

Yes.

[Ali Hood]

I can't wait to find out who on earth she is.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly. So some of the sort of big names that were there, but we didn't do an episode on them. But also there'll be some others that maybe people don't know about. But actually, you'd be quite interesting to see how different history might have been had they had their.

[Ali Hood]

This feels like rich Rex flicks pickings here.

[Graham Duke]

Quite possibly.

[Ali Hood]

I mean, not just films that have been made about these people.

[Graham Duke]

Films that could be made. Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

I think we're gonna be saying Hollywood a lot. What are you playing at?

[Graham Duke]

Well, exactly. And indeed the what if scenarios. The counterfactual history is also a fun thing with this one, because every episode we will get to consider, you know, how might things have been different had this person made it to the throne?

[Ali Hood]

There's quite a backlash against counterfactuals. It's. Well, I don't know if it's backlash.

[Graham Duke]

It's maybe not always looked on seriously by academic historians, because you don't know, you're just guessing. But I think it's a useful thing to do to see the significance of events, you know, if this happened.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, exactly.

[Graham Duke]

What could it have meant?

[Ali Hood]

I. Yeah, it. It is. It enhances my love of history because it shows how all of history is just finely balanced on these sliding door moments. Not because, you know, I wish the Nazis had won or something horrible, but

[Graham Duke]

equally, I mean, obviously, if we do trace it back, it does really go to Robert Harrison, Fatherland. And that is thus why I have a very strong positive correlation with counterfactualism.

[Ali Hood]

That's a great, great book. That is a great book. Yeah, I'd read that again. What's he playing? Ignis. He should be pumping out another one soon, shouldn't he?

[Graham Duke]

I think he is. I think he's going back to the Romans.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, he's at his best when he's fiddling with Nazis. Everyone knows that.

[Graham Duke]

Now. Perhaps the main thing we've been asked about in the build up to this series is who are we going to be doing in the series? Because obviously all the previous series we've done, it's been a very clear list that, you know, there might be one or two debatable ones as to whether or not we include them. And there's sometimes a question of where we start and where we finish, but essentially it's a fixed list of who we do. But nearly. Monarchs is a little bit more subjective. We've got a little bit More of a decision to be making. So I thought it'd be useful at this early juncture to actually literally list everyone that we're doing in the series.

[Ali Hood]

Okay. Are we gonna. So this is it. This is set in stone. Are we gonna add anyone to it?

[Graham Duke]

It's not impossible that we could add. It's not impossible that there might be one or two that we ultimately decide not to do. It could be one of those where once I get into the research and look at them, I might think. Not sure. Generally speaking, we're not doing young children. Yeah. Because a. For quite most of history, there'll be basically nothing actually written about them. So I have nothing to say. And also, it's just kind of a sad thing. So it's not really.

[Ali Hood]

I've got enough kids at home, but

[Graham Duke]

there might be one or two where, because of how significant their death is.

[Ali Hood]

Prince is in the tower.

[Graham Duke]

Well, no, because. Because the eldest prince in the tower is officially Edward V, so he isn't nearly monarchy. Actually, he is officially monarch.

[Ali Hood]

Is he really?

[Graham Duke]

He is. Otherwise.

[Ali Hood]

Did we do an episode on it?

[Graham Duke]

We did. Otherwise, Edward VI wouldn't be Edward vi, he'd be Edward V. But he can't

[Ali Hood]

have been crowned, was he?

[Graham Duke]

No, but they're not all. Edward VIII wasn't crowned either.

[Ali Hood]

So, I mean, what even is a monarch claim?

[Graham Duke]

I mean, let's really go back to basics on this one.

[Ali Hood]

How did Richard III do it? That, like, if he was already.

[Graham Duke]

Richard III said that he actually. Oh, yeah, this doesn't count. And then Henry VII overthrows Richard III and said, what an evil man. Obviously, that was the rightful monarch, Edward

[Ali Hood]

V. So Richard III doesn't count.

[Graham Duke]

Well, I think he does count because he did reign.

[Ali Hood]

But according to the next line of monarchs, he shouldn't.

[Graham Duke]

The next line of monarchs would say that he shouldn't have reigned and that he was a usurper. But nevertheless, the fact was that he did. He usurped the throne and was crowned, anointed. So he was the monarch, but he shouldn't have been.

[Ali Hood]

That would make a Richard. There's not never been a Richard iv, have they?

[Graham Duke]

No.

[Ali Hood]

That's Blackadder, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Yes. Well, it's another great counterfactual moment.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, good point.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. So there'll be. There will be one or two younger nearly monarchs that we might do just because it's such a sort of pivotal moment than Ambon dying. But generally we're focusing more on the adult ones. But anyway, let's find out who we're doing in this series, the Nearly Monarchs. So we'll be starting off with the Anglo Saxons and we'll be going back to the days of Alfred the Great.

[Ali Hood]

Why?

[Graham Duke]

Because that's where it starts for us. So we're kicking off with his nephew Aethelwold, who was a rival for the throne with Alfred's son, Edward the Elder.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

Might be familiar anyone who's watched or read Last Kingdom series. Aethelwold is a recurring character in that.

[Ali Hood]

With blinding accuracy.

[Graham Duke]

I bet. Well, it's an interesting one. It's an interesting, interesting take on him. After that, we'll have a double header for the brothers Elfried and Edwin, who are half brothers to Athelstan.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

And thus rivals to succeed Edward the Elder. Then we've got our first female Nearly monarch, Edith of Wilton, or Saint Edith of Wilton. Definitely heard of her. She is a daughter of Edgar the Peaceable and a possible alternative to Aethelred the Unready.

[Ali Hood]

Oh.

[Graham Duke]

After that, we skip forwards a few decades to a sort of forgotten man in the midst of the 1066 goings on. Edward the Exile.

[Ali Hood]

Who's the guy I like?

[Graham Duke]

Edgar the Etheling. Which is son. So this is the father of Edgar the Etheling and a son of Edmund Ironside, who gets rather forgotten about, but actually he's pivotal to the whole thing. We will do Edgar the Ethering as well, but after the only Viking of this series, who is another one with a somewhat tenuous claim to the throne. You're asking about earlier? Harald Hardrada.

[Ali Hood]

Mmm, I'm pleased about that.

[Graham Duke]

Proper Viking. But as it is, he's very much not a descendant of any English monarch. Right, yeah, but he's a Viking, so, you know, after that, we move on to the Normans. So we start off with Robert Curthose, who's the eldest surviving son of William the Conqueror, but he's beaten to the throne by two younger brothers, William Rufus and Henry.

[Ali Hood]

I mean, he's got short legs if it's a race.

[Graham Duke]

The second of these, Henry I, his son William Adeline, is on the list because he dies famously in the White Ship disaster.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Leading to uncertainty about the succession. There's then a call for Robert Curtos's son, William Clito, to be named as heir. But Henry I resists this. So William Cleto is also on our list as a Nearly.

[Ali Hood]

Right. I've got so many questions, but I will find out in the episodes.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly. Ultimately, Henry declared his daughter, his legitimate, only legitimate daughter, the Empress Matilda, as his heir. But then she also appears on our list because her cousin Stephen nabbed the throne ahead of her. And they fight the Anarchy, a civil war in battle for it, at the end of which Stephen agrees to recognize Matilda son Henry II as his heir, thus disinheriting his own eldest son, Eustace, who is also on our list.

[Ali Hood]

Okay, good. Died of another set fit of lamprey or something, isn't he?

[Graham Duke]

Well, it'll be an interesting one. It's quite convenient that Eustace dies when he does die, and there's a few of those in this series, so that'll be interesting to look at. Then we move on to the Plantagenet, starting with one of the mystery men that you've needed an explanation for for quite a long time. Henry, the young King.

[Ali Hood]

He's made his way in to my head.

[Graham Duke]

Interesting.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So he's crowned co king during the reign of his father, Henry ii, but dies before him. After that, we have the siblings Arthur and Eleanor of Brittany. Now, they are the children of the third surviving son of Henry ii, a chap called Geoffrey of Brittany.

[Ali Hood]

John kills them.

[Graham Duke]

Well, he does with Arthur, but John is the fourth surviving son. So by strict primogeniture, these children of the third son should actually John. But John, obviously.

[Ali Hood]

Textbook John.

[Graham Duke]

Textbook John. John ends his reign in Igmani when the barons rebel against him and they invite the French dauphin to invade the future Louis viii. So he is on our list.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, right, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Because he very nearly does establish himself as king. And then we skip ahead a bit to the Black Son, Eldest son of Edward iii. Many remarkable victories in the Hundred Years War. Again, one of those sort of famous names.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

English, medieval.

[Ali Hood]

The Black Prince.

[Graham Duke]

The Black Prince, but predeceases his father, so never becomes king. That resulted in his infant son, Richard ii, becoming king. And when he is overthrown, a lot of people see that as moving us towards the wars of the Roses.

[Ali Hood]

Richard II was the son of the Black Prince.

[Graham Duke]

Yes.

[Ali Hood]

Right. Not this. And who is the Black Prince?

[Graham Duke]

The son of Edward iii. So it skips the generation.

[Ali Hood]

Edward iii. Good one.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The good Edward.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Well, yeah,

[Graham Duke]

yeah. So then we move on towards the wars of the Roses. So Richard, Duke of York is a major player in that. He's the one who tries to get rid of paper crown, tries to get rid of Henry VI, so he'll be on our list. Henry VI's son, Edward of Westminster is also on the list.

[Ali Hood]

Hang on, Henry vi.

[Graham Duke]

So Henry VI is the Lancastrian, the one who put to Sleep is put to sleep. Has his mental health problems. His son is killed in battle or after a battle just before Henry VI himself is put to sleep. So is an early monarch.

[Ali Hood]

Was that Tewkesbury?

[Graham Duke]

Yes, check me out. And there are a lot of battles in that period as well. So it's not like you picked the one battle in 50 years that's like.

[Ali Hood]

No. For some reason I remember that they dashed over that side of the country while a she wolf. We don't know which one. No one does. We came across from France bit late.

[Graham Duke]

There you go. Yes. Broadly speaking. Yeah. We will then finish in terms of the waters of the Roses bit with. Well, potentially this is one of the first ones where I might not do him. So Richard III's only son, Edward of Middleham. Now he's quite young. I think he's only about sort of 10 or so and I don't know if there'll be much to say about him, but because of his death, Richard doesn't have an heir. So there's kind of not a clear Plantagenet heir. So it's quite significant that his son dies.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

But we might decide to do maybe like an interview episode or something.

[Ali Hood]

Oh yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Rather than actually reviewing Edward of Midland. Yeah, yeah. After that we move on to the Tudor nearly. So we have Henry VIII's older brother, Arthur Tudor.

[Ali Hood]

Oh yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Who dies shortly after marrying Catherine of Aragon. Then we have an illegitimate son of Henry viii, Henry Fitzroy, who potentially he was considering his heir before the birth of Edward vi. And finally one of the ones you're looking forward to, Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen. Excellent. After that we move on to the Stuarts and there are a lot of Stuarts on our list.

[Ali Hood]

It feels like there's. That's when it all goes a bit. It sort of cements a bit back in England because you got all the. After the Civil War.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Like, okay, all the nastiness has drained away and there's. There's this thing. But then all the, all the Bonnie Prince Charlie's and all this Bonnie Prince Johnny come Charlie lately's and banging around France and Scotland.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

I mean there's loads of them. They've all got the same name, haven't they?

[Graham Duke]

Well, I mean if you just keep saying the same one, then they say, ironically most of them are called James,

[Ali Hood]

but Bonnie Jamie, Charlie lately, you know.

[Graham Duke]

Well, before we get to that, we've got the eldest son of James the first, Henry Stuart, who was very popular youth and should have been King inst. Younger brother Charles the first, really. So a big counterfactual there. If he become king instead of Charles. Yeah. Would we've had the Civil War following previous series. We are going to have a little Cromwell diversion on Richard. We'll do Richard Cromwell, who did briefly succeed his father as law protector, but again very much sort of. It's forgotten about in the midst of things. Then we have the eldest illegitimate son of Charles ii, James, Duke of Monmouth, who failed in an attempt to usurp his uncle James ii.

[Ali Hood]

Okay. I don't remember that.

[Graham Duke]

Monmouth's Rebellion. James himself is overthrown in the Glorious Revolution. So that gives us the Jacobites.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Which is where we have all these

[Graham Duke]

fellows, all these others. So James's eldest son, who is also called James, the supposed bedpan baby.

[Ali Hood]

Oh yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Sometimes known as the old pretender. Then we have his sons, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the famous one.

[Ali Hood]

Their pretender is another one. They're always called Pretender.

[Graham Duke]

And Cardinal Henry Benedict Stewart.

[Ali Hood]

Who's this?

[Graham Duke]

It's the brother of Bonnie Prince Charlie, who doesn't really actively try to become king, but he does claim to be king. Weird.

[Ali Hood]

So isn't there a young pretender? Who's the old pretender?

[Graham Duke]

The old pretender is. This is the bedpan baby. But he's. He's not old at that point, but he becomes old later on and his

[Ali Hood]

son is the young pretender.

[Graham Duke]

And. Yes. Which Bonnie Prince Charlie.

[Ali Hood]

That's good.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

That's gonna take some untangling.

[Graham Duke]

I think what we'll do is we'll do them in separate episodes.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Thanks. Yeah. Finally for the Stuarts and sort of going back in time a little bit, but it feels the appropriate point to end. We'll have the son of Queen Anne, William, Duke of Gloucester.

[Ali Hood]

I didn't think she had any.

[Graham Duke]

Well, obviously, tragically, anyone familiar with Ansdell knows she has lots and lots of pregnancies and lots of either ones that don't go to term or ones that die in infancy. But there is one child who does live to be a child but dies again. He's about 10 or 11 or something. But with the Stewart's obviously you have more recorded about him because it's obviously later on in history. Yeah. And because he dies, that is a major moment. Because it just. The entire succession rules have to change because they don't want Catholics and they have to get through a lot of Catholics before they find some Protestants. That's where we get a proper act of succession and a defined line.

[Ali Hood]

Who comes after Anne then?

[Graham Duke]

Well, after Anne is actually Another nearly monarch. So we've got the Hanoverians, but the first Hanoverian was very nearly the mother of George. The first Sophia of Hanover, although being a lot older than Anne, was only actually a few weeks away from succeeding her.

[Ali Hood]

And she died.

[Graham Duke]

And she died just before Anne. Right, so she's nearly monarch. Then we've got the son of George ii, father of George iii, Frederick.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Supposedly killed by the cricket ball. According to legend, he hit by a cricket ball and does stuff to him. Probably not true, as we'll see. Then we have the only legitimate daughter of George iv, Princess Charlotte.

[Ali Hood]

Yep.

[Graham Duke]

A brother of George iv, Frederick Duke of York, who becomes the heir as a result of George not having any children and before everyone else has got anything set up. And then the series will finish with the eldest son of Edward vii, Albert Victor, who, strictly speaking, isn't actually the heir. In fact, Charlotte isn't actually the heir either.

[Ali Hood]

Why?

[Graham Duke]

In both cases, their grandparent is still on the throne. So for Princess Charlotte, it's in the reign of George iii. For Albert Victor, it's in the reign of Queen Victoria. Yeah, but, you know, they're the eldest son of the eldest.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

They're adult as well. It's very much feels like they are the future. Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Like William at this point.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly. Yes. No, no. Yes.

[Ali Hood]

If.

[Graham Duke]

Well, no, not. No, I forgot.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

If 10 years ago, William had died before the Queen, he technically would never have been the heir, but you'd feel like he was a nearly monarch. Yeah, yeah. So those are all the nearly monarchs.

[Ali Hood]

Hang on, Who's. Who's. Who's who's who? Who's the new William then? Who's. What's he. He's got loads of kids. What's their names?

[Graham Duke]

George is the oldest, so it'll be

[Ali Hood]

a George the seventh. Seventh.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. Well, those are all the nearly marks. I mean, well, he's not yet on the list.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Stick him on.

[Graham Duke]

And we'll explain our approach to the factors after quit.

[Ali Hood]

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[Graham Duke]

Break the factors. So the subjective factors, battleliness, scandal, subjectivity shouldn't really operate any differently to previous series and perhaps Might be a bit trickier for some of those legitimate heirs who die young. Thus they don't have as much opportunity to actually do anything. So, a bit similar to the console series, maybe, like in Battleliness, we might be looking for sort of agency of action or independence, a bit of spark to go on, a bit of potential in terms of what we can find, but otherwise it's basically as usual.

[Ali Hood]

Which fact is that, did you say?

[Graham Duke]

That's battliness. That's what we did with the Consorts. But scandals. Subjectivity, I guess we. Subjectivity is the other one. I guess it's maybe. Might be looking for evidence of what they might have done, how they might have ruled without actually having them ruling. Tricky when it comes to the factual factors, however. So Longevity and Dynasty, I have made a bit of a change. Oh, here we go. So the usual way that we've done in previous series, we've always had this bit of a struggle to quantify these ones, because initially we just did, how long are they the monarch for? And then that was their score. But it thought, well, that's unfair, because you get a rubbish monarch who's king for 40 years. Yeah, they get this huge score. So then we found ways of dividing it into a score out of 20 to fit with the other factors. And we had one approach early on, the Patiometer, and then we changed it to something that was based on kind of medians and quartiles. So the middle score would be 10, and then you'd have the first quartile of 5, the third one at 15, top at 20, and you'd have sort of intervals.

[Ali Hood]

It just makes it a little. A little bit more accurate. Flattening out that curve.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly. Now, that works pretty well for Longevity, but it's always been a bit of a struggle for Dynasty, because with Dynasty, which is legitimate surviving children, you don't have a large number in there. In fact, you will, I think, always have less than 20.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

And this series in particular, because we've got a smaller number, the series itself is shorter. And by their nature, a lot of these people will not have any surviving children.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. They're children themselves.

[Graham Duke]

So I had a bit of a problem in that. I think the original median Dynasty, in terms of number of children for this series was zero. Yeah. Which doesn't really work to get 10 points for zero.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. How are we gonna do that?

[Graham Duke]

Well, so then I tried a more balanced approach. I thought, right, well, this is how many they are. This is the maximum number of children. If we divide it by 20 and just go up in equal intervals. Where does that take us? But then one child will only get you a score of two points, which felt a bit too low. Obviously 10 felt a bit too high. So basically I just asked Copilot and it suggested using the square root. So I've got a bit of a formula which ensures a bit more of a fair curve going upwards. So now one child equates to a score of six and a half out of 20.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

So it feels, you know, plenty more than two, which feels fair. But equally it's not up at 10, which felt a bit too high.

[Ali Hood]

Two is a score.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. So that's how it's working. I can give you at some point the full formula if anybody wants it, but that's basically what I'm doing. I'm using a slightly more fixed formula. And the nice thing about that is that that will then work in every series because I've always kind of adjusted the dynasty approach to try and make it work.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, right, we can go back.

[Graham Duke]

Yes, and I have done that. So I have a combined spreadsheet where I take all the previous monarchs consorts and put them in one spreadsheet. Obviously their battle scandal subjectivity scores remain the same, but because longevity and dynasty is always measured against the other people in the series, those scores change in the combined spreadsheet because you're measuring it against everybody rather than just your own series. So I've used this square root formula for the longevity and dynasty to see what impact it makes and it has made a bit of a change.

[Ali Hood]

Go on.

[Graham Duke]

So basically most of the scores have gone down a bit. Now previously the all time top five had Edward the first in fifth with 77.5.

[Ali Hood]

With kids?

[Graham Duke]

No, just total score. I thought that'd be more interesting than longevity Dynasty specifically. So we had Edward I in fifth, Robert the Bruce in fourth with 80 points, and then a three way tie at the top with Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France, all with 82.

[Ali Hood]

Really?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Huh.

[Graham Duke]

But now everyone's score has gone down.

[Ali Hood]

So Edward III is. Edward I is third.

[Graham Duke]

No, Edward I is fifth because you, you do the top one and technically nobody gets a silver or bronze medal in that scenario. They all just gather on the top podium showing the golds. But yeah, so everybody's score has gone down a bit, but not by the same amount. So how will this change the top five?

[Ali Hood]

Interesting.

[Graham Duke]

Well, we now have a tie between Edward I and Robert the Bruce.

[Ali Hood]

That's more like it.

[Graham Duke]

Both on 74.5, but but with an

[Ali Hood]

understanding that Edward I is better.

[Graham Duke]

Well, exactly. We have an understanding that probably the subjective factor should really be the tie break in that scenari, because that's where we've judged them and decided who's better or not. So obviously Robert the Roost remains on top 51.5 against Edwards, 45. Quite a comfortable victory there, really. After that, we've got Isabella of France in the third with 76.5 points. But who will be top, Henry or Elena?

[Ali Hood]

Eleanor?

[Graham Duke]

There's only half a mark in it and it is now Elena of Aquitaine.

[Ali Hood]

This really works.

[Graham Duke]

She's now got 77.5. Henry II, 77. As I said, Isabella, 76.5.

[Ali Hood]

This really works because she. Spoiler alert. Turn off if you can. She won overall, didn't she?

[Graham Duke]

At Ludlow, when we combine the top three against each other.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, well done. This is really good. And I like that we've got like a subjective goal difference differentiator, so slightly

[Graham Duke]

new approach to longevity and dynasty, but hopefully that one will now be the fixed system. It should work for all series. Now, that's brilliant. After that, of course, we consider whether or not each person has that certain something, the great achievement, the lasting legacy, the star quality that we call Rex factor. Now, this is obviously largely still the same, but we might perhaps be swayed a little by the counterfactual element because. So by definition, you could say none of these are successful people. They all fail to become the monarch for various reasons. So that doesn't mean they can't have star quality and it doesn't mean they can't have great achievements elsewhere. But equally, they might impress us with their what if. They might impress us with the attempt to become monarch or how different things might have been, the promise that they had. Because what we don't want to do is just always imagine an incredible reign where everything went their reign and therefore they win the RAX factor every single time. But likewise, we don't want to go, well, it's very good. But fundamentally they didn't become king, did they? Rubbish. So nobody gets a Rex factor. So we need to find a bounce where we do reward actual achievements and star quality. But we are also mindful of the what if.

[Ali Hood]

Okay, how are we gonna do that?

[Graham Duke]

Well, we'll see, we'll find out. It will be an interesting one. I don't quite know exactly who's.

[Ali Hood]

It's the.

[Graham Duke]

I'd say the series. I've got the least sense going into it. Of all the people that might get the Rex factor, And might win. Etc. It's a different mindset, I think. The series.

[Ali Hood]

Okay, Correspondence corner.

[Graham Duke]

So that is what is to come in series 4. Head to our website rexfactorpodcast.com to get all our links and more information about the podcast and find all our links to social media. If you want to get in touch with us. If you'd like to support the podcast, then go to patreon.com rexfactor where you can get ad free versions of the main podcast, over 450 additional bonus episodes and access to our Discord server where we chat.

[Ali Hood]

You're turned off for a minute a little while there.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, it's fine. You just.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got this bit covered because I've got some very important thoughts to have here.

[Graham Duke]

So I was just really fascinated by your knee there. Anyway, but that is all from us today, so next time. Well, actually, no, we're not going to be doing f the world next time. We're going to do an interview episode. Actually, before we start the podcast, we're going to be speaking to an author called Emily Murdoch Perkins, who's written a book, Regina. That's very much of an ilk with what we're doing here because she's looked at all of the daughters who could have been queen had the succession rules not prioritized. Sons over daughters.

[Ali Hood]

Interesting.

[Graham Duke]

So we'll have a few bits of overlap in terms of some of the people in this series with hers. But also it's just that very similar kind of the counterfactual. The what if you. Yeah. Shedding a light on some of those forgotten figures that maybe could have been the ones in the front seats. I think that'd be an interesting way to start the series and a nice little transition from the consorts to the.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, well, that's how we started the previous series, wasn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Exactly, yeah. Chatted to Emma Sullivan. So we'll chat to Emily next time. And then after that, we will begin our nearly monarch odyssey with Aethelwold.

[Ali Hood]

All right, see you later then.

[Graham Duke]

See you next time.

[Ali Hood]

It.

[Graham Duke]

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