He lives in a mansion with its own chapel, where he attends Latin mass on Sundays. He has six children baptized with names of medieval monks, saints, and bishops (the latest is named Sixtus). He has a butler, ironer, and up to five domestic staff members. He dresses in strict black like Mortadelo and only loosens his tie to sleep. He boasts of collecting vintage cars and once campaigned in a Bentley to the tune of "Rule Britannia."
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg more than earned the nickname "honorable member of the 18th century" during his 14 years in Westminster, representing the ultra-traditionalist wing of Catholicism and the Conservative Party, serving as Minister for Brexit Opportunities under Boris Johnson and for Business under the ousted Liz Truss. He missed his last chance in July when he lost his seat in Somerset to Labour's Dan Norris, but even then, he was already plotting his unique revenge in the form of a reality show.
Meet the Rees-Moggs is the title of the Discovery+ series that premiered on December 1st, where the oldest, poshest, and most snobbish figure in British politics claims back the lost spotlight, surrounded by his large family and competing in his opulent and archaic way with the Kardashians.
"They say that politics is showbusiness for ugly people," proclaims his wife, the aristocrat Lady Helena Anne Beatrix Fitzwilliam de Chair, at the beginning of the series. "Obviously, I don't think that of you, dear," she says, glancing at her illustrious 55-year-old husband, in the 17th-century mansion of Gurney Court, distantly related to Downton Abbey.
On Saturday nights, the Rees-Moggs hold a gala dinner where even the children have to wear ties. The menu, to Sir's taste, usually consists of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, with plenty of mashed potatoes. Salads are considered "rabbit food." Neither rice, pasta, nor of course carrots or peas are allowed in the house.
Along the way, we meet the butler, Sean Goodwin, whose duties include making cider, polishing the silver cutlery, and erasing the occasional graffiti that appears near the mansion's entrance sign (Rees-Mogg once ranked high on the list of the most hated politicians in the UK).
The illustrious protagonist continues to make a living through politics as the host of The State of the Nation on GB News, where he has admitted his opposition to same-sex marriages and abortion, and where he often launches diatribes against woke culture. Despite no longer being an MP, he acknowledges that he continues to collect insults and invectives, although he seems unfazed: "Self-control is very important. I believe it is one of the characteristics that make the UK a great nation."
Helena admits that her husband keeps his emotions in check, almost as diligently as his tie knot: "Before loosening it, his head would fall off." Jacob Rees-Mogg doesn't even take off his suit to play cricket. There are no shorts or t-shirts in his wardrobe. His favorite activity is reading by the fireplace, while his wife goes hunting or skiing in the Alps.
If it were up to him, she confesses, they would have had 12 children. Helena settled for half a dozen, and so far, none of them has turned out rebellious. The only daughter, Mary Anne Charlotte Emma, flaunts her posh family in front of the cameras. The eldest, Peter Theodore Alphege, already looks like a stretched clone of his father and is ready to follow in his footsteps, in both economics and politics.
Son of The Times editor William Rees-Mogg, educated as tradition dictates at Eton, Jacob not only was a wealthy heir but also thrived as a financier in Hong Kong and with the investment fund Somerset Capital Management. Their combined fortune with his wife's is around 180 million euros, allowing them to buy another luxury property for six million after Westminster Abbey.
The exact earnings from the series have not been made public, but it is clear that the last thing the family needs is mercy. From the annals of history emerges the image of 12-year-old Jacob Rees-Mogg aboard his father's Rolls-Royce, expressing his desire to be rich at all costs: "I love money, I've always liked it."