George VI
George VI | |||||
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St George's Chapel 26 March 1969, St George's Chapel | |||||
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Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (m. 1923) | ||||
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Father | Protestant[c] | ||||
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Military career | |||||
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Years of active service | 1913–1919 | ||||
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George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was
The future George VI was born during the reign of his great-grandmother
In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany, following the invasion of Poland. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared. Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother the Duke of Kent was killed on active service. George became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined. Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died at Sandringham House, aged 56, of a coronary thrombosis in 1952. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.
Early life
Albert was born at
The Queen was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the Duchess of York: "I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good."
Albert was ill often and was described as "easily frightened and somewhat prone to tears".
Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, and the Prince of Wales succeeded her as King Edward VII. Prince Albert moved up to third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother.
Military career and education
Beginning in 1909, Albert attended the
Albert spent the first six months of 1913 on the training ship
In February 1918 Albert was appointed Officer in Charge of Boys at the
Albert wanted to serve on the Continent while the war was still in progress and welcomed a posting to
In October 1919, Albert attended
Marriage
In a time when royalty were expected to marry fellow royalty, it was unusual that Albert had a great deal of freedom in choosing a prospective wife. An infatuation with the already-married Australian socialite
Albert and Elizabeth were married on 26 April 1923 in Westminster Abbey. Albert's marriage to someone not of royal birth was considered a modernising gesture.[37] The newly formed British Broadcasting Company wished to record and broadcast the event on radio, but the Abbey Chapter vetoed the idea (although the Dean, Herbert Edward Ryle, was in favour).[38]
From December 1924 to April 1925, the Duke and Duchess toured
Because of his stutter, Albert dreaded public speaking.[40] After his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley on 31 October 1925, one which was an ordeal for both him and his listeners,[41] he began to see Lionel Logue, an Australian-born speech therapist. The Duke and Logue practised breathing exercises, and the Duchess rehearsed with him patiently.[42] Subsequently, he was able to speak with less hesitation.[43] With his delivery improved, Albert opened the new Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, during a tour of the empire with the Duchess in 1927.[44] Their journey by sea to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji took them via Jamaica, where Albert played doubles tennis partnered with a black man, Bertrand Clark, which was unusual at the time and taken locally as a display of equality between races.[45]
The Duke and Duchess had two children:
Reign
Reluctant king
King George V had severe reservations about Prince Edward, saying "After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself in twelve months" and "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne."
As Edward was unmarried and had no children, Albert was the
On the day of Edward's abdication, the
Across Britain, gossip spread that Albert was physically and psychologically incapable of being king. No evidence has been found to support the contemporaneous rumour that the government considered bypassing him, his children and his brother Prince Henry, in favour of their younger brother Prince George, Duke of Kent.[53] This seems to have been suggested on the grounds that Prince George was at that time the only brother with a son.[54]
Early reign
Albert assumed the regnal name "George VI" to emphasise continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy.[55] The beginning of George VI's reign was taken up by questions surrounding his predecessor and brother, whose titles, style and position were uncertain. He had been introduced as "His Royal Highness Prince Edward" for the abdication broadcast,[56] but George VI felt that by abdicating and renouncing the succession, Edward had lost the right to bear royal titles, including "Royal Highness".[57] In settling the issue, George's first act as king was to confer upon his brother the title "Duke of Windsor" with the style "Royal Highness", but the letters patent creating the dukedom prevented any wife or children from bearing royal styles. George VI was forced to buy from Edward the royal residences of Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, as these were private properties and did not pass to him automatically.[58] Three days after his accession, on his 41st birthday, he invested his wife, the new queen consort, with the Order of the Garter.[59]
The growing likelihood of war in Europe dominated the early reign of George VI. The King was constitutionally bound to support British prime minister
In May and June 1939, the
The trip was intended to soften the strong
Second World War
Following the
In 1940,
Throughout the war, George and Elizabeth provided morale-boosting visits throughout the United Kingdom, visiting bomb sites, munitions factories, and troops. George visited military forces abroad in France in December 1939, North Africa and
In 1945, crowds shouted "We want the King!" in front of Buckingham Palace during the Victory in Europe Day celebrations. In an echo of Chamberlain's appearance, the King invited Churchill to appear with the royal family on the balcony to public acclaim.[89] In January 1946, George addressed the United Nations at its first assembly, which was held in London, and reaffirmed "our faith in the equal rights of men and women and of nations great and small".[90]
Empire to Commonwealth
George VI's reign saw the acceleration of the dissolution of the
In 1947, George and his family toured southern Africa.[98] The prime minister of the Union of South Africa, Jan Smuts, was facing an election and hoped to make political capital out of the visit.[99] George was appalled, however, when instructed by the South African government to shake hands only with whites,[100] and referred to his South African bodyguards as "the Gestapo".[101] Despite the tour, Smuts lost the election the following year, and the new government instituted a strict policy of racial segregation.
Illness and death
The stress of the war had taken its toll on George's health,
George was well enough to open the
On 31 January 1952, despite advice from those close to him, George went to
From 9 February George's coffin rested in St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, before lying in state at Westminster Hall from 11 February.[114] His funeral took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on the 15th.[115] He was interred initially in the Royal Vault until he was transferred to the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside St George's on 26 March 1969.[116] In 2002, fifty years after his death, the remains of his widow, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the ashes of his younger daughter, Princess Margaret, who both died that year, were interred in the chapel alongside him.[117] In 2022, the remains of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, were also interred in the chapel.[118]
Legacy
In the words of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) George Hardie, the abdication crisis of 1936 did "more for republicanism than fifty years of propaganda".[119] George VI wrote to his brother Edward that in the aftermath of the abdication he had reluctantly assumed "a rocking throne" and tried "to make it steady again".[120] He became king at a point when public faith in the monarchy was at a low ebb. During his reign, his people endured the hardships of war, and imperial power was eroded. However, as a dutiful family man and by showing personal courage, he succeeded in restoring the popularity of the monarchy.[121][122]
The George Cross and the George Medal were founded at the King's suggestion during the Second World War to recognise acts of exceptional civilian bravery.[123] He bestowed the George Cross on the entire "island fortress of Malta" in 1943.[124] He was posthumously awarded the Order of Liberation by the French government in 1960, one of only two people (the other being Churchill in 1958) to be awarded the medal after 1946.[125]
Colin Firth won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as George VI in the 2010 film The King's Speech.[126]
Titles, honours and arms
As Duke of York, Albert bore the
Issue
Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | Children | |
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Date | Spouse | ||||
Elizabeth II | 21 April 1926 | 8 September 2022
|
20 November 1947 | Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | Charles III Anne, Princess Royal Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh |
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon | 21 August 1930 | 9 February 2002 | 6 May 1960 Divorced 11 July 1978 |
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon | David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon Lady Sarah Chatto |
Ancestry
Ancestors of George VI Princess Victoria Mary of Teck | | ||||||||||||
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14. Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge | |||||||||||||
7. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge | |||||||||||||
15. Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel | |||||||||||||
Notes
- ^ From April 1949 until his death in 1952.
- ^ George VI continued as titular Emperor of India until 22 June 1948.
- ^ As monarch, George VI was Supreme Governor of the Church of England. He was also a member of the Church of Scotland.
- Prince Adolphus of Teck (his maternal uncle).[6]
- ^ Renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966.[110]
References
Citations
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- ^ Judd, p. 3; Rhodes James, p. 90; Townsend, p. 15; Wheeler-Bennett, pp. 7–8
- ^ Judd, pp. 4–5; Wheeler-Bennett, pp. 7–8
- ^ Wheeler-Bennett, pp. 7–8
- ^ The Times, Tuesday 18 February 1896, p. 11
- ^ Judd, p. 6; Rhodes James, p. 90; Townsend, p. 15; Windsor, p. 9
- ^ Bradford, p. 2
- ^ Wheeler-Bennett, pp. 17–18
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- ^ Judd, p. 26
- ^ Judd, p. 186
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- ^ Bradford, pp. 55–76
- ^ Bradford, p. 72
- ^ Bradford, pp. 73–74
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- ^ Wheeler-Bennett, p. 115
- ^ Judd, p. 45; Rhodes James, p. 91
- ^ Wheeler-Bennett, p. 116
- ^ Boyle, Andrew (1962), "Chapter 13", Trenchard Man of Vision, St James's Place London: Collins, p. 360
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- ^ Judd, p. 47; Wheeler-Bennett, pp. 128–131
- ^ Wheeler-Bennett, p. 128
- ^ Weir, p. 329
- ^ Current Biography 1942, p. 280; Judd, p. 72; Townsend, p. 59
- ^ Judd, p. 52
- ^ Judd, pp. 77–86; Rhodes James, p. 97
- ^ Henderson, Gerard (31 January 2014), "Sheila: The Australian Ingenue Who Bewitched British Society – review", Daily Express, archived from the original on 2 April 2015, retrieved 15 March 2015; Australian Associated Press (28 February 2014), A Sheila who captured London's heart, Special Broadcasting Service, archived from the original on 6 November 2017, retrieved 14 March 2015
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- ^ Bradford, p. 223
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- ^ Vickers, p. 175
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- ^ Bradford, pp. 269, 281
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- Hitchens, Christopher (1 April 2002), "Mourning will be brief" Archived 28 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, retrieved 1 May 2009
- ^ Library and Archives Canada, Biography and People > A Real Companion and Friend > Behind the Diary > Politics, Themes, and Events from King's Life > The Royal Tour of 1939, Queen's Printer for Canada, archived from the original on 30 October 2009, retrieved 12 December 2009
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- ^ Lanctot, Gustave (1964), Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939, Toronto: E.P. Taylor Foundation
- ^ Galbraith, William (1989), "Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit", Canadian Parliamentary Review, 12 (3): 7–9, archived from the original on 7 August 2017, retrieved 24 March 2015
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- ^ Judd, p. 223
- ^ Rhodes James, p. 295
- ^ Rhodes James, p. 294; Shawcross, p. 618
- ^ King George VI, Official website of the British monarchy, 12 January 2016, archived from the original on 1 December 2017, retrieved 18 April 2016
- ^ Judd, p. 225; Townsend, p. 174
- ^ Judd, p. 240
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- ^ "The King to rest", The Times, 5 June 1951, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 21 December 2021
- ^ Bradford, p. 454; Rhodes James, p. 330
- ^ Rhodes James, p. 331
- ^ Rhodes James, p. 334
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- ^ Letter from George VI to the Duke of Windsor, quoted in Rhodes James, p. 127
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- ^ Judd, p. 186; Rhodes James, p. 216
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General and cited sources
- Bradford, Sarah (1989). King George VI. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-79667-1.
- Howarth, Patrick (1987). George VI. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-171000-2.
- Judd, Denis (1982). King George VI. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 978-0-7181-2184-6.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33370. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 978-0-316-64765-6.
- ISBN 978-1-4050-4859-0.
- Sinclair, David (1988). Two Georges: The Making of the Modern Monarchy. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-33240-5.
- ISBN 978-0-297-77031-2.
- Vickers, Hugo (2006). Elizabeth: The Queen Mother. Arrow Books/Random House. ISBN 978-0-09-947662-7.
- Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (1958). King George VI: His Life and Reign. New York: St Martin's Press.
- ISBN 978-0-7126-7448-5.
- Windsor, The Duke of (1951). A King's Story. London: Cassell & Co Ltd.
- ISBN 978-0-00-215741-4.
External links
- George VI at the website of the Royal Family
- George VI at the website of the Royal Collection Trust
- Footage of King George VI stammering in a 1938 speech on YouTube
- Soundtrack of King George VI Coronation speech in 1937 on YouTube
- Portraits of King George VI at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Newspaper clippings about George VI in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW