In September 1939, the British Empire and Commonwealth—except Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. George 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 independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.
Introduction
George VI
George VI | Introduction
George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon George VI (Albert) and  Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon George VI and Queen Elizabeth
who were king and queen of england during ww2
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In September 1939, the British Empire and Commonwealth—except Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. George 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 independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.
George VI | Introduction
It makes me feel we can look the East End in the face." The royal family were portrayed as sharing the same dangers and deprivations as the rest of the country. They were subject to British rationing restrictions, and U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt remarked on the rationed food served and the limited bathwater that was permitted during a stay at the unheated and boarded-up Palace. In August 1942, the King's brother, the Duke of Kent, was killed on active service. In 1940, Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister, though personally George would have preferred to appoint Lord Halifax.
George VI | Second World War
In September 1939, the United Kingdom and the self-governing Dominions other than Ireland declared war on Nazi Germany. George VI and his wife resolved to stay in London, despite German bombing raids. They officially stayed in Buckingham Palace throughout the war, although they usually spent nights at Windsor Castle. The first night of the Blitz on London, on 7 September 1940, killed about one thousand civilians, mostly in the East End. On 13 September, the King and Queen narrowly avoided death when two German bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace while they were there. In defiance, the Queen declared: "I am glad we have been bombed.
George VI | Second World War
The King visited military forces abroad in France in December 1939, North Africa and Malta in June 1943, Normandy in June 1944, southern Italy in July 1944, and the Low Countries in October 1944. Their high public profile and apparently indefatigable determination secured their place as symbols of national resistance. At a social function in 1944, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, revealed that every time he met Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, he thought Montgomery was after his job. The King replied: "You should worry, when I meet him, I always think he's after mine!"
George VI | Second World War
He attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he learned to manage to some degree. George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936. Later that year, Edward abdicated to marry the American socialite Wallis Simpson, and George became the third monarch of the House of Windsor.
George VI | Introduction
The royal death thereby acted to enhance a shared Britishness. The funeral of King George VI in 1952 followed the same formula. Thereby the monarchy grew stronger and, more importantly, national cohesion was built up in the era of total war. The king was the most active monarch in many ways since George III (reigned 1760–1820). Biographer H. C. G. Matthew concludes:
Interwar Britain | King George V
George VI (1895–1952) was King of Great Britain and the British Dominions from 1936 to 1952 and the last Emperor of India from 1936 to 1948. George VI may also refer to:
George VI (disambiguation) | Introduction
Rising Indian nationalism made the welcome that the royal party would have received likely to be muted at best, and a prolonged absence from Britain would have been undesirable in the tense period before the Second World War. Two overseas tours were undertaken, to France and to North America, both of which promised greater strategic advantages in the event of war. The growing likelihood of war in Europe dominated the early reign of George VI. The King was constitutionally bound to support Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler. When the King and Queen greeted Chamberlain on his return from negotiating the Munich Agreement in 1938, they invited him to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with them.
George VI | Early reign
After the King's initial dismay over Churchill's appointment of Lord Beaverbrook to the Cabinet, he and Churchill developed "the closest personal relationship in modern British history between a monarch and a Prime Minister". Every Tuesday for four and a half years from September 1940, the two men met privately for lunch to discuss the war in secret and with frankness. The King related much of what the two discussed in his diary, which is the only extant first-hand account of these conversations. Throughout the war, the King and Queen provided morale-boosting visits throughout the United Kingdom, visiting bomb sites, munitions factories, and troops.
George VI | Second World War
Queen Mary, although British like her mother, was the daughter of the Duke of Teck, a descendant of the German Dukes of Württemberg. The King had brothers-in-law and cousins who were British subjects but who bore German titles such as Duke and Duchess of Teck, Prince and Princess of Battenberg, and Prince and Princess of Schleswig-Holstein. When H. G. Wells wrote about Britain's "alien and uninspiring court", George replied: "I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm alien." On 17 July 1917, George appeased British nationalist feelings by issuing a royal proclamation that changed the name of the British royal house from the German-sounding House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the House of Windsor.
George V | First World War
George VI does not appear, but is prominently mentioned in Max Brooks' 2005 novel "World War Z." When the living dead are threatening to overrun the British Isles and the rest of the world, Queen Elizabeth II refuses to flee from Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England to the strongholds established in Ireland or Scotland. When she is pleaded with to reconsider, Elizabeth says "The highest of distinctions is service to others," quoting her father, who said that to explain why he would not leave Britain for any safe zone, namely Canada, during World War II. George is a significant character in Michael Dobbs' 2003 novel "Winston's War", and Len Deighton's alternate history novel "SS-GB", in which he is imprisoned during a Nazi occupation of Britain and killed during an escape attempt.
Cultural depictions of George VI | Novels
In January 1936, King George V died and his eldest son, Edward VIII, succeeded him as king-emperor of the British Empire. He was unmarried at that time, but the American socialite, Wallis Simpson, had accompanied him on numerous social occasions in years leading up to 1936; she was married to the shipping executive Ernest Aldrich Simpson and had previously been divorced. The relationship had not been reported in the British press, but was receiving considerable media attention in the United States; it was controversial due to her being divorced, a status considered incompatible with the King's position as the nominal head of the Church of England, which did not at that time permit remarriage after divorce.
Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth | Accession
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also Emperor of India from 1936 until 1947, when the British Raj was dissolved. Known as "Bertie" among his family and close friends, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward.
George VI | Introduction
On 4 August 1914 the King wrote in his diary, "I held a council at 10.45 to declare war with Germany. It is a terrible catastrophe but it is not our fault. ... Please to God it may soon be over." From 1914 to 1918, Britain and its allies were at war with the Central Powers, led by the German Empire. The German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who for the British public came to symbolise all the horrors of the war, was the King's first cousin. The King's paternal grandfather was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; consequently, the King and his children bore the titles Prince and Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke and Duchess of Saxony.
George V | First World War
The British royal family faced a serious problem during the First World War because of its blood ties to the ruling family of Germany, Britain's prime adversary in the war. Before the war, the British royal family had been known as the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In 1910, George V became king on the death of his father, Edward VII, and reigned throughout the war. He was the first cousin of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, who came to symbolise all the horrors of the war. Queen Mary, although British like her mother, was the daughter of the Duke of Teck, a descendant of the royal House of Württemberg.
History of the United Kingdom during the First World War | Monarchy
Many historians believe that this close family relationship with King George VI was hugely responsible for her apparent diplomatic and social immunity during these years.
Sarah Winter | Introduction
In the alternate history novel "Fatherland" by Robert Harris, George VI was deposed when Nazi Germany conquered the United Kingdom and the British Empire in the early 1940s. Most of the Royal Family were forced into exile in Canada and his elder brother Edward VIII was restored to the throne. After George's death in 1952, his eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth was recognised by the governments of Canada, Australia and the United States as the rightful British monarch.
Cultural depictions of George VI | Novels
The King was well enough to open the Festival of Britain in May 1951, but on 23 September 1951, he underwent a surgical operation where his entire left lung was removed by Clement Price Thomas after a malignant tumour was found. In October 1951, Elizabeth and Philip went on a month-long tour of Canada; the trip had been delayed for a week due to the King's illness. At the State Opening of Parliament in November, the King's speech from the throne was read for him by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Simonds. His Christmas broadcast of 1951 was recorded in sections, and then edited together.
George VI | Illness and death
Additionally, King George V was a first cousin, through King Christian IX, of both Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King Constantine I of Greece. Shortly before the end of the war, Nicholas, his wife and children were executed by the Bolsheviks. Other first cousins of George V, whose countries were neutral during the war, were King Christian X of Denmark, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain (queen-consort of King Alfonso XIII) and King Haakon VII of Norway (who was also George's brother-in-law via his marriage to George's sister, Maud).
Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX | First World War
Edward VII and, in turn, his son, George V, were members of the German ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by virtue of their descent from Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria, the last British monarch from the House of Hanover. High anti-German sentiment amongst the people of the British Empire during World War I reached a peak in March 1917, when the Gotha G.IV, a heavy aircraft capable of crossing the English Channel, began bombing London directly and became a household name. In the same year, on 15 March, King George's first cousin, Nicholas II, the Emperor of Russia, was forced to abdicate, which raised the spectre of the eventual abolition of all the monarchies in Europe.
House of Windsor | Background
Although naturally left-handed, he was forced to write with his right hand, as was common practice at the time. He suffered from chronic stomach problems as well as knock knees, for which he was forced to wear painful corrective splints. 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.
George VI | Early life
During the battle, and for the rest of the war, an important factor in keeping public morale high was the continued presence in London of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth. When war broke out in 1939, the King and Queen decided to stay in London and not flee to Canada, as had been suggested. George VI and Elizabeth officially stayed in Buckingham Palace throughout the war, although they often spent weekends at Windsor Castle to visit their daughters, Elizabeth (the future queen) and Margaret. Buckingham Palace was damaged by bombs which landed in the grounds on 10 September and, on 13 September, more serious damage was caused by two bombs which destroyed the Royal Chapel.
Battle of Britain | Royal family
In February 1952, King George VI died and was succeeded by his eldest daughter Elizabeth. Her coronation on 2 June 1953 gave the British people a renewed sense of national pride and enthusiasm which had been lowered by the war. Elizabeth II has now been the monarch for . She celebrated her diamond jubilee, marking 60 years since her ascension to the throne, in 2012.
Postwar Britain (1945–1979) | Winston Churchill (1951–55)
Before the First World War, most of Europe was ruled by monarchs related to George, but during and after the war, the monarchies of Austria, Germany, Greece, and Spain, like Russia, fell to revolution and war. In March 1919, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt was dispatched on the personal authority of the King to escort the former Emperor Charles I of Austria and his family to safety in Switzerland. In 1922, a Royal Navy ship was sent to Greece to rescue his cousins, Prince and Princess Andrew. Political turmoil in Ireland continued as the Nationalists fought for independence; George expressed his horror at government-sanctioned killings and reprisals to Prime Minister Lloyd George.
George V | Postwar reign
The Prince regent, on becoming King George IV in 1820 asked Parliament to divorce his wife Queen Caroline of Brunswick so that he could marry his favourite lover. Public and elite opinion strongly favoured the Queen and ridiculed the king. The fiasco helped ruin the prestige of the monarchy and it recovered a fraction of the power wielded by King George III in his saner days. Historian Eugene Black says:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Postwar reaction: 1815–1822
George V (1865–1936) was king of the United Kingdom and its dominions from 1910 to 1936. George V or King George V may also refer to:
George V (disambiguation) | Introduction
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Queen Victoria, George was third in the line of succession behind his father, Prince Albert Edward, and his own elder brother, Prince Albert Victor. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, until the unexpected death of his elder brother in early 1892 put him directly in line for the throne. On the death of Victoria in 1901, George's father ascended the throne as Edward VII, and George was created Prince of Wales.
George V | Introduction
On 31 January 1952, despite advice from those close to him, the King went to London Airport to see Elizabeth and Philip off on their tour to Australia via Kenya. It was his last public appearance. Six days later, at 07:30 GMT on the morning of 6 February, he was found dead in bed at Sandringham House in Norfolk. He had died in the night from a coronary thrombosis at age 56. His daughter flew back to Britain from Kenya as Queen Elizabeth II.
George VI | Illness and death
George served as a rallying figure for the British people during World War II, making morale-boosting visits to the troops as well as to munitions factories and to areas bombed by Nazi Germany. In June 1948 George VI relinquished the title "Emperor of India", although remaining head of state of the Dominion of India.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom | Shared monarchy
He and all his British relatives relinquished their German titles and styles, and adopted British-sounding surnames. George compensated his male relatives by creating them British peers. His cousin, Prince Louis of Battenberg, who earlier in the war had been forced to resign as First Sea Lord through anti-German feeling, became Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, while Queen Mary's brothers became Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, and Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone. In letters patent gazetted on 11 December 1917 the King restricted the style of "Royal Highness" and the titular dignity of "Prince (or Princess) of Great Britain and Ireland" to the children of the Sovereign, the children of the sons of the Sovereign and the eldest living son of the eldest living son of a Prince of Wales.
George V | First World War
"Princes at War: The Bitter Battle Inside Britain's Royal Family in the Darkest Days of WWII" tells the story of the interlocked and conflicted lives of King George V's four surviving sons, the Duke of Windsor, King George VI, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Duke of Kent during the abdication crisis and later on during World War II. The story focuses, primarily, on the two oldest brothers, Edward VIII, who, purportedly betrayed his royal duty by "insisting on his right to marry" Wallis Simpson, and George VI, who by his actions was forced to take up the responsibilities of acting monarchy.
Deborah Cadbury | Princes at War
He became king-emperor on his father's death in 1910. George V's reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape of the British Empire. The Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. As a result of the First World War (1914–1918), the empires of his first cousins Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany fell, while the British Empire expanded to its greatest effective extent. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, which he renamed from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as a result of anti-German public sentiment.
George V | Introduction
King George V was by temperament a cautious and conservative man who never fully appreciated or approved the revolutionary changes underway in British society. Nevertheless, everyone understood that he was earnestly devoted to Britain and the British Commonwealth. The king's popularity was enhanced during the World War when he made more than a thousand visits to hospitals, factories, and military and naval installations. He thereby gave highly visible support to the morale of ordinary workers and servicemen. In 1932, George delivered his Royal Christmas speech on the radio, an event that became a popular across the British Empire every year.
Interwar Britain | King George V
In 1944, King George VI appointed Logue a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO), elevating him from Member of the Order (MVO), which was conferred upon Logue at the time of George VI's Coronation. King George VI died on 6 February 1952. On 26 February 1952, Logue wrote to the late king's wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Queen Mother replied: "I think that I know perhaps better than anyone just how much you helped the King, not only with his speech, but through that his whole life and outlook on life. I shall always be deeply grateful to you for all you did for him."
Lionel Logue | Honours
At the outbreak of World War II, contingency plans were made for King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth, and their two daughters, princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, to reside in Canada in the event of an invasion of Britain. The family's primary options were stately homes in England, but Victoria, BC was the backup site in case German troops reached the Midlands. (See Coats Mission.) The federal Crown-in-Council purchased Hatley Castle in 1940 for use as the King's royal residence. The Royal Family and government decided against their leaving the UK during the war, and the family stayed in London.
Hatley Park National Historic Site | Planned royal residence
George V was the King of the United Kingdom during the Great War. He was the last British monarch to hold a number of titles afforded to the ruler of the British Empire, including the King of Ireland and the King of Canada, both of which he was forced to relinquish by the victorious Central Powers. During the Great War, he relinquished all German titles and styles on behalf of his relatives who were British subjects; and changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. In the face of the United Kingdom's defeat in 1917, this act was token at best.
Historical characters in the Southern Victory Series | George V
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." On 20 January 1936, George V died and Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. In the Vigil of the Princes, Prince Albert and his three brothers (the new king, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George, Duke of Kent) took a shift standing guard over their father's body as it lay in state, in a closed casket, in Westminster Hall.
George VI | Reluctant king
In January 1936, King George V died and his eldest son, Edward VIII, succeeded him as king. He was unmarried at that time, but the American socialite, Wallis Simpson, had accompanied him on numerous social occasions in years leading up to 1936; she was married to the shipping executive Ernest Aldrich Simpson and had previously been divorced. The relationship had not yet been reported in the British press.
Abandoned coronation of Edward VIII | Accession
Against Walpole's wishes, but to George's delight, Britain reopened hostilities with Spain in 1739. Britain's conflict with Spain, the War of Jenkins' Ear, became part of the War of the Austrian Succession when a major European dispute broke out upon the death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740. At issue was the right of Charles's daughter, Maria Theresa, to succeed to his Austrian dominions. George spent the summers of 1740 and 1741 in Hanover, where he was more able to intervene directly in European diplomatic affairs in his capacity as elector. Prince Frederick campaigned actively for the opposition in the 1741 British general election, and Walpole was unable to secure a stable majority.
George II of Great Britain | War and rebellion
During the war H. G. Wells wrote about Britain's "alien and uninspiring court", and George famously replied: "I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm alien." On 17 July 1917, to appease British nationalist feelings, King George issued an Order in Council that changed the name of the his family to the House of Windsor. He specifically adopted Windsor as the surname for all descendants of Queen Victoria then living in Britain, excluding women who married into other families and their descendants. He and his relatives who were British subjects relinquished the use of all German titles and styles, and adopted English surnames.
History of the United Kingdom during the First World War | Monarchy
The stress of the war had taken its toll on the King's health, made worse by his heavy smoking and subsequent development of lung cancer among other ailments, including arteriosclerosis and Buerger's disease. A planned tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed after the King suffered an arterial blockage in his right leg, which threatened the loss of the leg and was treated with a right lumbar sympathectomy in March 1949. His elder daughter Elizabeth, the heir presumptive, took on more royal duties as her father's health deteriorated. The delayed tour was re-organised, with Elizabeth and her husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, taking the place of the King and Queen.
George VI | Illness and death
The monarch became separately monarch of the United Kingdom, monarch of Canada, monarch of Australia, and so forth. The independent states within the Commonwealth would share the same monarch in a relationship likened to a personal union. George V's death in 1936 was followed by the accession of Edward VIII, who caused a public scandal by announcing his desire to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson, even though the Church of England opposed the remarriage of divorcees. Accordingly, Edward announced his intention to abdicate; the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and of other Commonwealth countries granted his request. Edward VIII and any children by his new wife were excluded from the line of succession, and the Crown went to his brother, George VI.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom | Shared monarchy
George V died on 20 January 1936, after his physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, gave him an injection of morphine and cocaine that may have hastened his death. Queen Mary's eldest son ascended the throne as Edward VIII. She was now the queen mother, though she did not use that style, and was instead known as "Her Majesty Queen Mary". Within the year, Edward caused a constitutional crisis by announcing his desire to marry his twice-divorced American mistress, Wallis Simpson. Mary disapproved of divorce, which was against the teaching of the Anglican church, and thought Simpson wholly unsuitable to be the wife of a king.
Mary of Teck | Queen mother (1936–1952)
The Royal Family Order of King George VI is an honour that was bestowed on female members of the British Royal Family by King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Alexandra are the only surviving recipients.
Royal Family Order of George VI | Introduction
King George V (reigned 1910–1936) was scandal free. He appeared hard working and became widely admired by the people of Britain and the Empire, as well as "The Establishment". It was George V who established the modern norm of conduct for British royalty, reflecting middle-class values and virtues rather than upper-class lifestyles or vices. Anti-intellectual and lacking the sophistication of his two royal predecessors, as well as their cosmopolitan experiences, he nevertheless understood the British Empire better than most of his ministers; indeed he explained, "it has always been my dream to identify myself with the great idea of Empire." He used his exceptional memory for details and faces to good effect in small talk with commoners and officials.
Interwar Britain | King George V
Jarratt's wife Gertrude and their daughter Joyce received his medal from the King on 21 July 1917. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Fusiliers Museum in the Tower of London.
George Jarratt | Citation
Contingents from most colonies and each Dominion participated in the return procession through London's streets.
Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth | Introduction
He explained, "it has always been my dream to identify myself with the great idea of Empire." He appeared hard-working and became widely admired by the people of Britain and the Empire, as well as "the Establishment". In the words of historian David Cannadine, King George V and Queen Mary were an "inseparably devoted couple" who upheld "character" and "family values". George established a standard of conduct for British royalty that reflected the values and virtues of the upper middle-class rather than upper-class lifestyles or vices. Acting within his constitutional bounds, he dealt skilfully with a succession of crises: Ireland, the First World War, and the first socialist minority government in Britain.
George V | Legacy
The future George VI was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V), the second and eldest surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). His mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), was the eldest child and only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck. His birthday, 14 December 1895, was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Albert, Prince Consort.
George VI | Early life
Events from the year 1936 in the United Kingdom. This year is notable for the death of George V early in the year, the accession of his son Edward VIII (previously styled David, Prince of Wales) to the throne and his subsequent abdication, resulting in the accession to the throne of his younger brother George VI (previously Albert, Duke of York).
1936 in the United Kingdom | Introduction
George compensated several of his male relatives by creating them British peers. Thus, his cousin, Prince Louis of Battenberg, became the Marquess of Milford Haven, while his brother-in-law, the Duke of Teck, became the Marquess of Cambridge. Others, such as Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, simply stopped using their territorial designations. The system for titling members of the royal family was also simplified. Relatives of the British royal family who fought on the German side were simply cut off; their British peerages were suspended by a 1919 Order in Council under the provisions of the Titles Deprivation Act 1917.
History of the United Kingdom during the First World War | Monarchy
In 1923, he had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth | Accession
Monarch – George VI
1948 in Northern Ireland | Incumbents
Milner raised the idea with Lord Stamfordham, the King's Private Secretary, who informed the King, George V, in a note on 27 October 1919: The King was enthusiastic and sought approval from the War Cabinet on 5 November. It was immediately approved, with only Lord Curzon dissenting. A press statement was released from the Palace on 7 November 1919, which was published in The Times:
Two-minute silence | King George V
In the words of Labour Member of Parliament George Hardie, the abdication crisis of 1936 did "more for republicanism than fifty years of propaganda". 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". 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.
George VI | Legacy
The Royal Family Order of King George V is an honour that was bestowed on female members of the British Royal Family by King George V. Queen Elizabeth II is the only surviving recipient.
Royal Family Order of George V | Introduction
The letters patent also stated that "the titles of Royal Highness, Highness or Serene Highness, and the titular dignity of Prince and Princess shall cease except those titles already granted and remaining unrevoked". George's relatives who fought on the German side, such as Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, and Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, had their British peerages suspended by a 1919 Order in Council under the provisions of the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. Under pressure from his mother, Queen Alexandra, the King also removed the Garter flags of his German relations from St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
George V | First World War
The present school is still on the same site. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir William Peel, and the building was subsequently named the Peel Block in his honour.
King George V School, Hong Kong | Pre-WWII period
The coronation of George VI and his wife Elizabeth as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May 1937 and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date. Although the music included a range of new anthems and the ceremony underwent some alterations to include the Dominions, it remained a largely conservative affair and closely followed the ceremonial of George V's coronation in 1911.
Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth | Introduction
In 1932, George V gave the first of the royal Christmas messages from a studio erected at Sandringham. The speech, written by Rudyard Kipling, began, "I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all". George V died in his bedroom at Sandringham at 11.55 p.m. on 20 January 1936, his death hastened by injections of morphine and cocaine, to maintain the King's dignity and to enable the announcement of his death to be made in the following day's "Times". The King's body was moved to St Mary Magdalene's Church, a scene described by the late King's assistant private secretary, "Tommy" Lascelles.
Sandringham House | George V
During the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–14) England continued its policy of forming and funding alliances, especially with the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire against their common enemy, King Louis XIV of France. Queen Anne, who reigned 1702–1714, was the central decision maker, working closely with her advisers, especially her remarkably successful senior general, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. The war was a financial drain, for Britain had to finance its allies and hire foreign soldiers. Stalemate on the battlefield and war weariness on the home front set in toward the end. The anti-war Tory politicians won control of Parliament in 1710 and forced a peace.
Kingdom of Great Britain | Queen Anne, 1702–1714
As the only children of King George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the Queen Mother, 1900–2002), Elizabeth and Margaret were therefore great-granddaughters of Edward VII and great-great-granddaughters of Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria → King Edward VII → King George V → King George VI → Queen Elizabeth II
Descendants of Queen Victoria | Edward VII
Between 17 and 20 July 1914, "King George V" took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Arriving in Portland on 25 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet to Scapa Flow four days later to safeguard the fleet from a possible surprise attack by the Imperial German Navy. In August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. Repeated reports of submarines in Scapa Flow led Jellicoe to conclude that the defences there were inadequate and he ordered that the Grand Fleet be dispersed to other bases until the defences be reinforced.
HMS King George V (1911) | First World War
With the accession of Prince Albert Edward as King George VI in 1936, the GPO continued to use up stocks of George V doors as these were simply marked "GR" with no regnal number. It was not until summer 1937 that boxes began to appear bearing the newly approved Royal Cipher of King George VI. This featured a scroll typeface with Roman numerals for the regnal number surmounted by the Tudor crown. The contract for wall boxes resided at this time with W.T. Allen & Co. Ltd. of London for the "B" and "E" size boxes and with Carron Co.
Wall box | King George VI
The Prince of Wales – the future Edward VIII – was keen to participate in the war but the government refused to allow it, citing the immense harm that would occur if the heir to the throne were captured. Despite this, Edward witnessed trench warfare at first hand and attempted to visit the front line as often as he could, for which he was awarded the Military Cross in 1916. His role in the war, although limited, led to his great popularity among veterans of the conflict. Other members of the royal family were similarly involved. The Duke of York (later George VI) was commissioned in the Royal Navy and saw action as a turret officer aboard HMS "Collingwood" at the battle of Jutland but saw no further action in the war, largely because of ill health.
History of the United Kingdom during the First World War | Monarchy
Edward, the son of George V, assumed the throne on January 1936 when his father died. But it was already clear by then that he wanted to marry the American Wallis Simpson, and since the Church of England proscribed the marriage because she was divorced, he stunned the world by abdicating his throne less than a year later in favour of his brother Albert, the Duke of York, who became George VI. The ex-king and Mrs. Simpson were married in France and, as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, toured Nazi Germany in October 1937 as personal guests of Adolf Hitler, fanning speculations that they were sympathetic to Nazism.
Operation Willi | Background
"King George V" took part in Operation Husky (the allied landings in Sicily) and bombarded the island of Levanzo and the port of Trapani. She also escorted part of the surrendered Italian Fleet, which included the battleships and , to Malta. In 1945 "King George V" took part in operations against the Japanese in the Pacific. "King George V" was made flagship of the British Home Fleet on 1 April 1941, she remained so during the rest of the war and became a training battleship in November 1947.
HMS King George V (41) | Introduction
King George VI was reminded of the fact, as he warmly welcomed "Averof"s captain, during the preliminary introduction of Britain's naval guests.
Greek cruiser Georgios Averof | World War I and aftermath
She had been King George III's only legitimate grandchild, meaning there was a chance the throne would pass to a distant relative. The King's unmarried sons thus looked for wives and his fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, fathered the eventual queen, Victoria.
Princess Charlotte of Wales | Introduction
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. Three days after his accession, on his 41st birthday, he invested his wife, the new queen consort, with the Order of the Garter. George VI's coronation at Westminster Abbey took place on 12 May 1937, the date previously intended for Edward's coronation. In a break with tradition, his mother Queen Mary attended the ceremony in a show of support for her son. There was no Durbar held in Delhi for George VI, as had occurred for his father, as the cost would have been a burden to the Government of India.
George VI | Early reign
George IV (1762–1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 1820 to 1830. George IV or 4 may refer to:
George IV (disambiguation) | Introduction
King George VI held the following appointments:
Air commodore-in-chief | King George VI
King Edward VIII; Prince Albert, Duke of York; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent, took guard on 27 January 1936 at the lying-in-state of their father, George V. (A fifth son, Prince John, had predeceased his father in 1919). The vigil took place after Westminster Hall was closed to the public for the evening. No photographic record of this event is known, though an oil painting made of it later by Frank Beresford was the official painting of the King's lying-in-state; it was exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1936 at Burlington House.
Vigil of the Princes | King George V
After the war the King made improvements to the gardens surrounding the house; but, as traditionalist as his father, he made few other changes. December 1945 saw the first celebration of Christmas at the house since 1938. Lady Airlie recorded her impressions at dinner: "I sat next to the King. His face was tired and strained and he ate practically nothing. Looking at him I felt the cold fear of the probability of another short reign". George was a heavy smoker throughout his life and had an operation to remove part of his lung in September 1951. He was never fully well again and died at Sandringham during the early morning of 6 February 1952.
Sandringham House | George VI
The ship was present at Rosyth, Scotland, when the High Seas Fleet surrendered there on 21 November and she remained part of the 2nd Battle Squadron through 1 March 1919.
HMS King George V (1911) | Subsequent activity
Three weeks after the outbreak of World War I he was medically evacuated from the ship to Aberdeen, where his appendix was removed by Sir John Marnoch. He was mentioned in despatches for his actions as a turret officer aboard "Collingwood" in the Battle of Jutland (31 May – 1 June 1916), the great naval battle of the war. He did not see further combat, largely because of ill health caused by a duodenal ulcer, for which he had an operation in November 1917. In February 1918 he was appointed Officer in Charge of Boys at the Royal Naval Air Service's training establishment at Cranwell.
George VI | Military career and education
On the accession of his father, King Edward VII in January 1901, George automatically inherited the dukedom of Cornwall and was known as the Duke of Cornwall and York until the following November, when he was appointed Prince of Wales. From 1901 until his accession in 1910 he and his wife shared the Household of the Prince and Princess of Wales, but several appointments were to either the Prince or the Princess (e.g. they each had separate Lords Chamberlain and Private Secretaries).
Household of King George V and Queen Mary | Introduction
William III died the following March and was succeeded by Anne. Sophia became heiress presumptive to the new Queen of England. Sophia was in her seventy-first year, thirty-five years older than Anne, but she was very fit and healthy and invested time and energy in securing the succession either for herself or for her son. However, it was George who understood the complexities of English politics and constitutional law, which required further acts in 1705 to naturalise Sophia and her heirs as English subjects, and to detail arrangements for the transfer of power through a Regency Council. In the same year, George's surviving uncle died and he inherited further German dominions: the Principality of Lüneburg-Grubenhagen, centred at Celle.
George I of Great Britain | Electoral reign
The coronation of George V and his wife Mary as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the British Empire took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 22 June 1911. This was second of four such events held during the 20th century and the last to be attended by royal representatives of the great continental European empires.
Coronation of George V and Mary | Introduction
The King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom is a British medal instituted by King George VI on 23 August 1945. It was awarded to civilian foreign nationals, mainly of allied countries, who had given meritorious service to further the interests of the British Commonwealth or the Allied cause during World War II. Activities recognised included fund raising for British war relief, scientific research that aided the war effort and organising ambulance services. The medal was awarded 2,539 times. The medal is silver and in diameter. The obverse bears the left facing crowned effigy of King George VI with the inscription 'GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX ET INDIAE IMP'.
King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom | Introduction
"In 1714 the ruling class was so bitterly divided that many feared a civil war might break out on Queen Anne's death", says historian W. A. Speck. A few hundred of the richest ruling class and landed gentry families controlled parliament, but were deeply split, with Tories committed to the legitimacy of the Stuart "Old Pretender", then in exile. The Whigs strongly supported the Hanoverians, in order to ensure a Protestant succession. The new king, George I was a foreign prince and had a small English standing army to support him, with military support from his native Hanover and from his allies in the Netherlands.
Kingdom of Great Britain | George I: 1714–1727
The citation read:
George Lawson (RAF officer) | World War I
George of the United Kingdom may refer to the following monarchs of Great Britain and the later United Kingdom:
George of the United Kingdom | Introduction
He was knighted in 1892. In 1893 he was appointed Master of the Queen's Musick to Queen Victoria, and afterward held the same office under Kings Edward VII and George V. Later honours included: Member (MVO, 1901), Commander (CVO, 1917), and Knight Commander (KCVO, 1921) of the Royal Victorian Order. After Parratt's death in 1924 a monument to him was erected in the grounds of Huddersfield Parish Church. There is also a monument to him in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next to the entrance to King George VI Memorial Chapel where King George VI and the Queen mother are buried.
Walter Parratt | Honours
Events from the year 1937 in the United Kingdom. The coronation of King George VI took place on 12 May, after he had ascended to the throne at the end of the previous year.
1937 in the United Kingdom | Introduction
As Edward was unmarried and had no children, Albert was the heir presumptive to the throne. Less than a year later, on 11 December 1936, Edward abdicated in order to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson, who was divorced from her first husband and divorcing her second. Edward had been advised by British prime minister Stanley Baldwin that he could not remain king and marry a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands. He abdicated and Albert became king, a position he was reluctant to accept. The day before the abdication, he went to London to see his mother, Queen Mary. He wrote in his diary, "When I told her what had happened, I broke down and sobbed like a child." On the day of the abdication, the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Irish Free State, removed all direct mention of the monarch from the Irish constitution.
George VI | Reluctant king
After the deaths in 1714 of his mother and his second cousin Anne, Queen of Great Britain, George ascended the British throne as Anne's closest living Protestant relative under the Act of Settlement 1701. Jacobites attempted, but failed, to depose George and replace him with James Francis Edward Stuart, Anne's Catholic half-brother. During George's reign, the powers of the monarchy diminished and Britain began a transition to the modern system of cabinet government led by a prime minister. Towards the end of his reign, actual political power was held by Robert Walpole, now recognised as Britain's first "de facto" prime minister.
George I of Great Britain | Introduction
He therefore returns for daily treatments to overcome the physical and psychological roots of his speaking difficulty. George V dies in 1936, and his eldest son David ascends the throne as King Edward VIII. A constitutional crisis arises with the new king over a prospective marriage with the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. Edward, as head of the Church of England, cannot marry her, even if she receives her second divorce, since both her previous husbands are alive.
The King's Speech | Plot
The Royal Victorian Order was opened to women in 1936, and the Orders of the Bath and Saint Michael and Saint George in 1965 and 1971 respectively.
Knight | England and the United Kingdom
King George and Queen Mary: The Royals who Rescued the Monarchy is a 2012 British documentary series produced by the BBC. The programme premiered on BBC Two and consists of two episodes, each an hour long. The first episode, "King George V", premiered on 3 January 2012, and the second, devoted to Queen Mary, premiered on 4 January 2012. Rob Coldstream produced both episodes, and Denys Blakeway served as the executive producer of the series. The programme explores the lives of King George V and Queen Mary, and their attempts at modernising the British Monarchy in response to the massive social changes during and following World War I.
King George and Queen Mary | Introduction
His Silver Jubilee in 1935 became a national festival of fervent rejoicing, tinged with a few complaints. His funeral and following commemorations were elaborately staged, very well attended ceremonies that redefined the role of royalty in a newly democratic nation. The people had new ways to affirm their loyalties, such as close attention to live radio broadcasts and follow-up newsreels. New ceremonies born of the commemoration of death in the Great War included the two-minute silence. Britain set up living memorials to honour and expand the king's lifelong belief in the physical, moral and social benefits of recreation and sports.
Interwar Britain | King George V
In addition to French and German, he also learnt English and Italian, and studied genealogy, military history, and battle tactics with particular diligence. George's second cousin once removed, Queen Anne, ascended the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1702. She had no surviving children, and by the Act of Settlement 1701, the English Parliament designated Anne's closest Protestant blood relatives, George's grandmother Sophia and her descendants, as Anne's heirs in England and Ireland. Consequently, after his grandmother and father, George was third in line to succeed Anne in two of her three realms. He was naturalized as an English subject in 1705 by the Sophia Naturalization Act, and in 1706 he was made a Knight of the Garter and created Duke and Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Milford Haven, Viscount Northallerton, and Baron Tewkesbury in the Peerage of England.
George II of Great Britain | Early life
By October 1760 George II was blind in one eye and hard of hearing. On the morning of 25 October he rose as usual at 6:00 am, drank a cup of hot chocolate, and went to his close stool alone. After a few minutes, his valet heard a loud crash and entered the room to find the king on the floor; his physician, Frank Nicholls, recorded that he "appeared to have just come from his necessary-stool, and as if going to open his escritoire". The king was lifted into his bed, and Princess Amelia was sent for; before she reached him, he was dead.
George II of Great Britain | Death
The royal couple were in a small sitting room about 80 yards from where the bombs exploded. On 24 September, in recognition of the bravery of civilians, King George VI inaugurated the award of the George Cross.
Battle of Britain | Royal family
As George was a peer of the realm (as Duke of Cambridge), it was suggested that he be summoned to Parliament to sit in the House of Lords. Both Anne and George's father refused to support the plan, although George, Caroline, and Sophia were all in favour. George did not go. Within the year both Sophia and Anne were dead, and George's father was king.
George II of Great Britain | Marriage
George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House, London. He was the second son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Alexandra, Princess of Wales. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and his mother was the eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. He was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was little expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, Prince Albert Victor.
George V | Early life and education
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. He bestowed the George Cross on the entire "island fortress of Malta" in 1943. He was posthumously awarded the Ordre de la Libération by the French government in 1960, one of only two people (the other being Churchill) to be awarded the medal after 1946. Colin Firth won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as George VI in "The King's Speech", a 2010 film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
George VI | Legacy
The King's Birthday Honours 1945, celebrating the official birthday of King George VI, were announced on 14 June 1945 for the United Kingdom and British Empire. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes (Knight, Knight Grand Cross, "etc.") and then divisions (Military, Civil, "etc.") as appropriate.
1945 Birthday Honours | Introduction
Henry VI was born the following year.
Dual monarchy of England and France | 1417 campaign
The citation for his VC read as follows: King George V presented Merrifield with a VC on 26 January 1919, in a ceremony at York Cottage in Sandringham. He returned to Canada a few months later and was discharged from the CEF.
William Merrifield | First World War