George VI
| George VI | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British dominions beyond the Seas; Emperor of India | |||||
.jpg) | |||||
| Reign | 11 December 1936 - 6 February 1952 India: 1936 - 1947 Ireland: 1936 - 1949 | ||||
| Coronation | 12 May 1937 | ||||
| Predecessor | Edward VIII | ||||
| Successor | Elizabeth II | ||||
| Burial | 15 February 1952 | ||||
| Spouse | Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon | ||||
| Issue | Elizabeth II Margaret, Countess of Snowdon | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Windsor | ||||
| Father | George V | ||||
| Mother | Mary of Teck | ||||
| Occupation | Military | ||||
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor) (14 December 1895 - 6 February 1952) was the King of the United Kingdom, and each of the British Dominions from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India (until 1947) and the last King of Ireland (until 1949).
As the second son of his father, King George V he was not expected to inherit the throne, and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He served in the navy during World War I, and after the war took on the usual round of public engagements. He married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth (who succeeded him as Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret.
After the death of his father in 1936, his brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII. Less than a year later Edward VIII unexpectedly abdicated in order to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. The British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin had informed Edward that he could not marry Mrs Simpson and remain King. By reason of this unforeseeable abdication, unique in British history, George VI ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.
In the first 24 hours of his accession the Irish parliament (the Oireachtas) enacted the External Relations Act, which essentially removed the power of the monarch in Ireland. Within three years of his accession the British Empire was at war with Nazi Germany, within four years at war with Italy and within five years at war with the Empire of Japan. After six years of war, the Empire was weakened and the United States and Soviet Union were rising as the pre-eminent world powers. With the independence of India and Pakistan, and the foundation of the Republic of Ireland, his later reign saw the acceleration of the break-up of the Empire, and foretold its eventual demise as it developed from Empire into Commonwealth.
Birth and family
As a child, the future George VI was known as Prince Albert (or 'Bertie' to his family).[1] He was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk. His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V), the second but eldest surviving son of the Prince (later Edward VII) and Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra). His mother was the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), the eldest daughter of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge.
Albert's birthday (14 December 1895) was the anniversary of the death of his great grandfather, Prince Albert, the Prince Consort. Uncertain of how the Prince Consort's widow Queen Victoria would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to his son, Prince George, Duke of York, that the Queen had been "rather distressed".[2] Two days later, he wrote again: "I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her".[2] This mollified the baby's great-grandmother, who wrote to the baby's mother, 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".[2] He was baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George at St Mary Magdalene's Church near Sandringham three months later.[3] However, his maternal grandmother Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge did not like the first name the baby had been given, and she wrote prophetically that she hoped the last name "may supplant the less favoured one".[4]
As the second son of his parents, Albert was fourth in line for the throne at birth. The Duchess of York had given birth to her eldest son Edward, who was third in line to the throne on 23 June 1894.
Early life
As a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, Albert was styled His Highness Prince Albert of York from birth. In 1898, Queen Victoria issued Letters Patent which granted the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales the style Royal Highness. So, at aged two, Albert became His Royal Highness Prince Albert of York.
He often suffered from ill health and was described as "easily frightened and somewhat prone to tears".[5] His parents, the Duke and Duchess of York, were generally removed from their children's day-to-day upbringing, as was the norm in upper class families of that era. Albert developed a severe stammer that lasted for many years as well as chronic stomach problems. He suffered from knock knees, and to correct this he was forced to wear splints, which were extremely painful. He was also forced to write with his right hand although he was naturally left-handed.[6]
Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. The Prince of Wales succeeded her as King Edward VII. The Duke of York became the new Prince of Wales. Prince Edward was then second in line for the throne, and Prince Albert was now third.
Military career and education
From 1909 Albert attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne as a naval cadet. He came bottom of the class in the final examination, but despite this, he progressed to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1911.[7] When Edward VII died on 6 May 1910 Albert's father became King George V. Prince Edward was created Prince of Wales on 2 June 1910 and Albert was now second in line to the throne.
Albert was commissioned as a midshipman on 15 September 1913 and one year later served in World War I (1914 – 1918). He saw action aboard HMS Collingwood in the Battle of Jutland (31 May – 1 June 1916), which ended as a tactical victory for the German Empire but a strategic victory for the United Kingdom. In 1918 Albert transferred to the newly-created Royal Air Force but did not see furter action, largely through ill health caused by a duodenal ulcer.[8] After the war, Albert studied history, economics and civics for a year at Trinity College, Cambridge, from October 1919.[9]
On 3 June 1920, Prince Albert was created Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney.[10] He then began to take on royal duties, representing his father, the King.
Marriage
| British Royalty |
| House of Windsor |
|---|
 |
| George VI |
|
It was unusual, in a time when royals were expected to marry fellow royals, that Albert had a great deal of freedom in choosing a prospective wife. In 1920 he met Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the youngest daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. He became determined to marry her.[11]
Although Lady Elizabeth was a direct descendent of King Robert I of Scotland and King Henry VII of England, she was in British law a commoner. She rejected his proposal twice and hesitated for nearly two years, reportedly because she was reluctant to make the sacrifices necessary to become a member of the royal family.[12] In the words of the Countess of Strathmore, Albert would be "made or marred" by his choice of wife and after a protracted courtship Elizabeth agreed to marry him.[13]
They were married on 26 April 1923 in Westminster Abbey. The newly-formed BBC wished to record and broadcast the event on radio, but the Chapter vetoed the idea (although the Dean, Herbert Edward Ryle was in favour).[14] Lady Elizabeth was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York after their marriage. Albert's marriage to a British commoner was considered a modernising gesture.[15]
The Duke and Duchess of York had two children, Elizabeth (called "Lilibet" by the family), born 21 April 1926 who succeeded her father as Elizabeth II, and Margaret, born 21 August 1930. The Duke and Duchess, and their two daughters, lived a relatively sheltered life at their London residence, 145 Piccadilly. One of the few stirs was when the Canadian Prime Minister, R. B. Bennett considered the Duke for Governor General of Canada in 1931 — a proposal which the King rejected on the advice of his ministers.[16]
Reluctant king
On 20 January 1936, King George V died and Prince Edward ascended the throne as Edward VIII. As Edward had no children, Albert was now the heir presumptive to the throne until his unmarried brother had any legitimate children, or died. George V had had severe reservations about Edward, saying, "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne."[17] Less than a year later on 11 December 1936, Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry his love, the twice-divorced Wallis Warfield Simpson. 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. Edward chose abdication in preference to abandoning his marriage plans. Thus Prince Albert, Duke of York, was now 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."[18]
Courtier and journalist, Dermot Morroh, alleged that there was brief speculation as to the desirability of bypassing Albert and his brother, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, in favour of the younger brother Prince George, Duke of Kent. This seems to have been suggested on the grounds that Prince George was the only brother with, at that time, a son.[19]
Reign
Albert assumed the style and title King George VI to emphasise continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy.[20] 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[21] but George VI felt that by abdicating and renouncing the succession Edward had lost the right to bear Royal titles, including "Royal Highness".[22] His first act was to confer upon his brother the title HRH The Duke of Windsor. Three days after his accession, on his forty-first birthday, he invested his wife, the new Queen, with the Order of the Garter.[23]
In settling the issue of his brother's title, George VI created Edward the Duke of Windsor, and entitled Edward to be styled His Royal Highness, but the Letters Patent creating the dukedom prevented any wife and children from bearing royal styles. George VI was also forced to buy the royal houses of Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House from Prince Edward, as these were private properties and did not pass to George VI on his accession.[24]
George VI's coronation took place on May 12 1937 — the intended date of Edward's coronation. In a break with tradition, Queen Mary attended the coronation as a show of support for her son.[25] 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.[26] Rising Indian nationalism made the welcome which the royal couple would have received likely to be muted at best,[27] and a prolonged absence from Britain would have been undesirable in the tense period before World War II. Two overseas tours were undertaken, to France and North America, both of which promised greater strategic advantages in the event of war.[28]
The growing likelihood of war erupting in Europe would dominate the early reign of George VI. The King was constitutionally bound to support the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain's appeasement stance towards Adolf Hitler. However, 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. This public association of the monarchy with a politician was exceptional, as balcony appearances were traditionally restricted to the royal family.[6]
In 1939, the King and Queen undertook an extensive tour of Canada, during which they also made a shorter visit to the United States. From Ottawa, the royal couple were accompanied throughout the trip by the Prime Minister of Canada, and not a British minister, meaning they were present in both Canada and the US as King and Queen of Canada.[29] George was the first reigning Monarch of Canada to visit North America, though he had been to his Canadian realm previously as Prince Albert and as Duke of York. The Canadian Prime Minister at the time, William Lyon Mackenzie King, hoped that the King's presence in Canada would allow him to demonstrate in reality the principles of the Statute of Westminster 1931, which gave full self-government to the Dominions and recognised each Dominion as having a separate crown. Thus, at his Canadian residence, Rideau Hall, George VI personally accepted and approved the Letter of Credence of the newly appointed American Ambassador to Canada, Daniel Calhoun Roper. The official Royal Tour historian, Gustave Lanctot, stated: "When Their Majesties walked into their Canadian residence, the Statute of Westminster had assumed full reality: the King of Canada had come home."[30]
The entire trip was a measure intended to soften the strong isolationist tendencies among the North American public vis-à-vis the developing tensions in Europe. Although the aim of the tour was mainly political, to shore up Atlantic support for Britain in any upcoming war, the King and Queen were enthusiastically received by the Canadian public.[31] The fear that George would be unfavourably compared to his predecessor, Edward VIII, was dispelled.[32] They were also warmly received by the American people, visiting the 1939 New York World's Fair and staying with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House and at his private estate at Hyde Park, New York.[33]
When war broke out in 1939, George VI and his wife resolved to stay in London and not flee to Canada, as had been suggested. The King and Queen officially stayed in Buckingham Palace throughout the war, although they usually spent nights at Windsor Castle to avoid bombing raids. George VI and Queen Elizabeth narrowly avoided death when two German bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace whilst they were there.[34]
Throughout the war, the King and Queen provided morale-boosting visits throughout the UK, visiting bomb sites and munition factories. The Royal Family adhered to rationing restrictions in the country at the time, indeed, Eleanor Roosevelt during her stay at Buckingham Palace during the war reported expressly on the rationed food served in the Palace and the limited bathwater that was permitted.[35]
Author Will Swift has suggested that a strong bond of friendship was forged between the King and Queen and President and First Lady during the 1939 Royal Tour, which had major significance in the relations between the United States and Great Britain through the war years.[36] However, there have never been credible suggestions that the King took any strategic role in the War; his frequent letters to the President were mostly unanswered and it was Roosevelt's relationship with Winston Churchill that was critical. Eleanor Roosevelt took a wry view of the utility of kings and queens and the substance of George and Elizabeth ("a little self-consciously regal," was her verdict on Elizabeth).[37]
In 1940 Neville Chamberlain lost the support of the British House of Commons and was replaced as Prime Minister by Winston Churchill. Eventually, the war was won in 1945, and in an echo of Chamberlain's appearance, the King invited Churchill to appear with him on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the VE Day celebrations.
Empire to Commonwealth
George VI's reign saw the acceleration of the dissolution of the British Empire, which had begun with the Balfour Declaration at the Imperial Conference of 1926, when the Commonwealth came into being and the Dominions were acknowledged to have evolved into sovereign states over a period of years previous — the declaration was formalised in the Statute of Westminster, 1931 (Imp.).[38]
Britain's brief League of Nations Mandate over Iraq ended in 1932 with Iraqi independence without membership in the as-yet ill-defined Commonwealth even being considered. This process gathered pace after World War II. Transjordan became independent as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1946, Burma in January 1948, and Palestine (although divided between Israel and the Arab states) that May; all three opted out of the Commonwealth. After declaring itself a Republic, southern Ireland left the Commonwealth the following year. India became the two independent dominions of India and Pakistan. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India, and became King of India and King of Pakistan instead. In 1950 India became a republic, within the Commonwealth, and George VI ceased to be King of India. India recognised George's new title as Head of the Commonwealth.[39]
Illness and death
The war had taken its toll on the King's health.[40] This was exacerbated by his heavy smoking and subsequent development of lung cancer. Increasingly his daughter Princess Elizabeth, the heiress presumptive to the throne, would take on more of the royal duties as her father's health deteriorated. In the autumn of 1951 a cancerous lung was removed.[41]
On 6 February 1952, George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham House in Norfolk, at the age of 56.[40] His funeral took place on 15 February, and he was interred in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.[42] In 2002, the body of his wife Queen Elizabeth and the ashes of his daughter Princess Margaret were interred in a chapel alongside him.
Other information
Titles
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- 1895-1898: His Highness Prince Albert of York
- 1898-1901: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of York
- 1901: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Cornwall and York
- 1901-1910: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Wales
- 1910-1920: His Royal Highness The Prince Albert
- 1920-1936: His Royal Highness The Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney
- 1936-1952: His Majesty The King
and, occasionally, outside of the United Kingdom, and with regard to India (until the King ceased to use the imperial title upon India's independence)
- 1936-1947: His Imperial Majesty The King-Emperor
- 1936-1952: Lord of Mann
- 1936-1952: Duke of Normandy
Styles
| Royal styles of George VI | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | His Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Sir |
From his brother's ascension to the throne, on January 20, 1936, until his own accession, on December 11, 1936, Prince Albert held the style His Royal Highness, The Prince Albert, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney.
His full style as king was, from December 11, 1936, George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India. Following 1948, however, the style Emperor of India was dropped, and the King was styled: George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith.
Honours
Ancestors
| George VI of the United Kingdom |
Father: George V of the United Kingdom |
Paternal grandfather: Edward VII of the United Kingdom |
Paternal great-grandfather: Albert, Prince Consort |
| Paternal great-grandmother: Victoria of the United Kingdom | |||
| Paternal grandmother: Alexandra of Denmark |
Paternal great-grandfather: Christian IX of Denmark | ||
| Paternal great-grandmother: Louise of Hesse-Kassel | |||
| Mother: Mary of Teck |
Maternal grandfather: Francis, Duke of Teck |
Maternal great-grandfather: Duke Alexander of Württemberg | |
| Maternal great-grandmother: Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde | |||
| Maternal grandmother: Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge |
Maternal great-grandfather: Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge | ||
| Maternal great-grandmother: Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge |
Notes and sources
- ^ Windsor, The Duke of (1951). A King's Story. London: Cassell & Co Ltd. pp. p.9.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (1958). King George VI: His Life and Reign. New York: Macmillan. pp. pp.7-8.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ His godparents were Queen Victoria, Empress Frederick, Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, his wife the Grand Duchess (formerly Princess Augusta of Cambridge), the Crown Prince of Denmark, the Duke of Connaught, Prince Adolphus of Teck, and the Duchess of Fife. Source: The Times (London), Tuesday February 18, 1896, p.11
- ^ Bradford, Sarah (1989). King George VI. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. p.2. ISBN 0297796674.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Wheeler-Bennett, pp.17-18
- ^ a b Matthew, H. C. G. (2004), "George VI (1895–1952)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press
- ^ Bradford, p.41-45
- ^ Bradford, pp.55-76
- ^ Wheeler-Bennett, p.128-131
- ^ "Yvonne Demoskoff's Royalty: Peerage". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ Vickers, Hugo (2006). Elizabeth: The Queen Mother. Arrow Books/Random House. pp. p.31 and p.44. ISBN 9780099476627.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Bradford, p.106
- ^ Bradford, p.77
- ^ Reith, John (1949). Into the Wind. London: Hodder and Staughton. pp. p.94.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Roberts, Andrew (2000). The House of Windsor. London: Cassell & Co. pp. pp.57-58. ISBN 0-304-35406-6.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Howarth, Patrick (1987). George VI. Hutchinson. pp. p.53. ISBN 0091710006.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Ziegler, Philip (1990). King Edward VIII: The Official Biography. London: Collins. pp. p.199. ISBN 0002157411.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Wheeler-Bennett, p.286
- ^ Howarth, p.63
- ^ Howarth, p.66
- ^ Sinclair, David (1988). Two Georges: the Making of the Modern Monarchy. Hodder and Staughton. pp. p.224. ISBN 0340332409.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Howarth, p.143
- ^ Bradford, p.223
- ^ Ziegler, p.326
- ^ Bradford, p.214
- ^ Vickers, p.175
- ^ Bradford, p.209
- ^ Bradford, p.269 and p.281
- ^ "The Royal Tour of 1939". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ Galbraith, William (1989), "Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit", Canadian Parliamentary Review, 12 (3)
- ^ Vickers, p.187
- ^ Bradford, p.298-299
- ^ The Times (London) Monday, June 12, 1939 p. 12 col. A
- ^ Churchill, Winston (1949). The Second World War. Vol. Vol.II. Cassell and Co. Ltd. pp. p.334.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help);|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ Goodwin, Doris Kearns (1994). No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. p.380.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Swift, Will (2004). The Roosevelts and the Royals: Franklin and Eleanor, the King and Queen of England, and the Friendship that Changed History. John Wiley & Sons.
- ^ Lash, Joseph P. (1971). Eleanor and Franklin. New York: Norton. pp. p.582.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ "The History of the Commonwealth". The Commonwealth Secretariat. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- ^ "King George VI". The Official Web-Site of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- ^ a b "The official web-site of the British Monarchy". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ Bradford, p.454
- ^ Bradford, p.462
References
- Bradford, Sarah (1989). King George VI. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0297796674.
- Howarth, Patrick (1987). George VI. Hutchinson. ISBN 0091710006.
- Matthew, H. C. G. (2004), "George VI (1895–1952)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press
- Sinclair, David (1988). Two Georges: the Making of the Modern Monarchy. Hodder and Staughton. ISBN 0340332409.
- Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (1958). King George VI: His Life and Reign. New York: Macmillan.
Further reading
- Ziegler, Philip (1985). Mountbatten: the official biography. Collins.
External links
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