A coronation held on a date chosen for somebody else, and the first ever broadcast on radio (1937)
12 May 1937, the date set for Edward VIII's coronation
Monarchs · Saxe-Coburg & Windsor
George VI
1895–1952
House of Windsor — the Second World War and the end of empire
In office: 1936–1952
A shy second son with a bad stammer, thrust onto the throne by his brother's abdication, George VI became the symbol of British endurance in the Second World War, staying in London through the Blitz. His reign saw the independence of India, the founding of the National Health Service and the transformation of the empire into the Commonwealth, of which he was the first Head. He died of coronary thrombosis at Sandringham in 1952.
How to spot them
- ▸Bertie; Albert Frederick Arthur George, who took the regnal name of his father
- ▸The stammer and the Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue
- ▸Buckingham Palace bombed: 'Now I can look the East End in the face'
- ▸Last Emperor of India; first Head of the Commonwealth; father of Elizabeth II
In the reign
A halting broadcast to the empire on the evening war is declared (1939)
3 September 1939; the subject of the film The King's Speech
A new cross for civilian gallantry, later awarded collectively to a Mediterranean island (1940)
The George Cross, instituted September 1940; Malta received it in April 1942
A subcontinent becomes two dominions at midnight and a king loses the title of emperor (1947)
The independence and partition of India and Pakistan, 15 August 1947; the imperial title was dropped in 1948
A health service free at the point of use comes into being on the fifth of July (1948)
The National Health Service, under Aneurin Bevan
Austerity Olympics held in a bombed capital, with athletes billeted in barracks and no new venues (1948)
The London Olympics of 1948, opened by the King at Wembley
A festival on the South Bank marks a centenary and cheers up a rationed country, with a Dome of Discovery and a vertical feature (1951)
The Festival of Britain, and the Skylon
A declaration at a conference of prime ministers allows a republic to remain a member with the King as its head (1949)
The London Declaration, which made him Head of the Commonwealth and kept India in
Quick-fire facts
- •Second son of George V; born on 14 December 1895, the anniversary of Prince Albert's death, which is why he was christened Albert
- •He served at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 aboard HMS Collingwood
- •He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923; their daughters were Elizabeth and Margaret
- •The Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue treated his stammer from 1926
- •He and the Queen stayed in London through the Blitz; Buckingham Palace was hit several times in 1940
- •He was the last Emperor of India, relinquishing the title in June 1948, and the last King of Ireland, the title ending in 1949
- •In 1939 he made the first visit by a reigning British monarch to the United States and Canada
- •A heavy smoker, he had a lung removed in 1951 and died in his sleep at Sandringham on 6 February 1952
- •He is buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at St George's Chapel, Windsor, where Elizabeth II was also laid in 2022
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Sources
- The Royal Household — George VI (r. 1936-1952)
- Sarah Bradford — King George VI