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George VI

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 on 6 February 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.

For other uses, see George VI (disambiguation).

George VI

11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952

12 May 1937

11 December 1936 – 15 August 1947[b]

Edward VIII

Position abolished

Prince Albert of York
(1895-12-14)14 December 1895
York Cottage, Sandringham, Norfolk, England

6 February 1952(1952-02-06) (aged 56)
Sandringham House, Norfolk, England

15 February 1952

Royal Vault, St George's Chapel
26 March 1969
King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel
(m. 1923)

George's signature in black ink

1913–1919

The future George VI was born during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria; he was named Albert at birth after his great-grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was known as "Bertie" to his family and close friends. His father ascended the throne as George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne. He spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward, the heir apparent. Albert 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 engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stutter, which he learned to manage to some degree. His elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert became king, taking the regnal name George VI.


In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Irelanddeclared 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.

Bradford, Sarah (1989). King George VI. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.  978-0-297-79667-1.

ISBN

Howarth, Patrick (1987). . Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-171000-2.

George VI

Judd, Denis (1982). King George VI. London: Michael Joseph.  978-0-7181-2184-6.

ISBN

(2004). "George VI (1895–1952)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33370. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Matthew, H. C. G.

(1998). A Spirit Undaunted: The Political Role of George VI. London: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 978-0-316-64765-6.

Rhodes James, Robert

(2009). Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4050-4859-0.

Shawcross, William

Sinclair, David (1988). Two Georges: The Making of the Modern Monarchy. Hodder and Stoughton.  978-0-340-33240-5.

ISBN

(1975). The Last Emperor. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-77031-2.

Townsend, Peter

Vickers, Hugo (2006). Elizabeth: The Queen Mother. Arrow Books/Random House.  978-0-09-947662-7.

ISBN

(1958). King George VI: His Life and Reign. New York: St Martin's Press.

Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John

(1996). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised Edition. London: Random House. ISBN 978-0-7126-7448-5.

Weir, Alison

(1951). A King's Story. London: Cassell & Co Ltd.

Windsor, The Duke of

(1990). King Edward VIII: The Official Biography. London: Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-215741-4.

Ziegler, Philip

at the website of the Royal Family

George VI

at the website of the Royal Collection Trust

George VI

on YouTube

Footage of King George VI stammering in a 1938 speech

on YouTube

Soundtrack of King George VI Coronation speech in 1937

at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Portraits of King George VI

in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Newspaper clippings about George VI