King George Vi was the King of the United Kingdom and ruled the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. Together they were the last king of India till August 1947. When the British Raj was dissolved. Known as “Bertie” to his family and close friends.
King George Vi Bio
| Name | George VI |
| Full name | Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsow |
| Birth | 14 December 1895 |
| Birthplace | York Cottage, United Kingdom |
| Reign | 11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952 |
| Coronation | 12 May 1937 |
| death | 6 February 1952, (age 56) |
| Death place | Sandringham Estate, United Kingdom |
| Burial | 15 February 1952 |
| Burial Place | Royal Vault, St George’s Chapel |
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Birth
George VI was born on 14 December 1895 in York Cottage, the United Kingdom during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. And he 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 under the shadow of his older brother, Edward.
King George Vi Family
George VI’s father’s name is George V. And his mother’s name is Mary of Teck. He has one brother and one sister. Brother’s name is Edward VIII and sister’s name is Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood. George VI’s wife’s name is Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, she married on 26 April 1923. He has two daughters. Her name is Elizabeth II, and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
| Father | George V |
| Mother | Mary of Teck |
| brother | Edward VIII |
| sister | Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood |
| Wife | Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother |
| Son | — |
| daughter | Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon |
Education and Military career
From 1909, Albert attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne as a naval cadet. In 1911 he came at the bottom of the class in the final examination. But still proceeded to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. When his grandfather Edward VII died in 1910, his father became King George V. Edward became Prince of Wales, second only to Albert on the throne. Albert spent the first six months of 1913 on the HMS Cumberland training ship off the west coast of the West Indies and Canada.
He joined HMS Collingwood on 15 September 1913 as a midshipman. He had spent three months in the Mediterranean Sea. But he could never recover from his marital illness. He was medically taken by ship to Aberdeen three weeks after the outbreak of World War I. where Sir John Marnoch had his appendix removed. He was noted for his actions as a turret officer at Collingwood in the Great Naval Warfare (31 May – 1 June 1916) Battle of Jutland. He saw no further fighting, mainly due to poor health due to a duodenal ulcer for which he underwent surgery in November 1917.
In February 1918 he was commissioned as a boys’ officer at the Royal Naval Air Service Training Institute at Cranwell. With the establishment of the Royal Air Force, Albert was transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Force. He served as Officer Commanding Number 4 Squadron of the Boys’ Wing at Cranwell until August 1918, before reporting to the RAF Cadet School at St Leonards-on-Sea. He completed a fortnight’s training and commanded a squadron in Cadet Wing. He was the first member of the British royal family to be certified as a fully qualified pilot. Albert wanted to serve on the continent. While the war was on and General Trenchard’s staff welcomed the posting in France.
On 23 October she crossed the Channel and flew to Otigny. He served at the RAF’s Independent Air Force Staff Headquarters in Nancy France until the final weeks of the war. After the dissolution of the Independent Air Force in November 1918, he remained on the continent for two months until he returned to Britain as an RAF staff officer. He was accompanied by King Albert I of Belgium upon his victorious re-entry into Brussels on 22 November. Prince Albert qualified as an RAF pilot on 31 July 1919. And the next day he was promoted to Squadron Leader.
In October 1919, Albert went to Trinity College, Cambridge. where he studied history, economics, and civics for a year. V Lawrence was his “official advisor”. On 4 June 1920, his father made him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killarney. He began to perform more royal duties. He represented his father and visited coal mines, factories, and railroads. It was through such visits that he had earned the nickname “industrial prince”.
He appears less self-confident in public than his older brother, Edward, with the sly shy attitude of his antics and his shyness towards her. Although he was physically active. and enjoyed playing tennis. He played in the men’s doubles at Wimbledon in 1926 with Louis Gregg. and was defeated in the first round. He showed interest in working conditions and was president of the Industrial Industrial Welfare Society. His series of annual summer camps for boys between 1921 and 1939 brought together boys from different social backgrounds.
Early reign
Albert assumed the name “George VI” to emphasize continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy. The reign of George VI began with questions surrounding his predecessor and brother. whose title style and status were uncertain. He was presented as “His Royal Highness Prince Edward” for the apocalyptic broadcast. But George VI felt that by abdicating and relinquishing his succession, Edward had lost his right to hold royal titles, including “Royal Highness”. George’s first act as king in settling the issue was to confer on his brother the title “Duke of Windsor”, in the style of “Royal Highness”. But the patent for the letters that made up the dukedom did not allow any wives or children to become royal.
George VI was forced to buy from Edward the royal residences of Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House. Because these were private properties and did not automatically pass. On his 41st birthday, three days after his accession, he lived with his wife, the new queen consort of the Order of the Garter. George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 12 May 1937. Which was the first for Edward’s coronation. Breaking tradition, his mother Queen Mary attended the ceremony in support of her son. There was no court for George VI in Delhi. As it was for his father as the cost would be a burden for the Government of India. Rising Indian nationalism is welcome as the royal party is likely to remain silent at best. And Britain’s long absence during the tense period before World War II would be undesirable. Two overseas tours were made, to France and North America.
Both of which promised greater strategic advantage in the event of war. The growing prospect of war in Europe dominated the early reign of George VI. The king was constitutionally bound to support the appeasement of Hitler’s prime minister, Neville Chamberlain. When the King and Queen congratulated Chamberlain on his return from the Munich Treaty negotiations in 1938. So he invited her to accompany him to the balcony of Buckingham Palace. This public relationship of the king with the statesman was extraordinary. Because the presence of the balcony was traditionally confined to the royal family. Despite being widely popular with the general public, Chamberlain’s policy towards Hitler was the subject of some opposition in the House of Commons. Prominent historian John Gregg described King’s behavior as “the most unconstitutional act”.
The King and Queen visited Canada and the United States in May and June 1939. This was the first visit to North America by the ruling British monarch. Although they went to Canada before their merger. From Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister William Leon Mackenzie accompanied the king to North America to introduce himself as the King and Queen of Canada. Both the Governors-General of Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir and Mackenzie King, hoped that the King’s presence in Canada would reflect the principles of the 1931 Statue of Westminster which granted full sovereignty to the British Empire.
On May 19, George VI personally accepted and approved the Letter of Credence from the new US ambassador to Canada, Daniel Calhoun Roper. Nine parliamentary bills were given royal assent and two international treaties with the Great Seal of Canada were ratified. The historian of the official royal tour, Gustave Lanctot, wrote that “the Statue of Westminster assumed absolute reality” and that George gave a speech emphasizing the “free and equal union of the Commonwealth”. The purpose of the visit was to soften the strong separatist tendencies among the peoples of North America in relation to rising tensions in Europe. However, the purpose of the visit was mainly political.
The King and Queen were enthusiastically welcomed by the people to extend Atlantic support for the United Kingdom in any future war. George had conquered the fear of being compared to his predecessor. He participated in the 1939 New York World’s Fair. and lived with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House and at his personal estate in Hyde Park, New York. During the visit, a strong bond of friendship was established between the King and the Queen and the President. Which is of great importance in relations between the United States and the United Kingdom in the years leading up to the war.
Second World War
Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, self-governing bodies other than the United Kingdom and Ireland declared war on Nazi Germany. George VI and his wife had decided to remain in London despite the German bombings. They officially stayed at Buckingham Palace during the war. Although they usually spent the night at Windsor Castle. About a thousand civilians were killed on the first night of the Blitz in London on 7 September 1940. Most of which were in the East End. On 13 September, two German bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace.
Due to which the lives of the king and queen were saved. Ignoring, the Queen declared “I’m glad we’ve been bombed. It makes me think we can see the East End face to face.” The royal family was portrayed as sharing the same risks and deprivations as in other parts of the country. They were subject to British rationing restrictions. and the U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt commented on the rationed food and limited bathing water served during her stay at the Hot and Boarding Up Palace. In August 1942, the King’s brother, the Duke of Kent, was killed while in active service.
In 1940 Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister. Although George would have personally chosen to appoint Lord Halifax. Following the King’s initial disappointment with the appointment of Lord Beaverbrook to Churchill’s cabinet, he and Churchill developed the closest personal relationship between a king and a prime minister in modern British history. Every Tuesday for four and a half years from September 1940, the two men met privately for a meal to discuss secret and open warfare. King describes most of the discussions between the two in his diary. which is the only current direct account of these conversations. During the war, the King and Queen made morale-boosting tours throughout the United Kingdom, visiting bomb sites, weapons factories, and soldiers.
King visited France in December 1939, North Africa and Malta in June 1943, Normandy in June 1944, southern Italy in July 1944, and the lowlands in October 1944. His high public profile and apparently unwavering determination had secured his place. as a symbol of national resistance. At a social event in 1944, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Royal General Staff, revealed that whenever he met Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery. So he thought Montgomery was behind his job. The king replied that you should worry when I meet him I will always feel that he is behind me.
In 1945 the crowd shouted, “We need a king!” Echoing the Chamberlain’s presence in front of Buckingham Palace during the Victory in Europe Day celebrations, the King invited Churchill to public applause on the balcony with the Royal Family. In January 1946, George addressed the United Nations at its first meeting in London. and reaffirmed our belief in the equal rights of men and women and the equal rights of countries large and small.
Arms
George as Duke of York distinguished the royal arms of the United Kingdom from the three-pointed Argentinian label. Whose focal point anchors the blue—a distinction first made by his father George V when he was Duke of York. and was later honored by his grandson to Prince Andrew, Duke of York. As king, he carried the royal arms without any discrimination.
Physical Measurement
| Height ( approx ) | in centimeters: 175 (1952) in meters: 1.75 feet & inches : 5’8″ |
| weight | KG : 82 |
| body structure | — |
| Eye color | black |
| Hair color | black |
King George Vi Marriage
It was unusual in that Albert had considerable freedom in choosing a future wife. His infatuation with the previously married Australian socialite Lady Loughborough ended in April 1920. When the king persuaded Albert to stop seeing him with a promise to the Duke of York. That year he met Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon for the first time since childhood. who met the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorn. He is determined to marry her. He had turned down the offer twice, in 1921 and 1922. Because she was reluctant to make the necessary sacrifices to become a member of the royal family. In the words of his mother Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorn, Albert wanted to “make or marry” his wife’s choice. After a long love affair, Elizabeth agreed to marry him. They were married on 26 April 1923 at Westminster Abbey.
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Awards – Honours
- 14 December 1895 – 28 May 1898, 28 May 1898 – 22 January 1901: His Highness Prince Albert of York
- 22 January 1901 – 9 November 1901: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Cornwall and York
- 9 November 1901 – 6 May 1910: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Wales
- 6 May 1910 – 3 June 1920: His Royal Highness The Prince Albert
- 3 June 1920 – 11 December 1936: His Royal Highness The Duke of York
- 11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952: His Majesty The King
- In India: 11 December 1936 – 14 August 1947: His Imperial Majesty The King, Emperor of India
Disease And Death
The stress of war had a devastating effect on the health of the king. His heavy smoking and subsequent development of lung cancer included arterial disease and Berger’s disease. In which the seed had increased. King’s planned trip to Australia and New Zealand was postponed in March 1949 after an artery blockage in his right leg threatened with leg damage and was treated with right lumbar sympathectomy. His eldest daughter “Elizabeth” the heir had assumed more royal duties as her father’s health deteriorated. The delayed visit was rescheduled to replace King and Queen with Elizabeth and her husband “Philip” Duke of Edinburgh. King May was good enough to open the British Festival in 1951. But on 23 September 1951, he had a surgical operation.
where his entire left lung was removed by Clement Price Thomas after a malignant tumor was found. In October 1951, Elizabeth and Philip embarked on a month-long visit to Canada, a week delayed due to King’s illness. The King’s speech from the throne was read out by Lord Chancellor Lord Symonds at the state opening of Parliament in November. His 1951 Christmas broadcast was recorded in the segment. And then were edited together. On 31 January 1952, King Elizabeth and Philip went to Australia via London Airport, Kenya, despite the advice of those close to them. This was his last public appearance. Six days later on 6 February at 07:30 GMT he was found dead in a bed at Sandringham House in Norfolk. He died overnight at the age of 56 from coronary thrombosis.
He had returned to Britain from Kenya as his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. The coffin of George VI rested for two days at St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Sandringham from 9 February before being placed in Westminster Hall from 11 February. He was buried at St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle on the 15th. It was initially housed in the Royal Vault until it was moved to the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside St George’s on 26 March 1969. Fifty years after his death in 2002 was his widow Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and his youngest daughter Princess Margaret who died that year. was buried with his ashes in the chapel.
Interesting Fact
- George is the last king of England to use the title “Emperor of India”. He used the titles of “King of India” and “King of Pakistan” until 1947 after the transformation of British India into separate countries of India and Pakistan. When the country was formed, he renounced the title of Raja of India. He used the title of Raja of Pakistan until his death in the 1950 Republic.
- Originally the BBC—which was newly produced and hot for the material at the time—wanted to broadcast Prince Albert and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s wedding live on live radio. Such a sharp idea was rejected by the clergy of Westminster Abbey. The couple married the airwaves on 26 April 1923. We don’t want royal weddings to be turned into a wild media circus.
- Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon proposed three times before George could say yes. According to Bowes-Lyon she wasn’t ready to make the big lifestyle changes that come with becoming a member of the royal family – which is honestly quite fair.
- Before becoming King, George had enjoyed the courtesy title of Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney. His elder brother, the future Edward VIII, had earned the title of “Ber” Prince of Wales. So the younger brother will have to settle for all three.
- George had become known as the “industrial prince” at the age of 25. His father sent him to visit coal mines, factories, relays and other construction sites to represent the crown. To his credit George was legally interested in the working conditions of his people. Who was working as the President of Industrial Welfare Society.
FAQ
Q. What is the name of King George vi brother?
A. Edward VIII
Q. who was king before George vi
A. Edward VIII
Q. What is the name of King George vi’s wife?
A. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Q. What is the death date of king George vi?
A. 6 February 1952, (age 56)
Q. What is king George vi cause of death?
A. He died overnight at the age of 56 from coronary thrombosis.
Conclusion
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