The Reluctant King: How Elizabeth Saved George VI | Full Documentary

[00:00:04]In this grave hour and perhaps the most faithful in our [music] history, I send to every household of my people this message. Wallace and Edward first met in 1931 at a high society party [music] uh at Burough Court in Melton Moberry.

[00:00:31]Initially uh Edward was still involved with other women and Wallace was still married to Ernest Simpson at this point in time. So there was no initial romance. It wouldn't be until the start of 1934 when the two met again uh that an amorous relationship started to build. Having known his entire life that he would one day become king, [music] Edward naturally succeeded his father and became the king of England in January 1936.

[00:01:02]However, roughly 5 years earlier, Edward had met an American woman named Wallace Simpson who would change [music] the course of his life and the royal house of Windsor forever. I think the sense that you get is that um Edward is sort of in awe of a woman who refuses to pleate him and cowtow to him in [music] the way the sort of rather nauseatingly um sucking up way that the rest of the British society would have done that Wallace was very much her own own woman.

[00:01:34]And um and of course she was [music] intrigued by the Prince of Wales and incredibly flattered as she uh became involved in his millure, but in her mind this was just a sort of freon, a flirtation, a bit of fun, and she was firmly married to her second husband Ernest Simpson.

[00:01:53]>> Wallace was vivaceious, intelligent, charming. Uh she was sharp witted uh and she she didn't suffer fools. Uh I think one of the reasons why uh Edward became so enamored with her was that she she never talked up to him uh in the sense that she never saw him as a a superior.

[00:02:13]She saw him as an equal and he liked the fact that she was this she had this kind of democratic persona where she treated everybody equally.

[00:02:21]Wallace [music] attended a party at Buckingham Palace in November 1934 where she met Edward's mother. King George V was reportedly angry about Simpson's presence and outright refused to meet her at the event, but this didn't deter the prince. King George V had quite a strange relationship certainly with his sons. Uh he was quite an old-fashioned figure. Uh he was very much a Victorian.

[00:02:48]uh he was quite backward-looking [music] and at first uh quite resistant to to the change brought about by things like new technologies and [music] developments in the mass media. Uh his his children and particularly his sons, they were more forward-looking. Uh they uh enjoyed uh exciting social lives. Uh they were very active [music] on London society scene. Um they parted with the great and the good. uh they live very different lives to their father and for that reason uh there were tensions.

[00:03:19]>> Well, the interesting thing about Edward is he had a great deal of personal bravery and [music] so when he was when World War I broke out, he was actually very keen to join up because he wanted to see action. He wanted to be by the front. But of course, problem is is that no [music] serving member of the royal family, especially a Prince of Wales, was likely to be exposed to that kind of danger. I think that's one of the most [music] admirable uh qualities of Edward was his desire to serve in World War I and he [music] became a member of the Grenadier Guards and was very much wanted to be treated [music] like his peer group. That is absolutely fact. He really wanted to go to the front. Um and it was completely devastating [music] for him. And when he was later awarded the military cross, he said that he felt [music] uh a complete fraud uh and that he didn't deserve it and that was [music] um you know he had a feeling of self-loathing that he had these positions but he didn't feel worthy of them.

[00:04:14]>> He was excited by change [music] and innovation. Uh as a man he he engaged in lots of outdoor pursuits uh things like flying, golf, skiing, [music] swimming.

[00:04:25]uh he was a he was a real uh sort of showman in that respect. Uh it was also the case that he enjoyed sort of the fast life uh and nightclubs [music] and and partying. He'd go out socializing, drinking with his brothers. Uh he also enjoyed the company of women. He had number of extrammarital affairs. Uh he was the bad boy prince, but he was loved by the public. The people saw him as a new king for the modern world. But the people didn't yet know of his secret, that he was in love with Wallace Simpson.

[00:05:00]>> Edward really liked the fact that Wallace was sharp tonged, uh, quick-witted, >> she was principled, she was kind, she was loyal, she was bright, she [music] was funny, >> and I think he liked the fact that, uh, she would hold into account uh, in terms of his behavior, something that he didn't get from from the other women that he'd spent time with. What Edward liked best about Wallace was the fact that in her [music] words, I spoke to his inner loneliness in a less polite way of putting it. She was the first person to deal with his very specific sexual taste because Edward was somebody who had quite advanced say masochistic tastes and it was rumored that he wasn't able to have a normal penetrative sex. He had the nickname the little man which on the one hand could be seen as referring to his relatively small stature. It could also be it could also refer to other things as well. But certainly I think you can [music] see this very strong sexual relationship between Edward and Wallace as being one that affected both of them very closely because she was somebody who was very happy to fulfill this role of a dominant partner and he was somebody who craves to be dominated both socially and sexually.

[00:06:11]Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward to act [music] more discreetly in the affair and told Edward that Britain would never accept Wallace, a twice divorced American, as queen. [music] However, Edward VIII believed that rules were made to be broken and he wasn't one for the rigid confines of royal regulation.

[00:06:31]>> Edward as Prince of Wales was a strange mixture of the very good and the very bad. He was very good in terms of giving good speeches, [music] being charismatic, lighting up a party, always being the right person in the event.

[00:06:45]He's very bad because he had no actually investment in any of it. He often saw foreign trips as an [music] opportunity simply to go and seduce local women. He wasn't as committed to to going through the through government papers [music] to signing those off. uh often uh courtiers would come home and find uh government documents uh covered in in in sort of [music] uh stains from from wine glasses and that sort of thing. He didn't take that work as seriously as he should have done. Despite the seemingly united front against him, Edward could not be dissuaded. He proposed a morganatic marriage in which Wallace would not be queen, only a consort, and be granted no rights of rank or property. The idea would be that while [music] the husband or wife was acknowledged as a husband or wife, they would never be called king or queen. They wouldn't even be called prince or princess.

[00:07:32]>> However, on December second, Baldwin rejected the suggestion as impractical.

[00:07:38]>> There are a number of reasons why [music] uh the British intelligence service were spying on Edward and Wallace. Wallace was rumored to have had liaison with uh foreign government officials. uh that was of concern. There was a lot of a lot of questions regarding whether she was uh possibly an agent working [music] for some foreign power. Uh it was also the case that both Edward and Wallace maintained close friendships with uh foreign uh government government representatives most notably uh Kim von Ribbonrop of the Nazi state. He was uh ambassador uh for Nazi Germany in London and they went out and had had many dinners with him. Uh, the close relationship with the Nazis raised questions over whether Edward and Wallace were themselves possessed of fascist sympathies.

[00:08:28]>> British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin wanted to get rid of the king whom he thought to be dangerous.

[00:08:35]He tricked the king into asking the government for advice on the proposed marriage. Advice that legally the king would have to take. Give up Wallace or abdicate. There was a lot of pressure on Edward to [music] either give up the throne in order to marry the woman he loved or give up Wallace Simpson.

[00:08:57]>> Stanley Baldwin saw this as, [music] you know, a a an event to rejoice over, I think, [music] despite all that was said. I mean, he was the ultimate snake in the whole system. There was also a lot of pressure coming from Cosmo Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury, [music] who advised both Baldwin and Edward that it would be very unbecoming for Edward to stay on the throne and marry this woman who was twice divorced.

[00:09:22]>> It was the first time that the royal family were really tainted by scandal.

[00:09:27][music] Um, and there was a sense that how could the king uh possibly remain as head of the Church of England if he was having a relationship with u a married woman.

[00:09:41]>> The next day, the scandal broke on the front pages of British newspapers [music] and was discussed openly in parliament.

[00:09:48]>> When it became clear that Edward was thinking about abdicating for throne [music] in order to marry Wallace Simpson, there was an enormously mixed reaction. You could essentially summarize it like this. The middle classes were horrified and disgusted [music] because they saw the king having this relationship with a married woman and a divorced woman, something that was completely unacceptable. The working classes didn't think anything of this.

[00:10:10]They thought it was absolutely [music] fair enough that they loved the king.

[00:10:12]They wanted him to be happy and they were very, very keen that he remain on the throne. So, it [music] really split the country down the middle. And of course, the upper classes were faced with this completely different idea whereby they didn't condemn him from a moral perspective. They condemn him more from a [music] perspective of being selfish enough to having put the country in this constitutional crisis.

[00:10:31]>> With no resolution possible and the [music] country in turmoil, the king renounced the throne on December 10th, 1936.

[00:10:41]He and Wallace were married in June of 1937 after giving up [music] his crown for the woman he loved. The couple were exiled from England, settling at an estate in France and becoming the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The story [music] of Edward and Wallace had somewhat of a poetic ending, and he is often [music] referred to as the King of Hearts, despite his lessernown dark history.

[00:11:07]However, the end of Edward's rule meant the [music] inevitable rule of another.

[00:11:13]Someone had to take his place. Edward's abdication forced the responsibility of sovereignty onto his younger brother, Bertie.

[00:11:51]>> [music] >> The early life of the quiet Prince Albert was overshadowed by his gregarious elder brother and heir to the throne Edward.

[00:12:04]George V 6th grew to become the opposite of his brother Edward. He was shy and retiring while his brother was outgoing and social.

[00:12:14]>> George V 6th was the opposite of his brother Edward growing up. He was Albert. He was known as Bertie. He was shy. He was retiring while his brother was outgoing and and gregarious. [music] He had no particular interest in fashion, no particular interest in chasing after women, although his brother encouraged [music] him in doing so. And he was in fact involved in various affairs and so on [music] which have been not as much talked about as you would expect. But as a character he was a much less [music] likely king than Edward ever was because he was somebody who didn't seem to be very comfortable around people.

[00:12:50]>> George V 6th [music] was uh quiet as a as a child. He uh had a good relationship with his other siblings, but he wasn't as excitable as his older brother uh Edward or as outgoing as his his youngest brother uh who would later be known as the Duke of Kent. [music] Um Edward uh and his youngest brother um Duke of the Duke of Kent, they live very fast lives. They parted hard. Albert was a with a more withdrawn figure um closer uh to his father than his other brothers. um and and in keeping with his father's interests shared many of those interests, things like shooting. Um he enjoyed the quiet life away in the countryside out of the public eye.

[00:13:33]George had a very specific way that [music] he wanted to live. He didn't have a great deal of confidence, most likely due to his infamous speech impediment.

[00:13:44]>> We know that uh Bertie, now the Duke of York, had [music] uh struggled with his stammer. uh most of his of his teenage years and then uh notably [music] in his adult life when he was required to uh make a speech in 1925 when at the Wembley stadium >> [music] >> uh he'd had real difficulties uh making this uh this public address. Uh [music] and there was there was much concern both within royal circles but also uh within the media about whether he was cut out [music] to be a uh a young royal public servant uh because he had these problems with his voice. Bertie had [music] a stammer and was tormented by nervous twitches and uncontrollable rages.

[00:14:28]Growing up, the young Bertie had been almost terrified by his father and the expectations that his father had imposed on him.

[00:14:37]>> While we can say that George [music] V was definitely um a good king, we cannot say that he was a good father.

[00:14:44]>> George F was very much an old-fashioned patriarch. [music] He was somebody who believed not just in the idea of spare the rod and spoil the child, but also in the very Victorian [music] idea that children should be seen and not heard.

[00:14:55]So of his four sons, the two eldest, later Ed and George V 6th, had a very difficult relationship with him because [music] he was this cold figure and his wife Mary was cold as well.

[00:15:06]>> He had always [music] said that he hated his father and his father was horrible to him and while [music] he loved his mother, his mother wouldn't let him love her and that she always sided with the king. So it was an incredibly authoritarian, [music] disciplined, cold, um, emotionally un unrewarding childhood. [music] >> It was very much a sense that everyone was brought up in a way to understand duty and the idea of duty as the central tenate of what [music] you were suspected to do as a royal prince as something that he labored home intensively. And if we look at it now, we almost regard it as abusive because we look at the idea that these children were being treated in ways that [music] were not humane and were not kind. But on the other hand, back then there was no concept of kindness as we understand it today.

[00:15:52]>> Uh in the evening they would [music] dress for dinner in full regalia in tiaras in diamonds but there was no emotional warmth.

[00:16:01]>> A sense of duty and obligation was drilled into the [music] children from a young age. So there wasn't much room for love and affection.

[00:16:13]But what Albert lacked in social skills and confidence, he made up for in sportsmanship.

[00:16:21]Albert was a natural athlete, a superb shot and good enough tennis player to play at Wimbledon.

[00:16:35]He joined and loved the British Navy, serving in the Battle of Jutland when the fleets of Germany and Britain clashed in 1915.

[00:16:45]Nevertheless, following the death of his father and the abdication of his brother, George V 6th, didn't have much choice when it came to stepping up as the king of England. The coronation was held on the 12th of May 1937, the day that had originally been chosen for the coronation of Edward VII before his abdication.

[00:17:07]Albert was terrified.

[00:17:10]However, luckily for him, he didn't have to do it alone as he would have his wife Elizabeth by his side.

[00:17:21]By 1920, the 25-year-old Prince Albert started looking for a wife and would find her in his longtime friend, Lady Elizabeth Bose Lion. Her. She was a petite, dark-haired, and blue-eyed debutant. Elegant with a beautiful smile. She was powerful, confident, and funny with a strong personality and an incredible flirt, yet remained proper at all times.

[00:17:52]exactly what Prince Albert needed.

[00:17:54]Bertie [music] found uh his closest confidant and greatest supporter in his in his wife Elizabeth uh Bose Lion. From childhood days, Lady Elizabeth and her older sisters had been friendly with the children of King George V and Queen Mary. Occasionally, members of the royal family stayed at Glam Castle.

[00:18:16]Prince Albert fell in love with Elizabeth in classic fairy tale style after laying eyes on her from across a crowded London ballroom floor.

[00:18:26]However, it wasn't going to be smooth sailing when it came to winning over Elizabeth's heart. Royal life offered little to [music] a wealthy aristocrat's daughter. After a number of unsuccessful attempts to woo her and and propose marriage to her, she eventually consented. It's really interesting that people often ask why Elizabeth Bose's lion was [music] so vituprative towards Wallace Simpson. And I think the answer for that is because she was envious of her.

[00:18:54]>> There was some talk at the time about whether she was in fact uh more interested in his older brother Edward, Prince of Wales. And that was one of the reasons why she originally turned Bertie down.

[00:19:03]>> She actually wanted to marry Edward and her [music] mother was very keen on that idea. and it's little known but um Bertie had to [music] propose to Elizabeth Bosean three times before she accepted. [music] Um so there's the sense that uh she married the lesser man. Of course he became the greater man and he became king but she can't have [music] known that when she married.

[00:19:28]>> Elizabeth reportedly said to a friend that it was my duty to marry Bertie and I fell in love with him afterwards.

[00:19:37]Despite their different personalities, the couple shared so much. They both had a strong sense of duty, were deeply religious, and over time had affectionate love for one another.

[00:19:49]>> His relationship with his his wife Elizabeth Bose lines, who later became Queen Elizabeth, was one doesn't want to sentimentalize these things, but it was a very happy relationship. The two of them had been for many years, very very much in love. It was a very conventional match. I mean, unlike [music] Edward and his various mistresses and then Wallace, there was no question that they would get married. [music] They got married and had two daughters. And essentially, it gave him a stability and and a happiness that he'd always wanted. She was a more dominant figure than he [music] was, just as Wallace was a more dominant figure than Edward was, but she was also somebody who loved him and was keen that he be kept away from the more taxing aspects of of royal life. Uh, nevertheless, she would uh get married to to Bertie. they would become the Duke and Duchess of York. And really they they embodied uh everything that was best about the monarchy in this period in that they they they presented themselves as very beautiful figures.

[00:20:42]They they went out into public life. Uh they tore towns and cities. They opened hospitals. They did all that was expected of gener of of royals of their generation. The couple were married on the 26th of April 1923 in Westminster Abbey and became the Duke and Duchess of York.

[00:21:00]It's said that Elizabeth lightened the whole royal family with her radiant smile and warm sense of humor. George V was described as always in a good temper whenever Elizabeth was around. The newlywed couple embodied everything that was best [music] about the monarchy in this period and presented themselves as very beautiful figures.

[00:21:23]They went on to have two children.

[00:21:26]Princess Elizabeth born on the 21st of April [music] 1926 at the Strathmore's London home 17 Brutin Street and Princess Margaret born on the 21st of August 1930 at Glamis Castle. I mean it is it's incredibly lovely uh the relationship between um Bertie Elizabeth and the two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret us four they were a a wonderfully tight [music] unit and I think that um the queen mother and Bertie were you know as good as parents as they could be given their constraints. Um but Bertie had a particular passion for Margaret. It was always said that Elizabeth was his pride and Margaret was his joy. And in fact, Margaret understood his temperament.

[00:22:14]Margaret was terribly spoiled. I mean, she was a [music] complete daddy's girl.

[00:22:19]Uh, but she was the only one who could um soothe him when he got into what the family called one of his terrible nashes, his kind of anxious, frustrated rages. [music] and Margaret uh would be the one who could um you sort of tickle him out [music] of those with humor and love and jokes and he always gave Margaret an extra kiss.

[00:22:40]>> In the 1920s and 1930s, Albert became known as the industrial prince. He would often occupy his time with factory visits and worthy trade exhibitions.

[00:22:53]He also founded the Duke of York summer camps with the intention of bringing boys from all backgrounds together to enjoy outdoor life and activities.

[00:23:03]The camps featured community singing which he would enthusiastically join in.

[00:23:13]Because they weren't first in line for the throne, the family could shy away from the public's view. Or so they thought.

[00:23:55]On the 20th of January 1936, King George V died after suffering from smoking. related health problems throughout his later reign. And due to Edward's choice to relinquish his position as king to marry Wallace, the next person in line was his younger brother Bertie.

[00:24:14]14 years after marrying Elizabeth, George would now have to step up to the role of King of England.

[00:24:21]In 1936, uh Bertie unexpectedly [music] becomes king. This was a moment of of of great challenge for him in that he was something of a reluctant figure. [music] He had been up until this point uh a family man. He enjoyed his private uh home life away from the the media, away from the [music] cameras. He knew from this point forward that this would all become uh and be put on public show uh and that he had to embrace a new path uh that required that he put duty and public service [music] ahead of all else. George V 6 was desperate not to become king. He was absolutely terrified by [music] responsibilities of what would happen.

[00:25:01]>> He never expected to be king. He did he didn't feel that he [music] had the wherewithal to be king. He was the absolute antithesis of his brother. His brother was sophisticated, glamorous, [music] dashing, confident, good with people.

[00:25:15]Here was Bertie, anxious, stuttering. Um you know, you you couldn't have a greater [music] contrast. Uh so he begged Edward not to abdicate. He he said, "Please, you know, don't do this to me." Um he went to see his brother uh at Fort Belvadier the [music] night before the abdication. And the whole family were in complete and utter shock.

[00:25:39]>> Despite the family's desperate pleas for Edward to see reason, he ultimately chose the woman he loved and abdicated.

[00:25:47]And so it was official. Bertie was to be king.

[00:25:53]The Duke of York becomes king, his duchess queen, and their two little daughters next in line for the throne.

[00:26:00]Britain rejoices again. And today, for the first time, radio brings a new king's coronation message to the world.

[00:26:07]Never before has a newly crowned king been able to talk to all his peoples in our own homes on the day of his coronation.

[00:26:26]the queen and I will always keep in our hearts the inspiration of this day.

[00:26:38]>> Thus, royalty endures in the greatest empire ever known. To Elizabeth, the 36-year-old queen, to the Queen Mother, Mary, and to her second son, now king, go the empire's love and devotion.

[00:26:55]The royal coronation took place on the 12th of May 1937.

[00:27:00]The new king abandoned his own name to reign as King George V 6th. Bertie would take the name George V 6th specifically in order to associate himself with his his father who had been George V. Uh the connection there in terms of the public image was key. He saw himself very much of a king in the in the vein of his father. uh in terms of the values he sought to exemplify as monarch. He was about duty, diligence, behaving constitutionally.

[00:27:31]Um in contrast with his brother Edward, it was also the case of course that Bertie, the name deriving from Albert, it's a very German sounding name. uh really since the end of the first world war uh the British royal family had had sought to to to degermanize uh themselves and and and cut themselves off from their Germanic roots presenting themselves as a more British family.

[00:27:55]Many, including Albert feared he was not up for being king.

[00:28:00]So much so that city traders placed bets that the king would not even finish the ceremony. The public didn't really want George the 6th as king because they were largely enamored of his brother and because he wasn't seen as a charismatic or stylish figure. They were disappointed by him because Edward VII was to many British people like a movie star. He was somebody who was seen as this incredibly exciting figure. And George 6 was not even a you know rep theater star. He was somebody who was seen as a bit glum, a bit drab, a bit lacking in any kind of glamour. George was not a very popular king. He had been really out of the limelight in contrast to his uh his older brother. Uh and there was a lot of public disaection with the monarchy uh in the first years of George's reign. Certainly, there were a lot of comments recorded um on the morning of the coronation by investigators that went out into Britain's town cities, notably also London, and they they recorded members of the public talking about how they were sort of uninspired by the by the new king, how they worried about his his psychological preparedness uh for the role. They were concerned about his stammer, whether he had the health to s sustain himself as king. uh they also recorded not seeing not as many as many people in the crowds as as had it turned out for the silver jubilee of of King George V in 1935. So there was a there was a sense here that um the king was something of a damp squib and that the the event overall wasn't as as magnificent as it [music] as it could have been had it been that Edward was being cranned. The king's speeches were written for his disability with complicated words entirely removed and avoided.

[00:29:45]However, the coronation required oaths sworn in ancient unchangeable language.

[00:29:51]And it's said that the new king repeatedly practiced his signature, fearing he might sign himself Albert, not George.

[00:30:00]The ceremony didn't go entirely smoothly.

[00:30:04]Words of the speeches were covered over by the fingers of officials holding prompt cards, obscuring the king's view.

[00:30:11]The BBC asked to broadcast the coronation live on prime time television, but the Archbishop of Canterbury outright refused. He claimed it would be sacrilege as the broadcast might be watched in bars.

[00:30:25]However, this wasn't entirely [music] true.

[00:30:28]The real reason was that a live broadcast could not be edited to hide the king's twitches, [music] convulsions, and stammer. Eventually, it was decided that he needed a speech therapist to help him overcome his speech impediment. The speech therapist he hired, or rather was hired by his wife, was a man named Lionel Log. Bertie had suffered from a stammer from [music] childhood, but it was massively worse and exacerbated by his responsibilities when he reached adulthood [music] because he would have to give speeches and he hated it. He hated it because he felt completely illequipped to do so [music] and he would actively try and avoid opportunities of doing so because he felt embarrassed. The problem is is that what he realized especially when his father was alive was that you can't [music] duck these responsibilities.

[00:31:15]And so he had these horrendously embarrassing experiences that he would go and address the kind of lowgrade events that you needed a member of the royal family to be at. He'd often find himself making noise rather than a conventional speech which is why he needed to have a speech therapist who could actually help him. So the speech therapist that he hired or rather was hired for him by his wife was this man called Lionel Log who was not Australian. And Lo was very unconventional because he didn't believe that the way of dealing with speech therapy was to be formal about it. He dealt with with the king who he he called Bertie informally as if they were friends as if they were working on the same level. And the film The King's Speech offered a fictionalized account of this and it's it's broadly accurate in what it suggests that there was this friendship that arose between them >> with some minor event. Would that be agreeable?

[00:32:03]Of course.

[00:32:05]>> Yes. And that would be the full extent of your services.

[00:32:09]>> Shall I see you next week?

[00:32:10]>> I shall see you every day. he managed to get uh Bertie going in terms of of making public addresses. Uh Bertie would practice day in day out uh for at least an hour uh on strengthening his muscles around his vocal cords uh in order to try and gain a greater sense of confidence and control over his voice.

[00:32:32]The speech therapy was very effective for Bertie in that he did gaining confidence. Notably, the the impediment would never fully go away. Bertie would continue to stammer, but nevertheless, he became a much more confident and and competent public speaker than he had been before.

[00:32:52]>> Cannot long be separated.

[00:32:55]It is well that we have in one of the world capitals a visible reminder of so great a truth.

[00:33:06]And without freedom there can be no enduring peace. And without peace no enduring freedom.

[00:33:22][cheering] And the princesses come out to welcome their guests in Windsor Great Park. And for almost the last time before they again dispersed to the ends of the earth, the minion and colonial representatives who have attended the coronation take part in a royal ceremony. And of all the brilliant gatherings of the past few months, probably the memory of this one will outlast all the others. Or led by his majesty, each of the distinguished guests is to plant an oak tree, one for every component part of the empire. And henceforth, this spot in Windsor Great Park is to be called Coronation Grove.

[00:33:59]And as the years will lift its branches skywards, they will be a living memorial in rustling greenness for this happy first year of a new reign.

[00:34:16]His relationship with his father had been very different to his brother's relationship with his father because he was much more similar to George the fifth in terms of temperament and in terms of character [music] than his brother was. He believed in duty. He agreed with George R the fifth that the monarchy had to be maintained [music] by any means possible and that the best means of maintaining the monarchy was to exceed to any conventional ideas of duty. His brother did not agree with this but but George V 6 when he became king knew exactly what his duty was.

[00:34:45][music] He hated it but he would never have dreamt from sherking it.

[00:34:48]>> Greenwich proudly welcomes royal visitors including Queen Mother Mary who comes to see the opening of the National Maritime Museum. The crowd cheers King George and Queen Elizabeth and the 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth as their welcome to the museum, the first of its kind in Britain.

[00:35:05]When he became king, he accepted it. He accepted that it was his responsibility and that it [music] was something that he would have to deal with. And the person that he had as his counselor was Walter Monton who'd also been at VX counselor. Monton was a [music] lawyer who understood how things worked and he was a very decent man. So the first thing that George 6 did as king was to [music] knight Walter Monton and he did it in his in his own private home in Piccadilly and he said to Monton as he was nighting him well Walter I didn't do that very well but it's the first time I've done it and you can look at most of his reign up to the beginning of World War II [music] as essentially that being a microcosm of it. You can see that he may not have done it very well but it was the first time he'd done it. And although there were people who sneered at him such as the Distress Chips Channon for lacking glamour, [music] for not being a charismatic figure, for his stutter, he was somebody who was trying his very best. And I think that's what you can see the king as being somebody who was trying to be like [music] his father, not like his brother.

[00:36:05]>> The memorial seems to me finally conceived and finally executed.

[00:36:17]It is fortunate also in the position it occupies standing as it does against the background of the castle reminding us of the long and continuous history.

[00:36:36]>> Before the coronation, the Duke of York had stood out in his ordinariness. His wife friendly but dowdy.

[00:36:44]Following the coronation, all of that was to change. The new royal family was hurled into a hectic schedule, taking them to every corner of the British Dominion. The royal family aimed to couple the traditional mystique of royalty with traditional family values.

[00:37:02]With time, King George V 6th began to overcome his shyness, and he grew as king due to the ongoing support from Queen Elizabeth.

[00:37:14]The instincts for the fashions of the late 1930s didn't come naturally to Elizabeth, nor did she have the figure for it. Instead, she created her own unique style. She wore a fairy tale dress specifically designed for her part as queen. But the times of bliss would only last so long. As the Munich crisis unfolded, the reality of war engulfed Great Britain.

[00:37:42]The day that war was declared against Germany was uh a great moment of of sadness uh and concern for the British public. They understood why this point had been reached that Hitler had time and again [music] broken promises uh and as a result uh Chamberlain and Chamberlain's government had been forced to declare war on Germany. In this moment of crisis, the British public I think were looking for for leadership not just from the government but also from the British royal family. Uh they were looking for reassurance that everything would be okay and that the nation would get through this moment of peril >> in this grave hour and perhaps the most faithful in our history.

[00:38:34]I send to every household of my people both at home and overseas.

[00:38:46]This message spoken with the same a depth of feeling for each one of you as if I were able to pause your threshold and speak to you myself.

[00:39:06]For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war.

[00:39:18]The British royal family were not that popular during the Second World War. And there's a key reason for this. This was a moment of austerity, of rationing, of controls, of blackouts, where ordinary members of the public, where civilians were suffering hardships, where they couldn't access uh ordinary food stuffs, uh where normal opportunities were closed down to them. And there there was quite a lot of antipathy and anger towards uh sort of elite sections of society who seemed to be able to continue with their lives uh in normal ways. So it was crucial that the the British royal family be seen as as though they are suffering uh because of this war as well. And the bombing of Buckingham Palace in that respect represented an opportunity to demonstrate that royalty that crown and people were suffering together. Of the 500 German planes that came over that day, more than onethird were shot down. In the 28 days of terror from September 7th to October 5th, the Nazis dropped 50 million pounds of bombs on [music] the city, killed 7,000 helpless civilians, and wounded 10,000 more.

[00:40:41][music] Bombs fell on Buckingham Palace, [music] Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Fleet Street, the center of the news, [music] St. Paul's Cathedral.

[00:41:09]Bakia Palace was bombed several occasions in in World War II. The most spectacular one came relatively early in in the war when bombs landed sufficiently close to George V 6 and to Queen Elizabeth and their private secretary, Alec Harding. But if it hadn't been for a couple of minor bits of chance, they almost certainly would have been killed. And it's very interesting to see this because whoever bombed Buckingham Palace knew exactly what they were doing. They knew exactly which parts of the palace the king and queen would have been in. they knew exactly where to hit it. So there is clearly somebody working off some kind of intelligence which was not intelligence the general public would have had and it's certainly not intelligence the Nazi Germany would have had. The question we have to ask is how would you have got that intelligence were it not for fact there is somebody who is at loose who would have been able to tell people exactly [music] if you wanted to bomb Buckingham Palace and kill my family this is how you do it. And of course the question is did Edward actually want to see George V 6 and the queen killed? I I don't know is the answer to that because on the one hand he didn't like his brother. He was angry with his brother but was he actually a traitor? I don't know. But what I think you can say is that his acts even if they were not committed with intentional treachery suddenly added up to treachery.

[00:42:35]The king and queen were exceptionally nearly killed. And it was just a stroke of luck that that they weren't. I mean, at one point, windows had been left open. The boy probably wouldn't have been left open under normal circumstances. If the windows had been shut, they would have smashed into a thousand pieces of glass. Probably would have killed everyone in the room.

[00:42:54]After the palace was born, they're both absolutely terrified. The king wrote in his diary that he couldn't quite believe what had happened and he very very lucky to have escaped but days later he's he's still writing I look outside and I can't forget seeing the bomb. It's quite clear that it had a kind of traumatic effect on both of them. What was very interesting was that especially after Buckingham Palace was bombed and the king and queen went out into the east end to see that they had been bombed and the queen famously declared I'm glad we've been bombed because it makes me think I can look at the East End in the face. There was a real sense of the traditional bounds coming down, a real sense that they were all in it together.

[00:43:32]The king and queen were very keen to emphasize a narrative that they, the royals, and the British public at large were all in this war together. There was a there was a sense of shared sacrifice that united crown and people.

[00:43:48]>> What you saw with the king and queen was that they really were chica baja with their subjects. I mean, they knew they could have been killed just as anyone else could have been. And although of course they did all these things with an eyed for publicity, it was also something that they genuinely believed.

[00:44:02]They genuinely were sincere about the idea of wanting to be standing alongside their subjects who had been bombed, who were going through the same things they were because obviously they knew they were just as likely, if not more likely to be bombed than anybody else.

[00:44:15]>> Once again, Londoners who have known Knights of Terror before return to their bombed out homes.

[00:44:23]Britain's beloved monarchs are on the scene a short while after again demonstrating a human sympathy for their subjects whose courage has never yet been shaken. But king, queen, or humble citizen, all veterans of the Blitz demonstrate once more that London can still take it.

[00:44:42]>> What George V 6 realized in World War II was that it was a conflict like Britain had never known before. It was a conflict which was going to be fought not just in terms of battlefields and across the world. It was also going to be fought by the media. It was going to be fought in recorded speech. It was going to be film going to be fought in news reels. It's very important that you had to look the right way because every time that he was being filmed something was being distributed around the world and a lot of Britain's allies or putitive allies such as as America looking at Britain especially after the fall of France in 1940. The questions that they're asking are, do we let Britain stand alone? Do we let Britain fight on their own? Or do we actually try and help them? Is this worth our getting involved in? So George was aware that in addition to being his country's king, he was also acting as a kind of global ambassador. He was able to say, I have to be the king that Britain needs.

[00:45:34]Both in a symbolic way, I have to be the person who can be in the news reels who people can feel inspired by, but also in a practical way. I mean he was somebody who he he understood the minutia of involvement he was able to participate in this thing which only came out quite recently this sort of MI5 double cross operation whereby he was being filmed for news reels these non-existent plants all of which were designed for the Germans to believe that D-Day would be happening somewhere different and he enjoyed all that he enjoyed the subuge he enjoyed the sense that he was doing something worthwhile [music] >> outside the general's caravan the king held an investigator decorating men honored for bravery in battle.

[00:46:16]>> But he also enjoyed the sense that he was actually making a difference because he was a king who was getting involved in a way that very few of his predecessors ever had. He was actually being asked by military leaders both in Britain and America, what do you think we should do? And for somebody who was not a naturally outgoing figure, it was a very difficult experience for him. But in fact as the as the war went on he found himself taking on an active role in terms of making decisions and liazing with people at the very highest levels and he found himself becoming almost a military leader in of his own right. The king and [music] queen tirelessly visited the armed forces and bombed civilians and war factories.

[00:46:55]To those with shattered bones and bodies, a royal visit symbolized that the British nation knew and cared. Even the young princesses played their part in boosting the morale of the British citizens. Notably in the 1940 BBC Children's Hour broadcast where the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret addressed the children of the Commonwealth.

[00:47:17]>> We know every one of us that in the end all will be well for God will care for us and give us victory and peace.

[00:47:29]And when peace comes, remember [music] it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow, a better and happier place.

[00:47:42]My sister is by my side, and we are both going to say good night to you. Come on, [music] Margaret. Good night, children.

[00:47:52]Good night and good luck to you all.

[00:47:55]This was Elizabeth's first public speech, something she would have to get used to as she would soon have to address the nation and the world as queen. The >> enemy who drove all Europe into war has been finally overcome.

[00:48:14]But at this hour, when the dreadful shadow of war has passed far from our calves and homes in these islands, we may at last make one pause for thanksgiving and then turn our thoughts to the tasks all over the world which peace in brings with it. First, and let us remember those who will not come back and their constancy and courage in battle, their sacrifice and endurance in the face of a merciless enemy.

[00:49:04]Let us remember the men in all the services are the women in all the services who have laid down their lives.

[00:49:17]We have come to the end of our tribulation and they are not with us at the moment of our rejoicing.

[00:49:27]>> On September 2nd, 1945, World War II ended. The enemy who drove all of Europe into war had been finally overcome.

[00:49:38]On VE Day, the royal couple stood on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Their daughters joined them before secretly wandering the streets of London and shouting with the crowd for the king to come forth. But the celebrations could only last so long. The king knew that he and his prime minister had the challenging task of rebuilding the country from the rubble.

[00:50:02]So many lives had been lost and enormous economic and [music] social privation existed. The king always kept an optimistic and brave face for [music] the sake of his people despite knowing the dark truths of reality. A trait his eldest daughter Elizabeth idolized him for. However, the burden of being king can sometimes be too heavy to bear for just one man, leading to George's rapidly declining health.

[00:50:36]Rejoicing and pageantry in London on England's national day of prayer and thanksgiving for final victory. Leading the colorful spectacle is the royal family driving to divine services at historic St. Paul's Cathedral. [bell] Ancient ceremony marks the procession of the monarchs who are followed by more royalty. the exiled King George of Greece, and another exile, Yugoslavia's King Peter, then Winston Churchill, now leader of his majesty's loyal opposition, and Prime Minister Atley, successor to Winston Churchill, as all London hails Churchill, the man whose leadership made this day possible.

[00:51:22]In addition to the celebrations, he knew that there was going to be trouble ahead because Britain was not a country at the end of World War II that was triumphant.

[00:51:30]Although [music] the war had been won, there was going to be enormous economic and social privation. There have been millions of people had died. It was not going to be a time of ease. And I think that what he understood was that despite being king, he'd [music] come to understand the daily lives of the subject sufficiently well. And making this speech, he was able to acknowledge there were going to be hard times ahead.

[00:51:50]And so while you look at the speech now and you think that's not entirely what you'd expect from somebody who's just won the war, you understand it far better when you understand his character and the kind of things that somebody would do [music] in that situation.

[00:52:12]When the E day finally happened, George and his family were in the palace and this [music] great cry went up, "We want the king. we want the king. And I think that although he was overruled by [music] it and although obviously being a naturally shy and retiring man, it was a lot for him to take on. It was still a recognition [music] over the course of the Second World War, he had gone from being this figure who had been regarded with sense of suspicion, a sense of distrust almost by the public who preferred his brother to being this lorded figure along with Churchill who was there on the balcony with him. that that the two men were seen as absolutely indistinguishable in [music] terms of their contribution to to the war effort, in terms of their importance for the British national character. And I think he he ended the war an exceptionally popular monarch.

[00:52:57]>> Then the king and queen appear for a great reception with Princess Elizabeth now 19 and Princess Margaret Rose now 15 years old.

[00:53:07]Today, Britain, emerging from the war with a proud sense of duty well done, faces the grave problems of peace.

[00:53:15][cheering] >> I think it's fair to say that the two things that destroyed George's [music] health and led him to an early death were first of all, his becoming king at all, and secondly, the sheer stress of what he had to do in World War II.

[00:53:27]Because [music] if a if a war had never happened, if a peace had been sought with Hitler that had then been agreed, he may have lived longer. But he was faced with the most horrendous stress and pressure. You can understand why if you've been faced with that level of trauma, it's not going to be something you can walk away from very easily.

[00:53:49]George V 6 uh who had as a young man often suffered from ill health um became quite ill as a result of the the second world war. The stress of the conflict toll on him. He was a heavy smoker. Uh, and by 1945, uh, his his health was actually very poor.

[00:54:14]George knew that he was very ill towards the end of his life. He knew that he was a committed cigarette smoker. He was somebody who he'd always drunk quite heavily as well. He was somebody who knew that his health was not great. But on the other hand, he was being told by his doctors that operations [music] that he' had were successful. I mean he had he had a large portion of his lung removed that he was going to be okay. So the fact that he was dying was kept from him but it was also commonly known within the wider echelons of the courtiers that he didn't have all that long and that Elizabeth was likely to become queen far before anyone could have reasonably expected.

[00:54:53]>> George had been preparing [music] Elizabeth to one day succeeded him as uh the British monarch and as head of Commonwealth. The way he'd done this is to to essentially demonstrate to her uh what the role of monarch required and also give her opportunities to to [music] begin to develop uh her own public role. Um for example, her position in the the ATS at the end of the Second World War was a way that she embraced a new public role demonstrating that she was committed [music] to to service and duty. Uh a number of other roles followed. she would accompany uh her parents on on tours uh during the uh the immediate post-war years uh where she went out and and was learning if you like the ropes of how to be young and royal. Still, when the young princess embarked on a tour of Kenya with her husband in 1952, she never expected to return as queen.

[00:55:51]Operation on the king, we read and knew how ill he was. But success seemed to crown the skill of the surgeon.

[00:56:00]But now the king is dead, peaceful.

[00:56:08]I think [music] we can see throughout George 6's reign. There's a pattern.

[00:56:12]There's this incredibly difficult thing which has to be overcome. George was not felt to be up to it. And then through a combination of strength of character, listening to people, and sometimes just luck, it always was overcome. And that was a fascinating run of luck, if you like.

[00:56:29]After the king's death, Elizabeth lived on for more than half a century.

[00:56:35]She continued to raise her daughters, including the late Queen Elizabeth II, [music] with the same values that George had ruled with.

[00:56:53]>> [music] [music] >> I think that the greatest legacy of King George the V 6 is actually his daughter.

[00:57:11]I think that [music] she has always she's always reigned very much as her father's daughter. She's reigned as somebody [music] who has prized constancy, stability, good humor, an ability to connect with people in a way that they've always found reassuring and also a sense that monarchy [music] has to be something of continuation. The queen has never been somebody who has seen the monarchy as an opportunity to showboat unlike her uncle. She [snorts] see monarchy [music] as a duty and I think that is very much her father's influence. He was faced with the most horrendous [music] situation that anybody has faced with in 20th century and he was a successful king during it.

[00:57:44]And despite his ill health, despite his stammer, despite [music] his shyness, despite his character, he was able to instill in his children, especially his eldest daughter, [music] a sense that this is how you conduct yourself. This is how the royal family has to behave.

[00:58:01]And we see his influence every day today.

[00:58:06]Eight years ago, I heard the moving words which my father spread when he unveiled the statue [music] of King George V, which stands by the houses of Parliament.

[00:58:22]I did not think then that in so short a time I should be called to take his place.

[00:58:29]But it is with pride that I unveiled this noble statue today.

[00:58:34]In his broadcast and his visits to the empire and to Commonwealth countries, he made himself a friend [music] with people all over the world.

[00:58:52]On her death, [music] people talked of the end of an era, of things never being the same again, of Britain changing forever.

[00:59:04]>> And this is the garden as you planned it.

[00:59:07]>> Well, nature took a great hold, I think.

[00:59:10]No.

[00:59:12]>> Now, there are all sorts of stories told about how guests which came to the house were virtually issued with a spade and a lot of charm from you and were told to get on with it.

[00:59:24]>> Um, kind people did do a little digging and snap snipping and all that sort of thing cuz they were all very helpful.

[00:59:33]Um, it it was great fun to do, you know.

[00:59:38]It was a bit of a a wild place you might say.

[00:59:41]>> And bonfeld >> masses of food.

[00:59:45]>> That's a great great great joy.