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 . He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth . As the second son of 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 Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during World War I , and after the war took on the usual round of public engagements . He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters , Elizabeth and Margaret . George ' s elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936 . However , later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry the divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson . British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry Simpson and remain king . Edward abdicated in order to marry , and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor . During George ' s reign the break - up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated . The parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the country ' s constitution on the day of his accession . Within three years , the Empire and Commonwealth , except the Irish Free State , was at war with Nazi Germany . In the next two years , war with Italy and Japan followed . Though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious , the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre - eminent world powers and the British Empire declined . After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947 , George remained as king of both countries , but the title " Emperor of India " was abandoned in June 1948 . Ireland formally declared a republic , leaving the Commonwealth , in 1949 and India became a republic within the Commonwealth the following year . George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth . He was beset by health problems in the later years of his reign . His elder daughter , Elizabeth , succeeded him . Early life . George VI was born at York Cottage , on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk , during the reign of his great - grandmother Queen Victoria . His father was Prince George , Duke of York ( later King George V ) , the second and eldest - surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales ( later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra ) . His mother was the Duchess of York ( later Queen Mary ) , the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck . His 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 the Duke of York that the Queen had been " rather distressed " . Two days later , he wrote again : " I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name " Albert " to her " . Queen Victoria was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert , and wrote to 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 " . Consequently , he was baptised " Albert Frederick Arthur George " at St . Mary Magdalene ' s Church near Sandringham three months later . As a great - grandson of Queen Victoria , he was known formally as " His Highness Prince Albert of York " from birth . Within the family , he was known informally as " Bertie " . His maternal grandmother , the Duchess of Teck , 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 " . Albert , as he was known , was fourth in line to the throne at birth , after his grandfather , father and elder brother , Edward . In 1898 , Queen Victoria issued Letters Patent that granted the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales the style " Royal Highness " , and at the age of 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 " . His parents were generally removed from their children ' s day - to - day upbringing , as was the norm in aristocratic families of that era . He had a stammer that lasted for many years , and was forced to write with his right hand although he was naturally left - handed . He suffered from chronic stomach problems as well as knock knees , for which he was forced to wear painful corrective splints . Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901 , and the Prince of Wales succeeded her as King Edward VII . The Duke of York became next in line to the throne . Prince Edward moved up to second in line , and Prince Albert was third . Military career and education . From 1909 , Albert attended the Royal Naval College , Osborne , as a naval cadet . In 1911 , he came bottom of the class in the final examination , but despite this he progressed to the Royal Naval College , Dartmouth . When Edward VII died in 1910 , Albert ' s father became King George V . Prince Edward was created Prince of Wales , and Albert was second in line to the throne . Albert spent the first six months of 1913 on the training ship HMS " Cumberland " in the West Indies and on the east coast of Canada . He was rated as a midshipman aboard HMS " Collingwood " on 15 September 1913 , and spent three months in the Mediterranean . His fellow officers gave him the nickname " Mr . Johnson " . One year after his commission , he began service in World War I . He was mentioned in despatches for his action as a turret officer aboard the " Collingwood " during the Battle of Jutland ( 31 May – 1 June 1916 ) , an indecisive engagement with the German navy that was the largest naval action of the war . He did not see further combat , largely because of ill health caused by a duodenal ulcer , for which he had an operation in November 1917 . In February 1918 , he was appointed Officer in Charge of Boys at the Royal Naval Air Service ' s training establishment at Cranwell . With the establishment of the Royal Air Force two months later and the transfer of Cranwell from Navy to Air Force control , he transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Force . He was appointed Officer Commanding Number 4 Squadron of the Boys ' Wing at Cranwell and he remained there until August 1918 . He was the first member of the royal family to be certified as a fully qualified pilot . During the closing weeks of the war , he served on the staff of the RAF ' s Independent Air Force at its headquarters in Nancy , France . Following the disbanding of the Independent Air Force in November 1918 , he remained on the Continent for two months as a staff officer with the Royal Air Force until posted back to Britain . In October 1919 , Albert went up to Trinity College , Cambridge , where he studied history , economics and civics for a year . On 4 June 1920 , he was created Duke of York , Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney . He began to take on more royal duties . He represented his father , and toured coal mines , factories , and railyards . Through such visits he acquired the nickname of the " Industrial Prince " . His stammer , and his embarrassment over it , together with his tendency to shyness , caused him to appear much less impressive than his older brother , Edward . However , he was physically active and enjoyed playing tennis . He played at Wimbledon in the Men ' s Doubles with Louis Greig in 1926 . He developed an interest in working conditions , and was President of the Industrial Welfare Society . His series of annual summer camps for boys between 1921 and 1939 brought together boys from different social backgrounds . Marriage . In a time when royals were expected to marry fellow royals , it was unusual that Albert had a great deal of freedom in choosing a prospective wife . In 1920 , he met for the first time since childhood Lady Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon , the youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne . He became determined to marry her . She rejected his proposal twice , in 1921 and 1922 , reportedly because she was reluctant to make the sacrifices necessary to become a member of the royal family . In the words of Lady Elizabeth ' s mother , Albert would be " made or marred " by his choice of wife . After a protracted courtship , Elizabeth agreed to marry him . They were married on 26 April 1923 in Westminster Abbey . Albert ' s marriage to someone not of royal birth was considered a modernising gesture . The newly formed British Broadcasting Company wished to record and broadcast the event on radio , but the Abbey Chapter vetoed the idea ( although the Dean , Herbert Edward Ryle , was in favour ) . Lady Elizabeth was styled " Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York " after their marriage . From December 1924 to April 1925 , the Duke and Duchess toured Kenya , Uganda , and the Sudan , travelling via the Suez Canal and Aden . During the trip , they both went big game hunting . Because of his stammer , Albert dreaded public speaking . After his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley on 31 October 1925 , one which was an ordeal for both him and his listeners , he began to see Lionel Logue , an Australian - born speech therapist . The Duke and Logue practised breathing exercises , and the Duchess rehearsed with him patiently . Subsequently , he was able to speak with less hesitation . With his delivery improved , the Duke opened the new Parliament House in Canberra , Australia , during a tour of the empire in 1927 . His journey by sea to Australia , New Zealand and Fiji took him via Jamaica , where Albert played doubles tennis partnered with a black man , which was unusual at the time and taken locally as a display of equality between races . The Duke and Duchess of York had two children : Elizabeth ( called " Lilibet " by the family ) , and Margaret . The Duke and Duchess and their two daughters lived a relatively sheltered life at their London residence , 145 Piccadilly . They were a close and loving family . One of the few stirs arose when the Canadian Prime Minister , R . B . Bennett , considered the Duke for Governor General of Canada in 1931 — a proposal that King George V rejected on the advice of his ministers . Reluctant king . King George V had severe reservations about Prince Edward , saying , " I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne . " On 20 January 1936 , George V died and Edward ascended the throne as Edward VIII . In the Vigil of the Princes , Prince Albert and his three brothers took a shift standing guard over their father ' s body as it lay in state , in a closed casket , in Westminster Hall . As Edward was unmarried and had no children , Albert was the heir presumptive to the throne . Less than a year later , on 11 December 1936 , Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry his mistress , Wallis Simpson , who was divorced from her first husband and divorcing her second . 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 Albert became 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 . " On the day of the abdication , the parliament of the Irish Free State removed all direct mention of the monarch from the Irish constitution . The next day , it passed the External Relations Act , which made provision for the monarch to act as the state ' s representative in foreign affairs . The two acts made the Irish Free State a republic in essence without removing its links to the Commonwealth . Courtier and journalist Dermot Morrah alleged that there was brief speculation as to the desirability of bypassing Albert ( and his children ) and his brother , Prince Henry , Duke of Gloucester , in favour of their younger brother Prince George , Duke of Kent . This seems to have been suggested on the grounds that Prince George was at that time the only brother with a son . Early reign . Albert assumed the regnal name " George VI " to emphasise continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy . 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 , but George VI felt that by abdicating and renouncing the succession Edward had lost the right to bear royal titles , including " Royal Highness " . In settling the issue , George ' s first act as king was to confer upon his brother the title and style " His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor " , but the Letters Patent creating the dukedom prevented any wife or children from bearing royal styles . George VI was also forced to buy from Edward the royal residences of Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House , as these were private properties and did not pass to George VI automatically . Three days after his accession , on his 41st birthday , he invested his wife , the new queen consort , with the Order of the Garter . George VI ' s coronation took place on 12 May 1937 , the date previously intended for Edward ' s coronation . In a break with tradition , Queen Mary attended the ceremony in a show of support for her son . 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 . Rising Indian nationalism made the welcome that the royal couple would have received likely to be muted at best , 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 to North America , both of which promised greater strategic advantages in the event of war . The growing likelihood of war in Europe dominated the early reign of George VI . The King was constitutionally bound to support Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain ' s appeasement of 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 . While broadly popular among the general public , Chamberlain ' s policy towards Hitler was the subject of some opposition in the House of Commons , which led historian John Grigg to describe the King ' s behaviour in associating himself so prominently with a politician as " the most unconstitutional act by a British sovereign in the present century " . In May and June 1939 , the King and Queen toured Canada and the United States . From Ottawa , the royal couple were accompanied throughout by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King , to present themselves in North America as King and Queen of Canada . George was the first reigning monarch of Canada to visit North America , although he had been to Canada previously as Prince Albert and as Duke of York . Both Governor General of Canada Lord Tweedsmuir and Mackenzie King hoped that the King ' s presence in Canada would demonstrate the principles of the Statute of Westminster 1931 , which gave full self - government to the British 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 U . S . 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 . " The trip was intended to soften the strong isolationist tendencies among the North American public with regard to the developing tensions in Europe . Although the aim of the tour was mainly political , to shore up Atlantic support for the United Kingdom in any future war , the King and Queen were enthusiastically received by the public . The fear that George would be compared unfavourably to his predecessor , Edward VIII , was dispelled . They visited the 1939 New York World ' s Fair and stayed with President Franklin D . Roosevelt at the White House and at his private estate at Hyde Park , New York . A strong bond of friendship was forged between the King and Queen and the President during the tour , which had major significance in the relations between the United States and the United Kingdom through the ensuing war years . World War II . In September 1939 , Britain and the self - governing Dominions , but not Ireland , declared war on Nazi Germany . George VI and his wife resolved to stay in London , despite German bombing raids . They officially stayed in Buckingham Palace throughout the war , although they usually spent nights at Windsor Castle . The first German raid on London , on 7 September 1940 , killed about one thousand civilians , mostly in the East End . On 13 September , the King and Queen narrowly avoided death when two German bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace while they were there . In defiance , the Queen famously declared : " I am glad we have been bombed . It makes me feel we can look the East End in the face " . The royal family were portrayed as sharing the same dangers and deprivations as the rest of the country . They were subject to rationing restrictions , and U . S . First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt remarked on the rationed food served and the limited bathwater that was permitted during a stay at the unheated and boarded - up Palace . In August 1942 , the King ' s brother , Prince George , Duke of Kent , was killed on active service . In 1940 , Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister , though personally George would have preferred to appoint Lord Halifax . After the King ' s initial dismay over Churchill ' s appointment of Lord Beaverbrook to the Cabinet , he and Churchill developed " the closest personal relationship in modern British history between a monarch and a Prime Minister " . Every Tuesday for four and a half years from September 1940 , the two men met privately for lunch to discuss the war in secret and with frankness . Throughout the war , the King and Queen provided morale - boosting visits throughout the United Kingdom , visiting bomb sites and munitions factories , and in the King ' s case visiting military forces abroad . He visited France in December 1939 , North Africa and Malta in June 1943 , Normandy in June 1944 , southern Italy in July 1944 , and the Low Countries in October 1944 . Their high public profile and apparently indefatigable determination secured their place as symbols of national resistance . While talking to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff , Sir Alan Brooke at a social function in 1944 about Field Marshal Montgomery , Brooke mentioned that every time he met ' Monty ' he thought he was after his job . The King replied : " You should worry , when I meet him , I always think he ' s after mine ! " In 1945 , crowds shouted " We want the King ! " in front of Buckingham Palace during the Victory in Europe Day celebrations . In an echo of Chamberlain ' s appearance , the King invited Churchill to appear with him on the balcony to public acclaim . In January 1946 , George addressed the United Nations at their first assembly , which was held in London , and reaffirmed " our faith in the equal rights of men and women and of nations great and small " . Empire to Commonwealth . George VI ' s reign saw the acceleration of the dissolution of the British Empire . The Statute of Westminster 1931 , had already acknowledged the evolution of the Dominions into separate sovereign states . The process of transformation from an empire to a voluntary association of independent states , known as the Commonwealth , gathered pace after World War II , especially during the ministry of Clement Attlee . British India became the two independent dominions of India and Pakistan in 1947 . George relinquished the title of Emperor of India , and became King of India and King of Pakistan instead . In 1950 he ceased to be King of India when it became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations , but he remained King of Pakistan until his death and India recognised his new title of Head of the Commonwealth . Other countries left the Commonwealth , such as Burma in January 1948 , Palestine ( divided between Israel and the Arab states ) in May 1948 and the Republic of Ireland in 1949 . In 1947 , the King and his family toured Southern Africa . The Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa , Jan Smuts , was facing an election and hoped to make political capital out of the visit . George was appalled , however , when instructed by the South African government to shake hands only with whites , and referred to his South African bodyguards as " the Gestapo " . Despite the tour , Smuts lost the election the following year , and the new government instituted a strict policy of racial segregation . Illness and death . The stress of the war had taken its toll on the King ' s health , exacerbated by his heavy smoking and subsequent development of lung cancer among other ailments , including arteriosclerosis . A planned tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed after the King suffered an arterial blockage in his right leg , which threatened the loss of the leg and was treated with a right lumbar sympathectomy in March 1949 . Princess Elizabeth , the heiress presumptive , took on more royal duties as her father ' s health deteriorated . The delayed tour was re - organised , with Elizabeth and her husband , the Duke of Edinburgh , taking the place of the King and Queen . The King was well enough to open the Festival of Britain in May 1951 , but on 23 September 1951 , he underwent a pneumonectomy where his left lung was removed following the discovery of a malignant tumour . In October 1951 , the Princess and the Duke went on a month - long tour of Canada ; the trip having been delayed for a week due to the King ' s illness . At the State Opening of Parliament in November , the King ' s speech from the throne was read for him by the Lord Chancellor , Lord Simonds . His Christmas broadcast of 1951 was recorded in sections , and then edited together . On 31 January 1952 , despite advice from those close to him , the King went to London Airport to see off Princess Elizabeth , who was going on her tour of Australia " via " Kenya . On the morning of 6 February , George VI was discovered dead in bed at Sandringham House in Norfolk . He had died from a coronary thrombosis in his sleep at the age of 56 . His daughter Elizabeth flew back to Britain from Kenya as Queen Elizabeth II . From 9 February for two days his coffin rested in St . Mary Magdalene Church , Sandringham , before lying in state at Westminster Hall from 11 February . His funeral took place at St . George ' s Chapel , Windsor Castle , on the 15th . He was interred initially in the Royal Vault until transferred to the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside St . George ' s on 26 March 1969 . In 2002 , fifty years after his death , the remains of his widow , Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother , and the ashes of his younger daughter Princess Margaret , who both died that year , were interred in the chapel alongside him . Legacy . In the words of Labour M . P . George Hardie , the abdication crisis of 1936 did " more for republicanism than fifty years of propaganda " . George VI wrote to his brother Edward that in the aftermath of the abdication he had reluctantly assumed " a rocking throne " , and tried " to make it steady again " . He became king at a point when public faith in the monarchy was at a low ebb . During his reign his people endured the hardships of war , and imperial power was eroded . However , as a dutiful family man and by showing personal courage , he succeeded in restoring the popularity of the monarchy . The George Cross and the George Medal were founded at the King ' s suggestion during the Second World War to recognise acts of exceptional civilian bravery . He bestowed the George Cross on the entire " island fortress of Malta " in 1943 . He was posthumously awarded the Ordre de la Libération by the French government in 1960 , one of only two people ( the other being Churchill ) to be awarded the medal after 1946 . There are a number of geographical features , roads , and institutions named after George VI . These include King George Hospital in London ; King George VI Highway and King George Station in Surrey , British Columbia ; George VI Sound in Antarctica ; and the King George VI Chase , a horse race in the United Kingdom . On screen , George VI has been portrayed by , among others , Colin Firth , who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role in " The King ' s Speech " , a 2010 film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture . George held a number of titles throughout his life , as successively great - grandson , grandson and son of the monarch . As sovereign , he was referred to most often as simply " The King " or " His Majesty " . In his position as sovereign , George automatically held the position of Commander - in - Chief in Canada and the United Kingdom . Titles , styles , honours and arms . Arms . As Duke of York , George bore the royal arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent , the centre point bearing an anchor azure — a difference earlier awarded to his father George V when he was Duke of York , and then later awarded to his grandson , Prince Andrew , Duke of York . As king , he bore the royal arms undifferenced .