Bryan Godfrey - Faussett Captain Sir Bryan Godfrey Godfrey - Faussett GCVO , CMG ( 1863 – 20 September 1945 ) was a British naval officer and courtier . He was a friend of King George V , whose aide - de - camp he was . Early life and naval career . Godfrey - Faussett , a descendant of the archaeologist Rev . Bryan Faussett , was born in Waterford . He began his Royal Navy training aboard HMS " Britannia " in 1877 , and subsequently became a midshipman in 1879 and a lieutenant in 1887 . Aside from studies at the Royal Naval College , Greenwich and the Royal Naval College , Dartmouth from 1883 to 1884 , he was at sea for much of this time in both home and foreign waters . Shortly after his promotion to lieutenant , he transferred to HMS " Dolphin " , but contracted a serious fever and was sent home from Port Said . He returned to the West Indies in 1889 , after a year ' s convalescence , aboard HMS " Bellerophon " . Association with George V . In 1890 , Godfrey - Faussett acted as unofficial aide - de - camp to the then Prince George of Wales , at the time still on active service with the Navy , during a visit to Canada . His naval career continued , briefly serving as an instructor on HMS " Britannia " , and including a posting to HMS " Osborne " , the royal yacht , from 1896 until 1897 . He was promoted commander on 13 July 1899 , but was soon after to be attached to Prince George ' s entourage again . Godfrey - Faussett again served as aide - de - camp to the prince , now the Duke of Cornwall and York , during his tour of the British Empire from March – October 1901 . Upon George ' s appointment as Prince of Wales in November 1901 , Godfrey - Faussett was made his Equerry - in - Ordinary , and would accompany the Prince and Princess on their visit to India from 1905 – 1906 . In the latter year , he was promoted captain , made an MVO on 11 March 1906 , and retired from active service on 31 October 1906 to attend the Prince . In 1907 , he married Eugénie Fanny Eveline Dudley Ward , by whom he would have two sons : George Bryan ( b . 1909 ) and David Frederick ( b . 1913 ) . Prince George and his wife were the godparents of the former , and their son Edward , then Prince of Wales , was the godfather of the latter , indicating Godfrey - Faussett ' s intimacy with the royal family . On 11 August 1908 , he was made a CMG . Upon George ' s accession as George V , Godfrey - Faussett was made an Equerry - in - Ordinary to the King , travelled to India with the royal pair for their Delhi Durbar . On 19 June 1911 , he was promoted a CVO . First World War and after . During the First World War , Godfrey - Faussett returned to active service aboard HMS " Thistle " in 1914 , and served as naval aide - de - camp to the King from 1915 until 1918 , as well as a brief stint in the Paravane Department in 1917 . This period brought him into contact with Admiral Beatty , made First Sea Lord in 1916 after the Battle of Jutland . Unfortunately , Beatty ' s marriage was failing disastrously at the time , and the result was to be a decade - long love affair between Beatty and Eugénie . After the war , in 1919 , he was promoted KCVO . Godfrey - Faussett continued to serve as Equerry - in - Ordinary to King George until the monarch ' s death in 1936 , receiving a promotion on 1 January 1932 to GCVO . During the reign of Edward VIII , he left his post as Equerry - in - Ordinary to become an Extra Equerry , on 21 July 1936 . He would remain an Extra Equerry to Edward VIII and George VI until his death in 1945 . During the First World War , he served in HMS " Thistle " , 1914 , and acted as Naval Equerry to King George V , 1915 - 18 . He also worked for a short period in the Paravane Department of the Admiralty , 1917 . He continued as Equerry - in - Ordinary to King George V and King Edward VIII and as Extra Equerry to King George VI until his death on 20 September 1945 . He was survived by his elder son George ; his younger son , David , one of the Swordfish pilots who attacked the " Bismarck " , was killed in 1942 when he flew into the sea during a night flight .