Richard V

**Richard V** (Richard Charles William John; 29 July 1913 – 2 January 1967) was King of the United Kingdom of Vestienia from 1943 until his death in 1967.

He was the third son of Henry VIII and was not expected to inherit the throne, so he served the Royal Army from 1930 to 1939 and remained relatively unknown to the Vestienian public until the death of his older brother Edward in a car accident in 1939, which made him directly first in line for the throne. He succeeded his brother Henry in 1943.

During his reign, the Third Great War (1942–48) continued, effectively destroying the kingdoms of Belugria and Germania while the Vestienian Empire rose to its greatest extent during the war. After the war, ideals such as independence, liberalism and communism reigned supreme in the world especially after the unexpected rise of Soviet Rossiya and the Newsilver Conference.

Richard himself was a staunch Conservative, refusing to implement any laws the Senate or Parliament passed to him that was remotely Liberal, which lead to him being nicknamed "Fat Richie" by his political rivals, most notably Prime Minister Roger Talbot. Richard later died of stomach cancer in 1967 and was immediately succeeded by his eldest son, Richard VI.

## Early life

Richard was born on 29 July 1913 at the Ariminius Palace. He was the third son and fourth child in general to Henry VIII and Princess Margaret of Scandinavia and was born two months premature, which lead to him having severe vision problems during his early childhood and adolescence and permanently losing sight in his right eye during his later years. He was baptised at St Matthew's Cathedral on 1 August by the Archbishop of Newsilver, David FitzGalladon.

Due to being the third son of Henry VIII, Richard wasn't expected at all to inherit the throne. In order to fully show this, his father sent him to be educated with the Duke of Langdon, Richard Elevesham along with his younger sister, Anne. Richard was considered below average in terms of general intelligence, so his father accepted young Richard's request to serve in the army and sent him to be tutored by John Hughes, 1st Baron of Pelling in 1921, who is considered one of the best Vestienian military commanders of all time.

For almost a whole decade, Richard and Hughes toured almost every major Vestienian military base in the world, from on the Vestienian peninsula to the Crown Colonies. This made him a popular figure throughout a majority of the Crown Colonies, earning him the nickname of "Little Explorer" during his youth. He finished his education in 1930 and finally entered the Royal Army later that year, mostly being an honourary position.

**Marriage**

During a diplomatic visit to the Empire of Germania in 1931, Richard fell in love with Princess Bertha. However, due to lingering effects of the two Great Wars, he was strongly forbidden to marry the Princess by his father and most of his immediate family. Despite this, he proposed to the Germanic princess in February 1934 and was accepted. But, just four weeks after the proposal, his father forced him to annul the marriage and instead wed him to Mary Sandringham in 1935, more popularly known as Mary of Rhodon.

During their early years of marriage, the couple deeply resented each other and went so far as to refuse to sleep in the same bed. Due to this, Richard was reported to have four mistresses to "replace that empty feeling", although it is speculated by historians that he may have had even more. However, after years and years of marriage the couple began to like each other, and eventually shared love letters and publicly showed their devoutness to each other by the end of Richard's life.

## Edward's death & Prince of Swiland

In the early morning of 27 August 1939, the then-heir to the throne Prince Edward was severely injured while being driven to the Ariminius Palace due to an accidental head-on collision by Frysian photographer and artist Henrik Van Dercan. He later died in the Royal Hospital of St Paul on 30 August surrounded by friends and family, including Prince Richard. In Richard's personal diary, he wrote on the day of his brother's death:

"I have lost a great ally, a great brother, and my best friend. May God bless his young soul, as he was the only hope for this country."

Due to Edward's death, Richard became the immediate heir to the throne following Henry IX's death and was named *His Royal Highness the Prince of Swiland and Heir Apparent to the Throne* only weeks after Edward's death. During his term as Prince, Richard stayed in relative obscurity and stayed mostly at the Clarence Palace in Devorton with his wife and many mistresses. He occasionally visited Crown Colonies with his sibling and was seen at local churches, but did nothing much of interest other than that.

On 18 May 1942, Germania declared war on Vestienia in order to reclaim the island of Goverhausen that Vestienia still held from the First Great War. Vestienia and Germania's allies then quickly joined on their respective sides, and the Third Great War quickly broke out. Richard candidly refused the offer to be conscripted, stating that he "joined the Army for the sights and glory, and not for the war aspect."

## Reign as King

#### **Early reign & Third Great War**

On 1 July 1943, his brother Henry IX suddenly died of pneumonia at the age of 32, and was mourned by the majority of the nation. Out of respect for his sibling, Richard refused to be coronated until the next month, and was officially coronated on 4 August in the Palace of Newsilver.