George VI of the United Kingdom Facts for Kids

George VI (York Cottage, Sandringham House, 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952), was born Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor. He was the King of the United Kingdom from 11 December 1936 until he died. He became king when his elder brother, Edward VIII abdicated (resigned) in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson. George VI was married to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon from 1923 until his death.

He was succeeded as monarch by his elder daughter Elizabeth II.

George VI had a speech problem, a stutter. This made it very difficult for him to carry out many of the public duties of a king which required him to make speeches. He was treated by an Australian speech and language therapist called Lionel Logue. The story of this part of George VI's life was made into a movie in 2010 called The King's Speech. Colin Firth played the role of George VI and Geoffrey Rush played the role of Logue.

He became a very popular king throughout the British Empire. He won admiration during the Second World War (1939–1945) in which he stayed at Buckingham Palace during the most intense months of the blitz. Buckingham Palace was bombed more than twice but he still remained, becoming a symbol of resistance and 'fighting spirit'. He opened the Festival of Britain in 1951 and enjoyed a close working relationship with the war Prime Minister Winston Churchill and invited him to join the royal family on VE Day to celebrate the end of the War.

A heavy smoker, His Majesty King George VI died of lung cancer and was given a large state funeral. He was fifty-six.

Prime Ministers
Family
Death and Funeral
Images for kids
See also

Prime Ministers

Stanley Baldwin (1935–1937)
Neville Chamberlain (1937–1940)
Winston Churchill (1940–1945)
Clement Attlee (1945–1951)
Winston Churchill (second term, 1951–2)

Family

George VI was the son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was the younger brother of Edward VIII who abdicated from the throne to marry an American, Wallis Simpson. In 1923 George VI married his beloved wife Elizabeth, who later became known as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. They had two children, Princess Elizabeth (Later Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret (1930–2002).

Death and Funeral

King George VI died in 1952. Crowds began to gather in London in the early hours of the morning of the funeral. Thousands saw the event on television. Shortly after 9:00 am, the funeral procession arrived at Westminster Hall. More than 300,000 people paid homage to the body of the king, who was in chapel for three days.

Images for kids

Four kings: Edward VII (far right); his son George, Prince of Wales, later George V (far left); and grandsons Edward, later Edward VIII (rear); and Albert, later George VI (foreground), c. 1908
Albert at an RAF dinner in 1919
The Duke and Duchess of York (centre, reading programmes) at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane, Queensland, 1927
On the cover of Time, January 1925
Darlington Town Hall decorated for the coronation, 1937
Crown coin with George in profile, 1937
Cover of the 7 May 1937 edition of Radio Times, drawn by Christopher R. W. Nevinson, marking the first coronation to be broadcast, and partially televised, live
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, on the USS Potomac, 9 June 1939
George VI (left) with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (right), near the front lines in the Netherlands, October 1944
King George VI and British prime minister Clement Attlee (left) at Buckingham Palace, July 1945
Royal cypher (monogram), 1949

George VI of the United Kingdom facts for kids

Contents

Prime Ministers

Family

Death and Funeral

Images for kids

See also