King George VI
1895 – 1952 · Generation XXXVI · King of the United Kingdom (r. 1936–1952) · House of Windsor
George VI (1895–1952). King of the United Kingdom (r. 1936–1952). Married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. The reluctant king of the war years; never expected the crown his brother set down. “Bertie” to his family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force during the First World War and worked with the speech therapist Lionel Logue to manage a stubborn stutter. As king through the Second World War he came to stand for shared endurance: Buckingham Palace was bombed while he and the queen were inside, his brother the Duke of Kent was killed on active service, and his popularity soared as a symbol of Britain's determination. Victory came in 1945, but the empire ebbed — India and Pakistan became independent in 1947, and he exchanged the title Emperor of India for a new one, Head of the Commonwealth. Worn by smoking-related illness, he died of a coronary thrombosis at Sandringham, aged fifty-six.
One of 48 people of House of Windsor (from 1917) in this archive. The present house — it renamed itself Windsor in 1917, setting aside the German title Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Line of descent: Owen Tudor → Edmund Tudor → King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor → King James V of Scotland → Mary Queen of Scots → King James I → Elizabeth Stuart → Sophia of Hanover → King George I → King George II → Frederick Prince of Wales → King George III → Edward Duke of Kent → Queen Victoria → King Edward VII → King George V → King George VI.
Parents
- King George V (1865 – 1936)
- Mary of Teck (1867 – 1953)
Siblings
- King Edward VIII (1894 – 1972)
- Mary Princess Royal (1897 – 1965)
- Henry Duke of Gloucester (1900 – 1974)
- George Duke of Kent (1902 – 1942)
- John Windsor (1905 – 1919)
Partners
- Married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900 – 2002) in 1923 — 2 children together
Children
- Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – 2022)
- Margaret Windsor (1930 – 2002)
Life
- 1895 — Born
- 1923 — Married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
- 1936 — George VI accedes to the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII
- 1952 — Died
- 1952 — George VI dies.