King George VI: The First Modern King (2024) | Full Documentary

George V 6 the prince who was never meant to be king as a character he was a much less likely King when Ed ever was terrorized by his father George V and overshadowed by his gregarious elder brother and air to the throne Edward George the 6 was the complete opposite of his brother Edward he was reserved he was anxious he was shy he was [Music] dutiful and to discharge my duties this King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love but following Edward's shocking abdication the stammering Prince Albert endeavored to fulfill his duty to his country to win over his public and deal with the chaos wrought by the second world war in this moment of Crisis the British public I think were looking for the leadership not just from the government but also from the British royal family they were looking for reassurance that everything would be okay and that the nation would get through this moment of [Music] peril Prince Albert was born in the winter of 1895 the second eldest son to King George V and Mary of tech the shy Prince known as berti to his family grew up in the shadow of his elder brother Prince Edward George the 6 was quiet as a child he had a good relationship with his other siblings but he was wasn't as excitable as his older brother Edward Albert was a more withdrawn figure closer to his father than his other brothers and in keeping with his father's interests he enjoyed the quiet life away in the countryside out of the public eye illnesses and a lack of confidence plagued bertie's childhood the Young Prince suffered the indignity of wearing leg braces and at the age of eight he began to develop a stammer an ailment which would him for most of his life George V 6 was the opposite of his brother Edward growing up he was Albert he was known as berti he was shy he was retiring while his brother was outgoing he wasn't as good-looking as as Edward he wasn't as well-dressed he wasn't as charismatic he didn't have the same success with women uh Edward's relationship with his younger brother Bertie was very warm when they were younger boys there was very very little between them in terms of their age and they grew up best of friends however as the the two men Grew Older uh life became a bit more difficult George had a very specific way that he wanted to live he was much more of a kind of private figure uh he was more withdrawn in terms of his Public Image he didn't have the the sort of the Charisma and the glamour that was possessed uh by his older brother Edward he didn't have a great deal of confidence uh and the reason why he didn't have a great deal of confidence was because he had a stammer now psychologists have have sought to try and explain um the the stammer in relation to the the fraud relationship that the the Royal children had had with with the king with their father George V growing up the Young The Young berti growing up had been almost terrified by his by his father uh and the expectations that his father had imposed on [Music] him [Music] George the Fifth was very much an old-fashioned patriarch he was somebody who believed not just in the idea of spare the rod and spoil of a child but also in the very Victorian idea of that children should be seen and not heard so of his four Sons the two Eld later Ed the8 and George V 6 had a very difficult relationship with him because he was this cold figure and his wife Mary was cold as well and it very much a sense that everyone was brought up in a way to understand Duty and the idea of Duty as the central tenant of what you were suspected to do as a royal Prince for something that he labored home intensively [Music] as a Young Man Albert attended the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and at the outbreak of the first world war in 1914 he was dispatched with the Collingwood and was present at the great naval battle of Jutland in the summer of 1916 he served in World War I he was somebody who was the first member of of of his own family to have done so to served on active service he had a great respect for the armed forces and you can see that if he never had become king he would have been one of those figures within the royal family who was always well-liked whose debilitating stammer meant that public speaking was a nightmare for him but in private life he was absolutely fine he wasn't somebody who was affected by it to the extent that he was publicly he didn't have a great deal of confidence he wasn't as outgoing as as other members of his family and a bit more withdrawn I think in that respect we can understand why later on he would be a more reluctant figure when it came to becoming King as a character he was a much less likely King than Edward ever was because he was somebody who didn't seem to be very comfortable around people without freed them there can be no enduring peace and without peace no enduring [Music] feedom [Music] by 1920 the 25-year-old Prince Albert would start looking for a wife and would find her in his longtime friend Lady Elizabeth Boose lion the couple were married on the 26th of April 1923 in Westminster Abbey and became the Duke and Duchess of York Bertie found uh his closest confidence aunt and greatest supporter in his in his wife Elizabeth after a number of unsuccessful attempts to woo her and and propos marriage to her she eventually consented uh and agreed to agreed to marry him there was some talk at the time about whether she was in fact uh more interested in his older brother Edward Prince of Wales and that was one of the reasons why she originally turned berti down uh nevertheless she would get married to berti they would embody everything that was best about the monarchy in this period in that they they they presented themselves as very beautiful figures they they went out into public life uh they toured towns and cities they opened hospitals they did all that was expected of Royals of their generation his relationship with his his wife Elizabeth Boose Lions who later became Queen Elizabeth was one doesn't want to sentimentalize these things but it was a very happy relationship the two of them other for many years they were very much in love it was a very conventional match there was no question that they would get married to they got married and had two daughters and essentially it gave him a stability and and a happiness for he'd always wanted 1923 he wed the lovely lady Elizabeth Bose lion in The Wedding of the Season together they toured the various dominions of the Empire and seemed supremely happy as the Duke of Kant without the heavy sword of kingly responsibilities hanging over his head young George led a Carefree life possessing the common touch he soon became a beloved figure in English life George V 6 when he was a younger man was devoted to his his wife Elizabeth the queen and to their children Elizabeth and Margaret he was not somebody who was seeking the Limelight he was not somebody who wanted to have his his name up in lights he was somebody who would have much preferred a quiet simple family [Music] life 1936 the year that changed everything on the 20th of January King George V died suddenly at home in Sandringham house the Monarch's 25-year Reign had seen the country through the first world war and the founding of the House of Windsor however with George V's Last Breath came chaos and instability George V was a a king who had to deal with a series of Crisis uh that uh colored his Reign ranging from the first World War uh to the rise of Communism and fascism the Great Depression uh and uh laterally uh the fragmentation of the Empire uh he was a king who had to move with the times he did so by presenting himself as a figure of Duty who took his responsibilities as king very seriously who put the nation ahead of his own [Music] desires King Edward VII ascended to the throne upon the death of his father though the young and fashionable King was much loved by the public both Palace and Parliament were in agreement that he was not well suited to the job it has been an ancient tradition of the British Monarchy that the new Sovereign should send a message science has made it possible for me to make that written message more personal and to speak to you all over the radio feel that his death is not only an overwhelming grief to my mother and to us his children but that it is at the same time also a personal loss to you all the vast crowd speech to say that he reigned in the hearts of his people it now falls upon me to succeed him and to carry on his work I am better known to most of you as the Prince of Wales as a man who has had the opportunity of getting to know the people of nearly every country of the world and although I now speak to you as the king I am still that same man whose constant effort it will be to continue to promote the well-being of his fellow men may the future bring peace and understanding throughout the world and may we be worthy of the Heritage which is ours God Save the [Music] King well when his father died he he greeted his father's death of absolute hysteria and he was throwing things around and shouting and unable to respond to it and I think a lot of people thought this was a very bad Omen of what was to come and they were proved right because Edward V8 is in my opinion the worst King whoever sat on on the throne he was somebody of quite staggering self-absorption mixed with a little like treachery and I think that what he tried to do to the monarchy if he had stayed on the throne any longer would have systematically ruined it as an institution Stanley Baldwin the Prime Minister was standing at a point to point with um the courtier Tommy lassel and Edward was doing of his point-to-point rides and Tommy lassel turned to Stanley Baldwin and said you know sir I often think that when we're waiting for the results um of the point to point to come in the best thing that could happen would be to hear that the Prince of Wales had fallen and broken his neck and Baldwin replied God forgive me so do [Music] I even before Edward became king there was a general sense that he was a security risk and the main reason why he was seen as a security risk were his links with the Nazi party his friendship with Von ribbentrop who later become British Ambassador was seen as enormous potential threats to National Security at a time of great International unrest the last thing that Britain needed was a king whose personal and indeed political motives were seen as [Music] suspect the king had been having an affair with a twice divorced American socialite Wallace Simpson in the year he became Monarch Edward VII proposed to marry Wallace an event which triggered a constitutional crisis across the British Empire when it became clear that Edward was thinking about abating for throne in order to marry Wallace Simpson there was an enormously mixed reaction you could essentially summarize it like this the middle classes were horrified and disgusted because they saw the king having this Rel relationship with a married woman anded a divorced woman something that was completely unacceptable the working classes didn't think anything of this they thought it was absolutely fair enough that they loved the king they wanted him to be happy and they were very very keen that he remained on the throne Edward made a speech immediately after he abdicated uh to the British people uh via the BBC Radio Airwaves at long L I am able to say a few words of my own I have never wanted to withhold anything but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak but you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I [Music] love and now we all have the new king I wish him and you his people happiness and prosperity with all my heart God bless you all God Save the King King George V 6 was crowned the following year in May 1937 the third and final King to reign in the year of three kings berti was thrust to the Forefront of the royal family and with him his wife became Queen and his two young daughters Elizabeth and Margaret became next in line to the throne The Four's cozy Family Life changed dramatically from that moment onwards we know that berti as as Edward's younger brother was very anxious about becoming King he wasn't a public figure on the same level as his brother had been he wasn't very good in front of the cameras he struggled to make speeches he was a reluctant mon in that respect and he knew that becoming king would mean that he had to put his home life his family on the back burner that he had to embrace Duty responsibility now first and foremost Bertie was a better mold of King he was going to be more dutiful um he had a more stoic traditional wife in Elizabeth Bose Lion in fact Edward didn't cause collapse in the country it was better for the country that he wasn't king the unexpected Monarch faced the tough challenge of winning over his public the people had taken a shine to the charismatic Edward George now desperately needed to make himself as relevant and Charming as his older brother given how popular Edward had been after he left there was a great sense of disappointment and a cloud uh hanged heavy over over the British Monarchy and and actually George VI 6 the new king he was really overshadowed uh by his brother now titled the Duke of Windsor uh through the the early years of his Reign um he had to do much to win back the loyalty and affection of the greater British public George V something something else alog together he was somebody who was completely IL equipped for the job which he never thought he'd have to do he was somebody who was terrified by the responsibilities that came along WR with it but what he had which served him exceptionally well later was first of all his father's sense of Duty and his father's sense of the monarchy is something sacred but he also had the ability to listen to people which his brother never did and that was what was so crucial in 1914 the call came the trial was [Music] me King George and Queen Elizabeth quickly turned their hands to diplomatic relations Elizabeth's confidence and people skills complemented George V 6's quiet temperament the pair soon became a United force in a turbulent era I think that she was very good for him because he was nervous and anxious and she was quite literally the power behind the [Applause] throne in 1938 tensions between Germany and Britain were [Music] [Applause] hard a peaceful solution of the czechoslovak problem is an essential preliminary to a better understanding between the British and the German peoples n in its turn is the indispensable Foundation of European [Music] peace after Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler the king and queen invited the prime minister to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony with them this public Association of the monarchy with a politician was completely unexpected and exceptional less than a year later the King extended his reach across the Atlantic President Franklin D revelt invited George VII for a visit to the United States and the event soon held much [Music] significance until then no reigning British monarch had ever set foot on American soil not even in colonial [Music] times King George and Queen Elizabeth reeled in their Newfound popularity in America the meeting of the Monarch and the US president became a modern tradition from then on on the morning of the 3rd of September 1939 prime minister Neville Chamberlain addressed the nation by radio broadcast with the failure of the German government to withdraw their troops from Poland the UK was now at war with Nazi [Music] Germany only 3 years into his sudden Ascent to the throne George who was still seeking to gain the favor of his people would now face a second second world war this time as king the day that war was declared against Germany was uh a great moment of of sadness uh and concern for the British public they understood why this point had been reached that Hitler had time and again broken promises uh and as a result uh Chamberlain and Chamberlain's government had been forced to declare war on Germany in this moment of Crisis the British public I think were looking for the leadership not just from the government but also from the British royal family uh they were looking for reassurance that everything would be okay and that the nation would get through this moment of [Music] peril for [Applause] isee sure I am that this day now we are the masters of Our Fate we shall defend our Island whatever the cost may be we shall fight on beaches Landing grounds in Fs in streets and on the Hills we shall Never Surrender [Music] the king and queen refused to flee to Canada even at the height of the blitz instead the royal couple made themselves visible and relatable in the face of a nationwide crisis what George V 6 realized in World War II was that it was a conflict like Britain had never known before it was a conflict which was going to be fought not just in terms of battlefields and across the world it was also going to be fought by the media it was going to be fought in recorded speech it was going to be fil going to be fought in news reels it's very important that you had to look the right way because every time that he was being filmed was something was being disputed around the world and a lot of Britain's allies reputative allies such as America looking at Britain especially after the fall of France in 1940 the questions are they asking are do we let Britain stand alone do we let Britain fight on their own or do we actually try and help them is this worth our getting involved in so George was aware that in addition to being his country's King he was also acting as a kind of global [Music] ambassador [Music] in this grave hour perhaps the most faithful in our history I send to every household of my people both at home and overseas this message spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one of you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself for the second time in the lives of most of us we are at War over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemy at the start of the war there was a real concern uh at the palace that the British Monarchy didn't really have a role to play uh in in this war that it could offer leadership by by visiting troops for example uh but that it didn't really have a stage to perform on as had been the case during the first world war then in the summer of 1940 as the the bombing raids on London begin and the German ltva blitzing uh people's homes factories and other towns and cities across the country this if you like is the great opportunity for the British royal family because suddenly they have a role to play they go out uh visiting uh members of the public who have been bombed out of their homes uh who have been working through the night to to help those who are suffering as a result of the Air Raids um and the king and queen see their their roles as as something of morale boosters uh they are there to to provide reassurance to the public to to recognize the the hard work and effort that is going in to fighting this war war on the home front so it was a it a different kind of leadership to the to the wars of before in that George and his wife Elizabeth's roles were much more focused on Britain and the home [Music] front bakia Palace was born several occasions in World War II the most spectacular one came relatively early in in the war when bombs landed sufficiently close to George V 6 and to Queen Elizabeth and to their private C Alec Harding but if it hadn't been for a couple of minor bits of chance they almost certainly would have been killed after the palace was borned they're both absolutely terrified the king wrote in his diary that he couldn't quite believe what had happened and he very lucky to have escaped but days later he's he's still writing I look outside and I can't forget seeing the bomb it's quite clear that it had a kind of traumatic effect on both of them there was a real sense of the traditional bounds coming down a real sense that they were all in it together the British people welcomed the end of the second world war fathers brothers and Sons could come home again however with peace time comes new challenges new instabilities and new ways of thinking Germany the enemy who drove all Europe into war has been finally overcome but at this hour when the Dreadful shadow of War has passed far from our heart and homes in these islands we may at last make one pause for Thanksgiving and then turn our thoughts to the tasks all over the world which peace in Europe brings with it first and let us remember those who will not come back their constan and courage in battle their sacrifice and endurance in the face of a merc's enemy let us remember the men in all the services and the women and all of the services who have laid down their lives the British Empire crumbled away and the role of the British monarch began to change the king and queen appear for a great reception with Princess Elizabeth now 19 and Princess Margaret Rose now 15 years old today Britain emerging from the war with a proud sense of Duty well done faces the grave problems of [Music] Peace the first and second world wars uh were disastrous for the British Empire in that they put huge pressures on the British economy it's also the case that uh during the second world war many uh men uh come from the colonies to fight on behalf of the motherland to fight on behalf of Britain against the forces of fascism they believe they're fighting for democracy for the ideals of Independence and freedom and yet after the war is won they returned to their homes in the colonies and they still don't have their own freedom and Independence and there's something something of a a contradiction there which really Spurs on these Independence movements in their drive for the for full Independence in the aftermath of the second World War uh the British Empire rapidly transitioned into the modern Commonwealth of Nations key moment of change involving the king is with the the Landon Declaration of 1949 where he has given the title head of the Commonwealth uh so where as he was once an emperor he is now uh he now has this more diffused title this less well defined title but nevertheless it's a key symbolic role at the heart of this new thing we call Commonwealth George VII became the first Monarch to hold the title head of the Commonwealth he endeavored to unify the member nations promoting equality across the former British colonies and leave a lasting Legacy for his [Music] [Music] Heir King George's Health rapidly declined in the immediate years after the war conscious of his lack of time he endeavored to prepare Elizabeth for the greatest duty of her life I think it's fair to say that the two things that destroyed George's health and led him to an early death were first all his becoming King at all and secondly for sheer stress of what he had to do in World War II because if a if a war had never happened if a peace had been sought with Hitler that had then been agreed he may have lived longer but he was faced with the most horrendous stress and pressure you can understand why if You' being faced with that level of trauma it's not going to be something you can walk away from very easily George I 6 uh who had as a Young Man often suffered from ill health um became quite ill as a result of the the second world war the stress of the conflict told on him he was a heavy smoker uh and by 1945 uh his his health was actually very poor George knew that he was very ill towards the end of his life he knew that he was a committed cigarette smoker he was somebody who he'd always drunk quite heavily as well he was somebody who knew that his health was not great but on the other hand he was being told by his doctors that operations that he had were successful I mean he had he had a large portion of his lung removed that he was going to be okay so the fact that he was dying was kept from him but it was also commonly known within the wide on of courtiers that he didn't have all that long that Elizabeth was likely to become Queen far before anyone could have reasonably expected I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong but I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me on the 20th of November 1947 George I 6 Heir and firstborn daughter married Prince Philip Mount Batton of Greece and Denmark but when the young princess embarked on a tour of Kenya with her husband in 1952 she never expected to return as [Music] Queen [Music] on the 6th of February 1952 George V 6 passed away in his sleep at the Sandringham estate only 7 years after the largest conflict in history had drawn to a close the nation mourned its beloved King before the queen his daughter the widowed Queen his wife as George V 6 returns to his Sorrowing capital and with it on the oak coffin is the white wreath of his [Music] widow [Music] George V 6 embraced change more than any other Monarch before him he came into power when the crown was in a time of Crisis and steered the country through a turbulent period when the world was in the midst of change I think we can see throughout Georgia six rain there's a pattern there's this incredibly difficult thing which has to be overcome George was not felt to be up to it and then through a combination of strength of character listening to people and sometimes just luck it always was overcome and that a fascinating run of luck if you [Music] know he instilled this sense of Duty into both his family and his daughter who had become Queen El isabeth II the longest reigning monarch in British history George had been preparing Elizabeth to one day succeed him as uh the British monarch and as head of Commonwealth the way he'd done this is to to essentially demonstrate to her uh what the role of Monarch required and also give her opportunities to to to begin to develop uh her own public role um for example her position in the the ATS at the end of the second world war was was a way that she embraced a new public role demonstrating that she was committed to to service and Duty uh a number of other roles followed she would accompany uh her parents on on tours uh during the uh the immediate postwar years uh where she went out and and was learning if you like the ropes of how to be young and Royal I think that the greatest Legacy of Kane George V 6 is actually his daughter I think that she has always she's always reigned very much as her father's daughter she has reigned as somebody who has prized constancy stability good humor and ability to connect with people in a way that they've always found reassuring and also a sense that monarchy has to be something of continuation the queen has never been somebody who has seen the monarchy as an opportunity to showboat unlike her uncle she see monar as a duty and I think that is very much her father's influence he was faced with the most horrendous situation for anybody has faced with in 20th century and he was a successful king during it and despite his ill health despite his stammer despite his shyness despite his character he was able to instill in his children especially his eldest daughter sense that this is how you conduct yourself this is how the RO family has to behave and we see his influence every day today through the chaos of War and the founding of the Commonwealth of Nations King George II carried his country and people out of the ashes and into the light of the modern [Music] [Music] world

Channel: Royalty TV

Views: 67,417

Keywords: royal family, british royal family, george vi, monarchy, queen elizabeth, documentary, royal family documentary

Id: 5dSP2s62dcE

Length: 42min 1sec (2521 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 25 2024