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How historically accurate is the movie The King's Speech

In 2010, The King’s Speech won the Oscar for Best Picture and grossed over $414 million worldwide. It was an unlikely box office champion because it was based on a true story about King George VI of Britain (1895-1952) and an Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (1880-1953). It shows how Logue helped the king overcome a crippling stammer and how this helped him lead his country during World War II. The movie was directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler.

Critics have widely praised the editing, cinematography, directing, and acting. The movie was able to express the main characters' inner life by the clever use of lighting and other cinematic techniques. Colin Firth won an Oscar for his portrayal of George IV/ The King’s Speech was produced by a British company, and it was shot mainly in London. Among the supporting cast was Helen Bonham-Carter, who played Queen Elizabeth, the wife of the king. The movie was nominated for 12 academy awards, and it won four awards, including one for Best Picture.

Before the movie began filming, the writer, Seidler, found Logue's journal and incorporated elements from the journal into the movie. However, despite this, the historical accuracy of the movie has been questioned and even widely criticized.

When does the King's Speech take place?

The King's Speech takes place mainly in the 1930s at a critical juncture for Britain and its Empire. The nation and its various dependencies had still not recovered from the ravages of World War or the Great Depression. Internationally, Hitler was in power in Germany, and many feared, correctly, that there would be another World War. [1] The rather bleak mood of the time is captured very well by the director. At this critical point in its history, the British Royal Family faced its crisis.

After George V's death, he was succeeded by his eldest son, who became Edward VII in 1936. Edward VII's reign was both brief and controversial. Edward wanted to marry a divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Marrying a divorced was unacceptable to many in Britain at this time as the King was also head of the Church of England. Divorce was socially unacceptable, and the Anglican Bishops and others denounced the idea of the monarch marrying a divorced woman.

When Edward VII decided to marry Wallis Simpson, he was forced to abdicate his crown soon after his Coronation. This meant that his younger brother George or Bertie, as he was known, became king. [2] The depiction of these events in the movie has been fictionalized but is reasonably accurate.

However, there were some inaccuracies in the movie that troubled viewers. One of the scenes that caused the most controversy was when Sir Winston Churchill, the future leader of war-time Britain, supported the accession of George V. This scene misrepresented Churchill's view of Edward's abdication entirely. Churchill supported Edward VII (1894-1972) and believed that he should remain as king despite his marriage to Wallis Simpson. He was friendly with the abdicated king and remained a supporter. [3]

Unlike in the movie, Churchill did have grave doubts about the ability of George VI to carry out his Royal duties. He was not alone in the belief, and many others shared that view in the highest circles of the British government. Over time, he did come to accept the younger brother of Edward VII and came to respect him as an able monarch and leader . [4]

The King and his Stutter

The movie's central theme is the difficulties faced by George VI because of his stutter and how Logue was able to help him overcome his speech defect. This depiction is historically accurate, and the future George VI had a serious speech impediment. In the movie, Firth's character is shown as having a terrible stammer and that when he became nervous or anxious, he was almost unable to communicate. His stammer made public speaking almost impossible for the monarch.

The movie shows that his speech impediment was a result of his insecurity and shyness. [5] This was very much the case, and George VI did have a terrible stutter from childhood. The King’s Speech accurately shows the real problems caused by the future George VI and the entire Royal Family. In one scene at the opening of an exhibition celebrating the British Empire, George struggles with a speech and becomes visibly upset. The movie shows many senior officials and members of the Royal Family becoming gravely concerned about this. In the 1930a, when the movie is set, for the first-time, Royalty members were expected to speak in public and be effective communicators because of the growing importance of the mass media. [6]

The inability of George VI to publicly speak clearly was a real problem, and it was feared that it could damage the Royal Family and even undermine confidence in the government of the British Empire. The movie does somewhat exaggerate the importance of the king’s stutter, but it was a significant issue for the Royal Family.

When did Lionel Logue begin treating George VI?

Perhaps the biggest inaccuracy in the movie is that Logue was, in reality, able to help the King to overcome his stammer before the abdication crisis and his coronation rather than after these events. He first began to treat the second son of George V in the 1920s and continued to do so for many years. The movie shows that the treatment took place in the 1930s, and this was no doubt done for dramatic effect, but this is not strictly correct.

Cooper’s movie relates how George had been seeking help all his life for his stammer, and he tried every technique and treatment available for the time, which is true. The 2010 motion picture does really capture the sense of desperation and anxiety that the future George VI had over his speech impediment. He is shown as going in desperation to the Australian Logue, and this is also correct. The therapist is shown as using innovative techniques to help George overcome his stammer, which is right. The Australian was an early pioneer in speech and language therapy, and he was an innovator. [7] The film shows Rush trying to instill more confidence in the Royal. He adopts several strategies, but none are shown to work.

How did Logue treat George VI's speech impediment?

Eventually, he provokes the king, and in his anger, he can speak stutter-free. In reality, the speech and language therapist gave the monarch a series of daily vocal exercises, such as tongue twisters, that were designed to help him to relax. This helped the future king to relax, and this was key to the improvements in his speech. The motion picture does show that the treatment was not a total success, and the king continued to have a very slight stammer. This was indeed the case. However, the improvement in the speech of George VI was remarkable, which is accurately shown in the 2010 movie. It shows George having grave doubts about Logue and his treatment when he hears that he is not formally qualified as a therapist.

In real life, this did not cause a crisis in the relationship between the British sovereign and the Australian therapist. It is correct that Logue was not formally qualified because there was no education system for language therapy when he was young. Instead, he was self-taught and had traveled the world, studying the ideas of respected speech therapists. The movie leaves the viewers in no doubt that the king and the Royal Family owed the Australian a great debt, and this was the case, and when George VI died, his widow, the Queen, wrote to the therapist to thank him for all he had done for her husband. [8]

What was the relationship between King George VI and Lionel Logue?

The movie shows that the two men began to become real friends over time, despite their differences. This was the case, and it appears that both men liked each other and even enjoyed each other’s company. The relationship between the British king and the Australian is very realistically shown, and they remained friends until the early death of George VI. The movie shows that Logue was present when George made important Radio broadcasts to the British Public. This was the case, but Logue continued to coach the king to speak in public for many years.

In the movie, Logue is shown when George VI pronounced that Britain was at war with Germany in September 1939 during a radio address to the nation. This is not correct, but the Australian did provide the king with notes on things where he should pause and breathe, and these were a real help in the most important speech the monarch ever made. Logue continued to coach the king for many years until about 1944.

The therapist is shown as being very much at ease in the King's presence and treating him like any other client. This was not the case. Despite their genuine friendship, Logue would have been expected to have been somewhat formal and respect the Royal Person of the King at all times. In real life, Logue was not as easy-going and familiar with George VI as portrayed in the historical drama. [9]

Was George VI accurately portrayed in the King's Speech?

Colin Firth’s performance was widely praised. The British actor won the Academy Award for Best Actor. While Firth's performance was widely acclaimed, there were some concerns about how accurately he portrayed the monarch. In the main, Firth did manage to capture George VI and his character in the feature film. The British actor did correctly show that the monarch was a timid and insecure man who felt that he was not equal to his Royal duties, and this was something that greatly distressed him. [10]

His stammer may have been a result of his sense of inadequacy, but this cannot be known, for certain. Firth does show that the monarch did grow in stature after he was crowned as King. It leaves the viewer in no doubt that by the end of the movie, Firth, who has largely overcome his stammer, could lead his country in its hour of greatest danger. [11]

This was the case, and the monarch became widely respected for his leadership and his calm dignity. However, the script tended to be overly sympathetic to George and avoided his character's rather unpleasant aspects. He was alleged to have both fits of anger and alleged acts of domestic violence. Those allegations have not been confirmed.

Helena Bonham Carter's performance was praised, and she does capture the personality of Queen Elizabeth (1900-2002). She was a very supportive wife and dedicated to her husband. She did not want him to become king because she feared what it would do to him. Her family, as shown in the feature film. [12] Geoffrey Rush played the character of the speech and language therapist Logue, and he presented him as a larger-than-life figure who was charismatic, and this was indeed the case. It is generally agreed that Rush really captured the personality of the acclaimed speech and language therapist.

How realistic is the King's Speech?

Overall, the movie is historically accurate. It shows the modern viewer the importance of the King's treatment for his speech impediment. This movie also captures the real sense of anxiety in Britain in the 1930s, and it broadly captures the historical context of the Coronation of George VI. The relationship between Logue and the monarch is also largely accurate. However, this is a movie, and the need to entertain means some inaccuracies, especially concerning details such as the king's treatment. However, when compared to other historical dramas, the movie is very realistic.

Further Reading

Bowen, C. (2002). Lionel Logue: Pioneer speech therapist 1880-1953. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53

Bradford, Sara. King George VI (London, Weidenfeld, and Nicolson, 1989).

Ziegler, Philip, King Edward VIII: The Official Biography ( London, Collins, 1990).

• ↑ Thorpe, A. Britain in the 1930s (London, Blackwell 1992), p 115
• ↑ Thorpe, p 118
• ↑ Rhodes James, Robert A spirit undaunted: The Political Role of George VI (London: Little, Brown & Co, 1998), p 118
• ↑ Logue, Mark; Conradi, Peter, The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy (New York: Sterling, 2010), p 13
• ↑ Logue, p 134
• ↑ Thorpe, p. 289
• ↑ Logue, p 145
• ↑ Logue, p 115
• ↑ Logue, p. 167
• ↑ Logue, p 189
• ↑ Logue, p 192
• ↑ Rhodes, p 201
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• The King's Speech

King George VI: If I am King, where is my power? Can I form a government? Levy a tax? Declare a war? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority because they think that when I speak, I speak for them. But I can't speak.

King George VI: Is the nation ready for two minutes of radio silence?

King George VI: Waiting for me to... commence a conversation, one can wait rather a long wait.

Queen Elizabeth: [to Winston Churchill, on the hold that Wallis Simpson seems to have on Edward VIII] Apparently she has certain skills - acquired at an establishment in Shanghai.

Lionel Logue: [to King George VI, upon his learning that Logue has no formal credentials] It's true, I'm not a doctor. And yes, I acted. A bit. Well...I recited in pubs, I taught elocution in schools. When the Great War came, all our soldiers were returning to Australia from the front, a lot of them shell-shocked, unable to speak. Somebody said, "Lionel, you're very good at all this speech stuff, you think you could possibly help these poor buggers?" I did muscle therapy, exercises, relaxation, but I knew I had to go deeper. Those poor young blokes cried out in fear. No one was listening to them. My job was to give them faith in their own voice, and let them know a friend was listening.

Lionel Logue: My castle, my rules.

Dr. Blandine Bentham: Cigarette smoking calms the nerves and gives you confidence.

Queen Elizabeth: [Using the name "Mrs. Johnson"] My husband, well... he's required to speak publicly.

Lionel Logue: Perhaps he should change jobs.

Queen Elizabeth: He can't.

Lionel Logue: Indentured servitude?

Queen Elizabeth: Something like that.

Lionel Logue: What was your earliest memory?

King George VI: What on earth do you mean?

Lionel Logue: Your first recollection.

King George VI: I'm not... here to discuss... personal matters.

Lionel Logue: Why are you here then?

King George VI: BECAUSE I BLOODY WELL STAMMER!

Lionel Logue: You have a bit of a temper.

King George VI: One of... m-my many faults.

Lionel Logue: Do you know any jokes?

King George VI: ...Timing isn't my strong suit.

King George VI: [Logue is sitting on the coronation throne] Get up! Y-you can't sit there! GET UP!

Lionel Logue: Why not? It's a chair.

King George VI: T-that... that is not "a chair", that is Saint Edward's chair.

Lionel Logue: People have carved their names on it.

King George: Y-y-you...

Lionel Logue: It's held in place by a large rock.

King George: Th-that is the S-stone of Scone you are t-trivializing...

Lionel Logue: I don't care how many royal arseholes have sat in this chair.

King George VI: L-listen to me... listen to me!

Lionel Logue: Listen to you? By what right?

King George VI: By divine right, if you must. I am your king!

Lionel Logue: No, you're not. You just told me you didn't want it.

King George VI: L-listen to me...

Lionel Logue: Why should I waste my time listening to you?

King George VI: Because I have a right to be heard! I have a voice!

Lionel Logue: [pause] Yes, you do. [stands] You have such perserverance, Bertie. You're the bravest man I know. You'll make a bloody good king.

Princess Elizabeth: [watching a clip of Hitler speaking] What's he saying?

King George VI: I don't know but... he seems to be saying it rather well.

[As he is talking to King George VI, Lionel hears his wife returning home]

Lionel Logue: Myrtle!

King George VI: It's all right.

[Lionel moves to the corner of the room, while Elizabeth calmly continues to sip her tea]

Lionel Logue: [Motioning] Bertie, over here.

King George VI: Are you all right, Logue?

Lionel Logue: Yes.

King George VI: [getting up and moving to Logue's corner] Well, shouldn't we go through? What is it?

'[Myrtle Logue enters the living room, and looks into Lionel's study. Not seeing them, she turns round, and is confronted with the sight of Queen Elizabeth sitting at her table]

Myrtle Logue: [lost for words] You're... You're..!

Queen Elizabeth: It's "Your Majesty" the first time. After that, it's "ma'am." As in "ham." Not "mum" as in "palm."

Lionel Logue: I haven't told her about us. Sit down, relax.

[In the living room]

Queen Elizabeth: I'm told that your husband calls my husband "Bertie," and my husband calls your husband "Lionel." I trust you won't call me "Liz?"

Myrtle Logue: [nervously curtsying] Your majesty, you may call me "Mrs. Logue," ma'am.

Queen Elizabeth: [holding out her hand to shake] Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Logue.

[In the office]

King George VI: Logue, we can't stay here all day.

Lionel Logue: Yes we can. I have to choose the right moment.

King George VI: Logue, you're being a coward.

Lionel Logue: You're damn right.

King George VI: [Getting up and opening the door] Get out there, man!

Lionel Logue: [leaving the office] Hello, Myrtle, darling. You're early. I believe you two have met. But I don't think you know... King George VI.

King George VI: It's very nice to meet you.

Myrtle Logue: [nervously curtsying again] Will their Majesties be staying to dinner?

Queen Elizabeth: [seeing her unease] We would love to, such a treat, but alas... a previous engagement. What a pity.

Lionel Logue: [as George is lighting up a cigarette] Please don't do that.

King George VI: I'm sorry?

Lionel Logue: I believe sucking smoke into your lungs, well, it'll kill you.

King George VI: My physicians say it relaxes the throat.

Lionel Logue: They're idiots.

King George VI: They've all been knighted.

Lionel Logue: Makes it official, then.

King George VI: David, I've been trying to see you

King Edward VIII: I've been terribly busy.

King George VI: Doing what?

King Edward VIII: Kinging.

King George VI: Really? Kinging... is a precarious business these days. Where's the Russian Tsar, Where's... cousin Wilhelm?

King Edward VIII: Ugh, you're being dreary.

King George VI: Is Kinging laying off... 80... staff and buying more pearls for Wallis while people are marching across Europe singing The Red Flag?

King Edward VIII: Stop your worrying, Herr Hitler will sort them out.

King George VI: And who will sort out Herr Hitler?

King Edward VIII: Where's the bloody '23?

King George VI: AND YOU PUT THAT WOMAN IN OUR MOTHER'S SUITE!

King Edward VIII: Mama's not still in the bed, is she?

King George VI: That's not funny.

King Edward VIII: Here it is, Wallis likes the very best.

King George VI: I don't care what... woman you carry on with at night as long as you... show up for duty in the morning.

King Edward VIII: Wallis is not just some woman I'm carrying on with, we intend to marry.

King George VI: [pause] Excuse me?

King Edward VIII: She's filing a petition for divorce.

King George VI: Good God... can't you just give her a nice house and a title?

King Edward VIII: I'm not having her as my mistress.

King George VI: The Church doesn't recognize divorce and you are the... head of the Church

King Edward VIII: Haven't I any rights?

King George VI: Many privileges.

King Edward VIII: Not the same thing. Your beloved common man may marry for love, why not me?

King George VI: If you were... a common man on what basis could you... possibly claim to be king?

King Edward VIII: Sounds like you've studied our wretched constitution.

King George VI: Sounds like you haven't.

King Edward VIII: That's what this is about, brushing up. Hence the elocution lessons, thats the scoop around town.

King George VI: I'm trying to...

King Edward VIII: Yearning for a larger audience, are we B-B-B-B-Bertie?

King George VI: [pause] Don't...

King Edward VIII: What's that? I'm sorry, I... younger brother trying to push older brother off the throne, p-p-p-p-positively medieval.

King George VI: All that work down the drain. My own brother, I couldn't say a single word to him in reply.

Lionel Logue: Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me?

King George VI: 'Cos you're b... bloody well paid to listen.

Lionel Logue: Bertie, I'm not a geisha girl.

King George VI: St... stop trying to be so bloody clever.

Lionel Logue: What is it about David that stops you speaking?

King George VI: What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time?

Lionel Logue: Vulgar, but fluent; you don't stammer when you swear.

King George VI: Oh, bugger off!

Lionel Logue': Is that the best you can do?

King George VI: Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.

Lionel Logue: Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.

King George VI: Sh*t. Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!

Lionel Logue: Yes!

King George VI: Sh*t!

Lionel Logue: Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!

King George VI: Because I'm angry!

Lionel Logue: Do you know the f-word?

King George VI: F... f... fornication?

Lionel Logue: [exasperated] Oh, Bertie!

King George VI: F***. F***! F***, f***, f*** and f***! F***, f*** and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, f***, f***, arse!

Lionel Logue: Yes...

King George VI: Balls, balls...

Lionel Logue: You see, not a hesitation!

King George VI: ...f***ity, sh*t, sh*t, f*** and willy. Willy, sh*t and f*** and... tits.

King George VI: In this... grave hour f*** f*** f*** perhaps the most fateful in our history bugger sh*t sh*t [ to the tune of "Swanee River" ] I send to every household of my... you see "P" is always difficult, even when I'm singing.

Lionel Logue: Bounce onto it. "apeoples".

King George VI: ape... apeoples, Household of my apeoples both at home and overseas,

Lionel Logue: Beautiful.

King George VI: this message [ to the tune of "Camptown Races"] doo dah, Spoken with the same depth of feeling doo dah day for each one of you, as if i were able to sh*t F*** Bugger cross your threshold and speak to you...

Lionel Logue: In your head now, I have a right to be bloody well heard.

King George VI: bloody well heard, bloody well heard, bloody well heard, Bloody Well Heard, BLOODY WELL HEARD MYSELF!

Lionel Logue: Now waltz, move, get continuous motion.

King George VI: [ to the tune of Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty Waltz"] For the second time in the lives of most of us we are at...

Lionel Logue': We are, take a pause.

King George VI:  : Lionel, I can't do this.

Lionel Logue: Bertie, you can do it. Have a look at the last paragraph.

Queen Elizabeth: Bertie, Its time.

Lionel Logue: You still stammered a bit on the w.

King George VI: Well, I had to throw in a couple so they would know it was me.

It takes leadership to confront a nation's fear. It takes friendship to conquer your own.

When God couldn't save The King, The Queen turned to someone who could.

Find your voice.

[Bertie is lying on the floor.]

Lionel Logue: Take a nice deep breath, expand the chest, put your hands onto your ribs, deeper... how do you feel?

King George VI: Full of hot air.

Lionel Logue: Isn't that what public speaking's all about?

[Bertie is lying on the floor, with Elizabeth sitting on his stomach.]

Lionel Logue: Deep breath, and up comes Her Royal Highness... and slowly exhale, and down comes Her Royal Highness...

Elizabeth: You all right, Bertie?

King George VI: Yes.

Elizabeth: It's actually quite good fun.

[As King George VI finishes his first speech as King in response to the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, having delivered it unexpectedly well]

Archbishop of Canterbury: Your Majesty, I am... speechless!

King George Vi: We're not a family, we're a firm.

King George Vi: In this grave... hour... perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send... to every household of my... a-peoples, 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... 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 enemies. But it has been... in vain. We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called to meet the challenge of a principle, which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilised order... in the world. Such a principle, stripped of all... disguise, is surely the mere... primitive doctrine that might... is right. For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet... the challenge. It is to this... high purpose that I now... call my people, at home, and my people across... the seas, who will make our cause their own. I ask them to stand calm, and firm, and united in this time of trial. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war... can no longer be... confined... to the battlefield. But we can only do the right... as we see the right, and reverently... commit our cause... to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful... to it, then... with God's help, we shall... prevail.

Queen Elizabeth: [to Bertie] You know, I refused your first two marriage proposals not because I didn't love you, but because I couldn't bear the idea of a royal life. Couldn't bear the idea of a life of tours, duty, and... well, a life that really no longer to be my own. But then I thought, 'he stammers so beautifully, they'll leave us alone.'

Lionel Logue: I can't show you a certificate. There was no training then. Everything I know, I know from experience, and that war was some experience. My plaque says, "L. Logue, Speech Defects", not "Doctor". There are no letters after my name.

King George V: In the past, all a king had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people's homes and ingratiate ourselves with them. This family's been reduced to those lowest, basest of all creatures. We've become actors.

King George V: [on Edward] I told him straight, no divorced person can ever be received at court! He said, it made him "sublimely happy." [scoffs] I imagine that was because she was sleeping with him. "I give you my word" - this is what he said - "I give you my word, we've never had immoral relations." Stared square into his father's face, and lied. When I'm dead, that boy will ruin himself, this family, and this nation within twelve months.

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Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall)

Character analysis.

It's pretty cool that ol' Winston Churchill shows up now and then in this movie… since he would go on to be British Prime Minister and one of the most important figures in modern history. (No big deal, right? Wrong. )

As many historians (and screenwriter David Seidler) could tell you, Winston had a good sense of humor, which makes him ideal company for Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. When Elizabeth asks him if she was too rude to Wallis Simpson, Winston takes her side in saying dryly,

CHURCHILL: On the contrary, your Royal Highness. Etiquette decrees royalty must be greeted by the official host: in this case: the King. Not a commoner. You behaved impeccably. As always.

Despite his humor though, Churchill is a serious dude with serious concerns about Britain. For starters, he tells Bertie that,

CHURCHILL: There were those that worried where [David] would stand when war with Germany comes.

In other words, Churchill knows that England will need a king that it can rally around for war, and Churchill knows that Bertie can be that king. To help reassure Bertie, Churchill even reveals an intimate part of himself, admitting that he once has a speech impediment too. As he tells Bertie,

CHURCHILL: Family secret. Tongue-tied. An operation was considered too dangerous. I eventually made an asset of it.

So even in weakness, Churchill can find strength. And it's no doubt this kind of attitude that made him such a successful man.

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W hy's T his F unny?

The King's Speech (2010)

Timothy spall: winston churchill, photos .

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The King's Speech

The King's Speech is a 2010 film about King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

King George VI

• If I am King, where is my power? Can I form a government? Levy a tax? Declare a war? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority because they think that when I speak, I speak for them. But I can't speak.
• Is the nation ready for two minutes of radio silence?
• Waiting for me to... commence a conversation, one can wait rather a long wait.
• We're not a family, we're a firm.
• In this grave... hour... perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send... to every household of my... a-peoples, 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... 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 enemies. But it has been... in vain. We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called to meet the challenge of a principle, which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilised order... in the world. Such a principle, stripped of all... disguise, is surely the mere... primitive doctrine that might... is right. For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet... the challenge. It is to this... high purpose that I now... call my people, at home, and my people across... the seas, who will make our cause their own. I ask them to stand calm, and firm, and united in this time of trial. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war... can no longer be... confined... to the battlefield. But we can only do the right... as we see the right, and reverently... commit our cause... to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful... to it, then... with God's help, we shall... prevail.

Queen Elizabeth

• [to Winston Churchill, on the hold that Wallis Simpson seems to have on Edward VIII] Apparently she has certain skills - acquired at an establishment in Shanghai.
• [to Bertie] You know, I refused your first two marriage proposals not because I didn't love you, but because I couldn't bear the idea of a royal life. Couldn't bear the idea of a life of tours, duty, and... well, a life that really no longer to be my own. But then I thought, 'he stammers so beautifully, they'll leave us alone.'

Lionel Logue

• [to King George VI, upon his learning that Logue has no formal credentials] It's true, I'm not a doctor. And yes, I acted. A bit. Well...I recited in pubs, I taught elocution in schools. When the Great War came, all our soldiers were returning to Australia from the front, a lot of them shell-shocked, unable to speak. Somebody said, "Lionel, you're very good at all this speech stuff, you think you could possibly help these poor buggers?" I did muscle therapy, exercises, relaxation, but I knew I had to go deeper. Those poor young blokes cried out in fear. No one was listening to them. My job was to give them faith in their own voice, and let them know a friend was listening.
• My castle, my rules.
• I can't show you a certificate. There was no training then. Everything I know, I know from experience, and that war was some experience. My plaque says, "L. Logue, Speech Defects", not "Doctor". There are no letters after my name.

King George V

• In the past, all a king had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people's homes and ingratiate ourselves with them. This family's been reduced to those lowest, basest of all creatures. We've become actors .
• [on Edward] I told him straight, no divorced person can ever be received at court! He said, it made him "sublimely happy." [scoffs] I imagine that was because she was sleeping with him. "I give you my word" - this is what he said - "I give you my word, we've never had immoral relations." Stared square into his father's face, and lied . When I'm dead, that boy will ruin himself, this family, and this nation within twelve months.

Dr. Blandine Bentham

• Cigarette smoking calms the nerves and gives you confidence.
• It takes leadership to confront a nation's fear. It takes friendship to conquer your own.
• When God couldn't save The King, The Queen turned to someone who could.
• Find your voice.
• Colin Firth - Albert Frederick Arthur George, afterwards King George VI
• Helena Bonham Carter - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon , afterwards Queen Elizabeth
• Geoffrey Rush - Lionel Logue
• Guy Pearce - Edward, Duke of Windsor, afterwards King Edward VIII
• Michael Gambon - King George V
• Timothy Spall - Winston Churchill
• Jennifer Ehle - Myrtle Logue
• Derek Jacobi - Cosmo Gordon Lang ( Archbishop of Canterbury )
• Anthony Andrews - Stanley Baldwin
• Eve Best - Wallis Simpson
• Freya Wilson - Princess Elizabeth
• Ramona Marquez - Princess Margaret
• Claire Bloom - Queen Mary

External links

• Official website
• The King's Speech quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• The King's Speech at Rotten Tomatoes

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• Drama films
• Films based on true stories
• Films set in London
• Films set in Scotland
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• Best Picture Academy Award winners
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• Films about royalty
• Films about disability

How The King's Speech Ignored King George VI's True Story

The dream of a Europe at peace was crushed in 1939, as Poland was invaded by Germany and then the Soviet Union. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was forced to turn back on his hopes of non-aggression and declare war. While few at this time could have predicted the imminent fall of France or the Blitz, both of which would cost thousands of British lives, memory of the last global war was still fresh for many. England lost the better part of a generation of young men in World War I, and the national wounds were still painful.

As the immortalized speeches of Winston Churchill were yet to come, in 1939 it fell upon King George VI to overcome his stutter and address the public. This state of affairs is perhaps best known today through its depiction in the 2010 film "The King's Speech." Although the film overall manages to translate the politics and tension of the time, it still suffers from the artistic liberties that many biographical movies tend to lean toward (via Collider ).

King George VI's speech improved far earlier than 1939

The film's narrative is mostly centered on the monarch's speech impediment, which he must learn to control after his brother abdicates the throne . As Daily History  writes, his condition was potentially dangerous for the family's reputation, as public morale could falter if a member of the royal family failed to speak clearly. However, the film diverges from reality in how seriously he was affected by his stutter by 1939. While he did employ speech therapist Lionel Logue to help him, "Bertie" (short for Albert; his full name was Albert Frederick Arthur George Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, according to Biography ) was capable of giving a coherent speech by adulthood. 

The film's account of Logue is accurate in regard to his teaching method, but his key to refining the King's speech was not profanity or inciting anger as depicted, but instead relaxation (via Harley Street ). Nor did the bulk of his instruction's success take place in 1939, as in actuality Logue had helped then-Prince Albert largely overcome his stutter by the late 1920s (via Los Angeles Times ). These differences serve to paint the king's character in a very different light than what history reflects, underscoring his capacity for self-improvement in favor of cinematic effect. 

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The King's Speech

Where to watch.

Watch The King's Speech with a subscription on Max, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Colin Firth gives a masterful performance in The King's Speech , a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Colin Firth

King George VI

Geoffrey Rush

Lionel Logue

Helena Bonham Carter

Queen Elizabeth

King Edward VIII

Timothy Spall

Winston Churchill

Movie Clips

More like this, related movie news.

Perspective: How true is ‘The King’s Speech’?

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If any best-picture contender was going to face questions about taking liberties with the facts this Oscar season, it seemed likely it would be “The Social Network.” But now that screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have tactfully retreated a bit from their initially contentious stands, the accuracy debate has shifted to “The King’s Speech.”

“The King’s Speech” is being sold as a feel-good tale of how a friendship between a royal and a commoner affected the course of history. But some commentators are complaining, among other things, that the film covers up Winston Churchill’s support for Edward VIII, the playboy king who abdicated to marry an American divorcee, and that the movie fails to acknowledge that the once tongue-tied George VI supported Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of the Nazis. (Writing last month at slate.com, Christopher Hitchens blasted the film as “a gross falsification of history.”)

As a specialist in British history, I agree that screenwriter David Seidler certainly has tweaked the record a bit and telescoped events in “The King’s Speech” — but for the same artistic reasons that have guided writers from Shakespeare to Alan Bennett, who wrote the screenplay for “The Madness of King George” (and the play on which the movie was based). While historians must stick to the facts, dramatists need to tell a good story in good time. It also helps if they can explore the human condition in the process.

Seidler’s script opens with Colin Firth as Prince Albert (the future King George VI, but then the Duke of York and known to his family as “Bertie”) facing the ordeal of making his first radio broadcast. To add to the strain, the duke must deliver the address in a stadium before a large crowd. However, his words come only haltingly, causing embarrassment for all present. Not shown but later referenced in the film is the fact that in the crowd was Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist recently transplanted from Australia.

All this took place in 1925, but Seidler brings the speech disaster forward 10 years to the eve of the abdication crisis, which resulted in the duke unexpectedly being transformed into a king when his brother Edward VIII stepped aside. The compression of events, although understandable, requires a slew of historical alterations to explain the back story.

The duke’s stammer derived in part from the verbal abuse he received as a child from his father, King George V (Michael Gambon). To indicate this, Seidler concocts a scene showing the adult Bertie still being hectored by his father, and it is only after this that he agrees to see Logue.

Much of the early part of the film is taken up with Logue’s struggle to win the duke’s trust. The therapist succeeds partly by trickery and partly because of continued prompting by Bertie’s wife, the Duchess of York (Helena Bonham Carter). After achieving a “breakthrough” with his patient and following Edward’s abdication in 1936, Logue helps prepare the new king for the ordeal of the coronation ceremony. That hurdle cleared, the film culminates with the therapist coaching Bertie through another historic moment: his broadcast to the British Empire at the start of World War II with an approving Churchill (Timothy Spall) looking on.

In reality, the duke first sought treatment from Logue in 1926, and, contrary to the film, the two hit it off immediately. Logue wrote in a note later published in the king’s official biography that Bertie left their first meeting brimming with confidence. After just two months of treatment, the duke’s improvement was significant enough for him to begin making successful royal tours with all the public speaking that entailed. George V was so delighted that Bertie rapidly became his favored son and preferred heir.

In interviews, Seidler has been ambiguous about what sources he consulted in writing the script. The various biographies of George VI all tell of the king’s relationship with Logue. This includes the official biography published in 1958. John Wheeler-Bennett, the royal biographer personally selected by the king’s widow, was himself a former patient of Logue’s and so wrote about the episode with great emotion.

It remains unclear, though, to what extent sources not available to scholars or the public played a role in the final shape of the film. Seidler has said that Logue’s son offered 30 years ago to show him his father’s notebooks, provided the king’s widow agreed. But when Seidler wrote Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, he was told that she found it too painful to remember the old anguish and begged that he wait until she had passed away.

Although the Queen Mother died in 2002, filmmakers said they were provided with Logue’s diaries, notes and letters only shortly before filming began. Seidler has not specified how material from Logue’s records was used, but he has said that research guided him to the conclusion that Logue utilized Freud’s “talking cure” approach. Thus, by reading up on the king’s life, Seidler used what he terms “informed imagination” to create the film’s therapy scenes.

Seidler also drew on personal experience: He himself stammered as a child, and it was this that led him to an interest in George VI. From what he has said about his own successful treatment, Seidler indicates that he projected that experience into his fabrication about Logue having to work patiently to gain Bertie’s trust. This liberty with the truth certainly gives the film more dramatic interest.

There are many other instances of artistic license in “The King’s Speech.” For example, Bertie chose his regal cognomen, George, out of respect for his father and not as the film has it because Churchill suggested that Albert sounded “too German.” Another dramatic fantasy occurs when the Archbishop of Canterbury (Derek Jacobi) breathlessly revealed that Logue was not in fact a doctor. In reality, Logue’s credentials were never misrepresented. Bertie always referred to him as “Mr. Logue” or simply “Logue.” Logue’s grandchildren recently came forward to say that their grandfather never used Christian names with the king at all — despite the movie making a strong point that the future king bristled at being called “Bertie” by Logue.

As for Hitchens’ allegations, they are much ado about nothing. Churchill’s support of Edward VIII owed more to his near-medieval reverence for the monarchy than it did to the individual occupying the throne. In supporting the appeasement policies of Chamberlain, George VI acted in harmony with the overwhelming majority of the British population across the political spectrum. As a combat veteran of World War I, the king was as anxious as his subjects to avoid a second conflict by any promising means. George VI was also at one with most Britons in remaining skeptical about Churchill as prime minister until the great man had proved himself.

Hitchens will get a second chance to scrutinize moviedom’s portrayal of Edward VIII and George VI this year, when Madonna’s film “W.E.” — about Wallis Simpson and Edward — hits theaters. He’s probably already stocking up on pencils.

Freeman teaches history at California State Fullerton.

[email protected]

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Churchill Didn’t Say That

The king’s speech is riddled with gross falsifications of history..

The King’s Speech is an extremely well-made film with a seductive human interest plot, very prettily calculated to appeal to the smarter filmgoer and the latent Anglophile. But it perpetrates a gross falsification of history. One of the very few miscast actors—Timothy Spall as a woefully thin pastiche of Winston Churchill—is the exemplar of this bizarre rewriting. He is shown as a consistent friend of the stuttering prince and his loyal princess and as a man generally in favor of a statesmanlike solution to the crisis of the abdication.

In point of fact, Churchill was—for as long as he dared—a consistent friend of conceited, spoiled, Hitler-sympathizing Edward VIII. And he allowed his romantic attachment to this gargoyle to do great damage to the very dearly bought coalition of forces that was evolving to oppose Nazism and appeasement. Churchill probably has no more hagiographic chronicler than William Manchester, but if you look up the relevant pages of The Last Lion , you will find that the historian virtually gives up on his hero for an entire chapter.

By dint of swallowing his differences with some senior left and liberal politicians, Churchill had helped build a lobby, with strong grass-roots support, against Neville Chamberlain’s collusion with European fascism. The group had the resonant name of Arms and the Covenant. Yet, as the crisis deepened in 1936, Churchill diverted himself from this essential work—to the horror of his colleagues—in order to involve himself in keeping a pro-Nazi playboy on the throne. He threw away his political capital in handfuls by turning up at the House of Commons—almost certainly heavily intoxicated, according to Manchester—and making an incoherent speech in defense of “loyalty” to a man who did not understand the concept. In one speech—not cited by Manchester—he spluttered that Edward VIII would “shine in history as the bravest and best-loved of all sovereigns who have worn the island crown.” (You can see there how empty and bombastic Churchill’s style can sound when he’s barking up the wrong tree; never forget that he once described himself as the lone voice warning the British people against the twin menaces of Hitler and Gandhi!)

In the end, Edward VIII proved so stupid and so selfish and so vain that he was beyond salvage, so the moment passed. Or the worst of it did. He remained what is only lightly hinted in the film: a firm admirer of the Third Reich who took his honeymoon there with Mrs. Simpson and was photographed both receiving and giving the Hitler salute. Of his few friends and cronies, the majority were Blackshirt activists like the odious “Fruity” Metcalfe . (Royal biographer Philip Ziegler tried his best to clean up this squalid story a few years ago but eventually gave up.) During his sojourns on the European mainland after his abdication, the Duke of Windsor never ceased to maintain highly irresponsible contacts with Hitler and his puppets and seemed to be advertising his readiness to become a puppet or “regent” if the tide went the other way. This is why Churchill eventually had him removed from Europe and given the sinecure of a colonial governorship in the Bahamas, where he could be well-supervised.

All other considerations to one side, would the true story not have been fractionally more interesting for the audience? But it seems that we shall never reach a time when the Churchill cult is open for honest inspection. And so the film drifts on, with ever more Vaseline being applied to the lens. It is suggested that, once some political road bumps have been surmounted and some impediments in the new young monarch’s psyche have been likewise overcome, Britain is herself again, with Churchill and the king at Buckingham Palace and a speech of unity and resistance being readied for delivery.

Here again, the airbrush and the Vaseline are partners. When Neville Chamberlain managed to outpoint the coalition of the Labour Party, the Liberal Party, and the Churchillian Tories and to hand to his friend Hitler the majority of the Czechoslovak people, along with all that country’s vast munitions factories, he received an unheard-of political favor. Landing at Heston Airport on his return from Munich, he was greeted by a royal escort in full uniform and invited to drive straight to Buckingham Palace. A written message from King George VI urged his attendance, “so that I can express to you personally my most heartfelt congratulations. … [T]his letter brings the warmest of welcomes to one who, by his patience and determination, has earned the lasting gratitude of his fellow countrymen throughout the Empire.” Chamberlain was then paraded on the palace balcony, saluted by royalty in front of cheering crowds. Thus the Munich sell-out had received the royal assent before the prime minister was obliged to go to Parliament and justify what he had done. The opposition forces were checkmated before the game had begun. Britain does not have a written Constitution, but by ancient custom the royal assent is given to measures after they have passed through both houses of Parliament. So Tory historian Andrew Roberts, in his definitively damning essay “The House of Windsor and the Politics of Appeasement,” is quite correct to cite fellow scholar John Grigg in support of his view that by acting as they did to grant pre-emptive favor to Chamberlain, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter to you) “committed the most unconstitutional act by a British Sovereign in the present century.” 

The private letters and diaries of the royal family demonstrate a continued, consistent allegiance to the policy of appeasement and to the personality of Chamberlain. King George’s forbidding mother wrote to him, exasperated that more people in the House of Commons had not cheered the sellout. The king himself, even after the Nazi armies had struck deep north into Scandinavia and clear across the low countries to France, did not wish to accept Chamberlain’s resignation. He “told him how grossly unfairly he had been treated, and that I was genuinely sorry.” Discussing a successor, the king wrote that “I, of course, suggested [Lord] Halifax.” It was explained to him that this arch-appeaser would not do and that anyway a wartime coalition could hardly be led by an unelected member of the House of Lords. Unimpressed, the king told his diary that he couldn’t get used to the idea of Churchill as prime minister and had greeted the defeated Halifax to tell him that he wished he had been chosen instead. All this can easily be known by anybody willing to do some elementary research.

In a few months, the British royal family will be yet again rebranded and relaunched in the panoply of a wedding. Terms like “national unity” and “people’s monarchy” will be freely flung around. Almost the entire moral capital of this rather odd little German dynasty is invested in the post-fabricated myth of its participation in “Britain’s finest hour.” In fact, had it been up to them, the finest hour would never have taken place. So this is not a detail but a major desecration of the historical record—now apparently gliding unopposed toward a baptism by Oscar.

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Relationship Between Winston Churchill and King George

Wars tend to bring out the best and worst in people and both the British prime minister and King George were no exceptions. In their own way, they made the difference between success and failure of World War II. Winston Churchill was in his 60’s and had led a relative lackluster life prior to his taking the helm in the early days of the war. Since I knew him personally, I am able to augment much of his life during what he referred to as “Briton’s finest hour”.

Meeting Winston Churchill

I met him while I was a student at Bristol University where he served as chancellor, an honorary position which necessitated his delivering a speech to the student body on an annual basis. He spoke in the great hall. It had been badly damaged during the war and the roof was completely destroyed by fire. Everything was “make do” in those days and a giant tarp had been specially constructed to serve as a roof. Churchill was opposed to spending any money in constructing a new roof to keep alive the efforts of the people in not only fighting fires to save as much of the university as possible but even after the war continue to keep the spirit of determination alive.

Sir Winston Churchill in December 1941. Image: Public Domain.

By the mid-1950s, Churchill fell out of favor with the British people and some of the students at Bristol University thought it time to select another Chancellor. It was customary for him to be picked up at the train station and driven up the hill to the university. This was, of course, a great honor for any students chosen for this duty.

But by 1955, students being what they are decided to find a car that was in no way in keeping with proper transportation for the likes of people like Churchill. The wreck of a car selected was in really bad shape, the door on the passenger’s side had to be held in place or it would be in danger of falling off. This was not accepted by Churchill and he let it be known to the academic authorities that this was not to be repeated.

The following year, one of the senior lecturers in the psychology department has purchased a new luxury car called an Armstrong Sidley. He was asked to select two students to go with him to Temple Mead station to pick up Churchill. I was one of the students. When I was introduced to Churchill as an American from Texas, he said. “Isn’t that a contradiction in terms – an American from Texas”?

The 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor: Could We Have Prevented It?

Rather than speaking from the great hall, he was to deliver his address from Colton Hall, the local public auditorium. The area where I sat was in an elevated area just behind the podium. I was able to look over Churchill’s shoulder as it were.

He spoke from written notes on a legal-size tablet upon which he may have written no more than a half a dozen words, very large and apparently easy to read. From the front, his utilization of this procedure of moving from one page to another was imperceptible. Each word, each phrase. was given significance. I could see that the audience was spellbound. By the time of his death in 1965, he had regained his popularity much to the efforts of Queen Elizabeth who was his strongest supporter.

In the eyes of a psychologist, what was he like as a man? Based on his writing, I would say that he had very superior intelligence. This caused it to be said of him that he didn’t suffer fools gladly and without a doubt, his entire life was surrounded by fools. For example, if he had left the conduct of the war to the military, it would have been lost before it started. He had experienced his own baptism of fire during the Gallipoli campaign during WWI where he made a fateful decision costing hundreds of lives.

As a child, he suffered both neglect and abuse thus making meaningful interpersonal relationships difficult. He was tireless. imperturbable, and demanding. He was a champagne alcoholic until he was 60 and then he became a brandy alcoholic. None the less, he would receive high marks when it came to using good judgment.

About Albert Frederick Arthur George (King George VI)

And so what was his relationship like with King George VI? What do we know about his majesty? His parents were dedicated, hard-working and in their view of life, sensible. History will show King George V to be outstanding in his duties and his ability to set a course for the entire British Empire.

King George VI

As parents, King George and Queen Mary left very much to be desired, Their children were raised by segregates and were by modern standards, abused in many ways. Edward, the oldest who was next in line for the throne, was a hopeless self-serving person who had virtually no mature skills which would have been of paramount importance if he were to be King.

Albert, his brother who did become King had problems of his own. He could not speak without a severe stutter. He could be demanding and bad-tempered. Of the other boys, George was an alcoholic, and Henry was believed to be a homosexual.

Albert believed that he could never be equipped to handle the duties of a sovereign . With the help of his family and with maximum effort, he overcame his apprehensions,

Churchill was a monarchist. He understood the history, culture, and traditions of the British people throughout the world. He understood what the new king was facing and he was absolutely dedicated to helping him and when the war came to an even greater extent.

Hitler’s Ridiculous Attempt to Blow Up American Infrastructure

He was Winston Spencer Churchill with a coin not of two sides, but one with many sides and with a range of behavior the likes of which had never been seen before. He was going to be the leader, the conductor, and the absolute boss of everything and everybody. As King George began to grow and mature in his new role, it was bound to happen that some measure of conflict would arise.

A Mutually Beneficial Relationship

Basically, Churchill saw himself as being in charge of the totality of the war efforts, Both the King and Queen saw themselves as providing comfort and support to the British people. They not only elected to remain in London in the palace but to insist that their daughters would also remain as well. Churchill gave the nation the courage to stay the course while the royal family gave strong emotional support.

King George VI and Winston Churchill meeting on 25 June 1943.

It was believed that there was mutual support on the part of both Churchill and King George, but Churchill was the most dominant of the two. Churchill had to learn to pace himself when the King became assertive as he was often seen to be.

Prior to D-Day, both Churchill and the King wanted to accompany the troops to France. Eisenhower was very much opposed to this. It would have been far too dangerous, Both the King and Churchill dug in their heels. Logic and common sense prevailed and neither Churchill nor King George went to France until the landing had been firmly established and safe for both of them to cross the channel.

Why Did Rudolf Hess Fly to Scotland?

Those close to the situation related that the King’s ability to stand up even to Churchill was a very positive aspect and that this helped the King to find more and more self-assurance.

Shortly after the end of the war, Churchill began to lose his health, some of his spirit, and much of the support he had with the British people. By the time he was called upon to advise and counsel the new queen he had become more mellow and with much more wisdom as the totality of his life prevailed.

Alfred Jones

Alfred Jones has a Ph.D in psychology, advance studies in law and education. He is an Egyptian scholar having taught in the UK, USA and China. He is a former consultant to the San Jose California Egyptian Museum. Author of 7 books and over 20 articles for professional journals. Read More

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• Newspapers & Gazettes
• The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) View title info
• Sat 9 Feb 1952 Prev issue Next issue Browse issues
• Page 2 Prev page Next page Browse pages
• Full Text Of Churchill's Tribute To King George VI Prev article Next article Browse articles

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• Abstract Mr. Winston Churchill, Britain's Prime Minister and her greatest orator of this century, spoke with deep emotion in the broadcast on the death of the King which he gave over all B.B.C. stations on Thursday night. The speech is
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The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Sat 9 Feb 1952, Page 2 - Full Text Of Churchill's Tribute To King George VI

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When the death of the King was announced to us yesterday morning there struck a deep and solemn note in our lives which, as it resounded far and wide, stilled the clatter and traffic of twentieth-century life in many lands, and made countless millions of human beings pause and look around them. A new sense of values took, for the time being, possession of human minds, and mortal existence presented itself to so many at the same moment in its serenity and in its sorrow, in its splendour and in its pain, in its fortitude and in its suffering. The King was greatly loved by all his peoples. He was respected as a man and as a prince far beyond the many realms over which he reigned. The simple dignity of his life, his manly virtues, his sense of duty - alike as a ruler and a servant of the vast spheres and communities for which he bore responsibility - his gay charm and happy nature, his example as a husband and a father in his own family circle, his courage in peace or war - all these were aspects of his character which won the glint of admiration, now here, now there, from the innumerable eyes whose gaze falls upon the Throne. We thought of him as a young naval lieutenant in the great Battle of Jutland. We thought of him when calmly, without ambition, or want of self-confidence, he assumed the heavy burden of the Crown and succeeded his brother whom he loved and to whom he had rendered perfect loyalty. We thought of him, so faithful in his study and discharge of State affairs; so strong in his devotion to the enduring honour of our country; so self-restrained in his judgments of men and affairs; so uplifted above the clash of party politics, yet so attentive to them; so wise and shrewd in judging between what matters and what does not. All this we saw and admired. His conduct on the Throne may well be a model and a guide to constitutional sovereigns throughout the world today and also in future generations. The last few months of King George's life, with all the pain and physical stresses that he endured - his life hanging by a thread from day to day, and he all the time cheerful and undaunted, stricken in body but quite undisturbed and even unaffected in spirit - these have made a profound and an enduring impression and should be a help to all. He was sustained not only by his natural buoyancy, but by the sincerity of his Christian faith. During these last months the King walked with death as if death were a companion, an acquaintance whom he recognized and did not fear. In the end death came as a friend, and after a happy day of sunshine and sport, and after "good night" to those who loved him best, he fell asleep as every man or woman who strives to fear God and nothing else in the world may hope to do. The nearer one stood to him the more these facts were apparent. But the newspapers and photographs of modern times have made vast numbers of his subjects able to watch with emotion the last months of his pilgrimage. We all saw him approach his journey's end. In this period of mourning and meditation, amid our cares and toils, every home in all the realms joined together under the Crown may draw comfort for tonight and strength for the future from his bearing and his fortitude. There was another tie between King George and his people. It was not only sorrow and affliction that they shared. Dear to the hearts and the homes of the people is the joy and pride of a united family. With this all the troubles of the world can be borne and all its ordeals at least confronted. No family in these tumultuous years was happier or loved one another more than the Royal Family around the King. No Minister saw so much of the King during the war as I did. I made certain he was kept informed of every secret matter, and the care and thoroughness with which he mastered the immense daily flow of State papers made a deep mark on my mind. Let me tell you another fact. On one of the days when Buckingham Palace was bombed the King had just returned from Windsor. One side of the courtyard was struck, and if the windows opposite out of which he and the Queen were looking had not been, by the mercy of God, open, they would both have been blinded by the broken glass instead of being only hurled back by the explosion. Amid all that was then going on, although I saw the King so often, I never heard of this episode till a long time after. Their Majesties never mentioned it or thought it of more significance than a soldier in their armies would of a shell bursting near him. This seems to me to be a revealing trait in the royal character. There is no doubt that of all the institutions which have grown up among us over the centuries, or sprung into being in our lifetime, the constitutional monarchy is the most deeply founded and dearly cherished by the whole association of our peoples. In the present generation it has acquired a meaning incomparably more powerful than anyone had dreamed possible in former times. The Crown has become the mysterious link, indeed I may say the magic link, which unites our loosely bound, but strongly interwoven Commonwealth of nations, states, and races.... For fifteen years George VI was King. Never at any moment in all the perplexities at home and abroad, in public or in private, did he fail in his duties. Well does he deserve the farewell salute of all his governments and peoples. It is at this time that our compassion and sympathy go out to his consort and widow. Their marriage was a love match with no idea of regal pomp or splendour. Indeed, there seemed to be before them only the arduous life of royal personages, denied so many of the activities of ordinary folk and having to give so much in ceremonial public service. May I say - speaking with all freedom - that our hearts go out tonight to that valiant woman, with famous blood of Scotland in her veins, who sustained King George through all his toils and problems, and brought up with their charm and beauty the two daughters who mourn their father today. May she be granted strength to bear her sorrow. To Queen Mary, his mother, another of whose sons is dead - the Duke of Kent having been killed on active service - there belongs the consolation of seeing how well he did his duty and fulfilled her hopes, and of knowing how much he cared for her. Now I must leave the treasures of the past and turn to the future. Famous have been the reigns of our queens. Some of the greatest periods in our history have unfolded under their sceptre. Now that we have the second Queen Elizabeth, also ascending the Throne in her twenty-sixth year, our thoughts are carried back nearly four hundred years to the magnificent figure who presided over and, in many ways, embodied and inspired the grandeur and genius of the Elizabethan age. Queen Elizabeth II, like her predecessor, did not pass her childhood in any certain expectation of the Crown. But already we know her well, and we understand why her gifts, and those of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, have stirred the only part of the Commonwealth she has yet been able to visit. She has already been acclaimed as Queen of Canada. We make our claim too, and others will come forward also, and tomorrow the proclamation of her sovereignty will command the loyalty of her native land and of all other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire. I, whose youth was passed in the august, unchallenged and tranquil glories of the Victorian era, may well feel a thrill in invoking once more the prayer and the anthem, "God save the Queen!"