An intellectually driven man-Albert prescribed himself an educational regiment requiring nine hours of study a day during his teen years-he not only served as regent during his wife’s nine pregnancies, he also had a significant role in encouraging scientific and technological innovation, and even helped organize the Great Exhibition in 1851. Though Albert had no official state powers as Prince Consort, he nonetheless had a major impact on the monarchy. In 1840, she married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, with whom she had a famously passionate connection. Just a month after her 18th birthday, the petite princess (she was barely five feet tall) became queen following the death of her uncle, King William IV. The daughter of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent-fourth son of King George III-and German widow Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Victoria was the result of a succession crisis that left her as the only legitimate heir to the throne. After all, with nine children, 42 grandchildren, and 87 great-grandchildren, she more than earned the title "the grandmother of Europe."īorn on May 24, 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was quite literally born to be queen. And while many effects of her rule are still present in modern society, perhaps one of the most obvious remains the impact of her massive family tree on the current monarchies of Europe. Over the course of her 63 year reign, Queen Victoria made an indelible impact not only on Britain, but on the world.
King George VI died on 6th February 1952. Although his left lung was removed in 1951 his health remained poor. In 1949 he had surgery for a blocked leg artery and two years later he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Later YearsĪfter the war George’s health began to deteriorate. On VE day the royal family appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. King George also visited British troops abroad. Throughout the war George and Elizabeth were noted for their visits to places that had been bombed as well as munitions factories. During the Blitz two bombs fell in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace while the royal couple were in residence. When World War Two broke out in 1939, George and Elizabeth refused to leave London preferring to show solidarity with the people of London. He was crowned in Westminster Abbey the following year.
Nevertheless he put duty first and took the throne as King George VI. King George VIĪlbert was devastated by his brother’s abdication and did not relish the prospect of becoming King. The techniques he learned enabled him to be able to speak with less pronounced pauses. In 1925 he began speech therapy with Lionel Logue. After his marriage he made more royal tours and had to speak more frequently. Prince Albert avoided having to make speeches wherever possible due to his stammer. Margaret Rose born in 1930 Speech Therapy They had two daughters:Įlizabeth, known as Lilibet, born in 1926 She had turned him down twice accepting his third proposal. Marriage and FamilyĪlbert married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 in Westminster Abbey. Albert was next in line to the throne and reluctantly became King George VI. However, he abdicated the throne when the constitution would not allow him to marry Wallis Simpson. When his father died in January 1936 his brother became King Edward VIII. When King Edward died in 1910, his father became King George V. In 1901 George’s great grandmother, Queen Victoria, died and his grandfather became King Edward VII and his father became Prince of Wales. In 1914 he developed appendicitis and then suffered recurrent bouts of ill health.Īfter the war in 1919 he returned to Cambridge University for a year studying history and economics. He did not take part in World War One until the final year of the conflict. In 1909 he became a naval cadet and two years later he entered the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. He did not respond well to his very strict upbringing and developed a stammer. He was known as Bertie.īertie was a timid, shy child. He was the couple’s second child, his elder brother Edward had been born in 1894. King George VI was born Albert Frederick Arthur George to Prince George, son of Edward VII and Mary of Teck on 14th December 1895. Short Biography Early Years and Education