George VI | |||||
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Formal portrait, c. 1940–46
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King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions (more...) |
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Reign | 11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952 | ||||
Coronation | 12 May 1937 | ||||
Predecessor | Edward VIII | ||||
Successor | Elizabeth II | ||||
Prime Ministers | See list | ||||
Emperor of India | |||||
Reign | 11 December 1936 – 15 August 1947 | ||||
Predecessor | Edward VIII | ||||
Born |
York Cottage, Sandringham House, Norfolk, United Kingdom |
14 December 1895||||
Died | 6 February 1952 Sandringham House, Norfolk, United Kingdom |
(aged 56)||||
Burial | 15 February 1952 St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle |
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Spouse | Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (m. 1923) | ||||
Issue Detail |
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon |
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House |
Windsor (from 17 July 1917) Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (until 17 July 1917) |
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Father | George V | ||||
Mother | Mary of Teck |
Full name | |
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Albert Frederick Arthur George |
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.
Known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame.
George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936. However, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman and remain king. Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.