Facts About King George V

George and May had five sons and a daughter. Randolph Churchill claimed that he was a strict father to the extent that his children were terrified of him. It is alleged that George once remarked: My father was frightened of his mother, I was frightened of my father and I am damned well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me.’

On May 6th 1910, King Edward V11 died and King George V ascended to the throne in a coronation at Westminster Abbey on June 22nd 1911.

It was during the First World War when Britain was at war with Germany that George issued an Order-in-Council that changed the name of the British Royal House from the German-sounding House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the House of Windsor to appease British nationalist feelings.

He specifically adopted Windsor as the surname for all decendants of Queen Victoria then living in the United Kingdom. The family relinquished the use of all German styles and titles. It was at this time that the King of Prussia pub in Brompton had its name changed to King George V after locals are said to have stoned the  

windows. During and after the war, many of the monarchies fell which had ruled most of Europe, and many of them had been ruled by relatives of George.

George took an interest in the politics of Ireland, expressing his horror at the government sanctioned killings and reprisals of Prime Minister Lloyd George. During the General Strike of 1926, the King took exception to suggestions that the strikers were revolutionaries. He said: ‘Try living on their wages before you judge them.’

In 1932, George agreed to deliver a Royal Christmas speech on the radio which has now become an annual event. He was not keen on the idea but was persuaded by the argument that it was what his people wanted.

He was concerned by the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and warned the British ambassador in Berlin to be suspicious of the fascists.

The First World War took a heavy toll on George’s health and his heavy smoking made his breathing problems even worse. He suffered from emphysema, bronchitis, chronic obstructive lung disease and pleurisy.

In 1928 he fell seriously ill and his son Edward took over many of his duties for two years. On the evening of January 15th 1936, the King took to his bed at Sandringham House and never left his bedroom again.

A few days later his physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, issued a bulletin with the words which have become famous: ‘The King’s life is drawing peacefully to a close.’ He later admitted hastening the King’s end by giving him a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine to prevent further strain on his family and so that the news of his death could be announced in the morning edition of The Times. He died at 11.55pm on January 20th.

He is buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. 

King George V Ships              

Before the war she was part of a squadron of British ships which attended the Kiel regatta in 1914 and Kaiser Wilhelm 11 visited the ship on an inspection tour. She took part in the Battle of Jutland and survived the First World War. She was decommissioned in 1919 and used as a training ship between 1923-26 before being scrapped.

The second HMS King George V was the lead ship of the King George V class of battleship of 1939 – the year she was launched. Following the tradition of naming the first battleship constructed in the reign of a new monarch after the current monarch, she was due to be named King George V1. However, the King instructed the Admiralty to name the ship in honour of his father. She was built in Newcastle upon Tyne and commissioned in December 1940. The following year she began convoy escort duties and took part in the unsuccessful search for the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the Kriegsmarine Operation Berlin.

The ship was made the flagship of the Home Fleet after the destruction of HMS Hood and was involved in the chase and the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. On 27 May 1941 she fired 339 x 14 inch and 660 x 5.25 inch shells at Bismarck which helped to damage her superstructure and disable her weapons. Later that morning Bismarck sank.

While on escort duty in May 1942, HMS King George V collided with the destroyer HMS Punjabi resulting in the sinking of the destroyer.

HMS King George V covered the Operation Husky landings in Sicily and later took the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, back to Britain from the Teheran Conference. From 1944 until the surrender of Japan, HMS King George V served with the British Pacific Fleet and was present during the official surrender ceremony off the coast of Japan. She was re-commissioned as Flagship of the Home Fleet in 1946 but three years later she was decommissioned into the Reserve Fleet. She was scrapped at Dalmuir in 1957.