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George V,

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the reluctant sailor king

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who was never supposed
to take the throne.

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The sudden and unexpected death
of George's older brother

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is a cataclysmic blow.

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He dreaded the idea of being king,

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but he knew he had no choice.

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This is the story of a king
with two very different sides.

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In public, a man loved
by his people,

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and, with his wife,

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the architect of a popular
and successful monarchy.

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King George would have been
half the man without his wife.

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He completely relied on her.

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George made himself
relevant, visible,

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accessible to the people,

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and so managed to survive
and prosper.

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GEORGE: From my heart,
I thank my beloved people.

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But in private,

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George could be ruthless,
cold-hearted,

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and struggled with his emotions.

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He wasn't a good father.

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He was gruff.

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He had a filthy temper.

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The public never saw his anger.

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If they'd ever seen him
at home and going mad

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because someone was two minutes
late for lunch,

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they wouldn't believe
that he could be so petty.

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What do we really know
about George V,

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the king who would steer Britain
through the First World War?

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They liked him because, yes,
he did have a bad temper,

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but he was a king of the people.

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What made him the way he was?

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He was something of a perfectionist
who really liked discipline.

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It's something that he hadn't
really had in his upbringing.

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And how was his life and death
shrouded in dark secrecy?

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His death seems to be
slightly more sinister.

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It's kept quiet and
glossed over for 50 years.

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This is the story of King George V -

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tempers, tragedy and triumph.

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June 22nd, 1911.

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Britain has a new monarch
for the second time in a decade.

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George V takes the crown when
his father, King Edward VII,

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dies suddenly of a heart attack.

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Reigning in the shadow of
his formidable grandmother,

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Queen Victoria,

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George V would take
20th century Britain

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back to austere
Victorian principles.

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Yet behind the scenes,

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George is filled with anxiety
at the prospect of becoming king,

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writing his fears in his diary.

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"May God give me strength
and guidance

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"in the heavy task
which has fallen on me."

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George was dreading becoming king.

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He really did not want
this great responsibility.

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I think the whole idea of
having to go out into public

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and talk to the world is just
the worst thing he can imagine.

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George was never meant to be king.

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That role should have gone
to his brother, Albert.

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George V grew up on a beautiful,
enormous rural estate

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in Norfolk called Sandringham.

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The house which he grew up in

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had all the kind of
most modern mod cons,

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and around it were
miles and miles of land

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on which his father
shot birds and beasts.

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George was a very boisterous
little boy.

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He adored his older brother,

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and they would play
together nonstop.

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They were very, very bonded.

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George was the spare to his brother,
who was the heir,

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and so he wasn't brought up

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with any expectation that he would
one day become king himself.

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Family life was unconventional.

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The playboy lifestyle
of George's father

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was a constant strain on
his mother, Alexandra.

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Edward had started to have affairs

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once Alexandra started
to have children,

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and she couldn't really keep up
with his very active social life.

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They did not have such a close,
intimate relationship

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that she could actually rely
upon him, because he was too busy

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offing about every day with
his various girlfriends.

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His father's antics
would play a huge role

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in shaping George's values
and personality.

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Queen Victoria was not amused
by Edward's behaviour

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or the way her grandchildren
were being brought up.

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They just had this sort
of band of children,

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and they just did what they liked.

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Queen Victoria was very much

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a hands-on mother,
wife and grandmother.

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She would tell them off for
their very bad behaviour.

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She didn't like
to see them very much

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cos she couldn't stand the noise.

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Queen Victoria took charge when
it came to the children's education.

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She appointed clergyman
and strict disciplinarian

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John Dalton as their tutor.

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Queen Victoria was determined

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that the heir and
the spare to the throne

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would not turn out the way her son,

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their father, had turned out.

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There was a reason why Albert
and George were schooled together,

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which was that Albert
was not very bright,

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so he is going to need the support
of his younger brother, George.

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But both George and his brother
struggled with their studies.

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His frustrations would often
lead to explosive outbursts,

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a side of George that would
come to define his behaviour

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in years to come.

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Because his brother was
so much worse than him,

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George looked the brighter
of the two,

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but he also had a really bad temper.

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And this, you know, if there's
something he didn't understand

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or couldn't do, he could
really scream and shout.

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After six years of home schooling,

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the brothers showed little progress.

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When George was 12,

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he and Albert were sent away
to become naval cadets.

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But their sheltered childhood left
them unprepared for life on the sea.

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It was the first time they'd been
thrust into the company

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of all the boys, and George
found it very, very difficult.

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He'd been bullied because
he was the smallest.

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He was sort of regarded as different
because, of course, he was a prince.

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They had to really learn
to stand up for themselves,

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so I suppose it was psychologically
a good training

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for the rest of their lives.

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In 1879, as part of their training,

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the young princes set sail
aboard HMS Bacchante

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on a tour of the empire.

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They were thrown together
with ordinary seamen.

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They were midshipmen,
and they did what midshipmen do,

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and that's really
all the dirty stuff.

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Soon after the tour ended,
the brothers were split up.

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Albert was sent to Cambridge in
preparation for his life as king.

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George was without his brother and
best friend for the first time.

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This was one of the sort of
key moments in George's life,

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and so this separation hit him hard.

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George was left to continue
his career in the Navy.

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The Navy really was really
where George found his feet.

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He was something of a perfectionist
who really liked discipline,

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something that he hadn't
really had in his upbringing.

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He really loved this, and it
really shaped him as a man.

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He did all sorts of jobs.
He sort of...

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Sluicing out the latrines,
helping on the mess deck.

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He was expected to do everything.

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There was no quarter just because

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he happened to be the son
of the Prince of Wales

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and the grandson of
Queen Victoria.

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So George learnt the hard way,

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and it probably stood him
in good stead.

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He was very proud
of being a naval man.

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Where it was invaluable was that
it gave him the common touch

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in a way that no other royal prince
of Britain had ever had before.

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But in 1892, tragedy struck.

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George's brother Albert
died of influenza.

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A grieving George was
utterly devastated.

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The sudden and unexpected death
of George's older brother

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was a cataclysmic blow for George.

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They sort of helped each other.

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Each one made up for
the other's weaknesses.

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George, quite dramatically,
very much out of the blue,

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has to withdraw from the Navy.

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His whole future, his whole life
had been thrown up in the air.

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George's sadness at
his brother's death

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was compounded by the fear
of one day becoming king.

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It was devastating,

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because he'd always regarded him
as the person who sheltered him

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from the need to do any of
the things that a king did.

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George was given a title by
Queen Victoria - Duke of York.

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It was a recognition that his
position had changed dramatically

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from that of number three
in line, a prince,

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to that of number two in line.

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This wasn't the life that George
had expected or prepared for.

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And on top of that, it was decided
that the shy prince needed a wife.

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The bride would be
a surprising choice.

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I think the whole idea
actually repulsed him,

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but Queen Victoria keeps pushing
it and keeps pushing it

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and keeps pushing it,
and eventually George gives way.

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In 1892, as George was still coming
to terms with the sudden death

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of his brother and the idea
of one day becoming king,

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his grandmother, Queen Victoria,
was busy finding him a wife.

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The next thing that happens
is that Queen Victoria says,

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"We have to get George married,
and I have this perfect candidate."

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Queen Victoria had chosen
Princess Mary of Teck

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to be Albert's bride and
Britain's future queen.

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She had a fine sense of duty,

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and she had great reverence
for the crown.

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In Queen Victoria's eyes,

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manna from heaven.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly,

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George wasn't sold on the idea

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of marrying his dead
brother's fiancee,

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but Queen Victoria
had made her decision

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and was not one to be disobeyed.

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I think the whole idea
actually repulsed him,

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but Queen Victoria keeps pushing it
and keeps pushing it

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and keeps pushing it, and
eventually George gives way.

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He didn't really feel
very strongly for her,

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but he did what his grandmother
told him to do.

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George constantly struggled
with his emotions,

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and although he and Mary did
eventually fall in love,

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they found it hard to express
their feelings.

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There are numerous letters

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where they articulate how fond
they are of each other,

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but that they couldn't actually
say it in person.

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George found it very difficult
to express his adoration

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in words vocally, and therefore
he wrote a lot of notes.

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In fact, they wrote a lot
of notes to each other.

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Almost love letters.

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The couple were married
at St James's Palace

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00:12:03,740 --> 00:12:06,060
in the summer of 1893

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and began a modest life together
on the Sandringham estate.

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It was remarkably sort of austere,

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but it was exactly where
they felt most comfortable

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and where they could
live their life, really,

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as a sort of county gentry family
rather than as heirs to the throne.

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George didn't like grandeur.

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He didn't like fuss.

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He wanted a simple life.

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There's some wonderful things
that he didn't like,

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like he didn't like women
that wore nail varnish,

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and he didn't like modern music,

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and he didn't like opera or ballet,

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and he didn't like certain books,

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so he was...he was a bit
of a philistine, really.

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The loner prince found an outlet
for his frustrations

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with solitary pastimes.

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He's known for two hobbies
most of all.

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One is stamps and
the other is shooting.

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00:13:05,820 --> 00:13:11,300
He loved shooting, and it was felt
that he, by killing these birds,

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he got rid of a lot of
tension inside him.

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00:13:14,340 --> 00:13:16,940
He did have one of the world's
greatest stamp collections

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that had been started
by his uncle, Alfie.

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And every afternoon, he would
collect more cent stamps,

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get them sent from
all over the empire

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and stick them into his albums.

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There's a funny story about
his private secretary

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coming up to him one day and said,

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00:13:33,820 --> 00:13:39,180
"Aw, sir, I have just
read in today's Times

236
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"that some damn fool went
to a private auction

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"and paid £1,400
for just one stamp."

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He looked at him, thinking, "This is
a very interesting conversation

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the King would love to talk about."

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He said, "I am that damn fool."

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George also applied
his traditional austere values

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00:14:02,660 --> 00:14:04,540
to marriage with Mary.

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00:14:04,540 --> 00:14:06,780
He was nothing like
his playboy father.

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00:14:08,580 --> 00:14:11,420
Although George never
spoke disapprovingly

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00:14:11,420 --> 00:14:15,380
of his father's many affairs
and reputation as a philanderer,

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00:14:15,380 --> 00:14:19,180
I think he set himself to be very,
very different from his father

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00:14:19,180 --> 00:14:22,180
and to be devoted and
completely faithful.

248
00:14:22,180 --> 00:14:24,020
He was a committed Christian,

249
00:14:24,020 --> 00:14:25,900
read his Bible every day.

250
00:14:28,180 --> 00:14:30,940
But there were two sides to George.

251
00:14:30,940 --> 00:14:33,180
One was never shown in public.

252
00:14:33,180 --> 00:14:36,540
His temper often got
the better of him,

253
00:14:36,540 --> 00:14:38,780
particularly with his six children.

254
00:14:40,140 --> 00:14:42,020
But he wasn't a good father.

255
00:14:42,020 --> 00:14:43,260
He was gruff.

256
00:14:43,260 --> 00:14:45,460
He had a filthy temper.

257
00:14:45,460 --> 00:14:48,660
George V treated family
like he's the captain

258
00:14:48,660 --> 00:14:52,700
and everyone in the family
is a rating on the boat.

259
00:14:52,700 --> 00:14:57,100
He expected absolute obedience
from his children.

260
00:14:57,100 --> 00:15:02,740
He set out to terrorise them,
and to a large extent, did.

261
00:15:05,220 --> 00:15:08,820
George demanded similar levels
of compliance from Mary.

262
00:15:10,140 --> 00:15:13,020
George was completely controlling.

263
00:15:13,020 --> 00:15:17,220
He dictated what clothes
his wife would wear,

264
00:15:17,220 --> 00:15:19,060
how she would wear her hair.

265
00:15:19,060 --> 00:15:22,060
He didn't like the idea
that her ankles should show,

266
00:15:22,060 --> 00:15:24,300
so she always wore
very long dresses.

267
00:15:24,300 --> 00:15:26,980
He wanted her to be like a slave,

268
00:15:26,980 --> 00:15:30,620
to do absolutely everything
he told her to do.

269
00:15:31,860 --> 00:15:35,300
Queen Victoria's death
in January 1901

270
00:15:35,300 --> 00:15:39,180
moved George one step
closer to the throne,

271
00:15:39,180 --> 00:15:41,740
His father, the new King Edward VII,

272
00:15:41,740 --> 00:15:44,540
sent George and Mary
on an overseas tour.

273
00:15:46,620 --> 00:15:49,980
People were fascinated to see
what they looked like.

274
00:15:49,980 --> 00:15:55,900
And they came out in their hundreds
and their thousands to see them.

275
00:15:55,900 --> 00:15:59,700
They went to Ceylon,
which is now Sri Lanka.

276
00:15:59,700 --> 00:16:00,900
They went to Australia,

277
00:16:00,900 --> 00:16:05,340
where George opened the first
Australian parliament

278
00:16:05,340 --> 00:16:07,500
of the new Australian Commonwealth.

279
00:16:07,500 --> 00:16:09,860
They went to New Zealand.

280
00:16:09,860 --> 00:16:12,700
This was a proper royal
visit to the empire,

281
00:16:12,700 --> 00:16:14,300
and it was the first of its kind.

282
00:16:16,660 --> 00:16:19,460
When George and Mary
returned from the tour,

283
00:16:19,460 --> 00:16:22,140
they became the Prince
and Princess of Wales.

284
00:16:23,420 --> 00:16:26,620
It was a title George would hold
for less than a decade.

285
00:16:28,540 --> 00:16:34,540
In May 1910, George, the introverted
prince who hated public speaking,

286
00:16:34,540 --> 00:16:35,540
became king.

287
00:16:37,740 --> 00:16:41,260
I think being the King
of the United Kingdom

288
00:16:41,260 --> 00:16:43,900
is an awesome and daunting thing.

289
00:16:43,900 --> 00:16:47,540
And he's very grief stricken
at his father's death.

290
00:16:47,540 --> 00:16:49,420
He's loved his father.

291
00:16:49,420 --> 00:16:53,340
His father had always said,
"I regard you as a brother."

292
00:16:53,340 --> 00:16:55,220
The day after his father died,

293
00:16:55,220 --> 00:16:57,900
he went to visit his father's
privy counsellors,

294
00:16:57,900 --> 00:17:00,300
who were sort of royal advisers.

295
00:17:00,300 --> 00:17:03,460
He said it was the worst ordeal
he'd ever been through.

296
00:17:03,460 --> 00:17:06,380
A few months later,
he has to address Parliament,

297
00:17:06,380 --> 00:17:09,900
and everybody can see the papers
shaking in his hands.

298
00:17:11,260 --> 00:17:13,860
George had a strong sense of duty,

299
00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:18,020
but would rely heavily on Mary's
constant support and advice.

300
00:17:19,180 --> 00:17:22,340
I think the whole country
sort of knows that he's scared.

301
00:17:22,340 --> 00:17:26,980
He has learnt that duty
is everything.

302
00:17:26,980 --> 00:17:29,820
And he, you know, he does his duty,

303
00:17:29,820 --> 00:17:32,380
even though it means
that he's waking up

304
00:17:32,380 --> 00:17:34,580
at five o'clock in the morning
in a cold sweat

305
00:17:34,580 --> 00:17:37,580
and scribbling notes to himself.

306
00:17:37,580 --> 00:17:42,420
Mary adapted to the role of queen
absolutely perfectly,

307
00:17:42,420 --> 00:17:46,780
and she saw her role not as
being mother to her children,

308
00:17:46,780 --> 00:17:50,780
but as being, in a way,
a mother to her husband.

309
00:17:50,780 --> 00:17:53,420
At his coronation in 1911,

310
00:17:53,420 --> 00:17:56,620
George and Mary were
presented to the world.

311
00:17:56,620 --> 00:17:59,580
For this anxious new king
and his queen,

312
00:17:59,580 --> 00:18:01,340
it was a momentous occasion.

313
00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:05,580
It lasts hours and hours.
Heavy robes.

314
00:18:05,580 --> 00:18:07,180
You've got to get it right.

315
00:18:07,180 --> 00:18:08,820
You look at him in the pictures,

316
00:18:08,820 --> 00:18:11,860
and he seems to, like,
wear the robes magnificently,

317
00:18:11,860 --> 00:18:14,220
but I think at the beginning
of the reign,

318
00:18:14,220 --> 00:18:18,140
for somebody not particularly
well-educated,

319
00:18:18,140 --> 00:18:21,500
not particularly at ease
in large gatherings,

320
00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:23,380
I think it was really daunting.

321
00:18:23,380 --> 00:18:26,740
There's a funny little poem
by Max Beerbohm,

322
00:18:26,740 --> 00:18:30,980
a satirical writer of the time,
talking about the coronation.

323
00:18:30,980 --> 00:18:34,220
He talks about the little king,
cos he was very short,

324
00:18:34,220 --> 00:18:38,740
with the crown practically falling
over his head onto his nose,

325
00:18:38,740 --> 00:18:40,580
trying so, so hard,

326
00:18:40,580 --> 00:18:43,820
but just not really looking like
he's probably up to the job.

327
00:18:46,060 --> 00:18:49,540
And there wouldn't be any
easing into his new role.

328
00:18:49,540 --> 00:18:51,580
The challenges began immediately

329
00:18:51,580 --> 00:18:55,780
when King George was thrown
into a huge political crisis

330
00:18:55,780 --> 00:18:57,260
that took years to resolve.

331
00:18:59,220 --> 00:19:01,900
The situation when he became king
was really, really difficult

332
00:19:01,900 --> 00:19:05,180
and called on the King to intervene

333
00:19:05,180 --> 00:19:09,420
or at least engage
with politics in a way

334
00:19:09,420 --> 00:19:12,700
that really he would have felt
very uncomfortable with.

335
00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:14,540
The radical Liberal government,

336
00:19:14,540 --> 00:19:17,180
spearheaded by Asquith
and Lloyd George,

337
00:19:17,180 --> 00:19:20,140
of planning quite strong
financial reforms

338
00:19:20,140 --> 00:19:23,260
with death duties and raised taxes.

339
00:19:23,260 --> 00:19:26,740
The landed interest in the
aristocracy are threatened by this.

340
00:19:26,740 --> 00:19:31,260
So the House of Lords uses its
blocking powers very, very unusually

341
00:19:31,260 --> 00:19:35,140
to block the budget, so the moment
that he becomes king,

342
00:19:35,140 --> 00:19:39,020
he's got to intervene in this
enormous constitutional crisis

343
00:19:39,020 --> 00:19:41,180
and stop it all going wrong,

344
00:19:41,180 --> 00:19:42,940
stop the Government collapsing.

345
00:19:42,940 --> 00:19:47,660
He hates the idea, but eventually
he does give his promise

346
00:19:47,660 --> 00:19:51,100
that he will agree to make
lots of Liberal peers

347
00:19:51,100 --> 00:19:54,220
and swamp all those Tory aristocrats

348
00:19:54,220 --> 00:20:00,500
if the Tory aristocrats refuse
to get rid of the Lords' veto.

349
00:20:00,500 --> 00:20:06,060
The fact that George V
was prepared to do this

350
00:20:06,060 --> 00:20:11,100
shows that he was going
to realign the monarchy

351
00:20:11,100 --> 00:20:14,020
so that the monarchy
would be attached

352
00:20:14,020 --> 00:20:17,620
to the more ordinary elements

353
00:20:17,620 --> 00:20:22,060
and the non-hereditary elements
of British society.

354
00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:26,220
Within the first five years
of his reign,

355
00:20:26,220 --> 00:20:31,100
King George V was also faced
with the prospect of a world war

356
00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:34,900
and unease at his family's heritage.

357
00:20:34,900 --> 00:20:36,740
As Queen Victoria's grandson,

358
00:20:36,740 --> 00:20:39,860
he carried the family name
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

359
00:20:39,860 --> 00:20:41,420
It was German.

360
00:20:41,420 --> 00:20:43,180
Here we are at war with Germany.

361
00:20:43,180 --> 00:20:46,220
Why is our king having
a German name?

362
00:20:54,850 --> 00:20:59,330
In 1914, King George faced
the biggest challenge of his reign.

363
00:21:00,650 --> 00:21:04,370
On the 4th of August, Britain
declared war with Germany.

364
00:21:04,370 --> 00:21:07,410
Could a shy, short-tempered,
simple man

365
00:21:07,410 --> 00:21:10,090
really inspire and lead a nation

366
00:21:10,090 --> 00:21:12,850
through the horrors
of the Great War?

367
00:21:12,850 --> 00:21:16,410
The First World War was a war
that devastated Britain

368
00:21:16,410 --> 00:21:20,290
in the loss of thousands
and thousands of lives.

369
00:21:20,290 --> 00:21:23,330
This was a crisis like no other.

370
00:21:23,330 --> 00:21:27,490
The human cost, the economic cost,
the devastation.

371
00:21:29,130 --> 00:21:32,770
The war gave George
a real sense of purpose.

372
00:21:32,770 --> 00:21:39,050
He made more than 450 visits to
his troops scattered across Europe.

373
00:21:39,050 --> 00:21:40,930
That gave him a direction.

374
00:21:40,930 --> 00:21:44,090
He wasn't just standing there
making a boring speech.

375
00:21:44,090 --> 00:21:46,290
He was actually there
to help people,

376
00:21:46,290 --> 00:21:49,050
and I think that gave him
the courage to do all the things

377
00:21:49,050 --> 00:21:51,210
that he wouldn't normally
have liked doing,

378
00:21:51,210 --> 00:21:53,130
and it was really the making of him.

379
00:21:54,890 --> 00:21:58,370
But behind the scenes,
he endured a constant battle

380
00:21:58,370 --> 00:22:01,090
with his own emotions
and personality.

381
00:22:01,090 --> 00:22:04,010
So if the King was cantankerous
before the war,

382
00:22:04,010 --> 00:22:07,450
I think the war and the enormous
strain must have frayed his temper,

383
00:22:07,450 --> 00:22:10,130
made it harder to relate
to the children.

384
00:22:10,130 --> 00:22:13,730
I think it's fair to say that
he was a lot more petulant.

385
00:22:13,730 --> 00:22:17,690
Also, he decided to give up all
sorts of things for the war effort.

386
00:22:17,690 --> 00:22:20,730
You know, he agreed with Lloyd
George to give up drinking,

387
00:22:20,730 --> 00:22:24,490
and it just made him
very, very bad-tempered.

388
00:22:24,490 --> 00:22:28,730
And there were hugely serious issues
which emerged on the home front

389
00:22:28,730 --> 00:22:30,930
for the King and his family.

390
00:22:30,930 --> 00:22:33,770
Those that were left at home
resented the fact

391
00:22:33,770 --> 00:22:37,330
that here were our boys
in continental Europe

392
00:22:37,330 --> 00:22:41,170
getting shot to pieces while
there are people with German names

393
00:22:41,170 --> 00:22:44,730
living the life of Riley,
and they wouldn't stand for it.

394
00:22:44,730 --> 00:22:49,130
And so people with German names,
with German connection were attacked

395
00:22:49,130 --> 00:22:52,290
and were attacked mercilessly.

396
00:22:52,290 --> 00:22:56,170
With a German heritage
dating back to 1714

397
00:22:56,170 --> 00:22:58,890
and relatives dotted
all over Europe,

398
00:22:58,890 --> 00:23:02,970
the King's allegiance to Britain
was soon brought into question.

399
00:23:02,970 --> 00:23:05,650
A lot of rumours started
to go around

400
00:23:05,650 --> 00:23:08,450
that they were really pro-German

401
00:23:08,450 --> 00:23:12,370
and they were secretly passing
information to them.

402
00:23:12,370 --> 00:23:14,810
This is completely untrue.

403
00:23:14,810 --> 00:23:18,170
George was told he had
to withdraw all the titles

404
00:23:18,170 --> 00:23:21,210
his family and he himself
had given to his German relatives.

405
00:23:21,210 --> 00:23:23,890
So that was all very awkward.

406
00:23:23,890 --> 00:23:26,930
Across Europe, relatives
of King George V

407
00:23:26,930 --> 00:23:29,170
were thrown off their thrones,

408
00:23:29,170 --> 00:23:34,130
and the future of the British crown
was headed towards crisis.

409
00:23:34,130 --> 00:23:37,730
The story is that he was at a dinner
party at the palace one night,

410
00:23:37,730 --> 00:23:41,210
and a woman happened to let
slip that, in some quarters,

411
00:23:41,210 --> 00:23:43,410
it was thought that the royal family

412
00:23:43,410 --> 00:23:46,490
wasn't quite as loyal
to the British.

413
00:23:46,490 --> 00:23:48,930
George went absolutely white.

414
00:23:48,930 --> 00:23:52,050
He started to think, you know,
to ask himself what they could do

415
00:23:52,050 --> 00:23:53,130
to fix this.

416
00:23:53,130 --> 00:23:54,970
As Queen Victoria's grandson,

417
00:23:54,970 --> 00:23:59,250
he carried the family name
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

418
00:23:59,250 --> 00:24:00,690
It was German.

419
00:24:00,690 --> 00:24:02,530
Here we are at war with Germany.

420
00:24:02,530 --> 00:24:06,090
Why is our king having
a German name?

421
00:24:06,090 --> 00:24:08,970
And Lord Stamfordham,
his private secretary, said,

422
00:24:08,970 --> 00:24:11,370
"Sir, you've really got
to change the name."

423
00:24:13,370 --> 00:24:16,450
The King took drastic
and decisive action.

424
00:24:16,450 --> 00:24:20,810
He changed the family's surname
from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,

425
00:24:20,810 --> 00:24:24,250
and a new dynasty was
officially born.

426
00:24:24,250 --> 00:24:28,090
There was lots of thought given
as to what name they should take.

427
00:24:28,090 --> 00:24:30,570
Should it be Tudor-Stuart?

428
00:24:30,570 --> 00:24:34,090
And they came up with the brilliant
idea of the House of Windsor.

429
00:24:34,090 --> 00:24:36,090
This, of course,
had been, as it were,

430
00:24:36,090 --> 00:24:39,050
the home of the British monarch
since William the Conqueror,

431
00:24:39,050 --> 00:24:42,530
and so it was a brilliant piece
of image-making

432
00:24:42,530 --> 00:24:44,450
and rebranding of the monarchy.

433
00:24:45,770 --> 00:24:47,770
It was an instant success,

434
00:24:47,770 --> 00:24:50,130
but the King's relationship
with the public

435
00:24:50,130 --> 00:24:54,650
throughout war-torn Britain
needed nurturing.

436
00:24:54,650 --> 00:24:58,530
For a man who privately struggled
to connect with his own family,

437
00:24:58,530 --> 00:25:01,770
greeting strangers was a challenge.

438
00:25:01,770 --> 00:25:05,370
George found public appearances
genuinely anxious-making.

439
00:25:05,370 --> 00:25:07,730
He really, really didn't like them.

440
00:25:07,730 --> 00:25:11,810
He really wanted to be hiding away
with his stamp collection.

441
00:25:11,810 --> 00:25:14,010
And there's something
almost sort of heroic

442
00:25:14,010 --> 00:25:16,290
about this little man
just keeping going.

443
00:25:17,490 --> 00:25:21,570
Queen Mary continued to provide
unwavering support.

444
00:25:21,570 --> 00:25:24,290
George showed her state papers,
official papers,

445
00:25:24,290 --> 00:25:29,810
which no sovereign really should do,
but he sought Mary's wise counsel,

446
00:25:29,810 --> 00:25:32,090
and Mary had her head
screwed on the right way.

447
00:25:32,090 --> 00:25:35,170
She was very discreet.
Her judgment was good.

448
00:25:35,170 --> 00:25:37,690
And he trusted Mary,
and Mary trusted him.

449
00:25:39,490 --> 00:25:42,450
The secret to the King's
positive public image

450
00:25:42,450 --> 00:25:45,050
was largely down to his wife.

451
00:25:45,050 --> 00:25:48,050
George may have been forced
into marrying Mary,

452
00:25:48,050 --> 00:25:50,850
but she became his saviour.

453
00:25:50,850 --> 00:25:57,450
King George and Queen Mary were
one of the first power couples.

454
00:25:57,450 --> 00:25:59,730
They would go to hospitals.

455
00:25:59,730 --> 00:26:02,850
They would go anywhere
and talk to people.

456
00:26:02,850 --> 00:26:06,410
And I think it's one of
these women guile things

457
00:26:06,410 --> 00:26:08,450
that your husband
doesn't really notice,

458
00:26:08,450 --> 00:26:10,770
but you are changing him
because you're there

459
00:26:10,770 --> 00:26:12,530
and you're doing things together

460
00:26:12,530 --> 00:26:17,130
rather than leaving him on his own
and being left behind.

461
00:26:17,130 --> 00:26:18,730
It did soften them up.

462
00:26:18,730 --> 00:26:21,530
I think he couldn't have
done it on his own.

463
00:26:21,530 --> 00:26:24,370
In that very odd royal life,

464
00:26:24,370 --> 00:26:26,570
I think you need a help-meet.

465
00:26:26,570 --> 00:26:29,010
So Victoria had her Albert.

466
00:26:29,010 --> 00:26:30,610
George had his Mary.

467
00:26:30,610 --> 00:26:32,850
They were a fantastic
couple together,

468
00:26:32,850 --> 00:26:34,970
and I think they strengthened
each other.

469
00:26:36,890 --> 00:26:38,650
Yet there are further examples

470
00:26:38,650 --> 00:26:41,050
of George's apparent
lack of emotion,

471
00:26:41,050 --> 00:26:43,490
which were hidden from
the British people.

472
00:26:43,490 --> 00:26:47,490
During the war, one of his sons,
11-year-old Prince John,

473
00:26:47,490 --> 00:26:49,170
was moved from his home

474
00:26:49,170 --> 00:26:52,410
and effectively vanished
from the public eye.

475
00:26:52,410 --> 00:26:56,850
From the age of four,
John had suffered from epilepsy.

476
00:26:56,850 --> 00:26:59,770
They actually sent him
to live at Wood Farm

477
00:26:59,770 --> 00:27:01,410
on the Sandringham estate.

478
00:27:01,410 --> 00:27:03,930
They never knew when he was
going to have the fits.

479
00:27:03,930 --> 00:27:07,490
And in those days,
it was really people

480
00:27:07,490 --> 00:27:10,890
with any kind of sort of
disability were shut away,

481
00:27:10,890 --> 00:27:14,130
but I think, by today's standard,
it was horribly cruel.

482
00:27:14,130 --> 00:27:16,010
He might have been autistic.

483
00:27:16,010 --> 00:27:21,770
It does seem to be the case
that the family rather hid John.

484
00:27:21,770 --> 00:27:25,130
He's not in any of George's
official biographies.

485
00:27:26,530 --> 00:27:28,810
The king's treatment
of his youngest son

486
00:27:28,810 --> 00:27:32,290
was perhaps influenced
by his own absent father,

487
00:27:32,290 --> 00:27:36,450
and he was heavily criticised
by Edward, his eldest, in letters.

488
00:27:42,450 --> 00:27:46,250
Prince John's life was
a mystery for many years.

489
00:27:46,250 --> 00:27:48,810
Decades later,
his story was revealed

490
00:27:48,810 --> 00:27:52,530
in the critically acclaimed
BBC drama The Lost Prince.

491
00:27:55,770 --> 00:27:57,930
We had been playing with foreigners.

492
00:27:57,930 --> 00:28:01,530
I told you not to do that!

493
00:28:01,530 --> 00:28:02,530
Never!

494
00:28:05,450 --> 00:28:08,610
Prince John later died
of an epileptic seizure.

495
00:28:09,730 --> 00:28:13,090
I think Mary was very upset
when he died.

496
00:28:13,090 --> 00:28:16,050
Both parents had a deep
feeling for him.

497
00:28:16,050 --> 00:28:18,250
They just didn't know
what to do with him,

498
00:28:18,250 --> 00:28:21,810
and they were both kind of
very bad at showing emotion.

499
00:28:25,290 --> 00:28:29,530
By 1917, the popularity of
the crown was soaring,

500
00:28:29,530 --> 00:28:32,770
but King George's heritage
came back to haunt him

501
00:28:32,770 --> 00:28:37,090
in the form of his cousin,
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

502
00:28:37,090 --> 00:28:40,450
George would have said that
one of his closest friends

503
00:28:40,450 --> 00:28:44,010
was his first cousin,
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

504
00:28:44,010 --> 00:28:48,570
And as kids, they had met
on family holidays in Denmark.

505
00:28:48,570 --> 00:28:50,890
They were very similar.
They were very shy.

506
00:28:50,890 --> 00:28:54,090
They neither of them really
wanted to be monarchs.

507
00:28:55,490 --> 00:28:59,130
In the Russian February
Revolution of 1917,

508
00:28:59,130 --> 00:29:01,530
Tsar Nicholas was
forced off his throne

509
00:29:01,530 --> 00:29:05,610
and his request for asylum
in Britain was accepted.

510
00:29:05,610 --> 00:29:09,810
But behind palace walls,
this invitation sparked a worry.

511
00:29:09,810 --> 00:29:12,050
For some extraordinary reason,

512
00:29:12,050 --> 00:29:16,570
George decided it would be
a really, really bad idea

513
00:29:16,570 --> 00:29:19,130
if they were given asylum,

514
00:29:19,130 --> 00:29:21,930
and he felt that their presence
in this country

515
00:29:21,930 --> 00:29:24,850
would provoke a possible revolution.

516
00:29:24,850 --> 00:29:26,330
The Government didn't think that.

517
00:29:26,330 --> 00:29:30,890
They were quite happy to send
a warship and collect them.

518
00:29:30,890 --> 00:29:33,490
The offer of asylum was withdrawn,

519
00:29:33,490 --> 00:29:38,250
and King George seemed to be at the
heart of the controversial decision.

520
00:29:38,250 --> 00:29:40,930
George agreed that
Nicholas and Alexandra

521
00:29:40,930 --> 00:29:43,170
could not come to
the United Kingdom,

522
00:29:43,170 --> 00:29:47,410
and it was up to Stamfordham
to tell the Government

523
00:29:47,410 --> 00:29:51,130
that the King was not happy
for it to happen.

524
00:29:51,130 --> 00:29:53,850
The King's decision
may have been a reaction

525
00:29:53,850 --> 00:29:56,050
from his difficult childhood.

526
00:29:56,050 --> 00:29:58,890
An absent father,
a harsh grandmother,

527
00:29:58,890 --> 00:30:00,450
and the death of his brother

528
00:30:00,450 --> 00:30:04,690
hugely impacted the King
throughout his life.

529
00:30:04,690 --> 00:30:09,490
I think children who are brought up
in an unhappy environment

530
00:30:09,490 --> 00:30:14,410
have to harden their heart
in order to cope for the future,

531
00:30:14,410 --> 00:30:19,690
and I think that perhaps
he hardened his heart too much,

532
00:30:19,690 --> 00:30:22,730
and he could be very ruthless.

533
00:30:22,730 --> 00:30:29,370
He wouldn't let emotion rule
a logical political decision.

534
00:30:29,370 --> 00:30:32,050
It must have been something
that he'd inherited,

535
00:30:32,050 --> 00:30:34,250
this feeling that, you know,

536
00:30:34,250 --> 00:30:38,730
it was his duty to protect the
monarchy and to protect his country,

537
00:30:38,730 --> 00:30:41,490
which I suppose
you can't knock that,

538
00:30:41,490 --> 00:30:43,650
but it was a very harsh thing to do.

539
00:30:45,450 --> 00:30:49,650
In July 1918, the Tsar and
his family were executed

540
00:30:49,650 --> 00:30:51,050
by the Bolsheviks,

541
00:30:51,050 --> 00:30:55,010
as graphically depicted in
the BBC drama The Lost Prince.

542
00:30:57,210 --> 00:31:01,570
MAN: Somewhere in the farmhouse,
they were grouped together.

543
00:31:01,570 --> 00:31:02,770
And they were all shot.

544
00:31:04,530 --> 00:31:05,530
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

545
00:31:07,050 --> 00:31:11,250
IN RUSSIAN

546
00:31:11,250 --> 00:31:13,610
GUNSHOTS, SCREAMING

547
00:31:21,090 --> 00:31:23,930
Nicolas never knew
that it was George.

548
00:31:23,930 --> 00:31:27,450
He always thought that it was
the British Government

549
00:31:27,450 --> 00:31:30,490
who refused to rescue him
and his family,

550
00:31:30,490 --> 00:31:34,170
and he went to his death thinking
that all the way through.

551
00:31:34,170 --> 00:31:37,410
But history has shown that
it was not the Government,

552
00:31:37,410 --> 00:31:39,610
but it was George.

553
00:31:39,610 --> 00:31:42,530
It was another cold-hearted
decision,

554
00:31:42,530 --> 00:31:47,090
exposing a dark side of the King's
complex personality.

555
00:31:47,090 --> 00:31:49,290
I think it is very ruthless.

556
00:31:49,290 --> 00:31:51,490
It's the act of a weak man
who's frightened,

557
00:31:51,490 --> 00:31:55,410
and it is, in many respects,
a rather awful thing to do

558
00:31:55,410 --> 00:31:59,450
to the person who you said is one of
your greatest and closest friends.

559
00:31:59,450 --> 00:32:03,930
In retrospect, it looks ruthless,
but it really is not clear cut.

560
00:32:03,930 --> 00:32:06,370
It would have been very,
very hard in practice

561
00:32:06,370 --> 00:32:08,970
to get them out of Russia
and save them,

562
00:32:08,970 --> 00:32:13,210
and I think that when the King
turned his back on them,

563
00:32:13,210 --> 00:32:16,730
he didn't necessarily know that they
were going to be horribly murdered.

564
00:32:18,490 --> 00:32:23,010
In November 1918, war finally
came to an end.

565
00:32:23,010 --> 00:32:28,170
Despite the tragedies, the Crown
and country had triumphed.

566
00:32:28,170 --> 00:32:33,890
He was astonished to see so many
hundreds of people cheering

567
00:32:33,890 --> 00:32:37,010
and saying, "God save the King,
God save the King."

568
00:32:37,010 --> 00:32:38,530
And he said, you know,

569
00:32:38,530 --> 00:32:42,010
"I can't believe this is happening
to an ordinary man like me."

570
00:32:43,090 --> 00:32:47,770
The war had deeply affected the King
and changed his family forever.

571
00:32:47,770 --> 00:32:51,850
But to the British people,
he emerged from it a different man.

572
00:32:51,850 --> 00:32:55,810
If you look at him very carefully
in all the photographs,

573
00:32:55,810 --> 00:32:59,850
he had the saddest eyes
you could imagine.

574
00:32:59,850 --> 00:33:05,450
For many years until after
the war when they soften,

575
00:33:05,450 --> 00:33:09,450
he's changed and he doesn't feel
so negatively about himself.

576
00:33:11,370 --> 00:33:13,610
However, behind closed doors,

577
00:33:13,610 --> 00:33:17,170
the King's fiery temperament
had far from softened,

578
00:33:17,170 --> 00:33:21,410
especially with his eldest son
and heir to the throne.

579
00:33:21,410 --> 00:33:24,250
I mean, George saw the way
he was behaving

580
00:33:24,250 --> 00:33:28,010
and really sort of metaphorically
threw his hands up and thought,

581
00:33:28,010 --> 00:33:30,450
"God help the monarchy
when he becomes king."

582
00:33:30,450 --> 00:33:35,450
And is there one final sensational
secret about George V's death?

583
00:33:35,450 --> 00:33:38,250
His death seems to have been
slightly sinister.

584
00:33:38,250 --> 00:33:43,810
It's kept quiet and glossed
over for 50 years.

585
00:33:49,450 --> 00:33:52,730
King George V had emerged
more popular than ever

586
00:33:52,730 --> 00:33:54,170
from the Great War,

587
00:33:54,170 --> 00:33:55,930
and, together with Queen Mary,

588
00:33:55,930 --> 00:33:59,930
had redefined the monarchy
for a modern age.

589
00:33:59,930 --> 00:34:04,570
However, the post-war years were
equally challenging for George.

590
00:34:04,570 --> 00:34:06,610
To keep himself relevant,

591
00:34:06,610 --> 00:34:10,370
he'd have to embrace the
ever-changing face of Britain.

592
00:34:10,370 --> 00:34:13,330
We had the general strike in 1926,

593
00:34:13,330 --> 00:34:17,010
when tens of thousands
went out on strike

594
00:34:17,010 --> 00:34:19,210
because they were paid a pittance,

595
00:34:19,210 --> 00:34:22,250
and it was then that George sort of
to said a peer of the realm

596
00:34:22,250 --> 00:34:24,810
who talked about these people
being revolutionaries,

597
00:34:24,810 --> 00:34:26,690
George said, "They're not
revolutionaries.

598
00:34:26,690 --> 00:34:29,370
"You try living on their salary
and see how you feel."

599
00:34:29,370 --> 00:34:32,330
He was very angry.
He was a man of the people.

600
00:34:32,330 --> 00:34:37,250
He became more sympathetic and even
empathetic to working people,

601
00:34:37,250 --> 00:34:40,850
and I think that was partly
his own experiences of the war,

602
00:34:40,850 --> 00:34:45,250
but I think it was also very much
the actions and the beliefs of Mary,

603
00:34:45,250 --> 00:34:48,530
who had this real keen sense
of social justice.

604
00:34:49,690 --> 00:34:52,250
George V seemed to try
to put Britain

605
00:34:52,250 --> 00:34:54,570
before everything else in his life.

606
00:34:54,570 --> 00:34:57,170
Really went outside his comfort zone

607
00:34:57,170 --> 00:35:00,690
and his natural instincts
and actually accepted change,

608
00:35:00,690 --> 00:35:02,370
and perhaps even embraced it.

609
00:35:04,610 --> 00:35:07,170
This willingness to move
with the times

610
00:35:07,170 --> 00:35:11,410
meant King George's public image
was at an all-time high.

611
00:35:11,410 --> 00:35:14,770
But in private, it was
a very different story.

612
00:35:14,770 --> 00:35:17,170
George's behaviour
towards his children

613
00:35:17,170 --> 00:35:19,970
arguably had a profound effect,

614
00:35:19,970 --> 00:35:22,170
especially when it came
to his son and heir,

615
00:35:22,170 --> 00:35:25,250
Prince Edward, often known as David.

616
00:35:25,250 --> 00:35:27,250
He did not like the way he dressed.

617
00:35:27,250 --> 00:35:29,450
He thought he was
far too cosmopolitan.

618
00:35:29,450 --> 00:35:32,850
He thought he had an inkling
for the good life,

619
00:35:32,850 --> 00:35:37,810
and he criticised him
at every possible opportunity.

620
00:35:37,810 --> 00:35:40,170
He complains endlessly
about his dad.

621
00:35:40,170 --> 00:35:41,970
I mean, he's furious with him.

622
00:35:41,970 --> 00:35:44,170
He complains that he's a tyrant,

623
00:35:44,170 --> 00:35:47,170
that his rages are
endless and unfair,

624
00:35:47,170 --> 00:35:51,770
and he also, I think, he resents
him terribly for having been,

625
00:35:51,770 --> 00:35:55,810
you know, rude and bullying
to his mother as well.

626
00:35:55,810 --> 00:36:00,330
There was no love lost in this
turbulent father-son relationship.

627
00:36:00,330 --> 00:36:03,010
Tensions had been brewing
since childhood

628
00:36:03,010 --> 00:36:05,170
and were close to boiling point.

629
00:36:05,170 --> 00:36:07,570
I think that David feels resentful

630
00:36:07,570 --> 00:36:10,210
about how he'd been treated
as a younger man.

631
00:36:10,210 --> 00:36:13,290
The tension grows and the void
becomes a chasm.

632
00:36:14,450 --> 00:36:16,650
Prince Edward's lifestyle
can be seen

633
00:36:16,650 --> 00:36:18,890
as a direct rebellion
against his father,

634
00:36:18,890 --> 00:36:21,170
and it infuriated George,

635
00:36:21,170 --> 00:36:23,210
especially his relationships,

636
00:36:23,210 --> 00:36:28,010
evoking memories of George's
own father's illicit affairs.

637
00:36:28,010 --> 00:36:30,210
He was hopping in and
out of bed with them,

638
00:36:30,210 --> 00:36:32,250
much to his father's disgust.

639
00:36:32,250 --> 00:36:34,770
I mean, George looked at David

640
00:36:34,770 --> 00:36:38,530
and really sort of metaphorically
threw his hands up and thought,

641
00:36:38,530 --> 00:36:41,570
"God help the monarchy
when he becomes king."

642
00:36:41,570 --> 00:36:44,650
And when Wallis Simpson
emerged onto the scene,

643
00:36:44,650 --> 00:36:47,250
the relationship between
George and Edward,

644
00:36:47,250 --> 00:36:49,530
who was known as David
by his father,

645
00:36:49,530 --> 00:36:51,850
was damaged beyond repair.

646
00:36:51,850 --> 00:36:54,050
But David really didn't care.

647
00:36:54,050 --> 00:36:57,450
At a reception at Buckingham Palace
held by the King and Queen,

648
00:36:57,450 --> 00:37:00,010
at which David was
supposed to be there,

649
00:37:00,010 --> 00:37:03,690
and David asked his parents
if he could invite Wallis,

650
00:37:03,690 --> 00:37:07,210
and the King said, "No, she cannot
come to Buckingham Palace."

651
00:37:07,210 --> 00:37:08,970
And during the course of the party,

652
00:37:08,970 --> 00:37:11,690
Wallis turned up, and
father went apoplectic.

653
00:37:13,690 --> 00:37:16,210
The King's endless worries
about his son

654
00:37:16,210 --> 00:37:18,610
couldn't have come at a worse time.

655
00:37:18,610 --> 00:37:21,490
Little did the public know
that, in private,

656
00:37:21,490 --> 00:37:25,170
he was suffering mentally
and physically.

657
00:37:25,170 --> 00:37:29,650
He was a smoker, and he suffered
a bout of severe bronchitis

658
00:37:29,650 --> 00:37:33,490
and really did become
very visibly ill,

659
00:37:33,490 --> 00:37:36,810
and his lungs really
never recovered.

660
00:37:36,810 --> 00:37:41,210
It definitely made him sort of
grumpier and more petulant.

661
00:37:41,210 --> 00:37:43,770
He rattles the cage a bit more.

662
00:37:43,770 --> 00:37:45,890
And he gets more and
more melancholy.

663
00:37:46,970 --> 00:37:49,050
However, there was one Windsor

664
00:37:49,050 --> 00:37:51,490
who managed to escape
the King's wrath

665
00:37:51,490 --> 00:37:55,890
and brought out the best in him -
his granddaughter, Elizabeth.

666
00:37:55,890 --> 00:37:59,290
George V adored his granddaughter,
Lilibet.

667
00:37:59,290 --> 00:38:01,050
He could see no wrong.

668
00:38:01,050 --> 00:38:03,210
She called him Grandpa England.

669
00:38:03,210 --> 00:38:05,010
Here was this gruff man,

670
00:38:05,010 --> 00:38:08,330
this man who castigated
his own children

671
00:38:08,330 --> 00:38:11,170
from one end of their life
to the other end,

672
00:38:11,170 --> 00:38:14,410
and yet, in her company, he melted.

673
00:38:18,210 --> 00:38:21,810
In 1932, King George
started a tradition

674
00:38:21,810 --> 00:38:26,210
that would one day be carried on
by his beloved granddaughter.

675
00:38:26,210 --> 00:38:30,490
The BBC contacted the palace
with an innovative idea,

676
00:38:30,490 --> 00:38:32,090
one that would bring the Crown

677
00:38:32,090 --> 00:38:34,610
closer to its people
than ever before -

678
00:38:34,610 --> 00:38:37,690
a Christmas message on
wireless to the empire.

679
00:38:37,690 --> 00:38:39,650
It was quite a performance.
It was live.

680
00:38:39,650 --> 00:38:41,890
It was done from his study
at Sandringham.

681
00:38:41,890 --> 00:38:45,530
It was an extraordinary
feat of engineering.

682
00:38:45,530 --> 00:38:49,010
The King read out a speech
written by Rudyard Kipling

683
00:38:49,010 --> 00:38:51,810
to an audience of around
20 million people.

684
00:38:53,210 --> 00:39:01,130
GEORGE: I speak now from my home
and from my heart to you all.

685
00:39:03,170 --> 00:39:10,170
To men and women
so cut off by the snows,

686
00:39:10,170 --> 00:39:14,010
the desert, or the sea,

687
00:39:14,010 --> 00:39:20,490
that only voices out of
the air can reach them.

688
00:39:20,490 --> 00:39:23,530
People really, really like it.
It's a huge success.

689
00:39:23,530 --> 00:39:27,370
And so it begins the tradition
whereby the monarch of the day

690
00:39:27,370 --> 00:39:29,370
makes an address on Christmas Day.

691
00:39:31,730 --> 00:39:36,330
In 1935, George's devotion
and duty to his people

692
00:39:36,330 --> 00:39:41,290
was celebrated on the streets
for the King's Silver Jubilee.

693
00:39:41,290 --> 00:39:45,490
How could I fail to be
most deeply moved?

694
00:39:47,010 --> 00:39:51,490
Words cannot express
my thoughts and feelings.

695
00:39:53,370 --> 00:39:59,010
I can only say to you,
my very dear people,

696
00:39:59,010 --> 00:40:05,090
that the Queen and I thank you
from the depths of our hearts.

697
00:40:05,090 --> 00:40:07,290
And it really is a zenith for him.

698
00:40:07,290 --> 00:40:09,690
He says at the end of
that particular day,

699
00:40:09,690 --> 00:40:11,650
"Maybe they like me for myself."

700
00:40:11,650 --> 00:40:14,450
George actually, at the essence,

701
00:40:14,450 --> 00:40:18,090
was actually quite a modest,
humble and simple man.

702
00:40:18,090 --> 00:40:21,730
He was doing his duty,
just as he'd done in the Navy.

703
00:40:21,730 --> 00:40:23,650
So I think he was a bit surprised

704
00:40:23,650 --> 00:40:26,090
to see how much he was
genuinely loved.

705
00:40:28,290 --> 00:40:30,330
By the start of the following year,

706
00:40:30,330 --> 00:40:33,570
the King's health was
rapidly declining.

707
00:40:33,570 --> 00:40:38,490
His life was placed in the hands
of his doctor, Lord Dawson.

708
00:40:38,490 --> 00:40:40,210
He fell ill with a cold,

709
00:40:40,210 --> 00:40:45,250
and after five days,
he was still bedridden,

710
00:40:45,250 --> 00:40:49,050
and he was obviously going.

711
00:40:50,810 --> 00:40:53,650
The King died aged 70,

712
00:40:53,650 --> 00:40:58,130
but for many years, what happened
that night was kept secret.

713
00:40:58,130 --> 00:41:01,210
His death seems to have been
slightly sinister.

714
00:41:01,210 --> 00:41:05,890
It's kept quiet and glossed
over for 50 years.

715
00:41:07,930 --> 00:41:13,250
In 1986, Lord Dawson's diary was
released from the Royal Archives,

716
00:41:13,250 --> 00:41:16,370
and a sensational secret
was finally revealed.

717
00:41:23,610 --> 00:41:25,010
Dawson later writes...

718
00:41:37,050 --> 00:41:40,370
Mary, she was certainly not
somebody who would condone

719
00:41:40,370 --> 00:41:42,530
for a moment euthanasia.

720
00:41:42,530 --> 00:41:44,450
She was highly religious,

721
00:41:44,450 --> 00:41:48,770
and she said neither
one thing or another,

722
00:41:48,770 --> 00:41:51,170
but she let her feelings be known.

723
00:41:51,170 --> 00:41:56,010
They also manipulated it
so that he would die

724
00:41:56,010 --> 00:41:57,890
just before midnight

725
00:41:57,890 --> 00:42:02,370
so that his death would make
the front page of The Times

726
00:42:02,370 --> 00:42:04,330
the following day,

727
00:42:04,330 --> 00:42:07,450
and that was the King's
favourite newspaper.

728
00:42:09,290 --> 00:42:11,010
The King was dead,

729
00:42:11,010 --> 00:42:14,690
a king who had led
two very different lives,

730
00:42:14,690 --> 00:42:18,930
and the actions of Dawson
that night have divided opinion.

731
00:42:18,930 --> 00:42:23,210
There's been this argument
about whether it was murder,

732
00:42:23,210 --> 00:42:25,890
whether it was euthanasia.

733
00:42:25,890 --> 00:42:27,250
If you look at it objectively,

734
00:42:27,250 --> 00:42:33,810
it's a huge decision to make to kill
a king without absolute authority.

735
00:42:33,810 --> 00:42:39,610
It's a very, very dark
but interesting mystery.

736
00:42:39,610 --> 00:42:43,010
People were saying, "Well, in
effect, he murdered the King."

737
00:42:43,010 --> 00:42:46,210
You know, this is a very
controversial subject these days.

738
00:42:46,210 --> 00:42:49,330
But then I think that
the medical team

739
00:42:49,330 --> 00:42:53,650
certainly had more power
than they would have today.

740
00:42:53,650 --> 00:42:55,850
Was it the right thing to do?

741
00:42:55,850 --> 00:42:58,490
It is not for us to judge.

742
00:42:58,490 --> 00:43:01,450
But would the King have survived?

743
00:43:01,450 --> 00:43:03,490
The answer is probably not.

744
00:43:03,490 --> 00:43:06,130
Would he have suffered?
Undoubtedly, yes.

745
00:43:09,810 --> 00:43:13,250
King George V was a monarch
like no other,

746
00:43:13,250 --> 00:43:17,930
a king who kept his emotions secret
and his true self hidden.

747
00:43:17,930 --> 00:43:20,410
The public never saw his anger.

748
00:43:20,410 --> 00:43:22,730
If they'd ever seen him
at home and going mad

749
00:43:22,730 --> 00:43:26,210
because someone was two minutes
late for lunch,

750
00:43:26,210 --> 00:43:29,130
they wouldn't believe
that he could be so petty.

751
00:43:29,130 --> 00:43:32,970
But it just shows you that we're
all a very peculiar combination.

752
00:43:32,970 --> 00:43:36,730
Much of the behind-scenes George V

753
00:43:36,730 --> 00:43:40,970
has only emerged in biographies
after his death,

754
00:43:40,970 --> 00:43:44,650
so he might have had a fairly
perfect image when he died,

755
00:43:44,650 --> 00:43:47,570
but the reality was not quite that.

756
00:43:47,570 --> 00:43:50,730
Despite his problems and
his private tragedies,

757
00:43:50,730 --> 00:43:54,410
the public reign of King George V
was a triumph.

758
00:43:54,410 --> 00:43:58,730
He strengthened the crown at a time
when other monarchies were crumbling

759
00:43:58,730 --> 00:44:01,530
and brought stability to Britain.

760
00:44:01,530 --> 00:44:04,970
He was a king who seemed to put
Britain and his sense of duty

761
00:44:04,970 --> 00:44:09,450
before his family and even
before his own happiness.

762
00:44:09,450 --> 00:44:15,370
George made himself relevant,
visible, accessible to the people,

763
00:44:15,370 --> 00:44:19,730
and so managed to survive
and prosper.

764
00:44:19,730 --> 00:44:22,170
So he gave the family a name,

765
00:44:22,170 --> 00:44:24,890
and he gave the family continuity,

766
00:44:24,890 --> 00:44:27,090
and he gave the family respect,

767
00:44:27,090 --> 00:44:30,730
respect that it has earned out
in the great wide world.

768
00:44:33,250 --> 00:44:36,530
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