Loryn's British Royalty Page
The House of Windsor
George V the Sailor King (6/3/1865 - 1/20/1936)
- Born at Marlborough House, London
- Married Princess Mary of Teck on 7/6/1893
- Children - Edward, Prince of Wales; George, Duke of York; Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood; Henry, Duke of Gloucester; George, Duke of Kent; John
- Succeeded as King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India on 5/6/1910
- Died at Sandringham of pneumonia following general weakness
- Buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor
- George V entered the Royal Navy in 1877, after an active naval career and successive promotions, he rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral in 1903. He was created Duke of York in 1892 and Prince of Wales in 1901. The outstanding event of his reign was World War I (1914-18). Following England's declaration of war on Germany, he renounced all German titles belonging to him and his family. Originally of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, George V changed the name of the royal house to Windsor in 1917.
Edward VIII (6/23/1894 - 5/28/1972)
- Born at White Lodge, Richmond Park
- Married Wallis Warfield Simpson on 6/1937 in France
- No recorded children
- Succeeded as King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the seas, Emperor of India on 1/20/1936. Abdicated on 12/11/1936
- Died in Paris, France, from cancer
- Buried at Frogmore, Windsor
- In 1907 David, as his family knew him, entered the naval preparatory college at Osborne. He studied at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, from 1909 to 1911. As a midshipman in 1911, David was assigned to HMS Hindustan for three months. In the spring of 1912, he went to France to learn the language and history before he entered Magdalen College, Oxford University. At the outbreak of World War I, David left Oxford to join the Grenadier Guards in 1914. He served in various capacities in the war in France, Italy, Flanders, Egypt, and Belgium. He spent part of 1919 studying industrial and social conditions in Cornwall and other British industrial cities. In 1919, he went on the first of his tours, going to Canada and briefly to the United States. Subsequent trips included Australia, New Zealand, and the West Indies (1919-20), India (1921-22), Belgium (1923), British South Africa and South America (1925), and South America (1931). From the late 1920s to early 1930s, David was an active supporter of slum-clearance projects, aid to the unemployed, and improvement of mine conditions. Also he was interested in promoting British industry, especially motion picture production.
- David was proclaimed King Edward VIII on 20 January 1936 upon his father's death. Rumors circulated of his relationship with Wallis Warfield Simpson, who got her second divorce during the last week of October 1936. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin counseled Edward, as King and head of the Church of England, to give her up; Churchill thought Edward should marry whomever he chose; public opinion was split. Edward told Baldwin in private in November that he would marry Mrs Simpson. The Cabinet had advised against a morganatic marriage. On 11 December 1936, Edward VIII abdicated in favor of his brother George, Duke of York. David was given the title Duke of Windsor by the new King and left England. He settled first in Enzesfeld, Austria, where he lived until his marriage to Wallis Warfield Simpson at the Chateau de Cande near Tours, France.
- David would not return to England for eight years because his wife wasn't given the privileges of a royal duchess. They visited Germany in 1937 and met with Hitler, Goebbels, and Goring. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, he was commissioned a major general in the British Expeditionary Forces and engaged in liaison work in France. He was appointed Governor of the Bahamas in August 1940 and served there until March 1945. Later that year, David returned to England to visit his mother. Since the Duchess wasn't invited, David did not attend the 1947 wedding of his niece Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten. At his brother the King's funeral in 1952, David took part in a British royal ceremony for the first time since his abdication. The Duke and Duchess did not attend the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1951 David published "A King's Story." The Duchess wrote The Heart Has Its Reasons. The Duke died on 28 May 1972 in France. He was given a state funeral and private burial at Frogmore.
George VI (12/14/1895 - 2/6/1952)
- Born at York Cottage, Sandringham
- Married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on 4/26/1923 in Westminster Abbey
- Children - Elizabeth; Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
- Succeeded as King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the seas, Emperor of India on 12/11/1936. Discontinued title of Emperor of India in 1947
- Died at Sandringham from cancer
- Buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor
- Bertie, as his family knew him, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at the Royal Naval College, Isle of Wight. He succeeded after his brother's abdication in 1936. After his coronation in 1937, he and his wife began a series of goodwill state visits - France (1937) and Canada and the United States (1939). These visits stopped during World War II (1939-45). They were resumed in 1947; the King and Queen spent several months in South Africa. A 1944 visit to Australia was canceled due to an illness of his. The outstanding events of his reign include World War II (1939-45) and the relinquishment of the royal title Emperor of India following the 1947 partition of India into the dominions of Pakistan and India.
Elizabeth II (4/21/1926 - present)
- Born at 17 Bruton Street, London
- Married Lt. Philip Mountbatten of Greece on 11/20/1947 in Westminster Abbey
- Children - Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Andrew, Duke of York; Edward, Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn
- Succeeded as Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth on 2/6/1952
All information © 2000, S.L. Cearley
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