Biography
George V was the King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the second son of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark. George outlived his older brother Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (1864-1892), who died during a flu pandemic in the early 1890s. George served as the heir to the throne from 1901 to 1910, and eventually succeeded his father. George's reign covered the entire World War I (1914-1918) and much of the interwar period (1918-1939). In 1917, George changed the name of the British royal house from House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to House of Windsor. in reaction to anti-German public sentiment in the UK. George appointed the first Labour ministry in 1924, and in 1931 he was the founding monarch of the Commonwealth of Nations. George suffered from smoking-related health problems, and he was incapacitated and terminally ill by January 1936. His physician euthanized him. Two of George's sons subsequently reigned as Edward VIII (reigned 1936) and George VI (reigned 1936-1952).
In 1865, George was born in London. At the time, his father was the heir apparent of the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901). George's maternal grandfather was Christian IX of Denmark (reigned 1863-1906), who was nicknamed as "the father-in-law of Europe" for marrying most of his children into the leading royal families of Europe. As the second son of his father, George was not considered a likely hired to the throne.
George's father wanted his son to have a military education. In 1877, George enlisted in the Royal Navy at the age of 12. He joined a ship reserved for the training of cadets. During the late 1870s, George traveled the world aboard a British ship. In 1881, George visited Japan. He hired a local artist to tattoo his arm, choosing to display the image of a dragon on his arm. He continued his active naval service until 1892, and was for a while the commanding officer of the HMS Thrush and the HMS Melampus. Despite being a world-traveler, George failed to acquire fluency in any language other than English. His grandmother Victoria was disappointed that her grandson could not converse in either French or German.
As a youth, George fell in love with his cousin, Princess Marie of Edinburgh. But her mother disapproved of their courtship, and Marie herself rejected George's marriage proposal. Marie would later marry Ferdinand I of Romania (reigned 1914-1927). In 1892, Albert Victor died and George became his father's intended heir. At the time of his death, Albert Victor was engaged to Mary of Teck. Following his brother's death, George bonded with the mourning Mary. He proposed marriage to her in 1893, with the support of his grandmother. The couple were married in July 1893. George reportedly found it difficult to express his feelings in speech, but found it easier to write about them. So he continued writing love letters to Mary during the years of their marriage.
In 1892, George was granted the title of the Duke of York by his grandmother. George and his wife settled at York Cottage in Norfolk, a relatively small residence. Unlike his socialite father Edward, George desired a quiet life for himself. George's lifestyle during the 1890s resembled that of the British middle class, rather than that of the British royalty. His main hobby was stamp collecting, and he was eventually responsible for the expansion of the Royal Philatelic Collection.
In January 1901, Queen Victoria died and her son succeeded her as Edward VII. George inherited the title of the Duke of Cornwall, and started styling himself as the Duke of Cornwall and York. That year, George and Mary toured the British Empire. George personally presented thousands of medals to the soldiers of the still ongoing Second Boer War (1899-1902). George opened the first session of the Australian Parliament during his visit of Australia. His visit in New Zealand was primarily used as an opportunity to advertise New Zealand's attractiveness to potential tourists and immigrants through a press campaign.
In November 1901, George was granted the title of the Prince of Wales by his father. For the first time, his father trusted him with wide access to state documents. George in turn shared his documents with his wife Mary, who served as his primary advisor and speech writer. In his new role as the heir to the throne, George supported reforms in naval training. He wanted the cadets of the Royal Navy to have a shared educational background, regardless of their specific assignments.
In May 1910, Edward VII died and George succeeded him. He genuinely mourned his father, writing in his diary that they had never quarreled with each other, and that his father had been his best friend. George objected to the wording of his intended Accession Declaration, as he found the anti-Catholic phrases to be objectionable. At his insistence, most of the anti-Catholic phrases were removed.
In June 1911, George and Mary were coronated at Westminster Abbey. In December 1911, George was officially declared the new Emperor of India at a ceremony in Delhi. At the ceremony, George was wearing the then-new Imperial Crown of India. He announced the transfer of the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. George subsequently visited Nepal, and took time off for big game hunting. He took pride in killing 21 tigers, 8 rhinoceroses and a bear during his hunting in Nepal.
In July 1914, George orchestrated the Buckingham Palace Conference to negotiate the topic of Irish Home Rule. Rival political factions in Ireland had become radicalized, and George hoped to prevent a new Irish Civil War. The conference ended without an agreement. In August 1914, George took part in the council which declared war against the German Empire. Wilhelm II of Germany (reigned 1888-1918) was his first cousin, but their diplomatic relationships had deteriorated.
In July 1917, George officially renamed the British royal house: from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the House of Windsor. He and all his British relatives relinquished their German titles and started adopting British-sounding surnames. Any member of the wider royal family who sided with Germany lost his/her British peerage titles through the rules of the "Titles Deprivation Act 1917".
Following the end of World War I, George rarely left the UK on official business. He visited Belgium and France in 1922, and Italy in 1923. These were his final diplomatic visits. George was horrified at the violence of the Irish War of Independence (1919 - 1921), and repeatedly called for negotiations between the rival factions of the war. The war led to an Anglo-Irish treaty and the 1922 partition of Ireland.
George was worried about the republican movement in the post-war UK, and tried to increase his support from the major parliamentarian parties of the country. During the 1920s, George cultivated friendly relations with moderate politicians of the Labour Party politicians and with trade union officials. In 1926, George hosted the Imperial Conference in London. By its decisions, the British Dominions became autonomous, and were no longer subordinate to the UK. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster 1931 formalized the Dominions' legislative independence. It marked the transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations, with George as the official head of the Commonwealth.
In the 1930s, George was increasingly hostile to the Nazi government of Germany. In 1934, George expressed his belief that Britain and Germany were heading for a new war. In 1935, George celebrated his Silver Jubilee and was met with adulation by the crowds. His efforts to increase the popularity of the British monarchy had apparently paid off, though he was surprised at the extend of his own personal popularity.
George was a heavy smoker, and had been suffering from chronic bronchitis since the mid-1920s. In 1928, he was diagnosed with septicemia at the base of his right lung. In the final year of his life, George required the administration of oxygen. On 15 January, 1936, George was seriously ill, bedridden, and drifting in and out of consciousness. By January 20, there was no sign of recovery and the incapacitated George required sedatives to deal with the pain. His chief physician Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn decided to euthanize the king, and surreptitiously injected George with a fatal dose of cocaine and morphine. Since the king was never asked for his consent to the physician's decision, the decision's legality has been questioned.
George was 70-years-old at the time of his death. George was interred at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The chapel had served as the chosen burial place for the British royal family since the 1810s. Following George's example, his successors have mostly tried to reflect the values and virtues of the British upper middle-class.
