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John Peel Wiki
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King George VI

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George VI (1895-1952), born Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor, became King of the United Kingdom on the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. His reign saw one World War and the gradual dismantling of the British Empire: he was therefore the last Emperor Of India and the first Head Of The Commonwealth. His death at the comparatively young age of 56 was due to his being a heavy smoker (his left lung was removed as his health deteriorated) and drinker: his daughter Elizabeth (II) succeeded him to the throne.

One of the King's most well-known characteristics was his stammer: he was a shy man who was reluctant to become king (although he was also a conscientious and dedicated man who worked hard at the role once he assumed it) and dreaded public speaking, so he had speech therapy for many years with an Australian-born speech therapist, Lionel Logue (a period dramatised in the film The King's Speech). The success of this treatment allowed the King to make a historic speech on Christmas Day 1939, a few months after the outbreak of war, continuing a tradition of the reigning monarch making a Christmas address that survives to this day. (The 1908 poem the King quotes at the end is God Knows by Minnie Louise Haskins, popularly known as The Gate Of The Year from its first line.)

Peel obviously had a great deal of respect for the man: he remembered [1] that the only records available in his study at Shrewsbury School were Zadok The Priest, taken from George's coronation, and the 1939 speech, which JP grew to like so much he included it in the Peelenium 1939, the only spoken word recording in the entire Peelenium list. John also recalled being the only boy in school to cry when the King passed away on February 6, 1952 [1], [2]:

"People are always astonished to hear that I was a great admirer of George VI. I remember the famous speech – “a man stood at the Gate of the Year” – which again still can move me enormously. And I just liked George VI, and when his death was announced at my prep school I was the only one who cried. I mean, the others all rushed off to order souvenirs and things, and I am sure they are all doing awfully well in the city at this very moment, but I wept like a baby and was last in the rush through. The thing that people wanted to do was to bags the school newspapers and things so they would have a souvenir of the death of the king." (Peeling Back The Years 1 (Transcript))

The_Coronation_of_King_George_VI_and_Queen_Elizabeth,_1937

The Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, 1937

King George VI's Coronation with excerpts from the original radio broadcast that Peel would have heard on record



Festive Fifty Entries[]

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Peelenium[]

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Footnotes
  1. ↑ Margrave Of The Marshes, Corgi edition, p.71)
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