George V

George V

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Queen Victoria, George was third in the line of succession behind his father, Prince Albert Edward, and his own elder brother. From 1877 to 1892, George served in the Royal Navy, until the unexpected death of his elder brother in early 1892 put him directly in line for the throne. He became king-emperor on his father’s death in 1910. George V’s reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement.

About George V in brief

Summary George VGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Queen Victoria, George was third in the line of succession behind his father, Prince Albert Edward, and his own elder brother. From 1877 to 1892, George served in the Royal Navy, until the unexpected death of his elder brother in early 1892 put him directly in line for the throne. On the death of Victoria in 1901, George’s father ascended the throne as Edward VII, and George was created Prince of Wales. He became king-emperor on his father’s death in 1910. George V’s reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape of the British Empire. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, which he renamed from House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as a result of anti-German public sentiment. In 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the British Commonwealth of Nations. He had smoking-related health problems throughout much of his later reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House, London. He was the second son of Albert Edward and Alexandra, Princess of Wales, and was the eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark.

As a young man in the navy, he served for many years under the Duke of Edinburgh, who was stationed in Malta. There, he grew close to his cousin, Princess Marie of Edinburgh. His father and uncle approved the match, but his aunt and aunt thought the family was too pro-German, and disliked the fact that George’s mother had yielded precedence to the British sovereign, the Duchess of England. The only daughter of Alexander II of Russia, he was only 17 months younger than his father and elder brother, Albert Victor. For three years from 1879, the royal brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by John Neale Dalton. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, a mythical ghost ship. George and his brother presented Empress Haruko with two wallabies from Australia. In 1881 on a visit to Japan, George had a local artist tattoo a blue and red dragon on his arm, and he was received in an audience by the Emperor Meiji. He visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, and East Asia. He also toured the colonies of the UK and Australia, and visited Norfolk and the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia. He and Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in theRoyal Navy. During his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in 1891–92.