biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1895–1952)
|
| biography:
| King of the United Kingdom (1936–52), born at Sandringham, Norfolk, E England, UK, the second son of George V. He studied at Dartmouth Naval College and Trinity College, Cambridge, and served in the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland (1916). In 1920 he was created Duke of York, and married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. An outstanding tennis player, he played at Wimbledon in the All-England championships in 1926. He ascended the throne in 1936 on the abdication of his elder brother, Edward VIII. During World War 2 he set a personal example coping with wartime restrictions, continued to reside in bomb-damaged Buckingham Palace, visited all theatres of war and delivered many broadcasts, for which he overcame a speech impediment. In 1947 he toured South Africa and substituted the title of Head of the Commonwealth for that of Emperor of India, when that subcontinent was granted independence by the Labour government. Unnoticed by the public, his health was rapidly declining, yet he persevered with his duties, his last great public occasion being the opening of the Festival of Britain in 1951. |
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