From the History of the British Monarchy
(Продолжение. Начало см. № 1, 7, 11,2013 г.)"
George V
Born: Marlborough House, London, 3June 1865.
Ascended the throne: 6 May 1910.
Coronation: Westminster Abbey, 22 June 1911.
Married: Mary, daughter of the Duke of Teck.
Children: five sons, including the future Edward VIII and George VI, and one daughter.
Died: Sandringham, Norfolk, 20 January 1936.
Buried: St George's Chapel, Windsor. George V (1865-1936), the second son of Edward VII, became heir to the throne when his older brother died in 1892. Meanwhile, he had been trained for the navy and became a vice-admiral in 1903. He was married in 1893 to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. They had six children.
George V George toured the world after his fa-
ther became king in 1901. When he succeeded his father in 1910, his subjects knew little about him. But he and his queen gained immediate and lasting popularity by their courage and devotion during the greatest event of the reign, World War I. This popularity was increased by George's conscientious attention to his duties. A Silver Jubilee lasting three months celebrated 25 years of his reign in 1935. George V was succeeded by his oldest son, Edward VIII.
"King George V not only became the symbolic father-figure of the nation at war (19141918), reflecting its moods of grief and courage; he made himself, by hard work and good sense, a source of stability and equilibrium in the country. His detailed knowledge of what went on was as remarkable as was his memory... The King firmly resisted tendencies to popular hysteria or brutality, and opposed pressure for harsh treatment of conscientious objectors or for retaliation on prisoners of war. In deference to those who murmured against his family having German names, in July 1917 he adopted the House and Family name of Windsor... He visited industrial areas showing signs of unrest, and regularly used his considerable personal influence in favour of humanity and moderation. His popularity, as Sir Harold Nicolson remarked, 'grew from the fact that he never courted it; that he never allowed himself to be deflected by the transient gusts of public agitation from what, in his unsophisticated fashion, he felt to be just or unjust, right or wrong'.
'Already before 1931, King George V, Queen Mary, and the Prince of Wales had created firm roles for the royal family in a post-war period of chronic instability and crisis. ...The Crown remained the focus of 'common allegiance' even after the Statute of Westminster... Two events based it, now, on even firmer foundations. One was the King's Christmas Day
broadcasts to all peoples of the Commonwealth and Empire, the first of which was delivered in 1932. These enormously popular annual talks made the magic of monarchy felt in a more intimate way throughout the Commonwealth.
The other event was the Silver Jubilee, celebrated in May 1935. It demonstrated the affectionate popular esteem in which the King and Queen were held in the Britain of 1935. 'I'd no idea they felt like that about me', remarked George V after a drive through the cheering East End of London: 'I am beginning to think they must really like me for myself'. George V was cherished, in a world fast declining into international dishonour and collapse, as an embodiment of all the domestic and public virtues: in Sir Harold Nicolson's list, 'faith, duty, honesty, courage, common sense, tolerance, decency, and truth'. Plain, homely, human virtues, desperately needed in a world where Hitler and Mussolini had cried havoc, and were soon to let loose the dogs of war. His death, on 20 January 1936, was indeed like the passing of a whole era of English history. He had perhaps, as his successor remarked, waged 'a private war with the twentieth century', but his very old-fashionedness had been his strength".
(D. Thomson. England in the Twentieth Century.)
Unlike his artistically inclined Queen, George V cared nothing for the arts and admitted to uncultured tastes. He once said that his favoured opera was La Bohème, because it was 'the shortest'.
George V's elder brother, Clarence, who died in 1892, had a doubtful reputation. King George was a much steadier character.
King George and Queen Mary were crowned emperor and empress of India in a fabulous ceremony at the Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911.
Mary of Teck (1867-1953) was the queen consort of King George V. Mary endeared herself to the British people by her homely virtues. In place of the merry court of Edward VII, she and her husband lived conservatively.
Through their efforts, the monarchy regained the prestige it had enjoyed under Queen Victoria. After the death of George V in 1936, Mary retired to Marlborough House in London, her eldest son became king as Edward VIII. After his abdication, her second son became George VI. Upon his death her granddaughter became Queen Elizabeth II. During these years Queen Mary took an active part in public affairs. Her plain dress and old-fashioned hats were famous throughout the British Empire.
Edward VIII
Born: White Lodge, Richmond, Surrey, 23 June 1894.
Ascended the throne: 20 January 1936.
Coronation: never crowned.
Married: Mrs. Wallis Simpson.
Children: none.
Edward VIII
Died: Paris, 28 May 1972. Buried: Frogmore, Windsor. Edward VIII (1894-1972), of the House of Windsor, was the eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary of Great Britain. He became king upon his father's death on 20 January 1936.
Edward was made Prince of Wales in 1911 at Caernarvon Castle, Wales. He was the first Prince of Wales in history to deliver his address in Welsh. He was educated at the Royal Naval College and at Oxford University. He served in World War I as aide-de-camp to Sir John French, one of England's most famous soldiers. The Prince became a great traveller, and was often called "the empire's salesman". After World War I, he made several trips to Canada, the United States, South America, Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand, in the interests of peace and British trade. His democratic spirit, charm, and diplomacy made him popular. As king, Edward showed a deep interest in the welfare of his people, especially the underprivileged and working classes.
Edward fell in love with Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Because his government was opposed to accepting her as queen, Edward abdicated the throne on 11 December 1936. His brother, George VI, who succeeded him, gave him the title Duke of Windsor.
The Duke and Mrs. Simpson were married in June 1937.
In 1939, Edward visited England for the first time since the abdication. He volunteered for a war position, and was made a liaison officer. The following year George VI appointed him governor of the Bahama Islands. He served there until 1945. He subsequently lived in France, where he remained until his death.
"The abdication was a grave constitutional issue. The marriage of Edward VII to Wallis Simpson conflicted with the teachings of the Church and endangered the King's role as its head. The act of abdication that followed was a threat to the stability of the constitution: no other British sovereign had shown so little respect for the monarchy and what it represented.
Before his marriage, the man who was to end his days as the Duke of Windsor had always been attracted to married women. It wasn't thought important by his friends Wallis Simpson when he struck up a relationship with
Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who had already divorced one husband and was soon to divorce her second. The crisis erupted when the King made it known that he was determined to marry her, even if this went against the interests of his country and the British Empire. News of his decision shocked many. He could not be allowed to marry a divorcee and expect her to be recognised as queen. He could have married her and remained king on the understanding that she would not be queen, and any children she might have would be excluded from the succession - a morganatic marriage. The only other option was to abdicate, which he did."
(The Royal Family. Vol.1, Issue 1)
On 11 December a Declaration of Abdication Act was rushed through and the Duke of York became King as George VI. That evening Edward broadcast to the nation before going into self-imposed exile, later to marry "the woman I love". It was a tense and moving speech (partly drafted by Winston Churchill), it was soon apparent that the crisis had caused no lasting harm to the fabric of constitutional monarchy either in Britain or in the Commonwealth. The new King and Queen so perfectly reproduced the familiar pattern that the throne was unimpaired.
Edward made some unwisely approving remarks about the Nazi regime in Germany during the 1930s, and there were suggestions that he could be a traitor to the British Empire during the Second World War.
Influenced by his wife and his affinity with the United States, the Duke of Windsor spoke with a slight American accent.
Ten days before his death, the Duke was visited at his home by his niece, Elizabeth II, in a symbolic gesture of reconciliation.
Compiled by A. Artemova, O. Leonovich
Сведения об авторах-составителях: Артемова Анна Федоровна, д-р филолог. наук, профессор, зав. кафедрой теории и практики перевода, Пятигорский государственный лингвистический университет.
Леонович Олег Анатольевич, канд. филолог. наук, профессор кафедры теории и практики перевода, Пятигорский государственный лингвистический университет.
E-mail: leonarte@yandex.ru
Ключевые слова: British Monarchy, George V, Mary of Teck, Edward VIII.
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