George V (r. 1910-1936)
King Edward VII died on 06 May 1910, and was succeeded on the throne by his only surviving son as George V, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India. His Majesty was the second son of the late King Edward and Queen Alexandra, the elder son, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, having died in January, 1892. As the "sailor-prince" King George rose to the rank of admiral in the British navy, a position which he earned by brave and efficient work. King George was noted for his intellectual qualities and his domestic affections. He was much beloved by his subjects, who affectionately refer to him as "Good old George." After he became king he visited India to be crowned emperor of that realm of the empire, something which no British monarch had done before him.
He married on July 6th, 1893, his second cousin, Princess Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes of Teck. In May 1893, his engagement was announced to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, and the marriage was celebrated in the Chapel Royal at St. James' Palace. Six children were later born of this union, and the eldest was Edward Albert, the young Prince of Wales, who, after a notable career in the war, made a visit to Canada and the United States.
George V was born at Marlborough House on the third of June, 1865, one year and five months after the birth of his elder brother, Prince Albert Edward Victor, Duke of Clarence, and at his baptism received the names of George Frederick Ernest Albert. The two brothers entered the Imperial Navy together as cadets, going for a three years' voyage around the world on H.M.S. "Bacchante." In May, 1883, Prince George, as he was then known, became a midshipman on H.M.S. "Canada," which was assigned to the North American and West Indian station; in 1885 he was promoted to a lieutenancy; in 1890 he was placed in command of the Gunboat "Thrush," on the North American station, and in 1891 he was advanced to the rank of Commander.
In 1892. the Duke of Clarence died, whereon Prince George became Heir to the Throne, and took his seat in the House of Lords as Duke of York. In the same year he took command of H.M.S. "Melampus" for the naval maneuvers. For five years following, until 1898, His Royal Highness remained ashore, fulfilling the social duties incumbent on his high position and with the Duchess of York assisting his father and mother, the then Prince and Princess of Wales. In the arduous social duties made so heavy by the advancing age of Queen Victoria. In 1898 His Royal Highness again hoisted his pennant for some time on board H.M.S. "Crescent" attached to the Channel Squadron. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on January 1st. 1901, and appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Marine Forces.
When King Edward ascended the Throne on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Duke of York succeeded his father as Duke of Cornwall and was thereafter known until November the 9th of that year as Duke of Cornwall and York. On November 9th, 1901, King Edward's Birthday, His Royal Highness was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
His Royal Highness ascended the Throne on May 6th. 1910, on the death of his father, King Edward VII, as George V, and was proclaimed with the usual ceremonies May 9th, from the balcony of St. James' Palace, and the steps of the Guildhall, London. Queen Mary, by the Regency Act, was at once nominated to be regent in the event of a demise of the Crown before the next in succession arrived at the age of eighteen. As their eldest son, Prince Edward, was born on June 23, 1894, a Regency Act was a temporary constitutional necessity; but he was created Prince of Wales on his sixteenth birthday, June 3rd, 1910, and, before attaining his majority in 1912, he had completed his naval education at Osborne and Dartmouth (gazetted midshipman June 22, 1911, and appointed to the "Hindustan" for a three months' cruise ending October 26th). The young Prince then returned to private studies, paying a visit in the summer of 1912 to Paris, with his tutor, Mr. Hansell, as guest of the Marquis de Breteuil, and in the October term he went into residence at Oxford, as a commoner of Magdalen. The new Civil List for the Crown, as approved by Parliament in 1910, was fixed at £470,000 a year, but Parliament was not asked to provide for the Prince of Wales, his income from the Duchy of Cornwall (£87,000) being sufficient.
In February 1911 he opened Parliament and subscribed to the amended Succession Oath. in which Parliament had expunged all references to the religion of His Majesty's millions of Roman Catholic subjects which the previous and historic oath had contained. An important change, which had been mooted but not proceeded with when King Edward came to the throne, was made at King George's accession, in the alteration of the Sovereign's declaration respecting his religion, the terms of which, as provided in 1689 by the Bill of Rights, had long been resented by Roman Catholics. After other unsatisfactory suggestions had been made, the Accession Declaration Act of 1910 finally substituted a short and simple formula for the more detailed " no-Popery " manifesto which, it was generally agreed, was no longer needed. The following were the new terms provided:— "I (name of Sovereign) do solemnly and sincerely in the presence of God, profess, testify and declare that I am a faithful Protestant, and that I will, according to the true intent of the enactments which secure the Protestant succession to the Throne of my Realm, uphold and maintain the said enactments to the best of my powers according to Law." At his first opening of Parliament, according to the practice, King George made this declaration, and the whole question was removed from further controversy.
The King and Queen were crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey, on June 22nd. 1911. The coronation was attended by representatives from all parts of the Empire and other countries, and, in order to complete the public assumption of royal authority throughout the United Kingdom, the King and Queen, with the Prince of Wales (as Prince Edward was created on June 23 1910) and Princess Mary, made State visits to Ireland, Wales and Scotland during July.
There followed later in the year an important extension of the whole principle of the recognition of Imperial sovereignty, in the visit made by their Majesties to India, and the coronation ceremonies at the ancient capital of Delhi (Dec. 12 1911). At a great Durbar held on the historic plain of Delhi, they were proclaimed Emperor and Empress of India. They left England on Nov. 11 and did not return till Feb. 5 1912.
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