King of the United Kingdom
and the British Dominions (more...)
Reign 11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952
Coronation 12 May 1937
Predecessor Edward VIII
Successor Elizabeth II
Prime Ministers See list
Emperor of India
Reign 11 December 1936 – 15 August 1947
Predecessor Edward VIII
Born 14 December 1895
York Cottage, Sandringham House, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Died 6 February 1952 (aged 56)
Sandringham House, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Burial 15 February 1952
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Spouse Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (m. 1923)
Issue
Detail Elizabeth II
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Full name
Albert Frederick Arthur George
House Windsor (from 17 July 1917)
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
(until 17 July 1917)
Father George V
Mother Mary of Teck
Known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame.
