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George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 \u2013 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.\n

The future George VI was born during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria; he was named Albert at birth after his great-grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was known as \"Bertie\" to his family and close friends. His father ascended the throne as George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne. He spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward, the heir apparent. Albert 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 engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stutter, which he learned to manage to some degree. His elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert became king, taking the regnal name George VI.\n

In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries\u2014but not Ireland\u2014declared war on Nazi Germany, following the invasion of Poland. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared. Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother the Duke of Kent was killed on active service. George became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined. Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died at Sandringham House, aged 56, of a coronary thrombosis. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.\n

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Name	Birth	Death	Marriage	Children\n
Date	Spouse\n
Elizabeth II	21 April 1926	8 September 2022\n	20 November 1947\n	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh	Charles III Anne, Princess Royal Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh\n
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon	21 August 1930	9 February 2002	6 May 1960 Divorced 11 July 1978	Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon	David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon Lady Sarah Chatto\n

Regnal titles\n
George VI House of Windsor Born: 14 December 1895 Died: 6 February 1952\n
Preceded by Edward VIII \n	King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions 1936\u20131952\n	Succeeded by Elizabeth II \n
Emperor of India¹ 1936\u20131947\n	Partition of India \n
Masonic offices\n
Preceded by Iain Colquhoun \n	Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland 1936\u20131937\n	Succeeded by Norman Orr-Ewing \n
Honorary titles\n
Preceded by Edward VIII \n	Air commodore-in-chief of the Auxiliary Air Force 1936\u20131952\n	Succeeded by Elizabeth II \n
New title\n	Head of the Commonwealth 1949\u20131952\n
Air commodore-in-chief of the Air Training Corps 1941\u20131952\n	Succeeded by The Duke of Edinburgh \n
Notes and references\n
1. Indian Empire dissolved 15 August 1947. Title abandoned 22 June 1948 (\"No. 38330\". The London Gazette. 22 June 1948. p. 3647.)\n

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Early life

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Reluctant king

Early reign

Second World War

Empire to Commonwealth

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Legacy

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Issue

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External links

George VI

George VI

Articles of George VI