The King's Speech

King George VI was born on 14 December 1895 on the Sandringham estate; “guns boomed in Hyde Park and at the Tower of London” (53) in celebration. Queen Victoria, now 76, takes the birth as a “good omen” (53), though the date coincides with the death of her consort, Prince Albert. The baby will be christened Albert, will be known as Bertie, and will (one day) rule as George.

The family—George and Mary, as well as their sons, Edward and Albert—live in a modest house on the Sandringham estate, noted for its “smallness and ugliness” (54). It is “quite cramped” (54) due to all the servants and the growing family. For the most part, the boys are raised by “nurses and a governess” (54) and presented to their parents once a day. One of the nurses is “something of a sadist” (54), jealous of the time the children spend with their parents. She is cruel to Edward and “largely ignored Bertie” (55). This leads to a distant relationship between parents and children. George is “an unbending Victorian” (55) and thus a strict parent.

Everything changes when Queen Victoria dies. The boys’ grandfather becomes Edward VII and they move, their father becoming Prince of Wales.