Abstract
The extended opening chapter which comprises the first part of this collection explores how, although 1917 marked the formal name change of the house, George V had already begun to change the royal house from 1910, both in practical terms and in spirit. Its argument is that George V’s approach to kingship marked a clear break with that of his predecessors by eschewing the grandeur of his father and grandmother in favour of a more human monarchy anchored by his humility when dealing with subjects. Its claim is that a new unofficial motto came into being under George V that has echoed down the line of the Windsor dynasty to this day: the pre-eminence of duty to country. A core Windsor belief stemming from that, it is argued, has been that kingship or queenship is not a privilege or a right but an important role that a sovereign has to play for the good of the nation, even at the sacrifice of personal happiness. It also insists that in more practical terms George V created several royal traditions that are still practised today.
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Notes
- 1.
Richard Cavendish (2007) Kings and Queens: The Concise Guide (London: David and Charles), Plantagenet Fry (2014) Kings and Queen of England and Scotland (London: DK).
- 2.
The boys received much of their early education together, because of their closeness in age. Neither excelled intellectually, but Albert Victor, on leaving the Navy, crammed and then attended Trinity College, Cambridge.
- 3.
For those interested in the training of royal Princes I can recommend the ‘Heirs to the Throne’ project led by Frank Muller and Heidi Mehrkens, particularly the first edited collection from the project, F. Muller and H. Mehrkens, eds (2015) Sons and Heirs: Succession and Political Culture in Nineteenth Century Europe (London: Palgrave Macmillan).
- 4.
Christopher Hibbert (2007) Edward VII: The Last Victorian King (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan), pp19–39.
- 5.
Ibid., pp23; 28–9; 39–49.
- 6.
Kenneth Rose (1983) King George V (London: Phoenix Press), Ch. 1.
- 7.
They were however given their own shared cabin. A full account of life on their ship can be found in Albert Victor and George Wales (1886) The Cruise of HMS Bacchante 1879–1882 (London: Macmillan).
- 8.
Catrine Clay (2006) King Kaiser Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War (London: John Murray), p71.
- 9.
Georgina Battiscombe (1969) Queen Alexandra (London: Constable), p143.
- 10.
By the time this letter was written, Albert Victor had left the Navy to focus on his royal training, and so George was left alone, with no distraction from a focus on his duties to a naval career. There was no longer any reflected privilege that might have affected his daily life while his older brother was with him in the Navy, and nothing to remind him in that daily routine that he had been born into a royal family.
- 11.
Charles Douglas-Home and Saul Kelly (2001) Dignified and Efficient. The British Monarchy in the Twentieth Century (London: Claridge Press), Conclusion.
- 12.
Rose, George V, p16.
- 13.
His closeness to Nicholas II had much to do with Cousin Nicky’s ease in speaking English. Dominic Lieven (1994) Nicholas II Emperor of all the Russias (London: BCA), p34.
- 14.
Rose, George V, pp162–3.
- 15.
Chrisopher Hibbert (1988) George IV (London: Penguin).
- 16.
David Cannadine (1983) ‘The Context, Performance and Meaning of Ritual: The British Monarchy and the “Invention of Tradition” c. 1820–1977’, in E. J. Hobsbawm and T. O. Ranger, eds The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 138.
- 17.
David Cannadine (2004) ‘From Biography to History: writing the modern British Monarchy’, Historical Research, 77(197), p308.
- 18.
Ibid.
- 19.
John Ellis (2008) Investiture: Royal Ceremony and National Identity in Wales, 1911–1969 (Cardiff: University of Wales Press).
- 20.
Edward had simply held a low-key and little-reported ceremony in Whitehall, in the Durbar Court.
- 21.
The Cabinet remained unhappy with the situation right up until the King’s departure, Rose, George V, p132.
- 22.
Lord Esher (1938) Journals and Letters of Viscount Esher, 3 vols (London: Ivor Nicholson and Watson) 3, 1910–1913, p17.
- 23.
Matthew Glencross (2015) The State Visits of Edward VII: Reinventing Royal Diplomacy for the Twentieth Century (London: PalgraveMacmillan).
- 24.
Bernard Porter (1996) The Lion’s Share: A Short History of British Imperialism 1850–1995 (London: Longman), pp172–5.
- 25.
There was always tension and nervousness in Canada over its relations with its, at times, overmighty neighbour. Kenneth Bourne (1969) Britain and the Balance of Power in North America 1815–1908 (Berkeley: University of California Press).
- 26.
Philip Murphy (2015) Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, The British Government and the post-war Commonwealth (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
- 27.
The last monarch to lead his troops in battle was George II, at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743. Subsequently, the British Parliament had passed a provision banning the monarch and the direct heirs to the throne from adventuring their person in conflict. An exception to this was provided by William IV, the ‘Sailor King’, who became heir apparent on the death of his brother’s daughter, the Princess Charlotte. He had had a naval career and had advanced (though not on the basis of skill and prowess) to the rank of Lord Admiral. However, by the time William came to the throne just short of his 65th birthday, he was already an old man, in poor health, and one who—like his great-great nephew—had not been trained for the throne but who (unlike George V) made no attempt to train for the position he would assume in the twelve years when he was heir apparent. He maintained his old friendships, with figures like Admiral Codrington, but otherwise made no attempt to intervene in matters military.
- 28.
Byron Farwell (1985) Queen Victoria’s Little Wars (London: Norton) makes this point very cogently.
- 29.
Newspaper reportage made this plain from the start, see for example ‘Five Months’ Supply of Breadstuffs’, The Times, 8 August 1914.
- 30.
Rose, George V, p176.
- 31.
On this point, see also Chapter 5.
- 32.
Rose, George V, pp179–84.
- 33.
Frederick Ponsonby (1951) Recollections of Three Reigns (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode), p22.
- 34.
‘The King and Queen. Visit to the London Hospital’, The Times, 1 August 1910.
- 35.
Royal Archives (henceforth RA) PS/PSO/GV/PS/WAR/QQ06/4503, Wigram to General Peyton, 28 July 1916.
- 36.
http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/news-and-diary/hrh-visits-wychwood-brewery-oxfordshire, accessed 12 October 2015.
- 37.
Glencross, The State Visits of Edward VII.
- 38.
RA PS/PSO/GV/WAR/QQ19/07110/1, Wigram to Major E. G. Thompson, 26 July 1918.
- 39.
RA PS/PSO/GV/WAR/QQ19/07110/4, Earl of Onslow to Major E. G. Thompson, 6 August 1918, Reception of newspaper correspondents; and photographs of visit Earl of Onslow to Major Thompson, 6 August 1918.
- 40.
Douglas-Home and Kelly, Dignified and Efficient, p147.
- 41.
Rose, George V, p174
- 42.
Ibid.
- 43.
This is a reference to the caption for a famous Punch cartoon at the time, showing the King vigorously sweeping ‘made in Germany’ coronets onto a dust-pile. See ‘A Good Riddance’, Punch, 27 July 1917.
- 44.
Douglas-Home and Kelly, Dignified and Efficient, p187.
- 45.
This debarred Roman Catholics, or those married to Roman Catholics, from the line of succession to the Crown, and remains in force in 2016.
- 46.
Any marriage undertaken by a descendant of George II without royal consent was null and void, legally, and continued to be so until recent constitutional changes in 2011. The Perth Agreement 2011 restricts the provision of the Act to the first six individuals in line of succession.
- 47.
Though the marriage itself turned out to be less than happy in the longer term, there was considerable public enthusiasm in Britain at the time for Princess Louise’s choice. The ‘love match’ that led a ‘Princess of the Blood Royal to wed a commoner’ had ‘aroused the enthusiasm of the country’, see ‘Marriage of Princess Louise’, Morning Post, 22 March 1871.
- 48.
Rose, George V, p309.
- 49.
This seems probable. After all, the Prince of Wales was 20 in 1914, and so his future choices of bride must already have been in the minds of his parents.
- 50.
Although the logistical issues of removing the Tsar from Ekaterinburg have led some to suggest that rescuing the Tsar would have been a costly and possibly an impossible venture had George agreed.
- 51.
It is argued it is in this light, not as an attempt by Wilhelm II to avoid any potential blame for the Tsar’s death, that his offer needs to be understood. Clay, King, Kaiser, Tsar, p345.
- 52.
Matthew S. Seligmann and Roderick R. McLean (2000) Germany from Reich to Republic, 1871–1918 (Basingstoke: Macmillan), p172.
- 53.
Modern portrayals of George such as in the BBC drama The Lost Prince have taken the former view, or portrayed George as not understanding that by delaying the invitation he was inadvertently signing Nicholas’s death warrant. However, the Romanov family still put the blame fully on George himself as was reflected in 1998 when the family were buried in St Petersburg and the Queen, as the direct descendant of George V, was pointedly not invited. Ann Morrow (2006) Cousins Divided, George V and Nicholas II (London: Sutton), p233.
- 54.
Glencross, State Visits of Edward VII, Ch. 7.
- 55.
David Sinclair (1988) Two Georges: Making of the Modern Monarchy (London, Hodder and Stoughton), p1.
- 56.
Rose, George V, p174.
- 57.
What drew him, also, to ‘Cousin Nicky’ was the latter’s preference for an unpretentious and simple ‘British’ style of home comfort, when he was away from lavish court ceremonial. Lieven, Nicholas II, p59.
- 58.
‘Steadfast Georgy’ was a common family nickname for George V, especially amongst his cousins. See, for instance, Clay, King, Kaiser, Tsar.
- 59.
- 60.
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02471/The-Royal-Family-at-Buckingham-Palace-1913, accessed 13 October 2015.
Select Bibliography
Georgina Battiscombe (1969) Queen Alexandra (London: Constable).
Kenneth Bourne (1969) Britain and the Balance of Power in North America 1815–1908 (Los Angeles: University of California Press).
David Cannadine (1983) ‘The Context, Performance and Meaning of Ritual: The British Monarchy and the “Invention of Tradition” c1820–1977’, in E. J. Hobsbawm and T. O. Ranger, eds The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
David Cannadine (2004) ‘From Biography to History: writing the modern Monarchy’, Historical Research, 77(197).
Richard Cavendish (2007) Kings and Queens: The Concise Guide (London: David and Charles).
Catrine Clay (2006) King Kaiser Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War (London: John Murray).
Charles Douglas-Home and Saul Kelly (2001) Dignified and Efficient. The British Monarchy in the Twentieth Century (London: Claridge Press).
John Ellis (2008) Investiture: Royal Ceremony and National Identity in Wales, 1911–1969 (Cardiff: University of Wales Press).
Lord Esher (1938) Journals and Letters of Viscount Esher, 3 vols (London: Ivor Nicholson and Watson).
Byron Farwell (1985) Queen Victoria’s Little Wars (London: Norton).
Plantagenet Fry (2014) Kings and Queen of England and Scotland (London: DK).
Matthew Glencross (2015) The State Visits of Edward VII: Reinventing Royal Diplomacy for the Twentieth Century (London: Palgrave Macmillan).
Chrisopher Hibbert (1988) George IV (London: Penguin).
Christopher Hibbert (2007) Edward VII: The Last Victorian King (London: Palgrave Macmillan).
Dominic Lieven (1994) Nicholas II Emperor of all the Russias (London: BCA).
Ann Morrow (2006) Cousins Divided, George V and Nicholas II (London: Sutton).
F. Muller and H. Mehrkens, eds (2015) Sons and Heirs: Succession and Political Culture in Nineteenth Century Europe (London: Palgrave Macmillan).
Philip Murphy (2015) Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, The British Government and the Post-war Commonwealth (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Frederick Ponsonby (1951) Recollections of Three Reigns (Eyre and Spottiswoode).
Bernard Porter (1996) The Lion’s Share: A Short History of British Imperialism 1850–1995 (London: Longman).
Kenneth Rose (1983) King George V (London: Phoenix Press).
Matthew S Seligmann and Roderick R McLean (2000) Germany from Reich to Republic, 1871–1918 (Basingstoke: Macmillan).
David Sinclair (1988) Two Georges: Making of the Modern Monarchy (London: Hodder and Stoughton).
Albert Victor and George Wales (1886) The Cruise of HMS Bacchante 1879–1882 (London: Macmillan).
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Glencross, M. (2016). George V and the New Royal House. In: Glencross, M., Rowbotham, J., Kandiah, M. (eds) The Windsor Dynasty 1910 to the Present. Palgrave Studies in Modern Monarchy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56455-9_2
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