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The Duke of York (later King George VI), Lord Birkenhead, the Lord Chancellor, and F M B Fisher. c. 1930s.

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Royals wearing shades💅🏻

(the Queen last picture made me laugh)

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THE ROYAL FAMILY in Mafeking (now Mahikeng) South Africa, 1947 // IWM

The amateur footage shows them meeting local dignitaries at an outdoor event; they then meet veterans of both world wars before heading back to their cars. [no sound]

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Mary with all six of her children; David, Bertie, Mary, Henry, George, and Johnny.

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The Prince of Wales gardening at Fort Belvedere with the help of his week-end guests, including the Duke of York, c.1930.

‘I was in such a hurry to make the place over that I begrudged as lost a daylight hour that did not see the work progressing. Saturday afternoons and Sundays, when my gardeners were off, I pressed my week-end guests into arduous physical labor to which some of them were unaccustomed. Groaning and grunting, they joined me in hacking out the underbrush, pruning trees, and transplanting shrubs; but presently they began to share my enthusiasm. Even my brother Bertie, who lived nearby in the Great Park at Royal Lodge, would drop over to lend a hand.’

The Duke of Windsor - A King’s Story (1951)

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Prince Edward and Prince Albert. (1903)

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Prince Albert opens the new Town Hall in Marylebone, London. Alderman and Mrs Duncan Watson. (1920)

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I can now have a bath with running water… while the train is moving. Before, the hot water had to be carried from the engine.

King George VI diary entry, 28 October 1941 (The Royal Train had recently been equipped with a hot tap, which obviously pleased the King!)

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Bertie

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Hello!! Who’s your favorite tiktok account about King George VI?

hi! Unfortunately there aren't many. I like kinggeorgeiv, kingegorgethevi, royalcrx has some very nice videos, windsor.houseuk this profile is not one focused on Bertie but still has some very nice videos, softbertie makes very sweet videos about Elizabeth and Bertie. These are profile that appeared to me, if you know others or have opinions on these that I shared let me know!

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When the King & Queen danced with students...

In 1945 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth visited Imperial College to commemorate the centenary of the Royal College of Science. The King gave a memorable speech that was extremely well received by the students. And then, quite unplanned, they made an appearance at the College’s Centenary Ball in the Albert Hall. Here's what happened...

"There came a moment when six of us girls found ourselves talking to the Royal couple on our own. We knew that the King and Queen loved ballroom dancing and I said “would your majesties like to join us?” and she looked at him with a sparkle in her eye and said “It would be fun wouldn’t it!” On that spontaneous invitation they came with us – out of the back door of the room and across to the Albert Hall! " --- Gwyneth Rankin (BSc ARCS Botany 1944)

"By pure chance we found ourselves dancing on a sparsely populated promenade arena when the King and Queen appeared in the stalls immediately above us. I retain the vivid image of a smiling King then turning to the Queen, proffering his hand in an invitation to dance [❤️!!] and how they began to dance, with not a single security person in attendance, in a close proximity to a few couples – including ourselves." --- Manfred Kosten (Mining Geology 1949)

On the King's remarks that day...

"...We students were all standing in the centre of the hall and we showed the then normal sign of student approval at appropriate times, by stamping noisily on the floor. This interrupted his speech, but noticed that he started laughing and became visibly more relaxed and a rapport developed. Some days later, we heard that the College authorities had intended to give us a major dressing down for this but had been snookered by a personal message form the King, saying that he had not enjoyed an evening so much for some time! " --- Alan Burdett (Mechanical Engineering 1950)

source

Some thoughts....

I wish there were photos or film of Bertie & Elizabeth dancing - I long to see them do so! It is often repeated that they were both elegant and accomplished dancers.

Bertie seemed to particularly enjoy interacting with young people. I think they appealed to the lighter, boyish part of his character. What a keeper, he was!

Listen to the whole speech the King made that day here. Foot stamping and all!

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Duke and Duchess of York dressed in korowai, with huia feathers in their hats after a reception. (1927)

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King George VI in conversation with General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, the C-in-C of the Polish Armed Forces, during his visit to the 2nd Polish Corps on the Italian front. (Castiglione del Lago airfield, July 26, 1944) // IWM

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Prince Albert (future King George VI) in 1896

Baby Bertie had the cutest little expressive feet! 🥰🦶

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A charming little illustration I came across - assuming it was for a postcard or a magazine - of Prince Edward and Prince Albert during World War I.

I find it rather funny that the Prince of Wales is presented as more physically imposing than Prince Albert - taller and broader in the shoulders. Though they were both rather slightly built, by this age Bertie definitely was a few inches taller than his brother! But as Edward was the heir to the Throne, he had to be presented as the "more manly" of the two! The extreme deference to royalty in any sort of media of the day at that time (and for some time after) is amusing to me and quite interesting. It does however, make research a little difficult at times, as you never quite know what is being "airbrushed" for the tender sensibilities of the Crown.

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The Princess of Wales, later Queen Mary, with her two eldest sons, Prince Edward of Wales, and Prince Albert of Wales.

I love this picture where Queen Mary's hand is on both David and Bertie's shoulders. I’ve seen just a couple of pictures of her doing that with Bertie, in most part of the pictures she’s doing that just with Edward. I’m very happy I found this because both Mary and George V are always portrayed as terrible parents, and I'm not saying they were perfect but certainly compared to other parents of their time they weren't so bad.

But what are your thoughts about this?

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The Duke and Duchess of York in London to attend events celebrating the centenary year of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution // May 20, 1924