On this date in History: January 20th, 1936. Death of HM King George V of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India.

Tags

Czar Nicholas II of Russia, Delhi Durbar, George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King George V of Great Britain, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain

 

On this date in History: January 20th, 1936. Death of HM King George V of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India. The king had reigned for 25 years.

He was the second son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and the grandson of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, until the unexpected death of his elder brother in early 1892 put him directly in line for the throne. On the death of his grandmother in 1901, George’s father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910. He was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar.

His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape. The Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. As a result of the First World War (1914–18) the empires of his first cousins Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany fell while the British Empire expanded to its greatest effective extent. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, which he renamed from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as a result of anti-German public sentiment. In 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his later reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII.

Connect the dots…

Tags

2012. Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth II, George III, George IV, George V, George VI, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught, Princess Anne the princess Royal, Queen Mary, Queen Victoria of Great Britain

Left to right seated are: The Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, the then Princess Elizabeth, holding her son Prince Charles, and Dowager Queen Mary. Rear, Left to right: Lady Brabourne, Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh, King George VI, The Hon. David Bowes – Lyon, brother of Queen Elizabeth, The Earl of Athlone and Princess Margaret.

 

One of the aspects of my love of history and studying royal genealogy is that it connects people to eras that have passed. I enjoy looking at pictures of royals that has members from many generations which will connect a person to the past. One such picture is the one of the christening of Queen II in 1926. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has been blessed with a long life and in the year 2012 she is 86 years old and this picture of her christening is a touchstone to the past. In the back row of this picture the elderly gentleman to the far left is HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who was born in 1850 and lived until 1944. I do not know how much contact the queen had with the Duke of Connaught but it is an amazing connecting to the Victoria era.

Another picture that shows the connections to the past is the one of the christening of Princess Anne, the Princess Royal in 1950. In the picture is her grandfather, King George VI, and also her great-grand mother Queen Mary. Queen Mary was the daughter of Prince Franz, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. Her mother, Mary Adelaide of Cambridge herself was a daughter of HRH Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge the seventh son of King George III. This made Queen Mary a great-granddaughter of King George III. Mary had an interesting connection to the king George’s of Great Britain. She was the great-granddaughter of George III, great-niece of George IV, she was married to King George V and was the mother of King George VI! The continuity of monarchy and how its members can link a country to its past and its history is one of the important, and fascinating, functions of monarchy. 

here is a bit of info from my friend Karen: From a letter written by Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught to Princess Louise Dowager Duchess of Argyll. It’s headed Bagshot Park, 27 May 1928:

The lunch on Friday in honour of May’s birthday was very cheery, all four boys were there – little Elizabeth was delightful running about and beating time with both hands to the music of the band, and then going up to shake hands with the Bandmaster, whom she had seen at Windsor.
(From Darling Loosy – Letters to Princess Louise 1856 – 1939 by Elizabeth Longford)

 

Elizabeth II is not the Queen of England!!!

Tags

Elizabeth I, England Scotland Devolution. Parliament, George III, George V, Queen Elizabeth II

 I am a bit of a stickler for correct usage of styles and titles. So it is a bit of a pet peeve of mine when these are used improperly. The main one that bugs me is calling Elizabeth II, Queen of England. That bothers me because “Queen of England” is not her correct title! Her correct title, simplified here, is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England has not been a separate sovereign state since 1707.

Here is a little historical background on the issue. For centuries England and Scotland were separate sovereign kingdoms each with their own monarch. There was not always peace between the two states and England constantly tried to keep Scotland subdued. Edward I (1272-1307) is not known as the Hammer of the Scots for nothing! The Kingdoms of England and Scotland remained separate until 1603. Queen Elizabeth I of England died without issue and her closest relative that had a claim to the throne was her cousin King James VI of Scotland (1567-1625), who also became King James I of England and Ireland.

The accession of the Scottish king on the English throne did not politically unite the two nations. Both kingdoms were ruled by James but remained individual sovereign states that retained their own parliaments and laws.

Although James liked to consider himself as the King of Great Britain this self appointed title was not approved by Parliament and had no legal barring. From 1603 until 1707 (excluding the Commonwealth period when the monarchy was abolished) the title of the monarch was King/Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (they also called themselves the Kings of France but that is another story).

In 1707 came the Act of Union uniting the Parliaments of England and Scotland creating the new nation of Great Britain. England and Scotland ceased to be independent sovereign states and were then, and now, considered separate states within the union. Ireland remained separate from Great Britain.

The title of the monarch changed accordingly and the titles of King or Queen of England and King or Queen of Scotland passed into history. Anne was Queen of England and Scotland when the act was passed and her title was changed to Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.

The title remained King or Queen of Great Britain and Ireland for 93 years until the nation expanded once more. Ireland was now included in the political union with Great Britain and the new state became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. George III (1760-1820) was the monarch at the time and his title changed accordingly.

From 1714 to 1837 the British monarch was also Elector of Hanover within the German Holy Roman Empire until 1806 when the Empire was abolished. In 1814 Hanover was created a Kingdom by the Congress of Vienna in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire. Although the British monarchs listed their Hanoverian titles among their British titles, Britain and Hanover were ruled separately and were not politically unified.

In 1920 in the reign of King George V (1910-1936) a large portion of Ireland was given its independence and only the northern counties remained united with Britain. However, this part of Ireland continued to be a constitutional monarchy with the King of the United Kingdom as to their Head of State. The Free State of Ireland was separate from Northern Ireland which was still a part of the United Kingdom.

The Free State of Ireland came to an end with The Republic of Ireland Act 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949, the 33rd anniversary of the beginning of the Easter Rising. This act created The Republic of Ireland.

Outside the Irish state, “Great Britain, Ireland” was not officially omitted from the royal title until 1953 when Elizabeth II began her reign. Her official title is:  Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

Now having said my rant and given the historical background on the evolution of the title of the British monarch I must be honest and say that I do miss the traditional titles of King or Queen of England and King or Queen of Scotland. Those are in the past unless devolution comes to the UK and England and Scotland becomes independent once again. If that does happen I think we would see a return to how things were prior to 1707 when both England and Scotland shared the same monarch.