Object of the Day: A Souvenir of the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary, 1935

Always a symbol of strength and dedication to the Empire, King George V was, in reality, greatly weakened by the First World War. For a decade, he suffered from ill health—complications from a fall from his horse, the ravages of a lifetime of smoking, and an assortment of other illnesses stemming from both.


In 1935, King George V and Queen Mary reached the anniversary of their twenty-five years on the throne. His Majesty was not to see the completion of another year. He died 259 days after their jubilee. On January 20, 1936, King George V was administered a lethal dose of cocaine and morphine so that his death could be reported in the morning newspapers. His last words, as the nurse administered the injection, were “God Damn You.”

Upon his death, Queen Mary bravely soldiered on as her ne’er-do-well son, “David,” became King Edward VIII. Mary, like her husband, didn’t feel that David would be a suitable king, and witnessed her son’s abdication of the throne and the ascension of her more favored son, “Bertie” as King George VI. Always devoted to the Empire, Mary died shortly before the coronation of her granddaughter as Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

In my collection of Royal souvenirs, I have several pieces which commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary. This particular mug is unusual in that I’ve never seen another example of it. The bottom of the mug is marked simply in green, “Made in England.” The front of the mug shows portraits of George and Mary wearing their Imperial crowns. The frame surrounding their oval portraits contains Classical images of power. The to the right of Mary is a figure of one of the Graces, to the left of George is a ship representing Britain’s naval power. The whole is quite colorful and appealing—a fitting tribute to twenty-five years of struggle and triumph.