Card of the Day: George V Proclaimed King

Today, we’re starting a new feature on Stalking the Belle Époque: The Card of the Day. Each day, I’ll be showing you an example from my collection of Royalty-themed cigarette cards. This first offering is from a set of fifty Wills’s Cigarette Cards from 1935 which were produced in honor of the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary and show important events from their reign.


The first in the set is titled, “George the Fifth Proclaimed King,” and shows the moment following the death of King Edward VII when he son was proclaimed King. The reverse of the card reads:

At the stroke of nine o’clock on May 9th, 1910, there appeared on the balcony of St. James Palace, a brilliant gathering. Preceded by the State Trumpeters came the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshall of England, accompanied by the Kings of Arms, Heralds and Pursuivants in ceremonial tabards. The trumpeters sounded a flourish, and Garter King of Arms read the proclamation, announcing that the Crown had come “solely and rightfully to the High and Mighty Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, son of Edward VII.” The Royal salute crashed out and thousands of the new monarchs subjects gathered in the mall joined in the National Anthem.