My father was frightened of his mother (Queen Victoria); I was frightened of my father (King Edward VII), and I am damned well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me.
--King George V
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King Edward VII with his son; George, Duke of York
(later Prince of Wales, later King George V), and George's
sons: Prince Edward of Wales ("David," later King Edward VIII,
later Duke of Windsor) and Prince Albert of Wales ("Bertie", later
Duke of York, later King George VI)
The Royal Collection |
Prior to their accession as King George V and Queen Mary, Prince George, Duke of York and Cornwall and Princess May of Teck, Duchess of York and Cornwall had six children: “David” (later King Edward VIII and, later still, the Duke of Windsor), “Bertie” (later King George VI), Mary (the Princess Royal, later Countess of Harewood), Prince Henry (later Duke of Gloucester), Prince George (later, Duke of Kent) and Prince John.
Some in the court considered the King and Queen to be detached and cold parents. This wasn’t necessarily the case. They loved their children fiercely. Queen Mary spent a good deal of time in the nursery at the end of each day, reading to the children and telling them about the Empire. However, there was naturally some distance. Their positions dictated that they make frequent voyages and they were separated from their offspring quite frequently. Despite the fact that both of them came from large families, neither of them had much exposure to children, and they both, admittedly, had no idea what to expect from a child. For that reason, they often found themselves at a loss as to what to do with their children and were frequently amazed when their progeny acted in the ways that children naturally act.
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George, Duke of York (later Prince of Wales,
later King George V) with three of his children:
Prince Edward of Wales (later Duke of Windsor),
Marr the Princess Royal and Prince Albert of Wales
(later King George VI) aboard
HMY Osbrone
The Royal Collection |
When George was created King, Mary’s utmost goal was to support her husband. The one thing that Mary loved more than her husband was the Monarchy and when her husband became King, he became—in her mind—imbued with all of the perfection and dignity assigned to the position. From his accession until his death, Mary’s only want was to ensure that her husband was taken care of. Because of this, she had that much less time to spend with her children. To make matters worse, at an early age, Prince John showed signs of having ill health. John was epileptic. As I’ve mentioned before, Queen Mary had a strong dislike for illness and quickly realized she had no idea how to care for her ailing child. For this reason, Prince John was set up in his own household, removed from the court. He had his own staff who doted on him and companions were brought in for his amusement until his death at the age of thirteen.
As their other children grew, King George and Queen Mary (though they never quarreled) often differed on the best ways to direct their children. Mary thought George was too firm with their sons, and often wrote him long, gentle letters, urging him to lighten up a bit. By the time their sons had reached adulthood, King George insisted that they be pressed into public service. Some of the boys were better suited to this than others. “Bertie” much enjoyed public service and though he dreaded speaking in public, he took his duties seriously and proved to his father that he was an able Prince/Duke. “David,” not so much. Though the future King Edward VIII served his country and often acted as a proxy for his busy father, he much preferred the pursuit of pleasure, as did Prince George, the Duke of Kent, whose many liaisons with both women and men proved to create a lot of trouble for the King and Queen. Prince Henry showed himself as being a steady and able young man. For this reason, he was dispatched to Australia in the King’s place.
This event is depicted in one of the final cards in the series produced by Wills’s Cigarette Company for the 1935 Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary.
The reverse of the card reads:
THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER’S AUSTRALIAN TOUR
In the autumn of 1934 the Duke of Gloucester began a deeply interesting but arduous tour of Australia and New Zealand, and he is seen landing at Fremantle on October 4th, from H.M.S. Sussex. The chief object of the Duke's voyage was to be present at the Melbourne Centenary celebrations, and to attend the dedication there on Armistice Day of the imposing "Shrine of Remembrance." Intent on observing the rural life of the Common wealth as well as the populous State Capitals, the Duke passed right across the vast Continent. The beginning of 1935 saw him loyally greeted in New Zealand.
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