King George VI's Real Speech Therapy Was Probably a Little Different From 'The King's Speech'
In December 1936, King George VI took the British throne following his older brother Edward VIII's abdication.
Unfortunately, George VI had a stutter that made it hard for him to give speeches to the British public.
The King ended up attending speech therapy before his iconic address in 1939.
King George VI never intended to be the King of England — but that's exactly what happened when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne in December 1936 in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Despite the nontraditional start to his reign, George VI went on to become a symbol of strength and hope for the British people throughout World War II and beyond, reigniting their faith in the country's monarchy. It's this rise and reign of the unexpected King that is chronicled in the second episode of CNN docuseries The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty, which airs on Sunday at 10 p.m.
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Unsurprisingly, the journey to becoming a successful and beloved King wasn't an easy one for George VI. He was thrown into the job unexpectedly, of course, but his anxiety about taking on the role was only compounded by the stammer he had struggled with ever since he was a young boy.
As is shown in the Oscar-winning 2010 movie The King's Speech, George VI (who was known as Albert or "Bertie" to those closest to him) struggled with a stutter from a young age. After being named the Duke of York in 1920 (but long before he became King), he feared that his stutter would prevent him from effectively giving important speeches to his people, so he began seeing a speech therapist from Australia named Lionel Logue.
But this is where the highly acclaimed drama parts ways from the truth: Because there are no logs of what, exactly, Lionel and the King did during their sessions, we can't be sure of what exercises the speech therapist had George VI practice. (What you see in the movie is based on writer David Seidler's own experiences with speech therapy.) What the records do show, however, is that for some time, the King was meeting with Lionel for an hour every day, weekends included.
Ultimately, George VI became King and later gave his first big radio address on September 3, 1939, when he announced that England would be going to war against Germany. Knowing the significance of such an announcement, the King believed it was absolutely imperative that he give the best speech he could — with as few stutters and stammers as possible.
A copy of the speech now belonging to Lionel's grandson, Mark Logue, shows that Lionel and the King marked up a physical copy of the address for him to reference, highlighting places where he should consider pausing or swapping words for something easier to pronounce. And it paid off — the King delivered the speech beautifully, and it's now considered one of his most iconic addresses.
Of course, after giving this well-known speech, King George VI went on to act as a beloved leader for more than a decade longer, holding the British throne until his death on February 6, 1952.
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