Cultural depictions of King George VI
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George VI of the United Kingdom is depicted in art and popular culture.


Film, stage, television and radio

George has been portrayed by: * Andrew Ray in the 1974 LWT adaptation of Royce Ryton's play ''Crown Matrimonial'', and in the 1978 Thames Television mini-series '' Edward & Mrs. Simpson'' * Lyndon Brook in the 1979 BBC TV drama ''
Churchill and the Generals ''Churchill and the Generals'' is a 1979 BBC television drama concerning the relationship between Winston Churchill and generals of the Allied forces, set in the Cabinet Office and War Rooms between 1940 and 1945. It was written by Ian Curteis ...
'' * Owen Holder in the 1986 TV drama series '' Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy'' * James Wilby in the 2002
Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...
drama ''
Bertie and Elizabeth ''Bertie & Elizabeth'' is a 2002 television film directed by Giles Foster and produced by Carlton Television. The film explores the relationship between King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth from their first meeting to the King's death i ...
'' *
Anthony Andrews Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for an ...
in the 2003 BBC TV series ''
Cambridge Spies ''Cambridge Spies'' is a four-part British drama miniseries written by Peter Moffat and directed by Tim Fywell, that was first broadcast on BBC Two in May 2003 and is based on the true story of four brilliant young men at the University of Cambr ...
'' *
Mick Rose Michael John Rose (born 22 July 1943) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Charlton Athletic, Mansfield Town and Notts County. On 21 August 1965, he became the first player to be substituted in the ...
in the 2004 TV drama '' Ike: Countdown to D-Day'' * Harry Enfield in the 2004 spoof '' Churchill: The Hollywood Years'' * Bill Champion in the 2005 film '' Wallis and Edward'' * Iain Glen in the 2009 TV drama '' Into the Storm'' * Alex Jennings in the 2009 radio play ''
A King's Speech A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' *
Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
, winner of the
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
in the 2010 film '' The King's Speech''. The film also won Best Picture at the
83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beg ...
. * Laurence Fox in the 2011 film ''
W.E We is the nominative case of the first-person plural pronoun in the English language. We may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''We'' (1982 film), a German film based on the 1921 novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin * ''W.E.'', a 2011 film d ...
''. * Charles Edwards in the 2012 West End stage adaptation of ''The King's Speech''. * Samuel West in the 2012 film ''
Hyde Park on Hudson ''Hyde Park on Hudson'' is a 2012 British historical comedy-drama film directed by Roger Michell. The film stars Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth, and Laura Linney as Margaret "Daisy" Suckley, a cousi ...
''. *Jonathan Townsend in a non-speaking cameo in the 2013 Christmas Special of '' Downton Abbey''. * Rupert Everett in the 2015 film '' A Royal Night Out''. * Jared Harris in the 2016 Netflix TV series '' The Crown''. * James Purefoy in the 2017 film ''
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
''. *
Jonathan Cullen Jonathan Cullen (born 1960) is a British actor of stage, film and television. Personal life Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Cullen's father was Tony Cullen, a founding member of the Northern Sinfonia. He was educated at the Royal ...
in the 2017 BBC TV series ''
SS-GB ''SS-GB'' is an alternative history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom Operation Sealion, conquered and occupied by Nazi Germany, Germany during the Second World War. The novel's title refers to the branch of the Schutzstaffel, Naz ...
''. * Ben Mendelsohn in the 2017 film '' Darkest Hour''


Novels

George VI does not appear, but is prominently mentioned in Max Brooks' 2005 novel '' World War Z.'' When the living dead are threatening to overrun the British Isles and the rest of the world, Queen Elizabeth II refuses to flee from Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England to the strongholds established in Ireland or Scotland. When she is pleaded with to reconsider, Elizabeth says "The highest of distinctions is service to others," quoting her father, who said that to explain why he would not leave Britain for any safe zone, namely Canada, during World War II. George is a significant character in
Michael Dobbs Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs (born 14 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and author, best known for his ''House of Cards'' trilogy. Early life and education Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordsh ...
' 2003 novel ''
Winston's War ''Winston's War'' is a 2002 novel by Michael Dobbs that presents a fictional account of the struggle of Winston Churchill to combat the appeasement policies of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Plot summary The story starts with Chamberlain ...
'', and Len Deighton's
alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
novel ''
SS-GB ''SS-GB'' is an alternative history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom Operation Sealion, conquered and occupied by Nazi Germany, Germany during the Second World War. The novel's title refers to the branch of the Schutzstaffel, Naz ...
'', in which he is imprisoned during a Nazi occupation of Britain and killed during an escape attempt. In the alternate history novel '' Fatherland'' by Robert Harris, George VI is deposed when Nazi Germany conquers the United Kingdom and the British Empire in the early 1940s. Most of the Royal Family are forced into exile in Canada, and George's elder brother
Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...
is restored to the throne. After George's death in 1952, his eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth is recognised by the governments of Canada,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and the United States as the rightful British monarch. In the alternate history novel ''The Man Who Prevented WW2'' by
Roy Carter Roy Carter is an English oboist. Early career Carter began playing the oboe at the age of 10. He won scholarships to study with Margaret Eliot at the Royal Academy of Music (at 12) and later under Terence MacDonagh at the Royal College of ...
, Edward VIII is assassinated by Jerome Bannigan on 18 July 1936. It is suspected that the Prime Minister Sir Oswald Mosley, who has come to power when the
British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...
won a landslide victory in the 1935 election, is responsible for his murder. After his death, the BUF government abolishes the monarchy and places the Royal Family under
house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
in
Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...
until they are expatriated to
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in September 1939. Edward's younger brother and heir presumptive, Albert, Duke of York (who would have become George VI if the monarchy had not been abolished), is given the deed to the Royal Hotel in Geneva. His mother Queen Mary is disturbed that he has become an innkeeper and even more disturbed that she is an innkeeper's mother. However, the Duke later establishes a successful hotel chain.


Comics

In ''
Secret Origins ''Secret Origins'' is the title of several comic book series published by DC Comics which featured the origin stories of the publisher's various characters. Publication history ''Secret Origins'' was first published as a one-shot in 1961 and c ...
'' #7 (November, 1986), George and Elizabeth are menaced by the Phantom of the Fair during their visit to New York in 1940. George fights with a robot minion of the Phantom to save his wife and himself, and is assisted by Sandman and the Crimson Avenger in the first battle between superheroes.


Statues

In 1955, a statue of the king in naval uniform was erected just off The Mall and Carlton Gardens in London. A neighbouring statue of his wife was unveiled in 2009, creating the
George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial, situated between The Mall and Carlton Gardens in central London, is a memorial to King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth. Completed in its present form in 2009, the memorial incorpor ...
. Other statues of the king include
one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens.


References

{{Cultural depictions of English and British monarchs