© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

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Empire to Commonwealth

George VI's reign saw the acceleration of the retirement of the British Empire, which had begun with the Balfour Declaration at the Imperial Conference of 1926 when the Commonwealth came into being and the old white Dominions were acknowledged to be have become sovereign states over a period of years previous — the declaration being formalised in the Statute of Westminster, 1931 (Imp.). [13] (Britain's brief League of Nations Mandate over Iraq ended in 1932 with Iraqi independence without membership in the as-yet ill-defined Commonwealth even being considered.) This process further accelerated after World War II. Transjordan became independent as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1946, Palestine as Israel in 1947 and Burma also in 1947, all three opting out of the Commonwealth. India became an independent dominion, with George VI relinquishing the title of Emperor of India and

(a) briefly remaining as King of India until that country enacted a Constitution which declared it to be a republic in 1950 (though India did elect to remain in the Commonwealth and to recognise George VI as Head of the Commonwealth, a title now incorporated into the regal style, although it is not clear whether the title is hereditary.) [14] and

(b) as King of Pakistan, succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth II as Queen of Pakistan, until 1956 when Pakistan similarly enacted a Constitution declaring it to be a republic.

George VI was the last King of Ireland, succeeding to that title by the enactment of the External Relations Act, 1936, until its repeal in the Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 when Ireland also left the Commonwealt

Portrayal

A biographical television series, Bertie and Elizabeth, was broadcast on BBC in 2003. The series was also broadcast on PBS as a part of the Masterpiece Theater series in March 2005.

Titles from birth to death

1895-1898: His Highness Prince Albert of York

1898-1901: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of York

1901: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Cornwall

1901-1910: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Wales

1910-1920: His Royal Highness The Prince Albert

1920-1936: His Royal Highness The Duke of York

1936-1947: His Majesty George VI, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland, and of the British dominions beyond the seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

1947-1949: His Majesty George VI, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland, and of the British dominions beyond the seas, King, Defender of the Faith.

1949-1952: His Majesty George VI, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and of the British dominions beyond the seas, King, Defender of the Faith.

Further reading

• Sarah Bradford, The Reluctant King: The life and reign of George VI 1895-1952 (St Martins, 1989)

• Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII: The official biography (Collins, 1990)

• Philip Ziegler, Mountbatten: the official biography (Collins, 1985)

• Doris Kearns Goodwin, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The home front in World War II (Simon & Schuster, 1994)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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