George V's Children

by John van der Kiste

The six children of King George V and Queen Mary all lived to maturity except the youngest, Prince John. The eldest, who was Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, reigned as King Edward VII for less than a year. His infamous romance with Mrs Simpson plunged the country into the abdication crisis and led both of them into a long period of exile. King George VI, who reluctantly and unexpectedly ascended to the throne, was a shy man, handicapped by a speech impediment and a sense of his own inadequacy. However, together with his Consort, Queen Elizabeth, and the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, he gave the nation spirited guidance throughout World War II. Both surviving younger brothers served in the armed forces during war-time. Henry, Duke of Gloucester, was Governor General of Australia from 1944-6 and crowned his military career with promotion to the rank of Field-Marshal. George, Duke of Kent, an officer in the RAF, was tragically killed on active service in 1942. The only sister, Mary, Princess Royal, worked both as a nurse, and a royal ambassador abroad. This book tells the story of the family.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty, Biography Memoir, British Literature

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

John Van der Kiste, British author, was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, on September 15, 1954, son of Wing Commander Guy Van der Kiste (1912–99). He was educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, where he briefly formed a rock band Cobweb with fellow pupil Miles Tredinnick, later vocalist with new wave band London and subsequently playwright and scriptwriter, and read Librarianship at Ealing Technical College, where he edited the librarians’ student magazine.
He has worked for several years in public and academic libraries, but is best known as a writer. His first book, Frederick III, appeared in 1981, and since then he has published over twenty historical biographies, as well as books on local history, true crime, rock music, a novel and a play. He is also a contributor to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Guinness Rockopaedia, and has produced articles on historical, musical and art subjects in national and local journals, including Illustrated London News, Royalty Digest, European Royal History Journal, Best of British, BBC History Magazine, Record Collector, Antique Collector, This England, The Independent, and Gibbons Stamp Monthly. He has reviewed books and records for the press, written CD booklet notes, and between 1991 and 1996 edited the 70s rock fanzine Keep on Rockin.
In 2002 he was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary 'The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar', first screened in January 2003.
He married professional musician and teacher Kim Graham (née Geldard) in 2003 and lives in Devon.

Reviews

[Phillip J. O'Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn’t a great book and is full of spelling mistakes, date inaccuracies and other errors.
It overly focuses on Edward VIII and George VI and less so on Kent, Gloucester, John and the Princess Royal.
There is an abrupt ending to the book where a conclusion would be appropriate.

[Nicola s. Flynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

should be called Duke of Windsor and siblings

Liked the book, the Duke of Windsor with his brothers and sister’s lives revolving around his life. Would have liked more on their childhood.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is incredibly easy to find information on George V's two eldest children - the abdication crisis has spawned many many pages on both kings. But if you're curious about the younger children, van der Kiste has once again provided a concise, interwoven biography that grants each a proper place in their life story.

Everyone gets their moments to shine, and their reactions to their siblings and the world around them are also given their due. Starting with brief biographies of their parents, van der Kiste follows the family from birth to the last sibling's death, covering all thebevents in between. Edward and Bertie do get more than their fair share of pages, but they do have the most going on - or at least the most sources. He does jump around a bit timeline-wise, keeping focus on one sibling before going back to bring the next up to date. It is a good overview of the generation for those looking to know more.

John van der Kiste should be applauded for his dedication to telling the stories of lesser-known royals. He has an engaging and fluid way of writing; he clearly enjoys learning about his subjects and showing them to his readers. Some more recent biographers are adopting a condescending tone in their writings on royalty, which I personally find irritating. If the writer doesn't seem to be enjoying their work, why should I as the reader feel any better about it?

[Bob Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Complicated Royal Way

I’ve been reading about Britain’s Royal system recently - from Prince Harry’s sad memoir to histories of the ex-king Duke of Windsor. As a Yankee, I can say that Americans don’t comprehend the system or the lives of the Royals who seem more like Disney characters than flesh and blood.
This book adds some to the explanation and is both fascinating and sad.
On the downside, one almost needs a scorecard to keep all the players straight. For example, David, Prince Edward of York, Prince of Wales, King Edward VIII and the Duke of Windsor are the same person, and so it goes with Royal titles. Also, in converting this book to electronic form there sure are a lot of typos.
Still this is a good read for history buffs.

[Zosi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the lives of each of the kids, without getting too in depth. It could have been longer, but this book acts as a good intro for people who may not have previously read up on the subject. Since it’s such a short book it’s difficult to rate it more highly. There were also many distracting spelling errors.

[Johannes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yet another dull, poorly written book about royals by van der Kiste, honestly, I don't even know why I bother anymore. His main focus was Edward, Duke of Windsor, and now and then does his siblings appear. As others wrote there is nothing new nor well researched here. This is not even wikipedia material, but functions just well as a first approach to royals' bios.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good look at George V's children and the impact that both his and queen Mary's parenting had on them. It is quite interesting to comment on the fact that only two of their childre survived to over 70 years old.

[Travis Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best example of Mr. Van de Kiste’s efforts.

I was hoping to learn more about the lesser-known siblings, but this book more extensively covered The Duke of Windsor and King George VI. There were several factual errors and many, many typos.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I finished this book I came to the realization that I had no respect for the Duke of Windsor. As a child he showed so much disrespect to the crown and country. Things became worse as he aged and became involved and eventually married.

[Holly Neilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite book on the complicated inter relationships of George Vs kids I've read so far

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

George V's Children

A very interesting read on the lives of George's children:, including George VI , the Duke of Windsor, and the princess Royal.

[N.shotland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

If you enjoy British history and royal family ,this is a great read. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of fun! Thanks

[Ken Sampson · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4 May 1999] An interesting and informative read.

[Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you know anything about the family of George V, don’t bother with this book. Very superficial.

[Laura Noakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting read!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always thought that George V was a rigid old dolt who was too dumb to be King. I was wrong. After a relatively normal childhood as Edward, POW's 2nd son, he aspired to be a Navy man. The early death of his brother Albert Victor changed all that.

George V was very close to his father, the future Edward VI. Edward placed George's desk in the same office as him and G had full access to the famous red boxes.

His marriage to Mary of Teck (later Cambridge) was a love match, though neither George nor Mary were particularly well suited to be the parents of 5 sons and one daughter.

Both King George V and Queen Mary were appalled by the behavior of their eldest son, Edward (called David), who was made Prince of Wales on his 16th bday.

The Prince enjoyed numerous affairs with married women but it was not until the early '30's that American "adventuress" Wallis Warfield Simpson caught his eye and heart. George V predicted that" the boy will ruin himself in 12 months". Edward VIII only lasted 11.

History has been kind to George V and Queen Mary. An interesting read!

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of the lives of these royal children. It was most interesting on the lesser known Princess Mary, Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Kent. Not much new information here and photos would have been a nice addition. Easy to read.

[Elaine Dowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covered a lot of territory, but it did manage to give a feel for the time and the personalities involved.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative portraits of the six children of George V and Queen Mary, including Edward VIII and George VI.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really care for any of the children except maybe George. I am annoyed that it stopped talking about the Kents once George died