George VI

George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952, and the last Emperor of India until the British Raj was dissolved in 1947. Born Albert and known as Bertie to his family, he was the second son of King George V and was not expected to inherit the throne; he served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War, married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and engaged a speech therapist to help manage a stutter. When his elder brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, Albert became king as George VI. In September 1939 Britain and most Commonwealth countries declared war on Nazi Germany, and George VI became known as a symbol of British determination, sharing the hardships of the Blitz when Buckingham Palace was bombed; after the war he relinquished the title Emperor of India in 1948 and adopted the new title Head of the Commonwealth. He died at Sandringham House in 1952 and was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.