An so I come to the final of my notes on reading The King’s Speech, the book by the grandson of Lionel Logue, Mark and Peter Conradi, the former deputy foreign editor of the Sunday Times and who is now the editor of Home the paper’s property supplement.
The book, as in the film, continues after King George VI successfully accomplished his responses required at his Coronation and then addressed the Nation and the Empire on the evening of what for all proved to be an exhausting as well as challenging day. Logue needed a period of recuperation suffering from nervous exhaustion and then continued to assist the King with his speech making. An assistant private secretary to the King wrote after seeing article which suggested that the problem often arose in people who had been forced to become right handed when naturally left handed. Logue explained that while this was true it was too late for the King to change back. From the outset he had argued that the problem had become entrenched for too long to be cured, he added that so much depended on the circumstances and age of each individual which was why he had not attempted to write a treatment text book.
Logue also became concerned that the King was being worked too hard for his physical constitution and that unless the workload was controlled there was a risk of physical breakdown with an impact on his speaking ability. The King in turn became anxious about the State Opening of Parliament as well as the live Christmas broadcast, remarking about the confidence with which his father undertook these tasks. Logue reminded that his father had taken years to develop to the position he achieved towards the end of his life.
In 1937 Logue had an experience which was rarely given to someone outside the Royal family. He was invited to the Christmas lunch at Sandringham to be with the King when he made his radio speech. He met Queen Mary for the first occasion who thanked him for the help he had and was giving, and then found himself sitting between Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of Kent with the King Opposite. After lunch he was presented with a signed photograph of the family in their Coronation robes and a box which contained a pair of gold cuff links in black enamel with the crown and royal coat of arms. The King and the Queen separately expressed their appreciation with the Queen saying she had never known husband so happy. After tea he was invited to witness the Royal present giving from under the tree. The Queen mentioned as he left that she had arranged for him to have a hamper on the journey to London because there would no dining car. He was collected at the station by his son returning home at 10.45 where the family was waiting. Logue was able to describe what for him had been one of the most amazing and wonderful days of his life. Reading of the occasion some seventy years later that was no understatement about which I hope his family remain proud to this day. There was only one aspect which upset him,
His wife although invited was in Australia, escaping from the British Winter recuperating from serious illness including an operation for gall stones. Logue had become very concerned about her ill health. The trip did her the power of good because in addition to the weather she was greeted as an honoured celebrity because of the work of her husband for the king. Among the comments she made to one journalist was that Margaret Rose is more Joyous than her sister who had rather more sense of responsibility. An extraordinary accurate forecast of what was to become to the young Princess and a reversal of the situation which existed between older and younger brothers.
It was good that both men were able to enjoy their respective roles and with their families because of the situation they and the Empire was to face.
The Man which Mrs Simpson and her husband so admired was leading the greater part of the world into prolonged horror, destruction and lifelong misery for million upon million and for which I continue to believe there should never be forgiveness, and for all who gave him willing support. He is not alone but his impact, along that with Stalin. Last might I watch the tale of the man regarded as the British Schindler who arranged for over 600 children to bet brought to the UK to stay with guardian families in the hope that after the war they would be reunited with their parents, none were. The man did not feel it was something to talk about and has not told his wife because the last train with some 200 children had been stopped and the children taken to camps where they perished.
This is not the first time there has been recognition for his work as Ester Ranzen did a programme where unknown to him the studio audience comprised those he had saved and their partners who were still living in the UK and later there was other gathering. Now a widower in his later years the programme featured the subsequent lives of three of children he saved,
With Chamberlain away meeting Hitler, Logue went to the Palace to advise the King on a speech being made at the launching of the ocean liner, the Queen Elizabeth. Logue noted after the meeting that the King was preoccupied with International affairs and commented that he was concerned at the number of people wanting to go to war in the context of his personal experience of what happened during the First. It is questionable whether a great show of force against Hitler would have prevented him from embarking on the course he took, I have always shared the view that important mistakes were made in the years which led to the War and was part of the reason why I supported military intervention in Iraq and in other situations were national dictators appear set on extending their regime to other nations. Having spent two years from the age of sixteen working closely with one man who lost a leg in the trenches of France and five others who served in the second world war, I learnt early in my life the price which is paid by those wounded and the families of those who do not return.
Logue became a frequent visitor at the Palace as in addition to the State Opening of Parliament there was a visit to Canada, during which there was to be an informal over the border meeting with the President of the United States designed to cement relationships as the situation in Europe darkened. During a review of the proposed speech to parliament there was a discussion between secretaries about the wisdom of Court officials accompanying the Monarch on the visit and they asked for the opinion of Logue as a colonial. He said more pageantry the better and his words appear to have tipped the balance in favour of the Lord Chamberlain making the visit with the King.
Then in the autumn of 1939, six months after my birth we were at war. I have no memory of the months my birth mother and I lived with an elder sister and her husband and four children at a house in south Croydon close to the boundary with Waddon and the famous Croydon airport. I have been to see the outside of the local authority property in my later years. The family then moved to the house in Wallington which was then rented and is now owned by the same family when together with four of the other sisters and their two sons we somehow fitted into the eight roomed detached house on two floors. I have vivid memories of those early years of war time before and after we went to stay with another sister in the country at the Catterick military camp near Richmond in Yorkshire. I remember the aunties praying as the German bombers flew overhead. I remember the sight of a rocket bomb in day light and hearing the engines cut out falling between out home and the airport. One of some one hundred and forty that fell in our area, The war is therefore real to me, not some history off the pages of a book.
The anticipation that there was going to be war after weeks of tension meant that Logue was told to be ready to come to the Palace at a moment’s notice on 25th August although the call did not come until September 3rd, thus he became privy to something which few outside the government and the military had knowledge and even fewer of what the King was going to say on the radio to the Empire. The mood of the King and everyone was sad and sombre.
“In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send to every household of my peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.
For the second time in the lives of most of us we are war. Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies. But it has been in vain. We have been forced into a conflict. For we are called, with our allies, to meet the challenge of a principle which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilised order in the world.
It is the principle which permits a state, in the selfish pursuit of power, to disregard its treaties and its solemn pledges; which sanctions the use of force, or threat of force, against the sovereignty and independence of other states. Such a principle, stripped of all its disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that might is right, and if this principle were to be established throughout the world, the freedom of our own country and he whole of the British Commonwealth of Nations would be in danger. But far more than this- the peoples of the world would be kept in the bondage of fear, and all hopes of a settled peace and of the security of justice and liberty among nations would be ended.
This is the ultimate issue which confronts us. For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, and of the world’s order and peace, it is unthinkable that we would refuse to meet the challenge.
It is to this high purpose that I now call on my people at home and my peoples across the seas, who will make our cause their own. I ask then to stand calm, firm and united in this time of trail. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield. But we can only do the right as we see it and reverently commit our cause to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whatever the service and the sacrifice it may demand, then with God’s help we shall prevail.
May be bless and keep us all.”
Chapter thirteen covers Dunkirk and the Dark Days. The Ming had opened Parliament wearing his naval uniform and travelling by car and although he had hope to avoid making further Christmas message he decided there was no alternative but to do so. The hope and for some the ambition that he conflict would quickly end, quickly faded. In May 1940 the King had decided to make a speech during Empire Day. Things had not gone well. The expedition to prevent the German invasion of Norway after the fall of Denmark and Sweden had failed. In Parliament Leo Amery uttered those now famous words that Oliver Cromwell had once used : “ You have sat here for too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God ,go.
Although not immediately, his words led to the resignation of the Prime Minister and his government, to be replaced by a Coalition, the last occasion until last year that a coalition was formed, although the Coalition then covered all three major political parties and some non party figures. Germany marched into Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg that same day.” Queen Wilhelmina telephoned the King seeking help. Later that day they managed to escape and obtained refuge at the Palace. The German armies sweeping through France meant that the expeditionary force to France and Belgium was now in peril and no match for the superior forces assembling against them. This was the backcloth for the Empire Day speech, The evacuation of Dunkirk took place followed by perhaps the most significant speech Churchill made advising that we would fight on the beaches and everywhere. Dunkirk was no victory and many regard as the nation’s greatest defeat.
September 7th 1940 saw the first of the German Bomber raids at the Port of London. Over 400 were killed and 1800 injured but this was the start of 75 consecutive nights of bombing. Buckingham Palace was bombed leading to that famous remark of the Queen, that she could now look the East End in the face. Logue continued to help the King in important broadcasts and speeches, including Christmas once more visiting Windsor Christmas Eve socially and then on Christmas Day for the speech. He was given a gold cigarette case. Dinner was a Boar’s head with prunes.
The following year saw Germany’s decision to abandon plans to invade Britain and attack Russia. Japan made its attack on Pearl Harbour and the United State entered the war. There was then the Victory El Alamein in North Africa, There were problems with the Christmas message because Churchill had included phrases alien to the King’s usual speech style. This occasion was important for the King because it was the first time he lost his fear of the microphone, as he wrote afterwards to Logue. Britain survived the next two years, with the help of the USA and Commonwealth Countries, as preparations were made to take the war back to Europe with first the invasion of Italy starting with Sicily. The King also made a visit to British troops in North Africa and had a stop over in Malta. Logue was 62 when he was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, having been made a member in 1939. On June 1st 1944 Logue was asked to visit to prepare for a short speech, more of prayer he was told and which would be given through the radio in due course. This was in fact the address made on the evening of the Allied landings in Northern France on June 6th, a day later than planned because of suitable weather that morning.
“ Four years ago our nation and Empire stood alone against the overwhelming enemy with our backs to the wall, tested as never before in our history, and we survived that test. The spirit of the people, resolute and dedicated burned like a bright flame, surely from those unseen fires which nothing can quench.
Once more the supreme test has to be faced. This time the challenge is not to fight to survive, but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. Once again, what is demanded from us allies more than courage, more than endurance.
Logue’s youngest son participated as a second Lieutenant in the Scots of Guards. Promoted Captain he participated in the taking of Rome. The book then mentions the start of the rocket bombs which to I referred earlier.
That Christmas The King decided to do the speech on his own enabling Logue to spend the day with his family. The Queen and the two Princesses sat alongside the King. Shortly after the broadcast he telephoned Logue and his family listened on the extension.
On May 8th 1945 thousands of people assembled in the Mall to celebrate the end of the war in Europe. The two Princess made their first public appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, alongside their parents and Sir Winston Churchill.
There is also a description of the King Speech when the family again appeared on the balcony.
“Today we give thanks to Almighty God for a great deliverance. Speaking from our Empire’s oldest capital city, war battered but never for one moment daunted or dismayed, speaking from London, I ask you to join with me in that act of thanks giving.
Germany the enemy who drove all Europe into war, has been finally overcome. In the Far East we have yet to deal with the Japanese, a determined and cruel foe. To this we shall turn with the utmost resolve and with all our resources. But at this hour when the dreadful shadow of war has passed far from our hearths and homes in these islands, we may at last make one pause for thanksgiving and then turn our thoughts to the task all over the world which peace in Europe brings with it.
Noel Coward who was with the crowd said we all shouted ourselves hoarse. Elizabeth and Margaret slipped out of the palace to join the conga line in the Mall. Captain Peter Townsend, the King’s equerry led Logue and his wife through the gardens to the Royal Mews where a car was waiting to take the couple back to their home.
Their joyful participation in one of the great days of British history was shortlived because when Logue was in hospital for an operation on his prostate in mid June his wife had a heart attack and died on June 22nd. The couple had been married for forty years. If there was previous reference to the role of his sons I missed but here we learn that one son was serving as a medical officer in India while the third was in North Africa. The King and Queen were shocked and upset by the tragedy. Logue although in ill health himself emphasised to the King that he was more than willing to continue to assist if needed and contributed support for the State Opening of Parliament which was unique event with a Labour Government with an overwhelming majority. Logue records that the King had reservations about aspects of the Labour programme and had been saddened with the defeat of Churchill with whom he had formed a bond. He however had a good relationship with Anuran Bevan on the left who also had overcome a stammer.
The book records that life remained tough with food rationing continuing until 1954, a year before I left school to go to work. Logue continue to take patients but planned to take his first trip to Australia but because of high blood pressure was warned against flying he did not return before his death. He decided to sell the family home now that the children had grown up and made lives of their own, moving into a flat in the Brompton Road, opposite Harrods. His son Tony who gone to Cambridge to continued medical studies decided to switch to the law but then had a series of operations following one on his appendix. The King agreed to become a patron of the Association of speech therapists, now numbering 350 and recognised by the medical profession. Logue to the concern of his children was so missing his wife that he commenced to attend séances with a view to communicating with her.
There is an interesting note about the Marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Philip who was 18 when she met him aged 13 where the relationship was encouraged by Lord Mountbatten. The Queen in particular had reservations feeling that her daughter had limited contact with your men and therefore arranged a number of balls so she could have opportunity to meet more suitable young men. Queen Elizabeth referred to Philip who became Duke of Edinburgh and then Prince as “the hun“, referring to his more recent German ancestry than her own. His three sisters who had married German aristocracy with Nazi connections were not invited to the wedding.
The health of king also deteriorated as did that of Logue 15 years his senior, At Christmas 1951 the King who was suffering from a heavy cold could not mask his health difficulties. “I myself have every cause for deep thankfulness, not only by the grace of God and through the faithful skill of my doctors, surgeons and nurses- have I come through my illness but I have learned once again that it is in bad times that we value most highly the support and sympathy of our friends. From my peoples in these islands and in the Commonwealth and Empire as well as from many other countries this support and sympathy has reached me and I thank you now from my heart. I trust that you yourselves realise how greatly your prayers and good wishes have helped and am helping me in my recovery.
The broadcast was not live but took two days to record and lasted only six minutes. The communications between the King and Logue also concentrated on their respective health problems
The Kings Health appeared to improved and shortly before Princess Elizabeth and her husband were to set off for the their Tour of East Africa, Australia and New Zealand the family went to Drury Lane to see South Pacific. The King died during the night in February 5th, 1952 from a blood clot thrombosis. The Queen had become the Queen mother at age of 51, a position she was hold for another fifty years. Princes Elizabeth was immediately declared Queen had been staying at the Tree Tops Hotel in Kenya where Prince Phillip was given the task of breaking the news and the couple immediately returned home. Logue sent his condolences apologising that his own ill health had prevented replying to the Kings letter to him ay Christmas. The Queen mother wrote back two days later showing the relationship that had developed between the two families but also the continuing sense of caring duty of the Queen mother.
She ended the letter saying I am sending you this little box which always stood on the King’s table, and which he was rather fond of, as I am sure you would like a personal memento of someone who was so grateful to you for all you did for him. The box was on his writing table, & and I know he would wish you to have it. I do hope that you are feeling better. I Miss the King more & more.
Logue spent the following Christmas, when Queen Elizabeth made gave her first message, with his three sons and their families. Valentine and his wife Anne and their two year older daughter Victoria; Laurie and his wife Jo and their children Alexandra 14, Robert 10; and Antony with his future wife Elizabeth.. After the New Year Logue fell ill and became bed ridden for three months needing the services of a live in nurse. He died after going into a coma on 12 April 1953 of kidney failure. Among his effects was two invitations to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth, two because he had been too ill to respond to the first. His will amounted to under £9000, about £180000 today, about the same value of the savings` he had brought with him from Australia.
The book concludes with reference to the obituaries which were comparatively slight given the importance of the role he had taken. In summing up why the King had remained with him as a patient and then more as a friend, the grandson concludes that part fo the success was the way Logue treated the King as having a physical rather than a psychological problem in terms of the way of conquering the problems he had, but the wife of one of sons made the point that whereas the King’s father had been horrid to his younger son, her father in law had been kind, patient always supportive and loyal.
The past three days have reminded me of my childhood years and brought out the enormous changes that have taken place during my life time, although not as significant as were the changes during the lives of my birth and care mothers and their brothers and sisters. I have gained new insights and widened my perspective. The next read which I will start to tackle sometime next week will be a book about the political role of King George. Tomorrow there is cricket and the Australian tennis Final. I have a general writing to undertake and finishing off some artwork as the end of the month approaches.
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