that the concept of a more accessible, less remote monarchy took root. The general fear of revolution came afterward to be seen as unfounded. Though there were riots in some British cities (in Glasgow armoured cars had had to be used to suppress public disorder), there was never any serious threat of the overthrow of the State, or real desire for it. George was, like anyone brought up ‘in the purple’, more at home with the aristocracy and gentry than with the broader mass of his people. Nevertheless he knew that the survival of theconstitutional system was vital to the stability and happiness of the British people, and that the best way to ensure this was by making the monarchy as conciliatory toward all parties as possible. No matter with whom he was dealing – and the years would bring confrontation between the British government and some implacable opponents, such as the Irish leader Éamon de Valera or the Indian Mahatma Gandhi – the king would always work on the assumption that some common ground or interest could be found, and that this was probably a mutual desire for peaceful solution. He also acknowledged that there could be no future for a monarchy that was remote, and which could not be seen to be earning its keep. Since the times were bringing new men to power – and Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour prime minister, the illegitimate son of a farmhand, was the personification of this – he would endeavour to treat them respectfully, to find common ground and to work with them. When the General Strike began in May 1926 and Lord Durham, a wealthy mine-owner, condemned the strikers as ‘revolutionaries’, George famously snapped at him: ‘Try living on their wages before you judge them!’
His determination to make the royal family less aloof was a well-judged measure, eliminating opportunities for public resentment and earning British royalty a goodwill it has never since lost. How did he do this? With more public appearances, including attending events like the FA Cup, a working-class occasion not previously linked with royalty. By voluntarily halving the Civil List, once the Depression began, and by obliging his sons to do the same. He also did it by speaking directly to his subjects through wireless. He did so for the first time in April 1924 when opening the Empire Exhibition in London. Several years later, at Christmas 1932, following a suggestion by Sir John Reith of the BBC, he made a speech by radio to the peoples of the British Empire. Nothing like this had ever before been possible – Queen Victoria had only been able to send simultaneous telegrams to her overseas territories. George was gifted with a beautiful, resonant speakingvoice. Heard via wireless sets across the world, it conveyed precisely the right image of pleasant, paternal sympathy. The broadcast proved so popular that he and his descendants have done the same thing almost every year since. Interestingly, not one of them has wished to do so. The three sovereigns involved – George V, George VI and the present queen – have all hated the ordeal of speaking on radio or television, and have only done so because they knew their subjects wanted to hear them. The broadcasts have been of crucial value in familiarizing the public with their activities and personalities, and have greatly helped the image of the monarchy.
Sometimes the populism of the royal family was expressed in everyday gestures, unknown to the public until the appearance, years later, of diaries and memoirs. One of his cousins asked George, as head of the family, whether he felt it would be all right for her to travel by bus. His reply was typical, reflecting the length of the shadow that continued to fall over everything that was done in the royal house: ‘What would Grandmama have thought?’ However, he conceded that she was ‘quite old enough to travel by bus’ if she chose to. He then asked her: ‘Do you strap-hang?’ It was often these simple,
His determination to make the royal family less aloof was a well-judged measure, eliminating opportunities for public resentment and earning British royalty a goodwill it has never since lost. How did he do this? With more public appearances, including attending events like the FA Cup, a working-class occasion not previously linked with royalty. By voluntarily halving the Civil List, once the Depression began, and by obliging his sons to do the same. He also did it by speaking directly to his subjects through wireless. He did so for the first time in April 1924 when opening the Empire Exhibition in London. Several years later, at Christmas 1932, following a suggestion by Sir John Reith of the BBC, he made a speech by radio to the peoples of the British Empire. Nothing like this had ever before been possible – Queen Victoria had only been able to send simultaneous telegrams to her overseas territories. George was gifted with a beautiful, resonant speakingvoice. Heard via wireless sets across the world, it conveyed precisely the right image of pleasant, paternal sympathy. The broadcast proved so popular that he and his descendants have done the same thing almost every year since. Interestingly, not one of them has wished to do so. The three sovereigns involved – George V, George VI and the present queen – have all hated the ordeal of speaking on radio or television, and have only done so because they knew their subjects wanted to hear them. The broadcasts have been of crucial value in familiarizing the public with their activities and personalities, and have greatly helped the image of the monarchy.
Sometimes the populism of the royal family was expressed in everyday gestures, unknown to the public until the appearance, years later, of diaries and memoirs. One of his cousins asked George, as head of the family, whether he felt it would be all right for her to travel by bus. His reply was typical, reflecting the length of the shadow that continued to fall over everything that was done in the royal house: ‘What would Grandmama have thought?’ However, he conceded that she was ‘quite old enough to travel by bus’ if she chose to. He then asked her: ‘Do you strap-hang?’ It was often these simple,
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