George VI the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, J. H. Thomas. King George V had severe reservations about Prince Edward, saying "After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself in twelve months" and "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne." On 20 January 1936, George V died and Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. In the Vigil of the Princes, Prince Albert and his three brothers took a shift standing guard over their father's body as it lay in state, in a closed
Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary The coronation of George V and Mary of Teck as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Empire took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 22 June 1911. This was second of four such events held during the 20th century and the last to be attended by royal representatives of the great continental European empires. The overall planning of the coronation was theoretically the role of the Earl Marshal, a hereditary office held of the Dukes of Norfolk for several centuries. At the coronation of King Edward VII in