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
Durbar (court) during the period of British rule. No durbar was held for later British monarchs who were Emperors of India. Edward VIII reigned only a brief time before abdicating. On the accession of his brother George VI, it was decided to hold no durbar in Delhi, due to several reasons: the cost would have been a burden to the government of India, rising Indian nationalism made the welcome that the royal couple would have received likely to be muted at best, and a prolonged absence of the King from the UK would have been undesirable in the tense period before World