Coins of the pound sterling VIII became king in January 1936 and was portrayed facing left, the same as his predecessor George V. This was because Edward thought his left to be his best side. However, Edward VIII abdicated in December 1936 and his coins were never put into general circulation. When George VI came to the throne, he had his coins struck with him facing the left, as if Edward VIII's coins had faced right (as they should have done according to tradition). Thus, in a timeline of circulating British coins, George V and VI's coins both feature left-facing portraits, although they follow directly
Cultural depictions of George VI to explain why he would not leave Britain for any safe zone, namely Canada, during World War II. George is a significant character in Michael Dobbs' 2003 novel "Winston's War", and Len Deighton's alternate history novel "SS-GB", in which he is imprisoned during a Nazi occupation of Britain and killed during an escape attempt. In the alternate history novel "Fatherland" by Robert Harris, George VI was deposed when Nazi Germany conquered the United Kingdom and the British Empire in the early 1940s. Most of the Royal Family were forced into exile in Canada and his elder brother Edward VIII was