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
The Old Man's Complaint Against His Wretched Son, Who to Advance His Marriage Did Undo Himself preventing them from the possibility of conceiving a child. It was a problem that drove the wife to grief and, as a result, she sought sexual dalliances with other men, yet her pursuits could not alleviate her pain. Unable to bear her misery, she strangles herself and dies. The husband, meanwhile, as a result of his grief over her death dies as well. His ungrateful children finally dead, the father is able to enjoy the remainder of his life. The Old Man's Complaint Against His Wretched Son, Who to Advance His Marriage Did Undo Himself "A Ballad Intituled, The Old