On the sudden death of the popular John Buchan in 1940, Canada found itself without a Governor General in time of war. Despite the longstanding intention of Canadian governments to indigenise the office and appoint Canadian nationals as governors general—Australia had already done so with the appointment of Sir Isaac Isaacs as its governor general in 1931—wartime seemed an unpropitious time for constitutional tinkering; the royal family had garnered vast public support during the Royal Tour of 1939; as Queen Mary's brother and a former governor general of another of His Majesty's Dominions, Lord Athlone seemed a satisfactory candidate, and the Prime Minister (W.L. Mackenzie King) advised the King to appoint him.