Murder of a King? The Curious Death of George V

There is a very real chance that the King of Great Britain, steward of the British Empire, and keeper of the faith, was murdered.

When one thinks of a murdered king, a scene of Shakespearean intrigue may spring to mind; Richard II being quietly dispatched while under incarceration in Pontefract Castle, or Richard III defiantly breathing his last on the blood-soaked field of Bosworth. You may even think of Charles I losing his head to the triumphant Parliamentarians, or the somewhat undignified suppository that ended the reign of Edward II.

What if I were to tell you that, in living memory for some, the grandfather of our current reigning monarch, an English king, was murdered?

George V was monarch during a time of great social and political upheaval during the twilight years of the British Empire. His reign saw the rise of Socialism, Communism, Fascism, Irish Republicanism and Indian Nationalism; ideological developments that, coupled with the decline of Pax Britannica, and his own declining health, muddied the final years of a King's life. In the two decades between the onset of the Great War and his last breath in early 1936, George's health declined steadily and consistently: first, a fall from a horse while in France, the bronchitis and septicaemia. The death of his beloved sister, Victoria, sent the King into a spiralling depression from which he never truly recovered.

By January of 1936, the king was weak and emaciated, bed-stricken at Sandringham House. Speaking on the King's health, then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin declared:

"...each time he became conscious it was some kind inquiry or kind observation of someone, some words of gratitude for kindness shown. But he did say to his secretary when he sent for him: "How is the Empire?" An unusual phrase in that form, and the secretary said: "All is well, sir, with the Empire", and the King gave him a smile and relapsed once more into unconsciousness."

While it is no secret, or understatement, that George found himself in a state of dire health, and was terribly suffering; the decision to end this suffering might not have been his. The Palace assembled a team of physicians to watch over the feeble monarch; including Bertrand Edward Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn. Viscount Dawson was, at the time, president of the Royal College of Physicians. Dawson was an open advocate of euthanasia, and had been sedating the King with increasing amounts of morphine and cocaine, alongside the King's private nurse, Catherine "Blackie" Black.

On the night of January 20th, 1936, a lethal dose was given. Some may brush aside this hastening of the King's death, by citing the chronic pain George was in. Dawson's own reasoning was twofold; for dignity, and so that the death could be announced in the morning papers, as opposed to the less reputable evening bulletins. However, the King's final words are telling. As Catherine Black prepared the final injection, the king stirred and mumbled "God damn you" to his nurse before slipping into the night, never to wake again.

After George's passing, the Royal Family entered a period of turmoil; before the end of the year, George's eldest son and heir, Edward VIII, had abdicated in favour of his lover, Wallis Simpson; leaving his second son, Albert, to become king as George VI.

The true nature of George V's death was not publicly known until the release of Dawson's personal diary, some fifty years later. A segment of the diary reads:

"At about 11 o'clock it was evident that the last stage might endure for many hours, unknown to the Patient but little comporting with that dignity and serenity which he so richly merited and which demanded a brief final scene. Hours of waiting just for the mechanical end when all that is really life has departed only exhausts the onlookers & keeps them so strained that they cannot avail themselves of the solace of thought, communion or prayer. I therefore decided to determine the end and injected (myself) morphia gr.3/4 and shortly afterwards cocaine gr.1 into the distended jugular vein ... In about 1/4 an hour – breathing quieter – appearance more placid – physical struggle gone."

What may shock and appal some is the revelation that the Royal Family were not consulted, or even told, about the decision to euthanise the king; seemingly against his will. The King's wife, Queen Mary, was intensely religious and most likely would not have sanctioned the decision. The King's sons were completely out of the loop, as none were present at Sandringham during George's final days. The family did not want the King to suffer, nor did they want his life prolonged artificially. Nevertheless, the realisation that it was a lethal concoction of narcotics, rather than natural causes, that took the King's life would later send a shock wave through the British monarchy, and wider society. A 1994 review referred to his actions as an 'arrogant, convenience killing'.

During Dawson's life, a clerihew entered circulation: "Lord Dawson of Penn/ Killed many men./ That's why we sing/ 'God Save the King'." Dawson managed to hang onto his various positions in the English court. With the truth about his involvement still widely unknown; he served in the households of Edward VIII and George VI. During the 1936 abdication crisis, Dawson exerted pressure on Stanley Baldwin to resign as Prime Minister on health grounds, despite Baldwin supposedly being in good health. Dawson was even given Birthday Honours in 1936. And his reputation survived intact until long after his death.

It might have been clear that the King's death was imminent. However, given his last words, the closely guarded secret that survived half a century, and the dark in which the King's closest family were kept; there is a very real chance that the King of Great Britain, steward of the British Empire, and keeper of the faith, was murdered.