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George V (1865 - 1936)
George V The second son of King Edward VII, George served in the navy until 1892, when the death of his elder brother, Prince Albert, required him to be trained in his eventual duties as king. He married Albert's fiancée Princess Mary of Teck and became Prince of Wales on the accession of his father to the throne.
George became King in May 1910 and was crowned in June 1911. The struggle to curb the powers of the House of Lords remained unresolved and, after failing to win support from Edward VII, Asquith's Liberal government secured an undertaking from the new king to create sufficient new peers to overcome the opposition. In the event, the Liberal success in the election of December 1910 made this unnecessary; the House of Lords relented and passed the Parliament Act in 1911.
Public respect for him increased during World War One as he visited the front in France several times, but in 1923 he was faced with a difficult decision on the resignation of Andrew Bonar Law, when he had to choose between Lord Curzon and Stanley Baldwin to appoint as the next Prime Minister. Believing Baldwin had more support in the Conservative Party and that the prime minister should be in the House of Commons, the King selected him.
King George was seriously ill at the end of 1928, and for the rest of his reign he had to be extremely careful of his health. In 1931 the collapse of the pound and the consequent financial crisis split the Labour administration. To secure strong government, he persuaded Ramsay MacDonald and a part of his Cabinet to remain in office and join with both Conservatives and Liberals to form a national coalition government.
As King, George founded the institution of the Companions of Honour, to reward men and women who had rendered great national service, usually in the fields of arts or culture. In the same year - 1917 - he also founded the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Originally intended to reward both civilian and military wartime service, it is now given for service to government in peace as well as gallantry in war.