The Real King's Speech Page #3

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usurpers to the throne.

'Two days after the abdication,

'Bertie was publicly embarrassed

on national radio

'from an unlikely source.

(ARCHBISHOP) 'During

the last 10 days,

'we have seen strange things.

'One King went

and another King came.

'The Archbishop of Canterbury,'

Cosmo Lang, was pretty self-important

'and he put himself about a lot

at the time of the abdication.

(ARCHBISHOP) 'And here,

may I be permitted

'to add a parenthesis

which may not be unhelpful.

'When his people listen to him,

'they will note an occasional and

momentary hesitation in his speech,

'but he has brought it into full

control and to those who hear,

'it need cause

no sort of embarrassment

'for it causes none

to him who speaks.'

This is a really

terrible thing to say.

'The date for the Coronation was

the one set for his exiled brother.

'It left little time for

the new King to prepare.

'The Coronation itself'

involves a few kind of

set-piece responses

during the ceremony, but also,

more importantly, that evening

'he has to make

a radio address to the Empire.

'Hundreds of millions of people

across the world

'will be listening

to his words live.'

He's absolutely terrified.

'Just being alone

in a room with a microphone -

'that's horrifying for him.

'About a month before the Coronation,

the word goes out - send for Logue.

'King George VI would have a lot

to prove on his Coronation Day.

'Logue had to prepare him and give

his confidence the boost it needed.

'The King describes to Logue

how he's had a dream,'

and he dreamt that he woke up

in the Houses of Parliament

and was trying to speak

and he was opening his mouth

and just no words were coming out.

He'd been completely struck dumb.

'Logue went through the radio speech

the King would give to the Empire

'after his Coronation

to identify any problem words.'

He taught me actually how a letter

is made up. The bits of it.

Almost like the bits

in a computer program,

so that you concentrated on

how that letter looked and sounded.

He took the trouble

to go through

'each sentence, each word,'

each syllable, each sound.

Logue was a craftsman.

They go through the responses

he's got to make

during the Coronation itself.

'They go through the text of

the address that he's going to make'

and they practise

and they practise and they practise.

'Agghhhh. Sssss...

'Sssssinister. You can shout.'

(CAREFULLY) Beee.

(SLOWLY) Ki-ing.

"We got a little bit stuck on that

word. Let's have it again."

(CAREFULLY) Catastrophic.

Cat-astrophic.

"George, terrific!

Let's do that again.

"We'll do it

even better next time."

'You always came away feeling,'

"Wow, I think we're cracking it!"

'Six days before the Coronation,

nerves got the better of the King.'

Logue describes him at one point

as being almost hysterical.

He's going through the speech

again and again,

stumbling at the same point,

getting completely angry

and frustrated with himself.

'Some worried the King

might not get through the speech.

'The BBC cut together a safety copy

recorded from the best of

'the King's practice sessions.

'As a kind of standby,

'they decide that if everything

goes horribly wrong on the evening'

they will cut the speech off and

switch over to a primitive recording.

FANFARE:

'Lionel Logue and his wife looked on

from the balcony above the Royal box

'as King George VI was crowned.'

They're mingling with

other members of the Royal family,

which is an extraordinary privilege

for a couple of commoners.

He can look across and he can

see Logue. It's a kind of

reassurance for him.

'It was the back-up -

"I'll be there,'

"I'm going to be with you."

You know...

"You'll be great!"

And the King was.

Are you willing to take the oath?

I am willing.

Solemnly promise and swear?

I solemnly promise

so to do.

(ALL) God save the King!

'King George VI was crowned...

'but the day was not yet over.

'The King stood

to speak to the Empire.

(KING GEORGE VI) 'Never before...

'has a newly crowed King...

'..been able to talk...

'to all his people

'in their...own homes

'on the day of...

'his Coronation.

'I rejoice...

'that I can now speak to you all

'wherever you may be.

'And we do not forget...

'..at this time of celebration

'those who are living under...

'..the shadow of sickness or...

'..dis-tress.

'I thank you from my heart...

'and may God bless you all.

NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS

CROWD CHEERS:

'Logue congratulated him

on a job well done,

'but both men knew

that the demands of kingship

'would be hard

for a stammering king.'

May it please Your Majesty

to name and launch this ship.

I name this ship

King George V,

and may God...

..bless her

and those who serve in her.

In 1937, the newly crowned King

George VI had enthusiastic crowds

waiting to hear his every word

wherever he went.

I have much pleasure

in declaring the bridge open.

In his first year, he faced an

unrelenting schedule of speeches,

state functions

and Royal engagements.

My grateful thanks...

And when the last presentation

has been made, His Majesty speaks.

..And possession of...

Logue himself said that, in the

King's eyes, he could see tiredness.

It was physical

and it was psychological

and I'm quite sure that all

stammerers would say the same thing.

It was an effort.

My-My stammer was always there.

It was contained

by elements of fear all the time.

Compared with other people,

I felt rather second rate.

I think that probably stays with you,

however successful you may be.

Logue's first success had been

the treatment of six World War One

soldiers with speech disorders.

As well as the physical help

he gave,

Logue realised that his patients

needed psychological support.

My dad was quite a hot-tempered

fellow and Logue took my dad aside

and probably said, "This is the way

you ought to be treating your son."

And my father would listen to him.

I was reading a letter

Bertie wrote to Logue

soon after his treatment had started

and the way in which he said,

"The joy,

I can talk to my father again."

It showed the degree of personal and

almost psychological analysis that

must have gone on in the treatment

and therapy

between Logue and the King.

Logue also treated

the son of Sir Oswald Mosley, leader

of the British Fascist movement.

"Oh, now, he's the King's therapist,"

and all that!

So I was...I was duly...

duly impressed.

To me, a good day was when my stammer

wasn't too bad and a bad day

was when I stammered very badly.

And I thought my stammer stopped

my father b-being a bullying man.

Bertie had taken the name George

to show continuity of monarchy

with his father.

He was also persuaded to copy his

father in giving a Christmas speech.

It would be an opportunity

to further unite the nation

behind the new Royal family.

'In a few moments,

His Majesty the King will speak

to his people at home and overseas.'

The King asked for Logue

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