The Real King's Speech Page #5

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'both at home and overseas...

'..this message.'

3rd September 1939.

The outbreak of war.

King George VI delivered

a stirring call to arms.

It was one of his finest speeches,

delivered at a time

when the nation shared

his uncertainty and fears

for the future.

'..spoken with same depth of feeling

'for each one of you

'as if I were able

to cross your threshold

'and speak to you...

'..myself.'

He was the symbol of determination,

of resistance.

You know, "We're going to lick this,

we're going to win."

As the war progressed

and terrible things happened,

he would meet Churchill,

he would see all the papers.

Then, I think, there was a terrific

amount of anguish and strain.

I think he took it really

very much to heart.

Whilst the King was shouldering

the burden of his country

during the war,

another of Logue's patients

was on the front line,

fighting for king and country.

I was an infantry

p-platoon commander.

Now, that's a word

I find difficult - "platoon". P-L.

If in battle, and you want to give

an order like, you know, "Charge!"

or, "Enemy on the left, coming over

the hill on the left, open fire,"

you d-d, you d-d-don't stammer.

I didn't stammer,

because it was

a matter of life and death.

It wasn't yackety-yak.

The King made more than a dozen

major speeches during the war.

Logue checked them, changing

or removing difficult words.

Logue is not just

a speech therapist.

He's not just

a psychological counsellor.

He also becomes

a kind of speech writer.

The two men developed a system to

guide the King through his speeches.

He gets rid of words,

he gets rids of phrases,

and often he's doing that

purely for linguistic reasons.

The speeches were marked where

the King should pause for breath.

Words were underlined for emphasis,

and words beginning with difficult

letters were sometimes changed.

As the tide of war turned

in Britain's favour,

the King prepared to deliver

his Christmas speech of 1944.

It was to be a personal

defining moment for him.

He says to Logue, "Look, this time,

I think I can do it on my own."

He doesn't really need him

as much as he did before.

Logue is at home with his family

listening to it on the radio.

'Once more...

'..on Christmas Day...

'I speak to millions of you...

'scattered far and near...

'across...the world.'

Facing the microphone alone

was the action of a confident man.

'We do not know...

'..what awaits us

'when we open the door

'of 1945.

'But if we look back...

'..to those earlier

Christmas Days of the war,

'we can surely say that the darkness

daily grows less and less.'

CHEERING:

'The word courage comes

through the whole time.'

The courage of the King

to face up to the problems

that were presented to him.

He tackled them head-on every time.

He never shirked them.

He went for it.

Nine years after reluctantly

becoming King,

George VI had finally

found his voice.

In 1945 he gave the speech

his country had been waiting for.

Today, we give thanks...to God

for a great...deliverance.

Speaking from our Empire's

oldest capital city...

..war-battered but never for one

moment daunted or dismayed...

I owe Logue a lifetime debt...

..which has certainly been

carried with meall my life.

'..And let us remember'

those who will not come back...

..for their constancy and courage

in battle, for their sacrifice

and endurance in the face

of a merciless enemy.

'We have come to the end

of our tribulations...'

I think he took away the bars

and I think I was...

I think I was allowed to fly.

Very emotional.

Red Bee Media Ltd.

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