King George 1923 by Bassano Ltd, Library of Congress
British king George V (1865-1936) was the second son of Edward VII and Alexandra; when his elder brother died, he became heir to the throne and married his brother’s former fiancée, the future Queen Mary, with whom he had six children (including Edward VIII and George VI). He succeeded his father as king in 1910, and reigned during World War I (which vastly changed Britain, Europe, and the world) and during the period of Irish republicanism and the Indian independence movement. Although he was very traditional, he tended to approach situations from a neutral perspective and saw his role as one of mediator. After his death in 1936, he was succeeded (briefly) by his son Edward, later Duke of Windsor.
He’s FREQUENTLY depicted on screen as the Serious and Remote King in One Quick Scene, so while I even went and screencapped him in many films, I either couldn’t find or didn’t have the patience to include these:
- Derek Erskine in The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama (1925)
- Rene Aranda in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)
- Terence Brook in The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981)
- Andrew Gilmour in A Thousand Skies (1985)
- David Ravenswood in The Great Air Race (1990)
- John Warner in The Treaty (1991)
- Jamie Thomas King in Murdoch Mysteries: “Honeymoon in Hampshire” (2022)
For the rest, here’s George on screen!
Michael Osborne in Edward the King (1975)
We haven’t yet gotten to Bertie having grown-up children in my recap reviews of the bio-series about George’s dad, but it’s coming!
Marius Goring in Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978)
No doubt he looms disapprovingly in this bio-series about his son’s abdication.
Keith Varnier in Lillie (1978)
The bio-series about one of his father’s mistresses, socialite/actress Lillie Langtry.
Guy Deghy in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981)
An EIGHT-PART bio-series about the famous British prime minister that I can almost guarantee you I will never watch. Almost!
David Troughton in All the King’s Men (1999)
A TV film about a real-life British battalion that fought at Gallipoli during World War I, suffered heavy losses, and led to a myth that they had disappeared.
Rupert Frazer in Shackleton (2002)
I skimmed this TV series about the Antarctic explorer to find this one scene and was impressed by the 1910s costumes! Kenneth Branagh plays the famed explorer.
Alan Bates in Bertie and Elizabeth (2002)
A TV film that focuses on the relationship between George’s second son, the future George VI and his wife.
Tom Hollander in The Lost Prince (2003)
I keep meaning to rewatch this bio-series about George’s youngest son, who had epilepsy and autism, because the costumes were so good… but I also remember the plot was boring, which puts me off!
Clifford Rose in Wallis & Edward (2005)
A TV film about George’s son, Edward, and his consequential relationship with Wallis Simpson.
Julian Wadham in My Boy Jack (2007)
A TV bio-movie about Rudyard Kipling’s son during World War I.
Michael Gambon in The King’s Speech (2010)
The feature film about George’s son, the future George VI, who has to overcome his stammer in order to become an effective king.
James Fox in W.E. (2011)
The weirdly plotted but FABULOUSLY costumed feature film about Wallis and Edward and the modern woman who is obsessed with them.
Guy Williams in Downton Abbey: “Christmas Episode” (2013)
Rose gets presented at court, so we gotta have George and Mary!
Simon Jones in Downton Abbey [film] (2019)
OMG the royals come to visit!
Tom Hollander in The King’s Man (2021)
An Edwardian-set action film in which Tom Hollander is GENIUSLY CAST as George V, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, all of whom were cousins and looked eerily similar.
Richard Dillane in The Crown (2022) season 5
George shows up in the flashback that deals with the Romanovs and how the British government did not intervene, in this bio-series about his granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
Who’s your favorite George V on screen? And it better be Tom Hollander!
The photo from Edward the King is actually of Cheryl Campbell as Princess Beatrice, not Lillie Langtry.
Thanks, I did triple squint at that and wondered!
Screen wise, I know him best from The Lost Prince.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the real George had a Bedroom Sash he wore at night, he had an outfit for everything.
😂😂
George V was emotionally inarticulate to a pathological degree, not his fault but his misfortune. He could only express his emotions in writing. His letters to his wife are tender and even passionate. He seems to have managed open affection towards his children when they were very small but became more distant as they grew.
George once said, “my father was afraid of his father, I was afraid of my father, and I’m going to make damn sure my children are afraid of me.” Sadly, they all were except Mary, his only daughter.
He probably did NOT say that. In fact he adored Edward VII and George wanted his sons to regard him as their best friend.
Winston Churchill, the Wilderness Years is a great series! Robert Hardy plays Winston and Sian Phillips is Clemmie. Nigel Havers is the impossible Randolph. The costumes are very good- it’s Britain between the wars after all – Clemmie has a lot of good frocks!
Yes indeed! I’ve seen it too
I completely agree. Robert Hardy, one of my most favorite actors, is the best Winston Churchill EVER.
Amen!
Also, George V appears in Clouds of Witness, the Peter Wimsey series from 1972. He is played by George Cormack and is identified as a “Royal Personage”, but it is clearly George V as it takes place in the 1920s and he has the BEARD! (And I think the sash as well!). He is seen asking the American ambassador to help “young Wimsey” in any way he can (Lord Peter needs to get some important information in the United States in a short amount of time – he flies the Atlantic!)
I love the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries with Ian Carmichael – he was exactly as I imagine Lord Peter. The Edward Petherbridge versions – not so much….
Ha! Mr Tom Hollander not only came back for a victory lap as His Late Majesty King George the Fifth, he actually completed the full set of Imperial cousins!
He did! 😂
As far as The Sash goes, it’s the riband of the Order of the Garter, which is the oldest and most prestigious order of chivalry in the UK. it was founded in 1348 and there can only be 24 non-royal members at a time. Prince William is the 1000 member. I think if I were a Garter knight, I would never ever get tired of wearing that riband.
BTW the ‘chicken bird’ is meant to be Charlotte, a pet parrot beloved by George but not universally popular with his family and staff.
Well, I’ve seen Tom Hollander as KGV as many times as he’s played the role. He was very temperamental in “The Lost Prince.” Loved Gina McKee in that, but on second viewing it was a bit tedious (other than poor little Prince John’s fantasy of having his Romanov cousins come to live with him at his little cottage). I actually preferred Simon Jones in Downton Abbey: The Movie, simply because he came off more personable than the shouty iterations. I think Michael Gambon takes the sweepstakes for being the meanest, shoutiest version of all in The King’s Speech. Now that Simon Jones is on The Gilded Age, it’s amusing to see how he uses some of the same nods as both servant and master.