The Real King's Speech (2011) Movie Script
My first...
..word...
..must be one of praise...
for...
..the enterprise...
..enthusiasm...and hard work
which have made it possible...
..at a time...
when...
..when...
..this country...
..was still under the cloud...
The Queen's father, King George VI,
suffered from a debilitating
speech impediment.
(PRODUCES LONG, WAVERING NOTE)
Behind the scenes,
the King was helped
by an innovative speech
therapist called Lionel Logue.
Huhh! Huhh!
Huhh! Huhh!
Fish...find...fat...funny.
(SPEAKS MUSICALLY) I hear
I am accused of the atrocious crime
of being a young man.
For the first time,
Logue's former patients who were
treated alongside the King
will reveal his methods.
I could speak to him in a way that
I couldn't speak to anybody else.
I owe Logue...
a lifetime debt.
'In this grave hour...'
And through his iconic speeches
we'll chart the King's journey
to find his voice
and lead a nation.
In 1924,
the Empire colonial exhibition
was opened by
Edward, Prince of Wales,
and his father, King George V.
Thousands attended Wembley that day.
Many more listened in.
It was the first time
a British king was heard on radio.
Broadcasting was the marvel
of the modern age.
'I thank you from my heart for
the words of devoted affection...'
Now the monarchy not only had to
look regal, they had to sound it.
'The Crown is the historic symbol
that unites this great
family of nations...'
Not easy for George V's second son,
Bertie, the Duke of York.
The new age of radio
was a tremendous personal shock
to the Duke of York.
You had to be able to perform...
directly to millions of people.
And he, with his stammer,
was not equipped for it.
I congratulate you on the completion
of this fine building
and I trust that it will prove...
..the centre...
of an administration...
The Duke was afflicted by shyness,
and a fear of speaking in public
because of his stammer.
..in bringing health and
happiness...to the people here.
It's difficult enough for anybody
to give a speech in public
and people didn't know
he had a speech deficiency
- that's another thing -
until they saw him.
He had to talk for perhaps two
or three minutes, so agony for him.
(STAMMERS) The strain was going into
a new situation,
where people didn't know you.
I was heaving, either making no sound
at all or making terrible faces.
And there you stood, being
on the point of sort of rolling about
with either laughter
or embarrassment.
I felt...that I was in a prison...
with bars,
preventing me from communicating.
I can almost visualise myself
holding onto prison bars and
looking out into an outside world.
The Duke used the word "hell"
to describe how he felt
when he gave a speech.
He was confronted, face to face,
with a new reality.
FEEDBACK SCREECHES
Speaking in front of this...
huge microphone.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am very glad...
to come here this afternoon...
to welcome the King's Field.
I am sure...
..that we are all...
..happy to feel...
..that...
that the generosity of His Majesty...
..has set an example to all...
He just used to seize up.
He could not get the words out.
The jaw muscles are going,
and he is having one heck of a job
to get the words out.
..throughout the country.
'I think people linked stammering'
with a certain kind of
mental disability.
I think they thought you perhaps
were not quite right.
All of this was in sharp contrast
to the Duke's elder brother Edward,
a natural in the public eye.
A playboy prince
and heir to the throne.
There was always the comparison
with his elder brother.
Now, that was very awkward.
And people used to say things like,
"Oh, it's like an ugly duckling
and a cock pheasant."
(NEWSREEL) His walk,
his manner were copied.
The Prince of Wales' drape was
the epitome in men's suit design.
Even use of a cigarette holder
became the mode as a result
of his visit.
To the Prince of Wales,
everything came very easily.
He had but to sort of flash
that grin and that boyish look
and people sort of melted
before him.
George V had six children.
Bertie was the second son.
All had a strict upbringing.
Bertie started to stammer
at the age of seven.
The father probably induced it
as much as anybody else
by his treatment of Bertie,
and shouting...you know, "Get it
out! Get it out!" when he stammered.
He had also the braces put on his
legs to stop him being knock-kneed,
and being forced to write with his
right hand when he was left-handed,
and that combination is probably
enough to give anyone a stammer.
It adds up to a pretty grim picture
for poor Bertie, doesn't it?
I think that everything
improved for him
because he married
the perfect woman.
He had married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,
who later became the Queen Mother.
She was supportive of Bertie
all his life.
Away from public duty, they enjoyed
the privileges of royalty.
(NEWSREEL) These were the early,
happy years.
He chose the joys of the countryside
whenever his heavy duties
would permit.
But in 1926, their lives
were interrupted.
TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
His father thought it was time for
Bertie to go out into the Empire
on a six-month tour.
And Bertie would be making dozens of
speeches to thousands of strangers.
If he didn't want to
let his father down,
he had to deal with his stammer.
On 19th October 1926,
the Duke and Duchess of York arrived
at the less fashionable end
of Harley Street to meet
Lionel Logue, an Australian
speech therapist.
He was their last chance to try
to get rid of the Duke's stammer
before six months of public speaking
on their tour of the Empire.
By the time he saw Lionel Logue in
1926, he had evidently already seen
about eight speech therapists.
This man was tired.
And we are all...
..happy to feel...
..the generosity of His Majesty...
All attempts by the Duke to cure
his speech impediment had failed.
Why people stammered
was not understood,
nor was there any agreement
on how to cure it.
I think I'd got rather distrustful
of all sort of speech therapists,
or people who thought
that could help stammerers.
Say, "Ah."
At that time, there were
no theories about what caused
stammering at all.
Speech therapy was in its infancy.
It wasn't considered
part of medicine.
It was a completely
unregulated profession,
if one could even call it
a profession.
DOORBELL RINGS
Lionel Logue had travelled to
Britain from Perth at the age of 44
with his wife and family.
He's got no medical
qualifications whatsoever.
He decides to rent rooms
in Harley Street.
He doesn't have much money, he's
just clinging to the very edge
of the road, and he opens
his practice there and starts
to see patients.
His background in Australia
was more theatrical than medical.
By day, he would be
teaching elocution,
and in the evenings
he'd be using those same skills,
treading the boards in his
amateur dramatic productions.
Lionel Logue's challenge was great.
The Duke of York was 30 and
had been stammering for 23 years.
I can remember him being quite tall.
"Hello, George, good to see you, come
and sit down, sit down over here.
"How are you feeling now?"
And it was very gentle
and very...welcoming!
George Metcalfe was nine years old
when he first began treatment
with Lionel Logue.
It started when I was three. My dad
shouted at me, "Don't stammer!"
and from then on,
I started to stammer.
It was like a tic,
but it was worse than a tic,
so if I can demonstrate,
it was, "Urgh!" Like that.
And I literally used to bang my head
on tables, if there was a table
in front of me, or I would bang
my head into the porridge
or into the soup.
Logue's record card of his
first appointment with the Duke
revealed his methodology.
He was concerned with
the Duke's physical appearance,
which he believed contributed
to his stammer.
"Well built with good shoulders,
"but waistline very flabby.
Good chest development.
"Top lung breathing good. He's never
used his diaphragm or lower lung.
"This has resulted through
non-control of solar plexus
"in nervous tension with consequent
episodes of bad speech, depression."
For two and a half months, Bertie
visited Logue nearly every day
and practised intensively.
One day, I got there,
the Duke was coming out,
and I didn't know
that the Duke was being treated.
And I think Logue told me about it.
I probably asked a cheeky
question when I got upstairs.
He would lean across from his chair
and put his hand on my stomach.
He'd say, "Right,
what you've got to do, George,
"is to breathe from your diaphragm."
Hand just above the belly button
and making sure
that you were lifting the hand
the whole time...
..to create an unbroken
column of air up your windpipe
"That's the key to it all,
breathing from your diaphragm,
"so let's practise a few breaths."
So here we would go...
(BREATHES IN AND OUT)
DOORBELL RINGS
Once the Duke had control
over his breathing,
Logue taught how letters
and sounds are formed.
Pip, pop, pap.
The mechanics of sound,
how you actually make a sound.
Going somewhere.
Going.
# Aaah. # That's easy, cos
there's nothing holding it back.
Mother, naughty,
right up in the nose.
G-G-G... Goodbye.
E... Open your mouth wider
to let the E come out.
You can go, "Huh, huh!"
You can cough.
I hope that hasn't upset
your sound equipment.
Some of Logue's methods
had the whiff of the West End,
rather than Harley Street.
"Let's see how it feels like if you
sing it. Maybe you should stand up,
George. Now, let's try that."
"And...yeah, you've got stuck
on that C, let's do that again."
And it was always not forceful, like
areally good director in a film.
'With the Royal tour
only weeks away,
'Logue prescribed the Duke
an hour of exercises a day.'
Fish, fine, fat, funny.
'A lot of homework to do every day,'
practising.
'The Duchess of York
'was fully involved in
her husband's treatment.'
She helped with the therapies.
She went along
'to the consulting rooms,
'was there
learning how to breathe'
so that when they went away
on their foreign tours,
she could keep the exercises going.
'By the time the Duke and Duchess
set sail in January 1927,
'Bertie had confidence
'in himself and his therapist.'
Everyone else was relaxing on deck.
He was sitting there doing his
gargling, doing his tongue twisters,
practising his
different vowel sounds,
'and writing back, telling Logue
'how well he was doing his homework,
like a child'
trying to please
their teacher. Extraordinary.
'For six months,
the Duke and Duchess
'represented the Crown down under.
The trip was regarded as a success,
'but Logue knew that
it was a problem managed,
'rather than a problem solved.'
'It was always going to
be a problem,'
it was never going to go away,
because the stammer
never went away in its entirety.
He did manage to overcome it to a
very large extent, but not entirely.
'The Duke's stammer affected
his life in other ways too.
'I think there was
a great tension in him,
'and I think the stammer was
a source of great frustration,'
and I think it would build up
in him and then it would explode.
He would kick
corgis across the room.
It was disconcerting
when it happened.
On one occasion,
he picked up the knives and forks
and threw them about, and
Princess Margaret came to his rescue
by saying, "This is a good game,
let's do this,"
and jokingly also threw knives and
forks around and it all calmed down.
'The Duke and Duchess
had two daughters -
'Elizabeth, the present Queen,
and Princess Margaret.
'Their upbringing was very
different to their father's.'
Here, actually, with the Yorks
and their two little daughters,
you have the first facsimile
of a middle-class royal family.
'They were a very loving,'
genuinely loving foursome,
'a unit, referring to his
wife and his daughters'
as "us four".
'Papa, Mummy, Lillybet, Margaret.'
CROWD CHEERS
'For ten years, the Yorks
had an uncomplicated family life.
'All that changed
on 20th January, 1936
'with the death of King George V.'
(BROADCASTER) 'Behind the casket,
in solemn procession,
'marched Edward with his brothers.
'Now he was King.
'Edward had been prepared
for kingship all his life.
(BROADCASTER) 'With pride
and humility,
'Edward lifted up the burden.
'But he was infatuated with an
American divorcee - Wallis Simpson.'
He was called The People's King
and although he was widely adored,
when it came down to it, I think
he didn't care much about anybody
except Mrs Simpson.
'If Edward married Wallis,
it had consequences.
'Suddenly abdication
was a possibility.
'The Duke of York watched
with increasing horror.'
Here, at this crucial stage,
Edward VIII wasn't
taking him into his confidence,
not until about a week before
did they know that he was going.
'When the Duke of York realised
he was going to abdicate,
'he walked three times
around St James's Park.
'He realised'
that enormous burdens
were going to be put upon him.
RADIO STATIC
(BROADCASTER) 'He had made this
heart-breaking decision...
'A few hours ago,
'I discharged my last duty
asKing and Emperor.
'You all know the reasons which have
impelled me to renounce the throne.
'The Duke of York
drove to Marlborough House'
and sobbed on his mother's shoulder
for an hour.
'His brother's reign
had lasted just 327 days.
'This unprecedented crisis forced
the Duke of York onto the throne
'in December 1936.
'There was this whispering campaign,
'that George VI
simply wasn't up to it,
'that he was weak and feeble
and was never going to'
make the role of kingship his own.
'Behind the scenes,
people were thinking, "Help!"
'He'd never seen a state paper,
he knew nothing'
about the business of government, he
knew nothing about how it all worked.
'They are terrified that the
British public won't want them.
'They feel they might be considered
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
to help him.
The speech was made in the same room
where his father had delivered
his Christmas message.
They find an old desk,
they set it up in a room.
It's exactly the right height
for him to broadcast from because the
King likes to broadcast standing up.
This is because Logue wants to
encourage him to breathe deeply
from the diaphragm.
'Please stand by.'
I used to listen to the radio
with professional interest
because I knew
the difficulties he had.
We all listened with bated breath.
No more bated than my breath,
I tell you!
'Many of you will remember
'the Christmas broadcasts
of former years...
'when my father spoke
to his people...
'at home and overseas
'as the revered...
'..head of a great family...'
We listened with great respect
just because...b-because...
because it was a voice coming
from somewhere un-un-unknown.
And, um, like a sort of mystical
chief of a tribe or something.
Those agonising moments,
which must have been very intense
when you're listening to them over
a crackling wireless in the 1930s,
wondering whether the whole system
had gone down or not.
'..His words
'brought...'
And then, back he comes again.
'..happiness
'into the homes and into the hearts
'of listeners
'all over the world...'
I was listening to him,
outwardly willing him to...
make the right movements
of his mouth and teeth and lips.
'..I cannot aspire
'to take his place...'
I think Logue must-must have taught
the King to pause
and not mind if he pauses.
I mean, to take the pause.
'..During this unforgettable year,
'now drawing to its end...'
The slow and deliberate delivery
that Logue taught the King
had an unexpected benefit -
he spoke with gravitas
and the public soon warmed to him.
'..is a pledge that we shall...
'always keep.'
The King had invited Logue
to spend the whole of Christmas Day
with the Royal family.
I think that the very fact
that Lionel Logue was invited
to share the Royal family's Christmas
was a mark of his standing.
They really got to
know each other well.
They're not mates in the sense that
'two equals could be mates.
'There's always a degree of respect,
there's always a degree of distance.
'The King would write,
"My dear Logue" in his letters
'and Logue would
address him as Your Majesty.'
He never talked about the King.
Occasionally he'd say, "I had dinner
at the palace the other day."
'Logue was always discreet about
his relationship with the King.
'For a man who loved the stage,
'he seemed happy
to stay in the royal wings.'
There are still a lot of questions
about him that remain unanswered.
'How does an Australian elocution
teacher and am-dram fan
'go to becoming the speech therapist
to the King of England?'
# As we frolicked about
# From a girl came a shout
# Why, look there
All the men without trousers... #
We've had a very good show
here tonight...
..and I thank you all very much
and I wish you good night.
CHEERING
'Logue used his elocution
and drama techniques
'in his speech therapy, but it
didn't work for all his patients.'
He certainly didn't cure me
and I don't think he...
I don't think he helped me
in my ordinary life.
'W-W-What Logue tried to
make me do was act it.'
(DRAMATICALLY) I hear I am accused of
being...the atrocious crime
of being a young man, you see.
(NORMAL VOICE) And what Logue
tried to do with me,
he tried to make me be an actor
or a politician,
who wants to sing, make a speech.
'But th-then I went out of
Logue's consulting room
'and I went back to my friends
and I said...'
(DRAMATICALLY) "Hello!
How have you been? Nice to see you!"
I thought, "Well, hell!
I would rather stammer, almost."
CROWD CHEERS
'May 1938, Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow.'
(COMMENTATOR) 'For success is
the keynote of the opening speech
'by His Majesty the King.
'King George VI
opened the Empire Exhibition
'in front of a crowd of 100,000.'
Of the thousands of your subjects
gathered in this stadium,
and of a much greater audience
'The King's speech
was filmed that day,
'but the full extent
of his speech impediment
'was edited to make him appear
more fluent than he was.'
The Queen and I...
are very happy
to be in Scotland once more.
We shall see today,
the completion of a great scheme
whose inception we saw
when we were last...in Glasgow
ten months...ago.
'This is the longer version
of the speech,
'unissued and unused at the time.
'After years of work with Logue,
it visibly remained a struggle
'for the King to speak in public.
'Logue's former patients are going
to watch it for the first time.'
The Queen and I...
are very happy to be in Scotland
once more.
A whole...
A whole town...
of more...than 100...
individual...
..a-palaces...
..and pavilions.
This is a remarkable...
The movement of the tongue
to make a T-H, "th",
he wasn't doing.
..My first...
..a-word...
He finds W quite difficult.
"My first w-w-word."
He finds W quite difficult.
"My first w-w-word."
..must be one of praise...
..for...
..the enterprise...
..enthusiasm and hard work,
which have made it possible.
That's brilliant.
Brilliant.
The task has been shared...
by many people...
..those who have served
on the organising bodies...
..the Empire governments
which are taking part,
the directing staff,
and not least...
Breathe, breathe. Breathe.
Breathe, breathe. Breathe.
..the workmen.
It has been...
..performed...
(Performed.)
..willingly and whole-heartedly...
..by all
and I warmly congratulate them.
The exhibition...
is an Empire...
..undertaking,
but we do well to...remember...
..that it owes its origins...
..and to a great extent...
its execution,
to the people of Scotland.
It is a significant...effect
that...
..that the plans...
were being...
One of the things
about stammering is
one can never tellwhenone's
going to get stuck.
..when...
..a-when...
..this country...
..was still under the cloud
of a long industrial depression.
I have the greatest pleasure
in declaring it...open.
I would have said that that was
quite an extraordinary demonstration
of what he has had to overcome.
'Although people would realise
the King was, em,
'was h-having difficulties,'
they sort of wouldn't think...
he was m-m-making an ass of himself
b-b-because he wasn't
making an ass of himself -
he was just stopping...
and talking in a sort of
measured...way,
which did have its...
which did have its own...rhythm.
'12 years after the King
first saw Lionel Logue,
'this is the most enormous'
progress for a man
who was absolutely determined
to conquer this speech impediment.
'By 1939, war was imminent.
'The British public would need
not just a King,
'but a symbol of courage
and resolve.
'Could a king who stammered lead
his country in her darkest hour?'
RECORDING OF GEORGE VI:
'In this grave hour...
'..perhaps...the most fateful
in our history,
'I send...to every household
of my people,
'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.
..word...
..must be one of praise...
for...
..the enterprise...
..enthusiasm...and hard work
which have made it possible...
..at a time...
when...
..when...
..this country...
..was still under the cloud...
The Queen's father, King George VI,
suffered from a debilitating
speech impediment.
(PRODUCES LONG, WAVERING NOTE)
Behind the scenes,
the King was helped
by an innovative speech
therapist called Lionel Logue.
Huhh! Huhh!
Huhh! Huhh!
Fish...find...fat...funny.
(SPEAKS MUSICALLY) I hear
I am accused of the atrocious crime
of being a young man.
For the first time,
Logue's former patients who were
treated alongside the King
will reveal his methods.
I could speak to him in a way that
I couldn't speak to anybody else.
I owe Logue...
a lifetime debt.
'In this grave hour...'
And through his iconic speeches
we'll chart the King's journey
to find his voice
and lead a nation.
In 1924,
the Empire colonial exhibition
was opened by
Edward, Prince of Wales,
and his father, King George V.
Thousands attended Wembley that day.
Many more listened in.
It was the first time
a British king was heard on radio.
Broadcasting was the marvel
of the modern age.
'I thank you from my heart for
the words of devoted affection...'
Now the monarchy not only had to
look regal, they had to sound it.
'The Crown is the historic symbol
that unites this great
family of nations...'
Not easy for George V's second son,
Bertie, the Duke of York.
The new age of radio
was a tremendous personal shock
to the Duke of York.
You had to be able to perform...
directly to millions of people.
And he, with his stammer,
was not equipped for it.
I congratulate you on the completion
of this fine building
and I trust that it will prove...
..the centre...
of an administration...
The Duke was afflicted by shyness,
and a fear of speaking in public
because of his stammer.
..in bringing health and
happiness...to the people here.
It's difficult enough for anybody
to give a speech in public
and people didn't know
he had a speech deficiency
- that's another thing -
until they saw him.
He had to talk for perhaps two
or three minutes, so agony for him.
(STAMMERS) The strain was going into
a new situation,
where people didn't know you.
I was heaving, either making no sound
at all or making terrible faces.
And there you stood, being
on the point of sort of rolling about
with either laughter
or embarrassment.
I felt...that I was in a prison...
with bars,
preventing me from communicating.
I can almost visualise myself
holding onto prison bars and
looking out into an outside world.
The Duke used the word "hell"
to describe how he felt
when he gave a speech.
He was confronted, face to face,
with a new reality.
FEEDBACK SCREECHES
Speaking in front of this...
huge microphone.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am very glad...
to come here this afternoon...
to welcome the King's Field.
I am sure...
..that we are all...
..happy to feel...
..that...
that the generosity of His Majesty...
..has set an example to all...
He just used to seize up.
He could not get the words out.
The jaw muscles are going,
and he is having one heck of a job
to get the words out.
..throughout the country.
'I think people linked stammering'
with a certain kind of
mental disability.
I think they thought you perhaps
were not quite right.
All of this was in sharp contrast
to the Duke's elder brother Edward,
a natural in the public eye.
A playboy prince
and heir to the throne.
There was always the comparison
with his elder brother.
Now, that was very awkward.
And people used to say things like,
"Oh, it's like an ugly duckling
and a cock pheasant."
(NEWSREEL) His walk,
his manner were copied.
The Prince of Wales' drape was
the epitome in men's suit design.
Even use of a cigarette holder
became the mode as a result
of his visit.
To the Prince of Wales,
everything came very easily.
He had but to sort of flash
that grin and that boyish look
and people sort of melted
before him.
George V had six children.
Bertie was the second son.
All had a strict upbringing.
Bertie started to stammer
at the age of seven.
The father probably induced it
as much as anybody else
by his treatment of Bertie,
and shouting...you know, "Get it
out! Get it out!" when he stammered.
He had also the braces put on his
legs to stop him being knock-kneed,
and being forced to write with his
right hand when he was left-handed,
and that combination is probably
enough to give anyone a stammer.
It adds up to a pretty grim picture
for poor Bertie, doesn't it?
I think that everything
improved for him
because he married
the perfect woman.
He had married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,
who later became the Queen Mother.
She was supportive of Bertie
all his life.
Away from public duty, they enjoyed
the privileges of royalty.
(NEWSREEL) These were the early,
happy years.
He chose the joys of the countryside
whenever his heavy duties
would permit.
But in 1926, their lives
were interrupted.
TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
His father thought it was time for
Bertie to go out into the Empire
on a six-month tour.
And Bertie would be making dozens of
speeches to thousands of strangers.
If he didn't want to
let his father down,
he had to deal with his stammer.
On 19th October 1926,
the Duke and Duchess of York arrived
at the less fashionable end
of Harley Street to meet
Lionel Logue, an Australian
speech therapist.
He was their last chance to try
to get rid of the Duke's stammer
before six months of public speaking
on their tour of the Empire.
By the time he saw Lionel Logue in
1926, he had evidently already seen
about eight speech therapists.
This man was tired.
And we are all...
..happy to feel...
..the generosity of His Majesty...
All attempts by the Duke to cure
his speech impediment had failed.
Why people stammered
was not understood,
nor was there any agreement
on how to cure it.
I think I'd got rather distrustful
of all sort of speech therapists,
or people who thought
that could help stammerers.
Say, "Ah."
At that time, there were
no theories about what caused
stammering at all.
Speech therapy was in its infancy.
It wasn't considered
part of medicine.
It was a completely
unregulated profession,
if one could even call it
a profession.
DOORBELL RINGS
Lionel Logue had travelled to
Britain from Perth at the age of 44
with his wife and family.
He's got no medical
qualifications whatsoever.
He decides to rent rooms
in Harley Street.
He doesn't have much money, he's
just clinging to the very edge
of the road, and he opens
his practice there and starts
to see patients.
His background in Australia
was more theatrical than medical.
By day, he would be
teaching elocution,
and in the evenings
he'd be using those same skills,
treading the boards in his
amateur dramatic productions.
Lionel Logue's challenge was great.
The Duke of York was 30 and
had been stammering for 23 years.
I can remember him being quite tall.
"Hello, George, good to see you, come
and sit down, sit down over here.
"How are you feeling now?"
And it was very gentle
and very...welcoming!
George Metcalfe was nine years old
when he first began treatment
with Lionel Logue.
It started when I was three. My dad
shouted at me, "Don't stammer!"
and from then on,
I started to stammer.
It was like a tic,
but it was worse than a tic,
so if I can demonstrate,
it was, "Urgh!" Like that.
And I literally used to bang my head
on tables, if there was a table
in front of me, or I would bang
my head into the porridge
or into the soup.
Logue's record card of his
first appointment with the Duke
revealed his methodology.
He was concerned with
the Duke's physical appearance,
which he believed contributed
to his stammer.
"Well built with good shoulders,
"but waistline very flabby.
Good chest development.
"Top lung breathing good. He's never
used his diaphragm or lower lung.
"This has resulted through
non-control of solar plexus
"in nervous tension with consequent
episodes of bad speech, depression."
For two and a half months, Bertie
visited Logue nearly every day
and practised intensively.
One day, I got there,
the Duke was coming out,
and I didn't know
that the Duke was being treated.
And I think Logue told me about it.
I probably asked a cheeky
question when I got upstairs.
He would lean across from his chair
and put his hand on my stomach.
He'd say, "Right,
what you've got to do, George,
"is to breathe from your diaphragm."
Hand just above the belly button
and making sure
that you were lifting the hand
the whole time...
..to create an unbroken
column of air up your windpipe
"That's the key to it all,
breathing from your diaphragm,
"so let's practise a few breaths."
So here we would go...
(BREATHES IN AND OUT)
DOORBELL RINGS
Once the Duke had control
over his breathing,
Logue taught how letters
and sounds are formed.
Pip, pop, pap.
The mechanics of sound,
how you actually make a sound.
Going somewhere.
Going.
# Aaah. # That's easy, cos
there's nothing holding it back.
Mother, naughty,
right up in the nose.
G-G-G... Goodbye.
E... Open your mouth wider
to let the E come out.
You can go, "Huh, huh!"
You can cough.
I hope that hasn't upset
your sound equipment.
Some of Logue's methods
had the whiff of the West End,
rather than Harley Street.
"Let's see how it feels like if you
sing it. Maybe you should stand up,
George. Now, let's try that."
"And...yeah, you've got stuck
on that C, let's do that again."
And it was always not forceful, like
areally good director in a film.
'With the Royal tour
only weeks away,
'Logue prescribed the Duke
an hour of exercises a day.'
Fish, fine, fat, funny.
'A lot of homework to do every day,'
practising.
'The Duchess of York
'was fully involved in
her husband's treatment.'
She helped with the therapies.
She went along
'to the consulting rooms,
'was there
learning how to breathe'
so that when they went away
on their foreign tours,
she could keep the exercises going.
'By the time the Duke and Duchess
set sail in January 1927,
'Bertie had confidence
'in himself and his therapist.'
Everyone else was relaxing on deck.
He was sitting there doing his
gargling, doing his tongue twisters,
practising his
different vowel sounds,
'and writing back, telling Logue
'how well he was doing his homework,
like a child'
trying to please
their teacher. Extraordinary.
'For six months,
the Duke and Duchess
'represented the Crown down under.
The trip was regarded as a success,
'but Logue knew that
it was a problem managed,
'rather than a problem solved.'
'It was always going to
be a problem,'
it was never going to go away,
because the stammer
never went away in its entirety.
He did manage to overcome it to a
very large extent, but not entirely.
'The Duke's stammer affected
his life in other ways too.
'I think there was
a great tension in him,
'and I think the stammer was
a source of great frustration,'
and I think it would build up
in him and then it would explode.
He would kick
corgis across the room.
It was disconcerting
when it happened.
On one occasion,
he picked up the knives and forks
and threw them about, and
Princess Margaret came to his rescue
by saying, "This is a good game,
let's do this,"
and jokingly also threw knives and
forks around and it all calmed down.
'The Duke and Duchess
had two daughters -
'Elizabeth, the present Queen,
and Princess Margaret.
'Their upbringing was very
different to their father's.'
Here, actually, with the Yorks
and their two little daughters,
you have the first facsimile
of a middle-class royal family.
'They were a very loving,'
genuinely loving foursome,
'a unit, referring to his
wife and his daughters'
as "us four".
'Papa, Mummy, Lillybet, Margaret.'
CROWD CHEERS
'For ten years, the Yorks
had an uncomplicated family life.
'All that changed
on 20th January, 1936
'with the death of King George V.'
(BROADCASTER) 'Behind the casket,
in solemn procession,
'marched Edward with his brothers.
'Now he was King.
'Edward had been prepared
for kingship all his life.
(BROADCASTER) 'With pride
and humility,
'Edward lifted up the burden.
'But he was infatuated with an
American divorcee - Wallis Simpson.'
He was called The People's King
and although he was widely adored,
when it came down to it, I think
he didn't care much about anybody
except Mrs Simpson.
'If Edward married Wallis,
it had consequences.
'Suddenly abdication
was a possibility.
'The Duke of York watched
with increasing horror.'
Here, at this crucial stage,
Edward VIII wasn't
taking him into his confidence,
not until about a week before
did they know that he was going.
'When the Duke of York realised
he was going to abdicate,
'he walked three times
around St James's Park.
'He realised'
that enormous burdens
were going to be put upon him.
RADIO STATIC
(BROADCASTER) 'He had made this
heart-breaking decision...
'A few hours ago,
'I discharged my last duty
asKing and Emperor.
'You all know the reasons which have
impelled me to renounce the throne.
'The Duke of York
drove to Marlborough House'
and sobbed on his mother's shoulder
for an hour.
'His brother's reign
had lasted just 327 days.
'This unprecedented crisis forced
the Duke of York onto the throne
'in December 1936.
'There was this whispering campaign,
'that George VI
simply wasn't up to it,
'that he was weak and feeble
and was never going to'
make the role of kingship his own.
'Behind the scenes,
people were thinking, "Help!"
'He'd never seen a state paper,
he knew nothing'
about the business of government, he
knew nothing about how it all worked.
'They are terrified that the
British public won't want them.
'They feel they might be considered
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
to help him.
The speech was made in the same room
where his father had delivered
his Christmas message.
They find an old desk,
they set it up in a room.
It's exactly the right height
for him to broadcast from because the
King likes to broadcast standing up.
This is because Logue wants to
encourage him to breathe deeply
from the diaphragm.
'Please stand by.'
I used to listen to the radio
with professional interest
because I knew
the difficulties he had.
We all listened with bated breath.
No more bated than my breath,
I tell you!
'Many of you will remember
'the Christmas broadcasts
of former years...
'when my father spoke
to his people...
'at home and overseas
'as the revered...
'..head of a great family...'
We listened with great respect
just because...b-because...
because it was a voice coming
from somewhere un-un-unknown.
And, um, like a sort of mystical
chief of a tribe or something.
Those agonising moments,
which must have been very intense
when you're listening to them over
a crackling wireless in the 1930s,
wondering whether the whole system
had gone down or not.
'..His words
'brought...'
And then, back he comes again.
'..happiness
'into the homes and into the hearts
'of listeners
'all over the world...'
I was listening to him,
outwardly willing him to...
make the right movements
of his mouth and teeth and lips.
'..I cannot aspire
'to take his place...'
I think Logue must-must have taught
the King to pause
and not mind if he pauses.
I mean, to take the pause.
'..During this unforgettable year,
'now drawing to its end...'
The slow and deliberate delivery
that Logue taught the King
had an unexpected benefit -
he spoke with gravitas
and the public soon warmed to him.
'..is a pledge that we shall...
'always keep.'
The King had invited Logue
to spend the whole of Christmas Day
with the Royal family.
I think that the very fact
that Lionel Logue was invited
to share the Royal family's Christmas
was a mark of his standing.
They really got to
know each other well.
They're not mates in the sense that
'two equals could be mates.
'There's always a degree of respect,
there's always a degree of distance.
'The King would write,
"My dear Logue" in his letters
'and Logue would
address him as Your Majesty.'
He never talked about the King.
Occasionally he'd say, "I had dinner
at the palace the other day."
'Logue was always discreet about
his relationship with the King.
'For a man who loved the stage,
'he seemed happy
to stay in the royal wings.'
There are still a lot of questions
about him that remain unanswered.
'How does an Australian elocution
teacher and am-dram fan
'go to becoming the speech therapist
to the King of England?'
# As we frolicked about
# From a girl came a shout
# Why, look there
All the men without trousers... #
We've had a very good show
here tonight...
..and I thank you all very much
and I wish you good night.
CHEERING
'Logue used his elocution
and drama techniques
'in his speech therapy, but it
didn't work for all his patients.'
He certainly didn't cure me
and I don't think he...
I don't think he helped me
in my ordinary life.
'W-W-What Logue tried to
make me do was act it.'
(DRAMATICALLY) I hear I am accused of
being...the atrocious crime
of being a young man, you see.
(NORMAL VOICE) And what Logue
tried to do with me,
he tried to make me be an actor
or a politician,
who wants to sing, make a speech.
'But th-then I went out of
Logue's consulting room
'and I went back to my friends
and I said...'
(DRAMATICALLY) "Hello!
How have you been? Nice to see you!"
I thought, "Well, hell!
I would rather stammer, almost."
CROWD CHEERS
'May 1938, Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow.'
(COMMENTATOR) 'For success is
the keynote of the opening speech
'by His Majesty the King.
'King George VI
opened the Empire Exhibition
'in front of a crowd of 100,000.'
Of the thousands of your subjects
gathered in this stadium,
and of a much greater audience
'The King's speech
was filmed that day,
'but the full extent
of his speech impediment
'was edited to make him appear
more fluent than he was.'
The Queen and I...
are very happy
to be in Scotland once more.
We shall see today,
the completion of a great scheme
whose inception we saw
when we were last...in Glasgow
ten months...ago.
'This is the longer version
of the speech,
'unissued and unused at the time.
'After years of work with Logue,
it visibly remained a struggle
'for the King to speak in public.
'Logue's former patients are going
to watch it for the first time.'
The Queen and I...
are very happy to be in Scotland
once more.
A whole...
A whole town...
of more...than 100...
individual...
..a-palaces...
..and pavilions.
This is a remarkable...
The movement of the tongue
to make a T-H, "th",
he wasn't doing.
..My first...
..a-word...
He finds W quite difficult.
"My first w-w-word."
He finds W quite difficult.
"My first w-w-word."
..must be one of praise...
..for...
..the enterprise...
..enthusiasm and hard work,
which have made it possible.
That's brilliant.
Brilliant.
The task has been shared...
by many people...
..those who have served
on the organising bodies...
..the Empire governments
which are taking part,
the directing staff,
and not least...
Breathe, breathe. Breathe.
Breathe, breathe. Breathe.
..the workmen.
It has been...
..performed...
(Performed.)
..willingly and whole-heartedly...
..by all
and I warmly congratulate them.
The exhibition...
is an Empire...
..undertaking,
but we do well to...remember...
..that it owes its origins...
..and to a great extent...
its execution,
to the people of Scotland.
It is a significant...effect
that...
..that the plans...
were being...
One of the things
about stammering is
one can never tellwhenone's
going to get stuck.
..when...
..a-when...
..this country...
..was still under the cloud
of a long industrial depression.
I have the greatest pleasure
in declaring it...open.
I would have said that that was
quite an extraordinary demonstration
of what he has had to overcome.
'Although people would realise
the King was, em,
'was h-having difficulties,'
they sort of wouldn't think...
he was m-m-making an ass of himself
b-b-because he wasn't
making an ass of himself -
he was just stopping...
and talking in a sort of
measured...way,
which did have its...
which did have its own...rhythm.
'12 years after the King
first saw Lionel Logue,
'this is the most enormous'
progress for a man
who was absolutely determined
to conquer this speech impediment.
'By 1939, war was imminent.
'The British public would need
not just a King,
'but a symbol of courage
and resolve.
'Could a king who stammered lead
his country in her darkest hour?'
RECORDING OF GEORGE VI:
'In this grave hour...
'..perhaps...the most fateful
in our history,
'I send...to every household
of my people,
'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.