As is well-documented on The AIS Blog, we are excited about the film The King’s Speech. We’re so looking forward to this movie, that we searched for audio of King George VI to get a historical perspective on His Majesty’s speech.
Fortunately, we found a recording of the George VI’s broadcast to the nation as England declared war on Germany on September 3rd, 1939.
This is quite fascinating as the trailer for The King’s Speech is so gorgeous, that it may be easy to forget that the story is not just an epic Hollywood tale; it’s based on history.
Hear King George VI himself in the embedded video below.
Related posts:
If you are interested in the real story behind George VI’s battle with his speech impediment and the help he was given by Lionel Logue, his Australian-born speech therapist, might I suggest you take a look at a new book, also entitled The King’s Speech, by Logue’s grandson, Mark Logue and myself, Peter Conradi. It is being published in the UK, US, Canada and Australia around Nov 25. If you enjoy the film – as I did when I saw it at a preview – I’m sure you will be interested to read the book.
Peter Conradi
Comment by Peter Conradi — October 19, 2010 @ 6:40 pm
That speech is in the movie, too! And it’s one of the most dramatic and gripping parts. When I saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival, the audience gave a round of applause after that scene.
Comment by Daniele Rossi — October 19, 2010 @ 9:49 pm
Amazing story, excellent movie! Like many people, I was not familiar with the challenges that King George VI faced with his speech. I would be very interested in reading the book. Thank you for sharing this on Facebook, I shared it on my profile
Comment by Maggie Kelly — February 5, 2011 @ 3:28 pm