The series The House of Windsor continues on ABC1 at 6:05pm Monday, 19 January 2009 with “The King Who Saved The Crown.” This is the story of Bertie, the Duke of York who was to be crowned as King George VI.
The programme notes say he was “the most shy and unlikely of kings. He had a stammer and hated public occasions, yet his brother's abdication compelled him to do his royal duty. With the help of his gifted wife, Elizabeth, he grew into the role of King George VI and crucially re-established confidence in the monarchy.”
“On the outbreak of World War Two, the King was broadcast telling his people that they had to 'meet the challenge of a principle, which if it were to prevail would be fatal to any civilised order in the world'. He conducted himself with enormous dignity and courage in Britain's darkest hours during the horrors of the Blitz. His early death from cancer would bring his perfectly prepared daughter, Princess Elizabeth, to the throne at 25.”
The series concluded with an episode on Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, “A Queen For All Seasons,” to be broadcast at 6:05pm Monday, 26 January 2009.