AHC: Make the Prince George, Duke of Kent, King of England

AHC: Make the Prince George, Duke of Kent, King of the United Kingdom

The youngest brother of Edward VIII, Prince George, the Duke of Kent, makes even Edward look romantically stable in comparison. He apparently slept with members of both sexes before and after his marriage. He may have been blackmailed by one his male lovers. To me, he seems to represent the ultimate expression of European royalty.

So how do we make him King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions?

I suggest that we begin with the HMS Collingwood being sunk at Jutland, taking with it Prince Albert of York, who in OTL became George VI.
 
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Just to get this party rolling, from the Wikipedia:
Collingwood was in the battle line at the Battle of Jutland, being the twentieth ship from the head of the line after deployment. She engaged a König-class dreadnought between 18.54 and 19.26 and claimed hits on her. During the charge of the German battle cruisers she engaged SMS Derfflinger. Prince Albert, who was the future King George VI, was at that time a sub-lieutenant commanding "A" turret, and he is reported as having sat in the open on the turret roof to watch the action.

So, one lucky shell and George VI as we know him is done.:eek:

Next, which of the princes gets it next?
 
Presumably Prince Henry prior to marriage (1935), then Prince George becomes next in line. Prince Henry didn't serve in WWI, being only 18 when it finished, but there are plenty of ways to kill people off apart from wars. As second in line perhaps Prince George's bisexual promiscuity and drug-taking would have been curbed a bit. Apart from those foibles he seems to have been both a cleverer and better man than his eldest brother, not hard in either case, and might have made a decent alternate George VI. We shall never know.

It wasn't "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" any more after the creation of the Free State. The title was "King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India."
 
I suggest that we begin with the HMS Collingwood being sunk at Jutland, taking with it Prince Albert of York, who in OTL became George VI.

The Collingwood was in never in any direct threat at Jutland so this POD is useless. If you want something more realistic look at the destruction of HMS Vanguard that exploded and sunk in Scapa Flow, July 1917.
 
Comrade Poepoe, I have no doubt that you know more than I do about Jutland and the Collingwood. Still, the Wikipedia article on the Collingwood from which I quoted appears to differ from you. If the article is wrong, do us all a favor and correct the article.

Death by the HMS Vanguard would be just as suitable.

The Collingwood was in never in any direct threat at Jutland so this POD is useless. If you want something more realistic look at the destruction of HMS Vanguard that exploded and sunk in Scapa Flow, July 1917.

Comrade Domenic, I saw that but it seemed just too long. Sorry if I offended by shortening it.
It wasn't "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" any more after the creation of the Free State. The title was "King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India."
 
Offended? No. However, like the Kingdom of England the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was defunct by the relevant time, albeit much more recently. Switching from one obsolete title to another obsolete title seemed a bit pointless. Make it 'King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions' and you'll be fine. By the way my remark about Prince George perhaps making a decent alternate George VI should not be taken as criticism of the actual one, whom unlike his loathsome brother and predecessor I greatly admire.

On the thread generally, I presume the intent in creating carnage among the sons of George V is to see how Prince George with his scandalous lifestyle would have functioned as monarch. My guess is that no one would ever have known about the more controversial aspects of his life until they started appearing in history books after the reign was over, and also that under the pressure of duty he would have cleaned up his act considerably and just been another King, probably quite a good one.
 
In order for George Duke of Kent to ascend to the throne, you need all
of the following Windsors to die, abdicate, or marry Catholics before 1942.

  • Edward VIII (abdicated OTL)
  • George VI (killed by 1937 IRA bomb? but that still leaves:
  • Elizabeth II
  • Margaret Countess of Snowdon
  • Mary Countess of Harewood, and
  • Henry Duke of Gloucester

It would be extremely unlikely for all of these people to be removed from
the succession ; if you just want a Bad Monarch, then HRH Queen Margaret
is far more likely. Or Edward VIII refusing to abdicate...
 
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