King George V(1865-1936)

King George V Reign 6 May 1910 - 20 January 1936

George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As well as being King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms, George was also the Emperor of India and the first King of the Irish Free State. George reigned from 6 May 1910 through World War I (1914–1918) until his death in 1936.

From the age of 12 George served in the Royal Navy, but upon the unexpected death of his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, he became heir to the throne and married his brother's fiancée, Mary of Teck. Although they occasionally toured the British Empire, George preferred to stay at home with his stamp collection, and lived what later biographers would consider a dull life because of its conventionality.

When George's father, King Edward VII died in 1910, he became King-Emperor. He was the only Emperor of India to be crowned there. During World War I he relinquished all German titles and styles on behalf of his relatives who were British subjects; and changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. During his reign, the Statute of Westminster separated the crown so that George ruled the dominions as separate kingdoms, and the rise of socialism, fascism and Irish republicanism changed the political spectrum.

George was plagued by illness throughout much of his later reign; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward upon his death.

Less than a year later Edward VIII unexpectedly abdicated to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. The British Prime Minister, StanleyBaldwin, had informed Edward that he could not marry Mrs. Simpson and remain king. By reason of this abdication, unique in British history, George VI ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.

The coins above minted by East India Company during King George V Ruling India.