King George V

George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 - 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, as a result of his creating it from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As well as being King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (from 1927, split into King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and King of Ireland) and the Commonwealth Realms, George was also the Emperor of India. George reigned from 6 May 1910 through World War I (1914-1918) until his death in 1936.

As a youth and young man he served in the Royal Navy, but on 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. They toured the British Empire but 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 his father, King Edward VII died in 1910, George 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. Another significant event in his reign was the passing of the Statute of Westminster which separated the crown so that George ruled the dominions as separate kingdoms.

He was plagued by illness throughout much of his later reign, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, on his death.