That January is the month most fatal to British Royalty was the firm belief of Queen Victoria who knew her descendants were "weak in the chest." She died on Jan. 22, 1901 at the great age of 81, having been Queen since she was 18, Empress of India since she was 56, and having celebrated, at 78, her Diamond Jubilee.
There were no jubilees for Edward VII who became King-Emperor when he was 59 and died at 68 on May 6, 1910 "of a bad cold" (bronchitis) only five days after catching it. His eldest son, the Duke of Clarence, died of a bad cold within a week of catching it. Therefore Edward VII's second son came to the Throne as George V, aged 44. Last week His Majesty, having celebrated his Silver Jubilee last year, was taken with a bad cold (bronchial catarrh). Five days later he was dead.
On Dec. 21 the King and Queen motored 100 miles northeast of London to spend Christmas at Sandringham. His Majesty's health permitted him to shoot pheasants, attend church, ride his pony and be most gracious in replying to villagers' greetings. He overtaxed his strength inspecting his racing stables fortnight ago and a few days later caught the cold which this week, to the shock of the whole world, proved fatal. Knowing his constitution to have been weakened and his heart severely strained by his illness eight years ago, the King exerted himself before winter and its dangers should come on to have Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin seek and safely win an election which entrenched the British Conservatives in power for five more years, a great satisfaction to the Sovereign.
In George V not only the Empire but also the whole world saw the sole Emperor of white race not to lose his throne after the War. There was at that time a memorable and tragic hour when even the refugee Romanovs, his cousins, had to be denied visas on which they were to have gone to England on the invitation of George V's impulsive mother, the Dowager Queen Alexandra. With thrones creaking from Berlin to Constantinople, the best and wisest British Cabinet members urgently advised the House of Windsor not to attract attention to this question by becoming hosts to the House of Romanov.
In the years which have followed, the House of Windsor has not only survived the General Strike, several Labor (Socialist) Cabinets and Depression, but it has carried onward & upward with an aggressive strength, a rising British devotion to the Crown and an increased influence by the Sovereign personally in guiding Cabinet affairs which were triumphantly due to the remarkable personal qualities of King George and Queen Mary.
Their eldest son last week was seen at night, a slender figure outlined in silhouette against the glowing windows of Sandringham, pacing about with quick movements in a chamber near that of George V. The Queen, indefatigable nurse and splendid woman, snatched only the briefest catnaps in a small bedchamber and was virtually in attendance night & day in the big, air-conditioned room where the King lay barred from drafts by a double circle of high screens around his bed.