1936 - The death of HM King George V was publicly announced. He died the night before. It is now known his death was hastened. Lord Dawson of Penn was his primary physician and in his private diary, unearthed after his death and made public in 1986, revealed that he hastened the King's death by giving him a lethal combination of morphine and cocaine. Dawson noted that he acted to preserve the King's dignity, to prevent further strain on the family, and so that the King's death at 11:55 p.m. could be announced in the morning edition of The Times newspaper rather than "less appropriate evening journals". So accordingly on 21 January 1936 his death was announced in the Times newspaper's morning edition.
Re: On This Day
Posted by Carolyn on January 21, 2025, 3:15 pm, in reply to "On This Day"
I've always thought this was a strange thing to do and not quite legal. However, we can't do anything about it now.
Re: On This Day
Posted by Hollie24 on January 21, 2025, 5:28 pm, in reply to "On This Day"
IIRC Lord Dawson wrote in his diary that the family did not know what he did. I would think he'd have had to at least get Mary's permission. I suspect she took that to her grave. I doubt David knew, given he wanted to stave off being King as long as possible.
Re: On This Day
Posted by karenl on January 21, 2025, 7:39 pm, in reply to "Re: On This Day"
It happened more than you think. In those days liability was a rarity and doctors were looked upon as always knowing what was best for their patients. Lord Dawson knew what he did was improper at the least and I'm sure he knew what Queen Mary's reaction may have been. It's true Queen Mary took it all to her grave.