The King’s Speech – in Shorthand…
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Written By: admin
Until the release of the much-lauded film The King’s Speech, George VI probably didn’t feature on many people’s “best known royals” list.
The film tells the story of Bertie, who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, who is suddenly crowned King George VI following the abdication (amended thanks to Laura!) of his brother. What follows in the movie is the story of the King’s quest to find his voice.
So what’s all this got to do with shorthand, I hear you ask.
Well, quite by accident I came across an old cutting The Portsmouth Times in Ohio which tells how shorthand students at Sciotoville High School in 1937 were set the challenge of taking down George VI’s coronation speech in shorthand.
According to the article “A radio was connected in the classroom at 2pm.
“Miss Lillick (the shorthand teacher) tuned in on the coronation ceremonies. Students took down the speech of the king as their dictation for the day. Some students went even further and took the speech of Premier Stanley Baldwin.
“Miss Lillick said that the king spoke at a speed which was not difficult for the students to take, though some had difficulty in understanding the clip speech of the English.”
To read the full text of the article please click below.
May 27th, 2011 at 10:49 am
An interesting article but Edward VIII of the United Kingdom didn’t die until 28 May 1972. He abidcated.
May 27th, 2011 at 11:10 am
Big oops! Thanks for pointing out that glaring error- now updated!
Ed