King's speech
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At whatever cost, and God helping us,
we will not falter or fail.
In 1941, the Christmas speech by King George VI
was written to bring the people of the Commonwealth together
during the dark hours of World War II.
19-year old David Martin had just started working for the BBC
and he told his family in a letter
the part he played in editing the King's Speech
on the instructions of Winston Churchill.
We didn't have a tape in those days,
and all recordings were made on metal discs,
which made the whole exercise rather tricky.
It all went well,
and the final result sounded pretty good
and no one would have known that the King had a stutter.
David's daughter, Jane, who lives in Chiswick,
is proud of her late father's part
in editing the King's speech in 1941,
but realizes just how much pressure
he was under.
I think it was probably a very exciting time,
and a very exciting time to be nineteen
and having your first job in the BBC,
because, obviously, they were broadcasting news to the world.
But equally, I think he was,
at the time, yes, he confessed he was terrified,
because, had he made a mess of it,
he couldn't make a mess of it,
it wasn't conceivable he could make a mess of it,
but if he had,
his job, his career, would have ended there and then.
The film "The King's Speech"
tells the uplifting story
of how the King largely overcame his stutter
with the help of a therapist.
The bare facts of the friendship between the two men
are certainly true.
It was here, at these basement rooms,
at 146 Harley Street
that the unconventional Australian speech therapist
Lionel Logue first treated King George VI,
or the Duke of York,
as he was when he first came here.
But the letters that Jane 's kept from her father
tell us that perhaps these sessions
weren't quite as successful
as the filmmakers would have us believe.
It's Hollywood, isn't it?,
it's a movie, I think they're allowed
a bit of artistic licence,
but at the same time I'm really delighted
that my father's role in helping King George sound as he should
has come to light now,
I'm absolutely thrilled about that
after all these years.
In all parts of the world,
are listening to me now.
The technology has come a long way
since the young David Martin edited out the King's stutter in 1941,
but his family say his part in projecting a strong image in wartime
will be remembered proudly in that family
for years to come.