The King's Speech

The King's Speech Quotes

The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

King George VI: All that... work... down the drain. My own... b... brother, I couldn't say a single w-word to him in reply.
Lionel Logue: Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me?
King George VI: 'Cos you're b... bloody well paid to listen.
Lionel Logue: Bertie, I'm not a geisha girl.
King George VI: Stop trying to be so bloody clever.
Lionel Logue: What is it about David that stops you speaking?
King George VI: What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time?
Lionel Logue: Vulgar, but fluent; you don't stammer when you swear.
King George VI: Oh, bugger off!
Lionel Logue: Is that the best you can do?
King George VI: [like an elocution lesson] Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.
Lionel Logue: Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.
King George VI: Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!
Lionel Logue: Yes!
King George VI: Shit!
Lionel Logue: Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!
King George VI: Because I'm angry!
Lionel Logue: Do you know the f-word?
King George VI: F... f... fornication?
Lionel Logue: Oh, Bertie.
King George VI: Fuck. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck! Fuck, fuck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, fuck, fuck, arse!
Lionel Logue: Yes...
King George VI: Balls, balls...
Lionel Logue: ...you see, not a hesitation!
King George VI: ...fuckity, shit, shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck and... tits.
King George VI: In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send to every household of my peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one of you, as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself: For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at... at war. Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies, but it has been in vain. We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called to meet the challenge of a principle, which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world. Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that "might is right." For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge. It is to this high purpose that I now call my people at home, and my peoples across the seas, who will make our cause their own. I ask them to stand calm and firm and united in this time of trial. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield, but we can only do the right as we see the right, and reverently commit our cause to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, then, with God's help, we shall prevail.
King George VI: [Sees Logue is sitting on the coronation throne] What are you doing? Get up! You can't sit there! GET UP!
Lionel Logue: Why not? It's a chair.
King George VI: No, it... That is not a chair. That is... that is Saint Edward's chair.
Lionel Logue: People have carved their names on it.
King George VI: [Simultaneously] That... chair... is the seat on which every king and queen...
Lionel Logue: [Simultaneously] It's held in place by a large rock.
King George VI: That is the Stone of Scone. You ah-are trivializing everything. You trivialize...
Lionel Logue: I don't care about how many royal arseholes...
King George VI: Listen to me.
Lionel Logue: ...have sat in this chair.
King George VI: Listen to me. *Listen to me!*
Lionel Logue: Listen to you? By what right?
King George VI: By divine right, if you must. I am your king.
Lionel Logue: No, you're not. You told me so yourself. You said you didn't want it. Why should I waste my time listening...?
King George VI: Because I have a right to be heard! I have a voice!
Lionel Logue: [pauses] Yes, you do.
[Longer pause]
Lionel Logue: You have such perseverance, Bertie. You're the bravest man I know. You'll make a bloody good king.
Lionel Logue: [as Albert prepares to light a cigarette] Well, please, don't do that.
King George VI: I'm sorry?
Lionel Logue: I believe sucking smoke into your lungs will... will kill you.
King George VI: My physicians said it relaxes the... the... the throat.
Lionel Logue: They're idiots.
King George VI: They've all been knighted.
Lionel Logue: [sarcastic] Makes it official, then.
Queen Elizabeth: [Using the name "Mrs. Johnson"] My husband is, um... well, he's required to speak publicly.
Lionel Logue: Perhaps he should change jobs.
Queen Elizabeth: He can't.
Lionel Logue: Indentured servitude?
Queen Elizabeth: Something of that nature, yes.
Lionel Logue: You still stammered on the 'W'.
King George VI: Well, I had to throw in a few so they knew it was me.
King George VI: You know, ih... if I'm a... a King, where's my power? Can I... can I form a government? Can I... can I l-levy a tax, declare a... a war? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority. Why? Because... the nation believes that when I s... I speak, I speak for them - but I can't speak.
Lionel Logue: Do you know any jokes?
King George VI: E... e... Timing isn't my strong suit.
[watching a clip of Hitler speaking]
Lilibet: Papa, what's he saying?
King George VI: I don't know but... he seems to be saying it rather well.
King George VI: [as he prepares to broadcast his wartime speech] Logue, however this turns out, I don't know how to thank you... for what you've done.
Lionel Logue: [after a pause] Knighthood?
Lionel Logue: [Bertie is lying on the floor, and Elizabeth is sitting on his chest] Take good deep breaths...
[Bertie inhales]
Lionel Logue: ...and up comes Her Royal Highness... and slowly exhale...
[Bertie exhales]
Lionel Logue: ...and down comes Her Royal Highness...
Queen Elizabeth: You all right, Bertie?
King George VI: Yes.
Queen Elizabeth: It's actually quite good fun.
King George VI: Every monarch in history has succeeded someone who is dead, or just about to be. My predecessor's not only alive, but very much so. Bloody mess. Can't even give them a Christmas speech.
Lionel Logue: Like your dad used to do.
King George VI: Precisely.
Lionel Logue: He's not here anymore.
King George VI: Yes he is: he's on that shilling I gave you.
Lionel Logue: Easy enough to give away. You don't have to carry him around in your pocket. Or your brother. You don't need to be afraid of the things you were afraid of when you were five.
King George VI: David, I've been trying to see you.
King Edward VIII: I've been terribly busy.
King George VI: Doing what?
King Edward VIII: Kinging.
Myrtle Logue: [sees the Queen at her dining table, stunned] You. You...?
Queen Elizabeth: It's 'Your Majesty' the first time. After that, it's 'ma'am', as in 'ham'. Not 'ma'am', as in 'palm'.
King George VI: Logue, we can't stay here all day.
Lionel Logue: Yes, we can.
King George VI: Logue.
Lionel Logue: I need to wait for the right moment.
King George VI: Logue, you're being a coward.
Lionel Logue: You're damn right.
King George VI: Get out there, now!
[the two men go into the next room, where Myrtle Logue has just met the Queen Consort]
Lionel Logue: Helly, Myrtle, darling.
[He kisses her]
Lionel Logue: You're early. Oh, I believe you two...
[indicating the Queen]
Lionel Logue: ...have met, but I don't think you know... King George VI.
King George VI: It's very nice to meet you.
Lionel Logue: My castle, my rules.
King George VI: We're not a family, we're a firm.
King George VI: Is the nation ready for two... minutes of radio silence?
King George VI: Waiting for a king to apologize, one can wait a rather long wait.
Lionel Logue: How do you feel?
King George VI: Full of hot air.
Lionel Logue: Isn't that what public speaking's all about?
Lionel Logue: What are friends for?
King George VI: I wouldn't know.
King George VI: If, uh... if we were equals, I wouldn't... be here. I'd be at... at... home with my wife, and no one would... give a damn.
King George V: In the past, all a King had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people's homes and ingratiate ourselves with them. This family's been reduced to those lowest, basest of all creatures. We've become actors!
Dr. Blandine Bentham: Cigarette smoking calms the nerves and, uh, gives you confidence.
Lionel Logue: Oh, surely a prince's brain knows what its mouth's doing?
King George VI: You're not... well acquainted with royal princes, are you?
King George VI: In this... grave... hour - fuck fuck fuck - perhaps the most fateful in our history - bugger shit shit.
[singing]
King George VI: I send to every household of my...
[unable to say "people"]
King George VI: You see, 'P' is always difficult, even... even when I'm singing.
Myrtle Logue: Will their Majesties be staying to dinner?
Queen Elizabeth: We'd love to - such a treat - but, ah... alas, a... previous engagement. What a pity.
King George VI: [sobbing] I'm not a king! I'm not a king!
Lionel Logue: Well, we need to have your hubby pop by. Uh, Tuesday would be good. He can give me his personal details, I'll make a frank appraisal, and then we'll take it from there.
Queen Elizabeth: Doctor, forgive me, ah... I don't have a "hubby," we don't "pop," and nor do we ever talk about our private lives. No, you must come to us.
Lionel Logue: I'm sorry, Mrs. Johnson - my game, my turf, my rules.
King George VI: Waiting for me to... commence a conversation, one can wait rather a long wait.
Lionel Logue: What was your earliest memory?
King George VI: What on Earth do you mean?
Lionel Logue: Your first recollection.
King George VI: I'm not... m... here to discuss... personal matters.
Lionel Logue: Well, why are you here, then?
King George VI: Because I bloody well stammer!
King Edward VIII: Haven't I any rights?
King George VI: Many privileges.
King Edward VIII: Not the same thing.
King George VI: I'm not going to sit here warbling.
Lionel Logue: You can with me.
King George VI: Because you're peculiar.
Lionel Logue: I take that as a compliment.
King George VI: [speaking of Wallis Simpson] And you put that woman in our mother's suite!
King Edward VIII: Mama's not still in the bed, is she?
King George VI: That's not funny.
Stanley Baldwin: Sir, I have asked to see you today in order to tender my resignation as Prime Minister.
King George VI: I'm so sorry to hear that... Mr Baldwin.
Stanley Baldwin: Neville Chamberlain will take my place as Prime Minister. It's a matter of principle. I was mistaken. I have found it impossible to believe that there is any man in the world so lacking in moral feeling as Hitler that the world may be hurled for a second time into the abyss of destructive war.
King George V: [hearing the voice of his father] Churchill was right all along. This was always Hitler's intention.
Stanley Baldwin: I'm only very sorry to leave you at this great time of crisis. I'm very much afraid, sir, that your greatest test is yet to come.
Lionel Logue: Am I considered the enemy?
Queen Elizabeth: You will be, if you remain unobliging.
Lionel Logue: [referring to the Duke of York] This fellow could really be somebody great. He's fighting me.
Myrtle Logue: Perhaps he doesn't want to be great. Perhaps that's what you want.
Lionel Logue: Would I lie to a prince of the realm to win twelve pennies?
King George VI: I have no idea what an Australian might do for that sort of money.
Lionel Logue: Kiss the book, sign the oath, and you're king. Easy.
[first lines]
Title Card: 1925 / King George V reigns over a quarter of the world's people. He asks his second son, the Duke of York, to give the closing speech at the Empire Exhibition in Wembley, London.
Queen Elizabeth: [to Winston Churchill, on the hold that Wallis Simpson seems to have on Edward VIII] Apparently she has certain skills - acquired in an establishment in Shanghai.
Myrtle Logue: Apologize... do you both good.
Myrtle Logue: What's the matter, love?
Lionel Logue: [referring to the Duke of York] I'm just having trouble with a patient.
Myrtle Logue: That isn't like you. Why?
Lionel Logue: Scared. He's afraid of his own shadow .
Myrtle Logue: Isn't that why they come to you?
Robert Wood: Let the microphone do the work, sir.
King George VI: ...a sieve of thisted siffles!

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