Revealed: how King George V demanded Britain enter the First World War
Record of previously unknown meeting between George V and his Foreign Secretary reveals that the King told him to "find a reason" to go to war with Germany
King George V and Sir Edward Grey
The letter documents a previously unrecorded meeting between George V (left) and Sir Edward Grey (right) Photo: Alamy/Jay Williams
By Anita Singh, Arts and Entertainment Editor
7:00AM BST 26 Jul 2014
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It is a letter that throws fresh light on one of the darkest periods in Britain’s history.
A note which has remained in private hands for a century details a previously undocumented meeting between George V and his Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, on the eve of the First World War.
The King, mindful of his position as a constitutional monarch, made no public declarations about the situation in Europe in the lead-up to the conflict.
But in the newly-disclosed meeting, the King informed Sir Edward it was "absolutely essential" Britain go to war in order to prevent Germany from achieving “complete domination of this country”.
When Sir Edward said the Cabinet had yet to find a justifiable reason to enter the conflict, the King replied: “You have got to find a reason, Grey.”