George V of the United Kingdom was a Stone-Cold Badass. · 11:18am Aug 24th, 2014
Seriously. Look at that beard.
Under his beard is a SMALLER UNITED KINGDOM. 
That expression. He's all like, "Buck you. Deal with it."
I genuinely believe he would hit someone with a closed fist for speaking too soon in his presence. You cannot deny that he radiates an aura of ferocity. I had hoped to avoid diving head-first into a well of cliche, but you must admit that the man was, every inch, a solid old British Lion. Friggin' mane, whiskers, and everything.
He also smoked tobacco heavily and gave not even the smallest shit about the fact that he was destroying his health, which certifies him as a Stone-Cold Badass in my eyes. I'm a pansy, which is why I quit smoking as soon as I began to have a frequent cough. George V was not a man to be cowed by such things, however, and even in the years of his decline he continued to smoke. He also used to curse a lot, which is bad-ass. Damn it, England, why are you so awesome? Producing Kings who smoke and drink and curse like sailors, while wearing beards of True Masculinity.
England is also the land of Gin(or at least one of its most popular homes), which is one of the Manliest Liquors. I have drunk Tanqueray and Seagrams Gin; I have a whole new respect for the old English gents who sit in their homes, in pubs, and divers other public establishments, drinking raw Gin as if it were mere fruit juice.
The experience of drinking Gin is not for the faint-hearted. It is quite like opening a bottle of cologne and drinking it whole - very aromatic, to the point where one wonders if you are actually supposed to drink the blasted thing, or dab some behind your ears. And don't let's talk about the burn. My fellow Americans are fond of saying that Whiskey makes you a man; I beg to differ. After having nips of Gin, I am unfazed by whiskey and vodka.
Dawson's private diary, unearthed after his death and made public in 1986, reveals that the King's last words, a mumbled "God damn you!",[100] were addressed to his nurse when she gave him a sedative on the night of 20 January.
Being told "God damn you!" by a King on his deathbed must surely have had some repercussions for that nurse. I wouldn't be in that particular Nurse's slippers for a million dollars AND a diamond tiara, as it has been said that the dying breath of a King carries immense power. The words issued with that last breath can make or break the fortunes of entire nations...or so I've heard. It may just be a superstition. But, still, I would be terrified if a dying King said that to me with his last breath.
Incidentally, it took a mixture of morphine and cocaine to send him back to his ancestors. That must have felt rather odd, to say the least.
Not to take away from the nature of what he chose to say before he died, mind you. A lot of people say tedious, unexciting things before they die. Some never say anything at all. I can only hope that I, too, have the sheer wicked sack to say something like "God damn you!" just before I die. Of course, since I am merely a common man, and not a King, it won't have any effect on anyone. But, at least, the medical people will have something interesting to write down on my death report.
He looks vaguely like Tsar Nicholas II. Vaguely.
Of course, different men. George V was badass, and Nicholas II was an incompetent fool.
4364075
You really have to wonder how they became so different. They shared a common lineage that I forget at the moment because I am still a little off balance.
4364084 Yeah, it's interesting that the two are related.
Hell, many of the noble families were related. Kaiser Wilhelm II was the cousin of George V, and he positively hated the fact that he had an English mother. And Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was cousin to both, making Nicholas II legally kin. And King Alfonso XIII of Spain was also a cousin through his wife.
World War I was basically just a family reunion.
I know that Spain wasn't in WW1, but cut me some slack
With Nicholas II, he had a tremendous legacy to fulfill. That led to him making a lot of dumb-ass decisions in the 1890s and 1900s-1910s. He was just trying to be the proper autocrat of all Russians that he saw himself as. And it killed him.
Tragic. Then agin, everything about the World Wars was basically a tragedy.