ABSTRACT
Prince Albert, like his father before him, had a career in the navy. His constitution was never robust, and as a naval cadet at Osborne he had a severe attack of pneumonia. From his early years, also, he was plagued with a severe stammer which, with the help of an Australian speech therapist, he did much to correct. The King undertook a number of public engagements in 1950, and early in 1951, but those who saw him realised he was still a very sick man. On the morning of Sunday, September 23, a pneumonectomy was performed – a routine operation carried out by the routine team of Westminster Hospital. The only untoward event during the day was that of Price-Thomas, who upon driving out of the palace forecourt, with his mind very far away, collided with another vehicle; the police refused to prosecute.
