On this day, May 12, in 1937, George VI was crowned King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth.

In 1939, King George became the first British monarch to visit America and Canada. From Ottawa, they were accompanied throughout by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, to present themselves in North America as King and Queen of Canada. George was the first reigning monarch of Canada to visit North America, although he had been to Canada previously as Prince Albert and as Duke of York. Both Governor General of Canada Lord Tweedsmuir and Mackenzie King hoped that the King’s presence in Canada would demonstrate the principles of the Statute of Westminster 1931, which gave full sovereignty to the British Dominions. (Read more in Wikipedia.)

George came to the throne after King Edward VIII abdicated to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson. See their Karsh portrait.