5 Royal Family Members Who Battled Crippling Depression

King George VI — The King Who Wept For an Hour

King George VI never wanted to be king. When his brother Edward VIII abdicated, Bertie—as his family called him—was thrust onto the throne, and he sobbed on his mother’s shoulder for a whole hour. He called it a “dreadful moment”. As a child, he was diffident, often ill, and prone to “dark moods” and angry eruptions. He developed a stutter around age eight when his father demanded he “get it out,” making the condition worse. As king, he suffered from anxiety, exhaustion, and constant self-doubt. Rumours that he was “psychologically and physically incapable” of ruling dominated his early reign. He led Britain through World War II while battling his own demons every single day.