"I Cannot Aspire''

On Christmas Day the worst pea soup fog in three decades descended on London. It was not the fog, however, which brought tears to British eyes and lumps to millions of British throats. Loyal subjects, drawn in sympathy to King George VI as never before, heard His Majesty bravely make a Christmas broadcast, his halting voice strained with emotion. In effect what the King had to tell his people was that the great effort to overcome his speech impediment, an effort which he has made for years and, which carried him through his Coronation without skipping or mispronouncing a single word (TIME, May 24), was too great for him to continue broadcasting.

Always hanging over His Majesty's head has been the dread of his next broadcast. Last week he took the short, courageous way out, speaking clearly--with long halts between his accurately pronounced words--to his 493,370,000 subjects:

"Many of you will remember the Christmas broadcasts of former years when my father spoke to his peoples at home and overseas as the revered head of a great family.

"His words brought happiness into the homes and into the hearts of listeners all over the world.

"I cannot aspire to take his place, nor do I think that you would wish me to carry on, unvaried, a tradition so personal to him. But as this is the first Christmas since our Coronation, the Queen and I feel that we want to send to you all a further word of gratitude for the love and loyalty you gave us from every quarter of the Empire during this unforgettable year now drawing to its end.

"We have promised to try and be worthy of your trust, and this is a pledge that we shall always keep."

To this pledge that sorely tried George VI will not abdicate, although he probably will cease broadcasting, the Duke of Windsor, who night before had rung up his brother and mother at Sandringham for a Christmas chat, listened at Cannes on the Riviera.

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