50 Fun Facts About The King's Speech

Who directed The King's Speech?

He went on to direct Les Misérables and Cats.

Who plays King George VI?

Bettany and Grant were the writer's and director's first choices, and both declined.

Who plays Lionel Logue?

The script was hand-delivered to his house in Melbourne, breaching every rule of agent etiquette.

What nationality was the real Lionel Logue?

He was born in College Town, South Australia, in 1880.

Who plays Queen Elizabeth, Bertie's wife?

She was filming Harry Potter on weekdays, so her scenes were shot at weekends.

Where does the opening scene take place?

It was actually shot at Leeds United's Elland Road and Bradford's Odsal Stadium.

What does Logue have Bertie recite while listening to music on headphones?

Bertie takes the acetate recording home and is astonished to hear no stutter.

What does George V tell Bertie will play a significant part in the royal family's future?

The lecture scene is probably invented, but critics thought it a legitimate dramatic device.

Who plays the ailing King George V?

He improvised the king's ramblings as he signed away authority.

What does Bertie accuse Logue of when Logue suggests he could be a good king?

He storms out and quits the treatment.

Who plays David, the Prince of Wales who becomes Edward VIII?

He shared the ensemble Screen Actors Guild award with the cast.

Why can't Edward VIII marry Wallis Simpson even after her divorce?

As supreme governor of the Church of England, he cannot wed her.

Which archbishop questions Logue's lack of formal qualifications?

Derek Jacobi plays the Archbishop of Canterbury.

How did Logue start in speech therapy, according to the film?

The real Logue did develop treatments for WWI veterans with shell shock.

What provokes Bertie into speaking fluently in the Abbey?

Bertie realises he has expressed himself in anger without impairment.

What does Bertie say when Logue notes he still stammered on the W?

The line is a direct quotation from Logue's own notes.

Which honour does the closing title card say Logue received?

The real Logue was made MVO at the 1937 coronation and promoted to CVO in 1944.

Who wrote the screenplay?

He had a stammer as a child and was inspired by George VI's radio speeches.

Why did Seidler shelve the project for decades?

She said her memories of that era were still too painful; she died in 2002.

Who told the director 'I've found your next project' after a reading of the play?

She attended a reading for expatriates in north London.

How long before filming did the makers learn of Logue's diary?

It was being turned into a book by Logue's grandson Mark and journalist Peter Conradi.

Which actor did the director originally want for George VI?

Seidler favoured Paul Bettany; both turned it down before Firth read.

How many days did filming last?

Most was shot in the three weeks before Christmas 2009 because Rush had a play in January.

Which cathedral stood in for Westminster Abbey?

The Abbey refused because of tourism; Lincoln was a closer match but Ely was preferred.

Which government-owned London property was rented at £20,000 a day for Buckingham Palace interiors?

The 1936 Accession Council was shot in Drapers' Hall.

Which power station doubled as a BBC radio control room?

Other locations included Knebworth, Hatfield House and the Old Royal Naval College.

Why was the film shot on wider-than-normal lenses?

Typical focal lengths were 14mm to 27mm, with subtle distortion suggesting discomfort.

Which piece of music plays under the climactic 1939 broadcast?

Editor Tariq Anwar added it as a temp track and the composer kept it.

Who composed the score?

It was recorded on old EMI microphones made for the royal family, to sound dated.

Roughly how many times is the strongest swear word used in the film?

Two therapy scenes account for nearly all of them.

What rating did the BBFC originally give the film before the director protested?

It was lowered to 12A; the MPAA gave it an R in the US.

Which distributor considered re-editing out the profanity for a lower rating?

The director refused to cut it, though he considered bleeps.

How many Oscar nominations did the film receive?

It won four: Picture, Director, Actor and Original Screenplay.

Who co-hosted the 2011 Oscars where the film won?

It was a first for both, and widely panned.

Which film tied The King's Speech with four wins that night?

The Social Network took three.

Which festival gave the film its world premiere?

It then won the People's Choice Award at Toronto.

What was the film's approximate budget?

It earned over £250 million internationally.

When did the real Duke of York actually begin working with Logue?

A decade before the abdication crisis; the film compresses the timeline.

At what address did the real Logue open his practice in 1926?

The film shot his consulting room at 33 Portland Place because the real rooms were too small.

Which historian criticised the film for whitewashing Churchill's role in the abdication?

Churchill actually urged Edward VIII to resist abdicating.

How accurate did the blog Information is Beautiful judge the film to be?

Its verdict: 'some nips and tucks of the historical record, but mostly an accurate retelling'.

The real Logue's grandson Robert doubted two things about the portrayal. Which?

Historian Andrew Roberts also thought the stammer's severity was exaggerated.

Which London address provided the high, vaulted room used as Logue's consulting rooms?

Production designer Eve Stewart loved its mottled, peeling wallpaper so much she recreated the effect across the whole room.

Why did Helena Bonham Carter's scenes have to be filmed at weekends?

Her Queen Elizabeth won her a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination despite the compressed 39-day shoot.

Which football ground stood in for Wembley in the prince's stammering first address?

Its curved ends resembled Wembley's in 1925; Elland Road supplied the speech elements of the same sequence.

How much did the UK Film Council invest in the production from lottery funds in 2009?

The film's £8 million budget returned more than £250 million at the international box office.

Who was the voice coach who worked with Colin Firth on developing George VI's stammer?

Firth later said he was struggling to shed traces of the stammer months after the film's release.

How many BAFTA nominations did The King's Speech receive, more than any other film that year?

It converted seven, including Best Film, Outstanding British Film and acting prizes for Firth, Rush and Bonham Carter.

Despite seven Golden Globe nominations, which was the film's sole win?

Firth doubled up at the SAG Awards, taking Best Actor and sharing the Best Ensemble prize on the same evening.

Which Spanish honour did The King's Speech win in 2011?

It had also taken Best British Independent Film and the People's Choice Award at Toronto the previous autumn.