LONDON – Based on a treasure trove of royal letters, appointment cards and photographs, a new book on the remarkable life of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue fills many of the gaps left by the hit film “The King’s Speech.” Lionel’s grandson Mark Logue was consulted for the script of the movie, starring Colin Firth as the stammering King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his elocution coach, widely tipped for Oscar glory at the Academy Awards next month.
His involvement encouraged him to return to hundreds of documents about his grandfather’s inspiring story, resulting in the book “The King’s Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy” which he wrote with journalist Peter Conradi. At his home in London, Mark Logue sifted through piles of letters, including several from the king to Lionel which reveal a surprising level of intimacy between the king and, to use Lionel’s own words, a “common colonial.” An appointment card covered with Lionel’s tiny writing shows how the future king visited his Harley Street practice 82 times between October 1926 and December 1927, and describes the royal’s “very flabby” waist as well as his speech impediment. But Lionel also had a sense of being someone from another country and another class.
