King George VI was initiated into Navy Lodge #2612 in 1919, when he was Duke of York; in 1922 he was appointed Senior Grand Warden; two years later he was installed as Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex, which position he held until coming to the throne in 1936.
H.R.H. affiliated with Glamis Lodge, of which his father-in-law, the Earl of Strathmore, was a Past Master. He became Grand Master Mason of Scotland for part of 1936, but resigned his office upon his ascendancy to the throne.
King George VI participated actively in Masonic ceremonies, and this before crowded assemblies. He was installed as Past Grand Master at the Royal Albert Hall before an audience of Masons from all over the world. Similarly, he conducted, in person, the installation of three Grand Masters – the Duke of Kent in 1939, the Earl of Harewood in 1943, and the Duke of Devonshire in 1948.
King George VI had always regarded Freemasonry as one of the strongest influences on his life, and his death on February 6th 1952, was a severe blow to the Craft, as it was to all England, the British Isles, and the free world.