Prince tells of king's torment

THE Prince of Wales has described how his grandfather's speech problems "cut him off" from his family.

Prince Charles was speaking yesterday as he joined the writer and comic actor Michael Palin and the Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, in praising the work of the UK's only stammering centre.

Charles hosted a reception at his London home to celebrate staff and supporters of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children. Speaking about George VI, he told his guests: "His stammer cut him off… from his parents and his brothers and sisters and drove him into himself."

Before the event, Mr Balls pledged 500,000 to a national appeal for a new institution in the north of England to help youngsters with the speech problem.