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50 free The King's Speech trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This The King's Speech trivia quiz covers Tom Hooper's 2010 Best Picture winner and the true story behind it. It follows Bertie from the Wembley stammer through the Harley Street sessions, the Hamlet recording, the row over 'treason', the abdication of Edward VIII, the coronation rehearsal in Westminster Abbey and the 1939 wartime broadcast that Logue conducts like an orchestra. Behind the scenes it covers David Seidler's own childhood stammer and the decades he waited at the Queen Mother's request, the reading that Tom Hooper's mother attended, the script hand-delivered to Geoffrey Rush's house, Logue's diary discovered nine weeks before filming, the wide lenses and hard light, the cathedral standing in for the Abbey, and the ratings fight over 17 swear words. A separate round covers the real Lionel Logue, from Adelaide to Harley Street to the Royal Victorian Order, and the historians who quibbled with the film. It ends with the 83rd Academy Awards, where the film's 12 nominations turned into four wins. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed The King's Speech?
Tom Hooper
He went on to direct Les Misérables and Cats.
Q 02Who plays King George VI?
Colin Firth
Bettany and Grant were the writer's and director's first choices, and both declined.
Q 03Who plays Lionel Logue?
Geoffrey Rush
The script was hand-delivered to his house in Melbourne, breaching every rule of agent etiquette.
Q 04What nationality was the real Lionel Logue?
Australian
He was born in College Town, South Australia, in 1880.
Q 05Who plays Queen Elizabeth, Bertie's wife?
Helena Bonham Carter
She was filming Harry Potter on weekdays, so her scenes were shot at weekends.
Q 06Where does the opening scene take place?
The Empire Exhibition at Wembley
It was actually shot at Leeds United's Elland Road and Bradford's Odsal Stadium.
Q 07What does Logue have Bertie recite while listening to music on headphones?
Hamlet's 'To be, or not to be'
Bertie takes the acetate recording home and is astonished to hear no stutter.
Q 08What does George V tell Bertie will play a significant part in the royal family's future?
The wireless
The lecture scene is probably invented, but critics thought it a legitimate dramatic device.
Q 09Who plays the ailing King George V?
Michael Gambon
He improvised the king's ramblings as he signed away authority.
Q 10What does Bertie accuse Logue of when Logue suggests he could be a good king?
Treason
He storms out and quits the treatment.
Q 11Who plays David, the Prince of Wales who becomes Edward VIII?
Guy Pearce
He shared the ensemble Screen Actors Guild award with the cast.
Q 12Why can't Edward VIII marry Wallis Simpson even after her divorce?
Both her former husbands are still alive
As supreme governor of the Church of England, he cannot wed her.
Q 13Which archbishop questions Logue's lack of formal qualifications?
Cosmo Gordon Lang
Derek Jacobi plays the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Q 21How long before filming did the makers learn of Logue's diary?
Nine weeks
It was being turned into a book by Logue's grandson Mark and journalist Peter Conradi.
Q 22Which actor did the director originally want for George VI?
Hugh Grant
Seidler favoured Paul Bettany; both turned it down before Firth read.
Q 23How many days did filming last?
39
Most was shot in the three weeks before Christmas 2009 because Rush had a play in January.
Q 24Which cathedral stood in for Westminster Abbey?
Q 14How did Logue start in speech therapy, according to the film?
Helping shell-shocked Great War soldiers
The real Logue did develop treatments for WWI veterans with shell shock.
Q 15What provokes Bertie into speaking fluently in the Abbey?
Logue sitting in King Edward's Chair
Bertie realises he has expressed himself in anger without impairment.
Q 16What does Bertie say when Logue notes he still stammered on the W?
"I had to throw in a few so they'd know it was me."
The line is a direct quotation from Logue's own notes.
Q 17Which honour does the closing title card say Logue received?
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
The real Logue was made MVO at the 1937 coronation and promoted to CVO in 1944.
Q 18Who wrote the screenplay?
David Seidler
He had a stammer as a child and was inspired by George VI's radio speeches.
Q 19Why did Seidler shelve the project for decades?
The Queen Mother asked him to wait until after her death
She said her memories of that era were still too painful; she died in 2002.
Q 20Who told the director 'I've found your next project' after a reading of the play?
His mother
She attended a reading for expatriates in north London.
Ely
The Abbey refused because of tourism; Lincoln was a closer match but Ely was preferred.
Q 25Which government-owned London property was rented at £20,000 a day for Buckingham Palace interiors?
Lancaster House
The 1936 Accession Council was shot in Drapers' Hall.
Q 26Which power station doubled as a BBC radio control room?
Battersea
Other locations included Knebworth, Hatfield House and the Old Royal Naval College.
Q 27Why was the film shot on wider-than-normal lenses?
To convey the King's feelings of constriction
Typical focal lengths were 14mm to 27mm, with subtle distortion suggesting discomfort.
Q 28Which piece of music plays under the climactic 1939 broadcast?
Beethoven's 7th Symphony, second movement
Editor Tariq Anwar added it as a temp track and the composer kept it.
Q 29Who composed the score?
Alexandre Desplat
It was recorded on old EMI microphones made for the royal family, to sound dated.
Q 30Roughly how many times is the strongest swear word used in the film?
17
Two therapy scenes account for nearly all of them.