London ( CNN ) -- There were always three pictures of King George VI on the mantelpiece of the various houses Mark Logue lived in when he was growing up -- including one signed and dated by the king on the day of his coronation -- but as a boy in the 1970s and 1980s , Logue does n't remember wondering why . Only years later , after his father died and Logue inherited a box of papers and scrapbooks , did it all begin to make sense . Logue 's grandfather was Lionel Logue , the Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush in the Oscar nominated movie `` The King 's Speech . '' Mark Logue -- born 12 years after his grandfather died -- had inherited some archive : Christmas cards from the king and queen , a condolence card from George VI to Lionel Logue when his wife died , and a letter of thanks from the queen for a letter Logue wrote when the king himself died several years later . The papers also include hundreds of letters exchanged by the king and the speech therapist , whom he met more than a decade before he was crowned . `` The content of the letters between them is incredibly friendly as you 'd expect between two friends , '' Mark Logue says . `` But there is a kind of etiquette that Lionel still abides by , '' addressing George VI as `` your Royal Highness . '' George VI addressed his friend as `` Dear Logue , '' and signed the early letters `` Albert '' -- his name before he was crowned king . The later letters are signed `` George . '' Also among his grandfather 's papers is what Mark Logue believes is the actual copy of the speech George VI read at the outbreak of war with Germany 1939 -- the climactic scene of the movie . `` In this grave hour , perhaps the most fateful in our history ... '' the speech begins . The copy in Logue 's archive contains handwritten pencil notes , indicating what words to stress and where to pause . `` The King 's Speech '' condenses the friendship of the monarch and commoner into about a year , but the real George and Logue knew each other for a quarter of a century . `` The first thing that I came across that startled me was his appointment card , '' Mark Logue says . In tiny handwriting , Logue assessed his new patient , Albert , Duke of York in 1926 . The duke `` has acute nervous tension which has been brought on by the defect . He is of nervous disposition ... Contracts teeth and mouth and mechanically closes throat ... an extraordinary habit of clipping small words - an , in , on - and saying the first syllable of one word and the last syllable of another , '' Logue wrote . The Duke saw Logue almost every day for next two or three months , in advance of a royal visit to Australia , Logue 's records show . The friendship lasted for the rest of their lives , although it seems they were never photographed together . At the Coronation in 1937 , Logue is seated in the royal box , with his wife , Myrtle . They are so high up , she 's using opera glasses . Myrtle died suddenly of a heart attack after World War II , prompting the king to write : `` Dear Logue , I must send you one line to tell you how terribly sorry I was to hear of your bereavement . And I send you all my deepest sympathy in your great grief ... I do so feel for you as I know you had a perfect companionship with her . I am yours sincerely . George . '' Mark Logue gets choked up reading the letter generations later . `` It 's something about thinking about him hurting after Myrtle 's death ... makes it kind of real , '' he says . The archive inspired him to write a book with the author Peter Conradi . `` King 's Speech '' director Tom Hooper starting looking at Logue 's material about seven weeks before starting filming , Logue says -- and was able to add some details to the movie as a result . Hooper had n't known , for example , that the king took off his jacket and stood to deliver the 1939 speech , since photos of the event show him seated and in full military uniform . And , from Logue 's diary , a joke was added . `` I went to Windsor on Sunday for the broadcast ... only one mistake ... W in weapons , '' Logue wrote . `` After the broadcast I shook hands with the King and congratulated him . And asked him why he stopped on the W. He replied with a grin . I did it on purpose . I exclaimed -- on purpose ? And he said yes -- if I do n't make a mistake they wo n't know it 's me . '' The movie did make some changes , of course : The real Lionel Logue was more deferential than Geoffrey Rush 's character , and rather shorter than his movie counterpart . And another thing the movie does not tell audiences is that the king and the therapist remained close until the end of their lives . George VI died in 1952 . The following year , his friend Lionel Logue died too .
The grandson of the Geoffrey Rush character in the movie has the real Lionel Logue 's papers . They include letters between King George VI and his grandfather . The two men were really friends for a quarter of a century . Mark Logue 's discovery helped `` King 's Speech '' director Tom Hooper .