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A royal friendship

The United Kingdom played a special role in Morgan family history. J. Pierpont Morgan’s father, Junius, relocated his family to London in 1854 when he entered a partnership with American businessman George Peabody, who was operating a private bank in London. Junius soon established himself as a preeminent London businessman and took the helm of Peabody’s firm, renaming it J.S. Morgan & Co. His son, Pierpont, and his grandson, Jack, followed in his footsteps and maintained close business and personal relationships with the United Kingdom over the next several decades.

My custom imageA 1918 telegram from King George V.
 Image Courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum


It was during Jack’s tenure as senior partner of J.P. Morgan & Co., a role he assumed following the death of his father in 1913, when he developed close working and personal relationships with Queen Elizabeth II’s grandfather and father. In 1915, Jack led the firm in providing a $500 million loan to Great Britain and France to aid in the Allied cause during World War I. This loan was significant as it was the largest foreign loan in Wall Street history at the time, and was offered two years before the United States officially entered the war. Additionally, J.P. Morgan & Co. acted as a purchasing agent for the two countries. The firm’s war work did not go unnoticed, and Jack received a personal telegram from King George V (Queen Elizabeth II’s grandfather) thanking him for his leadership and support during this time. When King George V died in 1936, Jack mourned the loss of his friend and wrote: “He was a very fine person and almost everyone knew it.”


Jack also developed a close relationship with King George VI, whom he first knew as Albert. Jack spent his summers in the United Kingdom, splitting his time between London, Hertfordshire, and Scotland. In 1914, Jack and his friend Eric Hambro, a British banker and politician, purchased a hunting lodge, Gannochy, in Scotland. Albert and Elizabeth, the future King and Queen of England, were frequent visitors to Gannochy. Thanks to the guest book that was maintained at the house, we can track the visits of the Royal family from 1934 to 1939. The couple often visited for a week in August to participate in the start of the grouse hunting season, and was usually accompanied by extended family, such as the Elphinstones and the Bowes-Lyons.


My custom imageRoyal Family annual visit to Gannochy Estate, Jack Morgan’s hunting lodge in Scotland, August 1938.
 Image Courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum

An August 1938 visit marked the first time that Albert arrived as King George VI, having ascended to the throne in December 1936. The 1939 visit would be the last before World War II broke out in Europe. King George VI said the following about Jack: “I consider Morgan the world’s greatest gentleman. Whenever he comes into the room, I instinctively feel that I must rise.”

The great mutual respect the Morgan firm and the British royal family had for each other has left a lasting impression on the firm’s business in the United Kingdom today.

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