Ten days after the death of the King, a special general meeting was held at the Castle The Commodore, Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley said:
"We meet today under a cloud of sorrow to pay a last tribute to our late King There are no subjects of the realm who are not mourning his loss; but for us Members of the Royal Yacht Squadron there was that connexion with King George which gives to our loss a personal character. May I for one moment ask you to consider what our Admiral and his 'Britannia' have done for yachting. At the end of the War the sport was at a very low ebb, and many of us feared that it would be long before a recovery could be hoped for: but our Admiral, with that clear-sighted prescience which he brought to bear on all things, brought out the 'Britannia', and this gave an impetus to yachting which the passing years, far from blunting, have increased in intensity. There are more yachts afloat now than there have ever been, and never have the sport and the industry flourished more. A deep debt of gratitude rests on the shoulders of yachtsmen.
Those who had the privilege of knowing our Admiral personally, and especially those who had known him for many years, feel deeply the loss not only of our king, but of a kind and considerate friend, a fine sportsman, and the highest example of a great English gentleman."