"The King's Speech" won the top Academy Award, for best picture, giving the British royals drama a total of four Oscars at Sunday's ceremony.

The acclaimed film about the efforts of the future King George VI to overcome a crippling stammer went into the event with a leading 12 nominations. It won such key awards as best actor for its star, Colin Firth.

The best picture award was accepted by its producers, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin.

The nine other contenders were "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The Kids Are All Right," "127 Hours," "The Social Network," "Toy Story 3," "True Grit" and "Winter's Bone."