To-day marks 70th anniversary of abdication

[BegintheBeguine]

King Edward VIII discharged his duties as King on this date in 1937. Controversial, but a good dresser.

 

[dhermann1]

He drove his own 1936 Canadian McLaughlin Buick limo to the radio station to make the broadcast. That Mclaughlin was sold for an enormous figure a few years ago. I think there was a thread with images of several of his suits a few months ago. His father, George V, said of him that he'd ruin himself within six months of becoming king. Prescient.
Self centered little jerk? Or tragic hero? I tend toward the former.

 

[imoldfashioned]

Thanks for noting this--70 years. Tsk, time flies.

 

[Ada Veen]

wasn't he a n**i sympathizer?

 

[dhermann1]

He was too self centered to have any political ideas. He's been accused of this because part of Hitler's fantasy was that they would depose George VI and install Edward as king. Nobody has ever proved, or found any meaningful evidence, that Edward would have gone in for this. There were a lot of Nazi sympathizers/admirers in the pre 1936 era, but as war loomed closer they tended to see the handwriting on the wall. After the fall of France in May of 1940, Edward and Wallis were in Southern France. They took their time moseying home, via Spain, as if nothing major was going on.
I think the worst thing you can accuse him of is being despicably obtuse and insensitive. In his defence, he utterly didn't want to be king. And really, why should somebody who doesn't want the job be forced to take it?
He was just really just a sad, pathetic little man.

 

[PADDY]

Edward VIII (Prince of Wales) photos...

Photos from a 1920 book I have on some of Edwards' tours around the Empire and the US.

 

[cookie]

He was too self centered to have any political ideas. He's been accused of this because part of Hitler's fantasy was that they would depose George VI and install Edward as king. Nobody has ever proved, or found any meaningful evidence, that Edward would have gone in for this. There were a lot of Nazi sympathizers/admirers in the pre 1936 era, but as war loomed closer they tended to see the handwriting on the wall. After the fall of France in May of 1940, Edward and Wallis were in Southern France. They took their time moseying home, via Spain, as if nothing major was going on.
I think the worst thing you can accuse him of is being despicably obtuse and insensitive. In his defence, he utterly didn't want to be king. And really, why should somebody who doesn't want the job be forced to take it?
He was just really just a sad, pathetic little man.

You are very generous about "They took their time moseying home, via Spain," ...he had to be secreted out to Portugal and then home.

 

[Tomasso]

Photos from a 1920 book I have on some of Edwards' tours around the Empire and the US.

Thanks for the pix, Paddy. I'd never seen them before. BTW, what's the title of the book?

 

[Mid-fogey]

It's hard for modern...

...people to understand the impact the abdication had on the world. We today have access to more information on the couple, but at the time most folks thought it was all about love. Inasmuch as people were generally less cynical than today, were less flooded by news, and the British Empire was a very great power, the event a very big deal.

 

[PADDY]

Book Title

The Prince of Wales' Book.

Thanks for the pix, Paddy. I'd never seen them before. BTW, what's the title of the book?

 

[dhermann1]

...people to understand the impact the abdication had on the world. We today have access to more information on the couple, but at the time most folks thought it was all about love. Inasmuch as people were generally less cynical than today, were less flooded by news, and the British Empire was a very great power, the event a very big deal.

The pathetic thing is that while Stanley Baldwin was devoting his undivided attention to the King's lady, a certain former corporal in Germany was building up his nation's military might to overwhelming proportions. This was one of many reasons "Why England Slept."

 

[Tomasso]

the abdication...... at the time most folks thought it was all about love.

Well, wasn't that the DoW's story?

 

[FedoraGent]

Something I think that you might find fascinating...

Folks,

I believe that you may find this rather interesting...here is his last radio address of abdication:

http://ia310943.us.archive.org/2/it...BBCKingEdwardVIII-AbdicationOfTheMonarchy.mp3

Give it a listen, it's fascinating.

FG.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

"the woman I love"

Thanks, FedoraGent. The grandpa radio station I listen to played the abdication speech which prompted me to immediately start this thread.

 

[Chas]

>>>He was just really just a sad, pathetic little man.

I would agree with that.

His brother made a decent enough king, as far as kings go. And his daughter did fairly well; but the rest of them are bunch of degenerates. To quote Christopher Hitchens - "that's what you get when you found a royal family based on the family values of Henry VIII".

 

[MegamiOrchard]

I always thought his abdication speech was one of the better speeches of the twentieth century - clear but beautiful word choice, succint but saying so much.

 

[Joe_Frances]

His book A King's Story is a good read if anyone has an interest in this topic.