As a follow up to watching and reading the King’s Speech I checked my library and discovered a paperback edition of Edward and Mrs Simpson, a novel by A C H Smith which followed the broadcasting of the Thames Television series of the same subject, and which in turn was based on the biography of Edward VIII by Lady Frances Donaldson.
The book is well structured commencing with alleged scenes from the life of the Prince and then halfway covers the approach of the Prime Ministers, the Press Barons, Winston Churchill and others to the determination of the then uncrowned King to marry twice divorced Mrs Simpson with an alleged notorious past and make her Queen or say damn to his immediate responsibilities, to the country and the Empire, putting personal desire before the welfare of the people.
The book commences when the Prince continued to have contact with his former mistress the married Freda, Winnifred May Dudley Ward née Birkin (1918-1823 when she was aged between 24 and 29), husband and two daughters until he dropped his current concubine(s) for Wallis Simpson in 1934, By Then Freda divorced Dudley Ward who she married in 1913 when aged only 19 years. She married again in 1937 ( 43) Pedro Jose Isidro Manuel Ricardo Mones, Marques de Casa Maury until they divorced in 1954 (60) and who dies in 1983 (89). Her first daughter born in 1914 was the actress Penelope Ward who features in such films as The Citadel, In Which we Serve, English Without Tears and The Way Ahead 1935-1944). Her First marriage lasted the Second World War and he second was to the disguised Film Director Sir Carol Reed and which lasted until his death in 1976. Her second daughter born 1916 became Lady Laycock, after her marriage in 1935 to the Wartime leader of the Commandos.
The book suggests that the Prince of Wales consulted Mrs Dudley Ward about his subsequent relationships, telling her at one of his favourites haunts, the former Embassy Club, that he was taking Lady Furness with him on a trip to Lady Thelma Furness. (Not to be confused with the present Embassy Club established in 2001).
Lady Furness was first married at the age of 17 and this lasted 3 years (1925). In between her marriage to Lord Furness in 1926 she was rumoured to have become engaged to an established film actor. He first husband was ten years her senior and her second 20. She first met The Prince of Wales in the year of her marriage and three years later she became his mistress. She divorced in 1933. Two years earlier she had introduced Wallis Simpson to him and a year after her divorce the Prince dumped her for Wallis Simpson. Lady Furness had one son by her second marriage The point needs to be made therefore that the Prince not only was a serial adulterer but that his companions were mothers. That the political and social Establishment considered this behaviour acceptable for a head of state reflects the their hypocrisy.
There is evidence that his father and mother disapproved of these relationships and hoped he would marry someone suitable who would produce an heir and because of the past experience it appears that no one believed he would want to make one of his consequent his wife and Queen, The impression gained from this book is that George, his birth name, was a reluctant performer of official duties and with one eye always on personal pleasure and enjoyment. However he was regarded as something of a sport by the general public who took an interest and with loyalty by the middle classes who knew nothing of his personal behaviour which was kept out of the papers by the news Barons, especially Lord Beaverbrook who full supported the King and Dawson of the Times who favoured the kind of compromise subsequently cooked up to enable the divorced Prince Charles to marry the divorced Camilla Parker Bowles. This became one fo the options put to the leaders of the Commonwealth countries and the British Cabinet. Was also favoured by Wallace Simpson who also seriously considered the other options of getting the Layers, to raise questions about the divorce to prevent the decree becoming absolute and of leaving he country and the Prince, Because of the publicity reverting to the status quo was not a practical proposition after the acres of newsprint in the USA, Europe and parts of he Commonwealth.
It has to be said that throughout the main concern was not a moral one but religious for as head of the Church of England the King was expected to follow the teachings of the church to the letter including the rule that the marriage ceremony could not be performed if one of the parties had been divorced. The then Archbishop would not have authorised the marriage or anointed the King as the monarch if he had married elsewhere.
The King had also created problems by his approval of the regimes in Italy and Germany. Mrs Simpson was known at the time to have had relations with the Nazi Ambassador Von Ribbentrop who was gaining intelligence in the event of Germany needing to invade and conquer the UK and its Commonwealth. The USA FBI advised their President that Mrs Simpson was being paid by the Nazis to report information she gained from her position as the mistress of the Prince and then King. Von Ribbentrop was a leading anti Semitic and was hanged for War Crimes in 1946.
The other consideration was that if King Edward decided to abdicate that his brother would not be up to the challenge because of his health, temperament and lack of preparation. A point which Archbishop Cosmo Lang tried to cover in his ham fisted but good intentioned way in the broadcast made after the deed was done. There was a serious risk that that the monarchy would come to a halt at a time when continuity and stability were needed.
For most of my life I have wrestled with the inconsistency of a modern democracy having not just an inherited head of state but the rest of the trappings of aristocracy and the Court. The British Establishment has understandable fears about going the full democratic Monty after the Civil War and the dictatorship of a kind reign of Oliver Cromwell but the USA experience has shown as elsewhere in France for example that a balance can be achieved between the powers of the executive, democratic representation, decentralised government and the rule of law with an independent judiciary backed up by a written constitution I have wrestled because the British experience during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 2nd has been good from all outward appearance
My impression is that the challenge will come when the death of Queen Elizabeth occurs. I do not know what be best, to for a Presidency coupled with the some inhibition about those wish to continue to hold their aristocratic titles not being able to hold public position whether elected or appointed above a certain level. They could serve in the armed forces but not as officers for example and no existing title could be subsequently inherited. There could be a referendum in relation to the next in line of succession at the time simple yes or no, or a direct election context between the next in line and a Presidential candidate previously elected through a process similar to that in the USA. Whatever happens there ought to be a written constitution. Not to have one is an absurdity.
The book is well structured commencing with alleged scenes from the life of the Prince and then halfway covers the approach of the Prime Ministers, the Press Barons, Winston Churchill and others to the determination of the then uncrowned King to marry twice divorced Mrs Simpson with an alleged notorious past and make her Queen or say damn to his immediate responsibilities, to the country and the Empire, putting personal desire before the welfare of the people.
The book commences when the Prince continued to have contact with his former mistress the married Freda, Winnifred May Dudley Ward née Birkin (1918-1823 when she was aged between 24 and 29), husband and two daughters until he dropped his current concubine(s) for Wallis Simpson in 1934, By Then Freda divorced Dudley Ward who she married in 1913 when aged only 19 years. She married again in 1937 ( 43) Pedro Jose Isidro Manuel Ricardo Mones, Marques de Casa Maury until they divorced in 1954 (60) and who dies in 1983 (89). Her first daughter born in 1914 was the actress Penelope Ward who features in such films as The Citadel, In Which we Serve, English Without Tears and The Way Ahead 1935-1944). Her First marriage lasted the Second World War and he second was to the disguised Film Director Sir Carol Reed and which lasted until his death in 1976. Her second daughter born 1916 became Lady Laycock, after her marriage in 1935 to the Wartime leader of the Commandos.
The book suggests that the Prince of Wales consulted Mrs Dudley Ward about his subsequent relationships, telling her at one of his favourites haunts, the former Embassy Club, that he was taking Lady Furness with him on a trip to Lady Thelma Furness. (Not to be confused with the present Embassy Club established in 2001).
Lady Furness was first married at the age of 17 and this lasted 3 years (1925). In between her marriage to Lord Furness in 1926 she was rumoured to have become engaged to an established film actor. He first husband was ten years her senior and her second 20. She first met The Prince of Wales in the year of her marriage and three years later she became his mistress. She divorced in 1933. Two years earlier she had introduced Wallis Simpson to him and a year after her divorce the Prince dumped her for Wallis Simpson. Lady Furness had one son by her second marriage The point needs to be made therefore that the Prince not only was a serial adulterer but that his companions were mothers. That the political and social Establishment considered this behaviour acceptable for a head of state reflects the their hypocrisy.
There is evidence that his father and mother disapproved of these relationships and hoped he would marry someone suitable who would produce an heir and because of the past experience it appears that no one believed he would want to make one of his consequent his wife and Queen, The impression gained from this book is that George, his birth name, was a reluctant performer of official duties and with one eye always on personal pleasure and enjoyment. However he was regarded as something of a sport by the general public who took an interest and with loyalty by the middle classes who knew nothing of his personal behaviour which was kept out of the papers by the news Barons, especially Lord Beaverbrook who full supported the King and Dawson of the Times who favoured the kind of compromise subsequently cooked up to enable the divorced Prince Charles to marry the divorced Camilla Parker Bowles. This became one fo the options put to the leaders of the Commonwealth countries and the British Cabinet. Was also favoured by Wallace Simpson who also seriously considered the other options of getting the Layers, to raise questions about the divorce to prevent the decree becoming absolute and of leaving he country and the Prince, Because of the publicity reverting to the status quo was not a practical proposition after the acres of newsprint in the USA, Europe and parts of he Commonwealth.
It has to be said that throughout the main concern was not a moral one but religious for as head of the Church of England the King was expected to follow the teachings of the church to the letter including the rule that the marriage ceremony could not be performed if one of the parties had been divorced. The then Archbishop would not have authorised the marriage or anointed the King as the monarch if he had married elsewhere.
The King had also created problems by his approval of the regimes in Italy and Germany. Mrs Simpson was known at the time to have had relations with the Nazi Ambassador Von Ribbentrop who was gaining intelligence in the event of Germany needing to invade and conquer the UK and its Commonwealth. The USA FBI advised their President that Mrs Simpson was being paid by the Nazis to report information she gained from her position as the mistress of the Prince and then King. Von Ribbentrop was a leading anti Semitic and was hanged for War Crimes in 1946.
The other consideration was that if King Edward decided to abdicate that his brother would not be up to the challenge because of his health, temperament and lack of preparation. A point which Archbishop Cosmo Lang tried to cover in his ham fisted but good intentioned way in the broadcast made after the deed was done. There was a serious risk that that the monarchy would come to a halt at a time when continuity and stability were needed.
For most of my life I have wrestled with the inconsistency of a modern democracy having not just an inherited head of state but the rest of the trappings of aristocracy and the Court. The British Establishment has understandable fears about going the full democratic Monty after the Civil War and the dictatorship of a kind reign of Oliver Cromwell but the USA experience has shown as elsewhere in France for example that a balance can be achieved between the powers of the executive, democratic representation, decentralised government and the rule of law with an independent judiciary backed up by a written constitution I have wrestled because the British experience during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 2nd has been good from all outward appearance
My impression is that the challenge will come when the death of Queen Elizabeth occurs. I do not know what be best, to for a Presidency coupled with the some inhibition about those wish to continue to hold their aristocratic titles not being able to hold public position whether elected or appointed above a certain level. They could serve in the armed forces but not as officers for example and no existing title could be subsequently inherited. There could be a referendum in relation to the next in line of succession at the time simple yes or no, or a direct election context between the next in line and a Presidential candidate previously elected through a process similar to that in the USA. Whatever happens there ought to be a written constitution. Not to have one is an absurdity.
