Evening star., 1937-11-13
BY Mary.Carfer Roberts.
WHY EDWARD WENT. BY Ware

EQWdlQ Will IldS Dtcil Ollc VI
Il \ the recent phenomena of book
publishing. During the last two
weeks there have been no less than
four works issued which dealt with
Edwards brief, fascinating reign.
One of these is a tender poetic drama
done by q woman writer; of it silence
Is the best treatment. Another was
Mr.. Stanton B. Leeds Cards the
.Windsors Hold" work so foggily
written as to challenge understanding
in spots, but, where ineligible at all,
given over to a stout championship of
the former King and an even stouter
espousal of Mrs. Simpsons case. Still
another recent work on the subject OF
,England's royalty was Capt. Eric Ac-
lands House Of Windsor" This did
not deal exclusively with Edward; its
world that the ruling house of Britain
was composed of excellent men, of
whom Edward was one; readers could
decide for themselves whether the
emphasis was meant to be more on the
position Of the abdicated King as
member Of model family from which
he gathered his credit or as a fine
individual whose personal qualities
added to the greatness of his house.
AT any rate. Capt. Acland's song
seemed to be that the Windsors could
do no wrong and that their prestige
swas so great in the minds Of their sub
s5ects that nothing could damage it..
1t is exactly this latter idea which Mr.
Wells sets out to smash.
:. He says, and says it fatty, that the
prestige of the British crown has never
been as low as it is now. And he at
tributes this fall of the royal house in
popular esteem to the manner in which
Edward has been treated. His book
comes to us with publishers an
nouncement saying that it could not
be published in England" Notwith-
standing the sensationalism of this
claim, the volume is sober and convinc-
Ing enough to give readers pause for
consideration.
1t says, really, very little that has
not been said before But it makes its
claims with a conference which has
hitherto been lacking from the pro
and con volumes hastily dished out to
catch the market. 1t makes case,
In other words. 1t deals little, if at all.
in generalities and brings forward
evidence, of some sort, to support its
statements as it goes along. The re-
suit is one mans opinion, Of course,
but that opinion is built up into
pretty solid structure.
1t is simply this: That Edward,
after the issue of his marriage was
raised, had no course before him but
to abdicate; that he could not have
remained on the throne even if he
had renounced his intention to marry
Mrs Simpson-the reason for the in
evitability Of his abdicaticn being that
the King of England cannot take sides
In any political issue, not even the
side against himself. Therefore, says
Mr.. Wells, Edwards enemies raised
the issue of his marriage deliberately,
meaning to bring about abdication
These enemies he lists as two groups
OF people-the Clique" as he terms
1t, and the Church of England.
To quote his own definition of the
Clique" it is "a small set of people
belonging to England's governing
s.. Class 1t consists of politicians,
-. permanent officials, and persons not
holding any political or official posi-
,tion, but nevertheless possessing
government drag This select coterie
habitually think themselves entitled
to monopolize the governance of Eng
land"
The select coterie," as Mr.. Wells
sees it, was both enraged and terrified
by Edwards modernism, his de-
mocracy, his sympathy for the poor,
his firmness and his direct dealing
: They were even more terrified by the
popularity which the King had among
the labOring classes and the unem-
=ployed. In November, 1896, after his
sstour of the slum districts of Glasgow.
Edward had reached the peak of this
popularity, says Mr.. Wells, and that
peak rose high above anything which
the Clique" had imagined. So, in
December, the issue of the marriage
was suddenly raised AS Mr.. Wells
sees it, this was no coincidence. The
fClique," he reminds us, had known of
the Kings friendship with Mrs Simp-
son for three years. Up to that time.
Instead of showing disapproval of
her, Clique members were won't to
cultivate her-or so Mr.. Wells de-
clares.
Well, that is his version of the abdi-
:. cation, and, as noted above, it is not
: the first time that such allegations
have been made. But it is the first
time they have been made with CO.
herence and with a considerable body
of evidence to back them up.
AS to the lowering of the crowns
prestige, MIR. Wells holds that the ab-
dication was in no way responsible for
r that Edward withdrew with the ut
srost dignity, he points out, and the
new King assumed power with his
blessing. But the campaign waged
against Edward after the abdication,
the slander, the discrimination, the
rpettiness visited upon him has ir-
feparably injured the good name of
the monarchy. Similarly, says MIR.
Wells, the foreign policy of Anthony
OF the "Clique") has lowered British
prestige In international affairs as it
has not been lowered since before
Victoria. Edward, he points out, op-
posed Eden's policy; the result of his
opposition was that Eden's supporters
charged the King with Fascism.
The book is recommended to those
who sympathize with the Windsors,
Tor they will enjoy reading it, 1t is
also recommended to those who are
interested in the truth Of the affair,
no matter what their sympathies, for,
though the whole truth may never
be known until the British archives
are opened, there is enough of a CO.
'herent case here to make the work
worth attention.
ENCHANTER's NIGHTsHADE. BY
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