The 1936 Abdication Crisis | The Royal Forums The 1936 Abdication Crisis December 11, 2011 at 12:00 am by JessRulz The day is December 11th, 1936. Great Britain begins its day with an Edward VIII , and ends the day with a George VI . His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 had passed through parliament. From the TRF Avatar Gallery Sparking what was dubbed ‘The Abdication Crisis’, His Majesty King Edward VIII’s request to marry his lover, Mrs Wallis Simpson , was debated by parliamentarians, religious leaders, the press and the public during the month leading up to December 10 and 11. The Conservative government of the day, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, refused to grant permission for King Edward to marry. This refusal was also seconded by the Australian and Canadian governments. The marriage between King Edward and Mrs Simpson was opposed for a number of reasons. One of the strongest was Mrs Simpson’s status as a divorced woman, with living ex-husbands.

This posed an issue for the King as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, because the Church disallowed marriages of divorced persons whose former spouses were still alive. Divorce in England was also only considered valid at the time on the grounds of adultery, which was not the case for either of Mrs Simpson’s two divorces (firstly from Earl Winfield Spencer Jr., secondly from Ernest Simpson), so there was the possibility of a court challenge declaring the divorces void. There was also the rumour that Mrs Simpson was a Nazi agent/sympathiser. This did not sit well with the British Government, which was already concerned with the King’s interference in political matters. Opposition also came from the Royal Family and courtiers, who deemed Mrs Simpson ‘unfit’ to be Queen, based on her background and ‘activities’. View the full image at RBA Three options were surmised by the government as to what the outcome of the situation could be: marriage with full royal allowances (ie. Mrs Simpson becomes Queen), a morganatic marriage (ie. Mrs Simpson receives a secondary title, and does not become Queen), or abdication of the King and his future heirs.

A meeting between the British government and representatives of the four British Dominions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa (along with a representative of Ireland) found that only option three was acceptable. If the King truly wanted to marry Mrs Simpson, he had to give up the throne – which Edward VIII did shortly thereafter, decreeing in a speech following the official announcement that he could not perform his duties “without the help and support of the woman I love.” View the full-size image at the National Archives Flickr The ‘Instrument of Abdication’ was signed by Edward VIII on December 10 at his Fort Belvedere residence, in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent , the King’s three younger brothers, who also signed the abdication document as witnesses. The document was then given to parliament, who gave their consent to the abdication, as did the Dominions (as was required at the time). King Edward VIII performed his final act as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions, Emperor of India by giving his royal assent to the Act of Parliament which allowed him to abdicate.

His brother, The Duke of York, was now King (he was officially proclaimed His Majesty King George VI the following day). That same day, December 12, George VI gave his elder brother the title Duke of Windsor. When Edward married Mrs Simpson in June 1937, she became the Duchess of Windsor. Mrs Simpson for her part disagreed with the King’s abdication, trying to convince him several times to let her go and keep his crown. Edward VIII has the distinction of being the only British monarch to abdicate the throne since prior to the twelfth century. He is also one of the shortest reigning monarchs, having reigned for only 327 days (discounting the disputed nine-day reign of Lady Jane Grey in July 1553 – King Edward V reigned in 1483 for only seventy-eight days). Click here to read more about the Abdication Crisis in the British Forum. BBC News | UK | Abdication: The story so far... Wednesday, 1 March, 2000, 13:35 GMT Abdication: The story so far...

Edward abdicated in 1936 so he could marry a divorcee What was the abdication crisis? In January 1936 George V died and his son Edward VIII - the current Queen's uncle - acceded to the throne. "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love" Extract from Edward's abdication speech In November of that year Edward told the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, that he intended to marry Wallis Simpson. She was an American socialite who had been divorced from her second husband only a month previously. But marriage to her was constitutionally impossible. The Church of England, of which the monarch is the head, did not allow divorcees to remarry. There was no precedent for the monarch to marry a commoner. The cabinet made it clear they would not accept it. Yet there was no provision in the British constitution for an abdication, either.

In his abdication speech, Edward said the decision was "his alone" For about a month the elite furiously debated the issue, although according to the mores of the day the press was virtually silent and the public thus unaware of the crisis. Edward decided to go ahead with an abdication, which he did in December 1936. His brother, George VI - the current Queen's father - took over. Who was Sir Walter Monckton? Sir Walter, later Viscount Monckton, was Edward's lawyer and confidant throughout the crisis and in the years immediately afterward. Lord Monckton: Lawyer and confidant He drafted the Instrument of Abdication - the legal document which enabled Edward to stand down. He also acted as go-between between Edward and other major players, including George VI, the Queen Mother, the Queen and Winston Churchill. He gave his archive of documents of this time to his old college, Balliol at Oxford University, in 1950. They were given to the university's Bodleian library in 1974. Most of it was immediately open to the public, but 11 boxes were, in line with Public Record Office policy, restricted for 50 years.

Lord Monckton died in 1965. What happened after the abdication? Upon abdication, Edward and Mrs Simpson were created the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and went to France in voluntary exile. They married in June 1937 and had a whirlwind social life. The Queen Mother was furious that George VI had to become king But the country and the Royal Family was deeply divided by the scandal - the biggest weathered by the monarchy this century. It began a lengthy and bitter feud between Edward, and George and his wife, the current Queen Mother. Shortly afterwards, Lord Monckton broke the news that the new King would no longer take the Duke's telephone calls. The Queen Mother described the Duchess as the "lowest of the low", and reportedly blamed George's premature death in 1952 on the stresses of kingship. The Duchess was not recognised by Buckingham Palace until 1963, when she and Edward returned for a brief visit to Britain. The couple had no children. They both died in Paris - the Duke in 1972, and the Duchess in 1986. What did it have to do with Hitler?

Edward is widely believed to have sympathised with Nazi Germany - but the extent of his involvement with the regime is still hotly debated. The couple are greeted by Hitler in 1937 It is known that the Duke and Duchess met Hitler in Munich in 1937 (while ostensibly on a tour to study housing and social policies). It is also known that Edward sent Hitler at least one telegraph - on August 24, 1939, 10 days before the outbreak of WWII. In that he wrote of "my entirely personal, simple though very earnest appeal for your utmost influence towards a peaceful solution of the present problems". Hitler replied that it depended "upon England whether my wishes for the future development of Anglo-German relations materialises". There has also been speculation about the circumstances in which the couple left France after it fell to Germany in 1940. They lived in the Bahamas from 1940 to 1945, where Edward served as governor. Edward and Mrs Simpson on their wedding day How much did it matter? Opinions vary, though some argue that Edward could have committed treason.

Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burkes' Peerage, says the whole affair could have had a huge impact on British history. "An association between Great Britain and Nazi Germany would have been disastrous," he said. "I think Wallis saved the crown and to some extent saved Great Britain." Are there more papers to come? One box of the Monckton 11, which had been expected to be opened on Wednesday, was withdrawn until 2037. The couple visited Britain in 1963 It is thought that this may contain the most sensitive documents of all the correspondence, and in particular throw light on the Queen Mother's role in the crisis. Other papers relating to the crisis are closed in various archives until January 2017, others for even longer. The Royal Family remains deeply sensitive about the issue. The Queen Mother has never spoken publicly about it - and Prince Edward did not interview her for his recent television biography, "Edward on Edward". Buckingham Palace has made no comment on the Monckton archive.

Search BBC News Online BBC NEWS | UK | Edward VIII: Abdication timeline Wednesday, 29 January, 2003, 18:04 GMT Edward VIII: Abdication timeline The couple were together until Edward's death in 1972 When Edward, then Prince of Wales, first met American divorcee Wallis Simpson, she did not make much of an impression on him. But over the next few years he fell deeply in love with her, ultimately giving up the throne to marry her. BBC News Online takes a look at some of the key events leading up to his abdication. 10 January 1931: Edward meets Wallis Simpson at a house party. Mrs Simpson is married to her second husband, Ernest, after divorcing her first husband Earl Winfield Spencer. May 1931: Edward and Mrs Simpson meet for the second time Key dates 10 Jan 1931: Edward and Wallis first meet 20 Jan 1936: King George V dies.

Edward becomes King 27 Oct 1936: Wallis Simpson granted decree nisi 10 Dec 1936: Edward VIII signs Instrument of Abdication January 1932: Edward dines at the Simpsons' London flat, staying until 4am. At the end of the month, the Simpsons spend their first weekend at Edward's country retreat, Fort Belvedere in Berkshire. August 1934: Edward takes a party, including Wallis Simpson, on holiday to Biarritz, followed by a cruise along the Spanish and Portuguese coasts. Ernest Simpson is notably absent for the first time. November 1934: Wallis Simpson attends a party at Buckingham Palace in honour of the Duke of Kent. Edward introduces her to his mother, but the King, George V, is outraged and refuses to meet her. 20 January 1936: King George V dies and Edward succeeds him as King. May 1936: Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin meets Wallis Simpson for the first time at a dinner hosted by the King, although Ernest Simpson was also there and Baldwin did not realise the significance of her presence.

July 1936: Ernest Simpson, who had been conducting an affair of his own, moves out of the couple's home to his club. August 1936: Wallis Simpson joins the King and other guests for a cruise along the Yugoslav, Greek and Turkish coasts. Photographs of the King and Mrs Simpson together are widely published in the American and continental press, with much speculation about their relationship. Divorce October 1936: Wallis Simpson installed in house rented for her by the King in Regent's Park 20 October 1936: Stanley Baldwin confronts King for the first time over his relationship with Mrs Simpson. He asks him to conduct the affair more discreetly and persuade her to put off her impending divorce proceedings against her husband, to no avail. Stanley Baldwin played a key role in the abdication crisis 27 October 1936: The Simpsons' divorce case is heard at Ipswich Assizes and a decree nisi is granted. 16 November 1936: King sends for Baldwin. He tells him he wants to marry Mrs Simpson.

Baldwin says that whoever the King married would have to become Queen, and the British public would not accept Mrs Simpson as such. The King says he is prepared to abdicate if the government opposes his marriage. 25 November 1936: King meets Baldwin again, telling him he wants a morganatic marriage to Wallis Simpson, in which he could still be King but she would not be Queen, merely his consort. This would require new legislation in both Britain and the Dominions, and although Baldwin tells the King this would not be accepted, the King authorises the prime minister to raise the proposal. Broadcast 27 November 1936: Baldwin raises the issue of a morganatic marriage in the Cabinet, which rejects it outright. It is also then rejected by the governments of the Dominions. 2 December 1936: Baldwin tells the King none of his governments are willing to agree to a morganatic marriage, and that he now has three choices: to finish his relationship with Mrs Simpson, to marry against the advice of his ministers who would then resign, or to abdicate.

The couple married in France 3 December 1936: The story breaks in the British press, which is widely disapproving of the prospect of the couple's marriage. Wallis Simpson leaves for France, to escape the furore. The King tells Baldwin he wants to broadcast an appeal to the nation, putting his problem to them. He hopes this might sway public opinion in favour of him marrying and remaining King. Baldwin says such a broadcast would be constitutionally impossible. 9 December 1936: King informs government of irrevocable decision to abdicate. 10 December 1936: King signs Instrument of Abdication, drawn up by his close friend and adviser Sir Walter Monckton. Baldwin announces the news to the Commons.

King Edward VIII Wiretapped By Government During Abdication Crisis | The Huffington Post King Edward VIII Wiretapped By Government During Abdication Crisis 05/23/2013 09:17 am ET | Updated Jul 23, 2013 Agence France Presse Getty Images Britain's Edward VIII was secretly bugged shortly before his abdication as ministers worried about the potential impact of him standing down, documents newly released by the National Archives reveal. Home Secretary Sir John Simon made the decision that General Post Office (GPO) officials should listen in on the king's phone calls as the crisis over Edward's relationship with American divorcee Wallis Simpson came to a head in December 1936, the papers show. Previously secret Cabinet Office records show that the Home Office issued the instruction to monitor calls from Buckingham Palace or Edward's home in Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park to France, where Simpson was staying with friends. The previous month the new king, who had yet to be crowned formally, had informed Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin that he intended to marry Simpson, provoking a constitutional crisis.

Baldwin felt the marriage could not be allowed if Edward was to remain on the throne, as at that time the Church of England refused to remarry divorcees while their former spouse was still living. Documents at the Kew-based National Archives contain a note from the Home Office to the head of the GPO dated December 5, 1936 and marked "Most Secret". "The Home Secretary asks me to confirm the information conveyed to you orally, with his authority by, by Sir Horace Wilson that you will arrange for the interception of telephone communications between Fort Belvedere and Buckingham Palace on the one hand and the Continent of Europe on the other," it said. Edward signed the abdication papers five days later after reigning for 326 days. Another newly-released document is a government instruction to the postmaster general to stop two telegrams on December 6 which were being sent to newspapers in South Africa,"both of which contain statements that the King has abdicated." Home Secretary Simon summoned the journalist who sent them four days before Edward actually did abdicate, Neil Forbes of the Cape Times, for a dressing down.

Simon told Forbes there was "no truth" in his report and said that if the news had reached South Africa and then been telegraphed back to Britain, the reactions might have been "of a most serious character". "I reminded him that in 1815 a false rumour that we had lost the Battle of Waterloo produced a financial crisis and ruined many people," the home secretary wrote. Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved. Related on HuffPost: Edward VIII abdicates - Dec 11, 1936 - HISTORY.com Edward VIII abdicates Publisher A+E Networks After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. He chose to abdicate after the British government, public, and the Church of England condemned his decision to marry the American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson.

On the evening of December 11, he gave a radio address in which he explained, “I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.” On December 12, his younger brother, the duke of York, was proclaimed King George VI. Edward, born in 1894, was the eldest son of King George V, who became the British sovereign in 1910. Still unmarried as he approached his 40th birthday, he socialized with the fashionable London society of the day. By 1934, he had fallen deeply in love with American socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson, who was married to Ernest Simpson, an English-American businessman who lived with Mrs. Simpson near London. Wallis, who was born in Pennsylvania, had previously married and divorced a U.S. Navy pilot. The royal family disapproved of Edward’s married mistress, but by 1936 the prince was intent on marrying Mrs. Simpson.

Before he could discuss this intention with his father, George V died, in January 1936, and Edward was proclaimed king. The new king proved popular with his subjects, and his coronation was scheduled for May 1937. His affair with Mrs. Simpson was reported in American and continental European newspapers, but due to a gentlemen’s agreement between the British press and the government, the affair was kept out of British newspapers. On October 27, 1936, Mrs. Simpson obtained a preliminary decree of divorce, presumably with the intent of marrying the king, which precipitated a major scandal. To the Church of England and most British politicians, an American woman twice divorced was unacceptable as a prospective British queen. Winston Churchill, then a Conservative backbencher, was the only notable politician to support Edward. Despite the seemingly united front against him, Edward could not be dissuaded. He proposed a morganatic marriage, in which Wallis would be granted no rights of rank or property, but on December 2, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin rejected the suggestion as impractical. The next day, the scandal broke on the front pages of British newspapers and was discussed openly in Parliament.

With no resolution possible, the king renounced the throne on December 10. The next day, Parliament approved the abdication instrument, and Edward VIII’s reign came to an end. The new king, George VI, made his older brother the duke of Windsor. On June 3, 1937, the duke of Windsor and Wallis Warfield married at the Château de Cande in France’s Loire Valley. For the next two years, the duke and duchess lived primarily in France but visited other European countries, including Germany, where the duke was honored by Nazi officials in October 1937 and met with Adolf Hitler. After the outbreak of World War II, the duke accepted a position as liaison officer with the French. In June 1940, France fell to the Nazis, and Edward and Wallis went to Spain. During this period, the Nazis concocted a scheme to kidnap Edward with the intention of returning him to the British throne as a puppet king. George VI, like his prime minister, Winston Churchill, was adamantly opposed to any peace with Nazi Germany.

Unaware of the Nazi kidnapping plot but conscious of Edward’s pre-war Nazi sympathies, Churchill hastily offered Edward the governorship of the Bahamas in the West Indies. The duke and duchess set sail from Lisbon on August 1, 1940, narrowly escaping a Nazi SS team sent to seize them. In 1945, the duke resigned his post, and the couple moved back to France. They lived mainly in Paris, and Edward made a few visits to England, such as to attend the funerals of King George VI in 1952 and his mother, Queen Mary, in 1953. It was not until 1967 that the duke and duchess were invited by the royal family to attend an official public ceremony, the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Queen Mary. Edward died in Paris in 1972 but was buried at Frogmore, on the grounds of Windsor Castle. In 1986, Wallis died and was buried at his side. Related Videos Edward VIII Edward VIII ▼ Primary Sources ▼ Edward VIII Edward Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born in Richmond, Surrey, on 23rd June, 1894.

Edward was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria and his father was George V , who became king of the United Kingdom in 1910. As the king's eldest son, Edward therefore became heir to the throne. His biographer, Colin Matthew , has pointed out: "The future king was given the forenames Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, the innovatory use of the four patron saints being intended to emphasize the representative character of the monarchy. Within the family he was always known as David.... David grew up in a middle-brow context—not deliberately hostile to culture, but also not sensitive to it. He was an intelligent child, with something of his father's prodigious memory and an innate, wide-ranging curiosity which his parents failed to harness. He was bullied by his nanny and, as the eldest child, was the first target of his father's often violently expressed wrath. He himself, in his later autobiographical volumes, stated that he felt unloved, and he never seems to have wished for children of his own." Prince Edward (as he was officially known) was early noted for charm and good looks. In 1907 he was sent to the naval college at Osborne.

His mother told the historian, Reginald Brett , that she found her son "very sensitive, and knowing much more of his prospects and responsibilities than she thought. He is treated, however, at Osborne precisely like any other boy, both by teachers and lads". However, Edward considered himself a victim of bullying during this period. In 1909 he progressed to the Royal Naval College on HMS Britannia at Dartmouth. On his sixteenth birthday he was created Prince of Wales and was invested at Caernarfon Castle on 13th July 1911. The following year he went to Magdalen College . Prince Edward was offered tutorials by Thomas Herbert Warren , president of Magdalen. Edward was a poor student. Warren later commented "bookish he will never be" and after two years of study it was decided he should be given a commission in the British Army . The outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Edward asked Lord Kitchener , Secretary of War, if he could serve in France. When Kitchener refused, Edward commented that it did not matter if he was killed as he had four brothers.

Kitchener replied that he was more concerned about the future king being captured by the German Army and then being used as a pawn in future peace negotiations. On the insistence of King George V , Edward was restricted to serving in staff appointments. This also proved dangerous as on one occasion, a German shell hit his car and killed the driver, just after the prince had left it to inspect the troops. The war created problems for the royal family because of its German background. Owing to strong anti-German feeling in Britain, it was decided to change the name of the family from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. To stress his support for the British, George V and his sons made several visits to the Western Front . After the war Edward continued to enjoy dangerous hobbies. He rode in steeplechases until he suffered a bad fall and his father forbade him to continue race-riding. His father also strongly disapproved of his son's decision to learn to fly. H has argued: "In the army the prince developed an enthusiasm for nightlife, nightclubs, and dancing, which the style of post-war London life encouraged. He soon became a leader of fashionable London society, a more eclectic body than before the war.

In this context, after several affairs, his liaison with Mrs Winifred (Freda) Dudley Ward (1894–1983) began in the spring of 1918. She was the wife, with two small daughters, of Lord Esher's grandson, William Dudley Ward (1877–1946), a Liberal MP and chamberlain of the royal household, from whom she separated." His relationship with Freda Dudley Ward caused considerable embarrasment to the royal family. Frances Donaldson , who knew the couple, claimed that Prince Edward "was madly, passionately, abjectly in love with her". George V kept his son busy by sending him on a series of royal tours. This included visits to Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, India, Australia and New Zealand. Edward drew large crowds and his obvious popularity made him increasingly vain. As one observer noted, he had "difficulty in understanding the symbolic nature of his position and tended to assume that the attention focused on him was a direct consequence of his own particular gifts." His father excluded Edward from discussions on political issues and instead urged him to find a wife and start a family.

Edward refused and instead preferred to have relationships with women that the king considered to be unsuitable. In 1931 Edward was having an affair with Lady Thelma Furness . On the 10th January, 1931, Furness invited Wallis Simpson and her husband, Ernest Simpson, to her country house at Melton Mowbray. Edward was fascinated by Wallis and it was not long before he was having an affair with her. Colin Matthew has pointed out: "By 1934 the prince had cast aside both Lady Furness and Freda Dudley Ward (the latter cut off without, apparently, any personal farewell). The prince saw Mrs Simpson as his natural companion in life, both sexually and intellectually.... A man accustomed to get his way, when he knew what it was that he wanted, the prince of Wales seems to have thought from 1934 onwards that matters would turn out as he wished. Though he appears from an early stage to have wanted Wallis as his queen, he made no effort to test or prepare the ground, even with those whose support would be vital.

Nor do those around him seem to have sounded him as to his intentions (and as his accession was clearly imminent they could not have been blamed if they had done so). Neither the prince's father nor mother seems to have raised with him either the affair or its likely result. Thus the prince of Wales's affair with Mrs Simpson, pursued with a passion evident to all who observed it, occurred in a political and constitutional limbo." Wallis Simpson left her husband and went to live in an apartment in Bryanston Court . Also living in the building was Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe . The two women soon became close friends. This was unfortunate for Simpson because of a tip off from French Intelligence, MI6 was intercepting Princess Stephanie's correspondence and tracking her movements in and out of the country since early in 1928. In December 1932 a number of European newspapers had carried allegations of espionage against Princess Stephanie. The French newspaper, La Liberté, claimed that she had been arrested as a spy while visiting Biarritz . It asked the question: "Is a sensational affair about to unfold?" Other newspapers took up the story and described her as a "political adventuress" and "the vamp of European politics".

These stories were probably the result of leaks from the French intelligence services. However, she had not been arrested. According to a 2005 declassified document, the British secret service circulated a government report stating that files had been found in the princess' flat in Paris showing she had been commissioned by the German authorities to persuade Lord Rothermere to campaign in his newspapers for the return to Germany of territory and colonies ceded in the end of the First World War . In November, 1933, Lord Rothermere gave Princess Stephanie the task of establishing personal contact with Adolf Hitler . Princess Stephanie later recalled: "Rothermere came from a family that had experienced the novel possibility of influencing international politics through newspapers and was determined to sound out Hitler." Stephanie went to Berlin and began a sexual relationship with Captain Fritz Wiedemann , Hitler's personal adjutant. Wiedemann reported back to Hitler that Stephanie was the mistress of Lord Rothermere. Hitler decided that she could be of future use to the government and gave Wiedemann 20,000 Reichsmarks as a maintenance allowance to ensure that she had her hotel, restaurant bills, telephone bills and taxi and travel fares paid.

Wiedemann was also allowed to buy her expensive clothes and gifts. The following month Wiedemann arranged for Princess Stephanie to have her first meeting with Hitler. According to Jim Wilson , the author of Nazi Princess: Hitler, Lord Rothermere and Princess Stephanie Von Hohenlohe (2011): "The Führer appears to have been highly impressed by her sophistication, her intelligence and her charms. At that first meeting she wore one of her most elegant outfits, calculating it would impress him. It seems to have done so, because Hitler greeted her with uncharacteristic warmth, kissing her on the hand. It was far from usual for Hitler to be so attentive to women, particularly women introduced to him for the first time. The princess was invited to take tea with him, and once seated beside him, according to her unpublished memoirs. Hitler scarcely took his piercing eyes off her." Edward's relationship with Simpson created a great deal of scandal. So also did his political views. In July 1933 Robert Vansittart , a diplomat, recounted in his diary that at a party where there was much discussion about the implications of Hitler's rise to power.

"The Prince of Wales was quite pro-Hitler and said it was no business of ours to interfere in Germany's internal affrairs either re- the Jews or anyone else, and added that dictators are very popular these days and we might want one in England." In 1934 he made comments suggesting he supported the British Union of Fascists . According to a Metropolitan Police Special Branch report he had met Oswald Mosley for the first time at the home of Lady Maud Cunard in January 1935. Philip Ziegler has argued: "The precise nature of Mrs Simpson's appeal to the prince of Wales could only be understood by him; probably he hardly understood it himself. It is sufficient to say that by early 1934 the prince had become slavishly dependent on her and was to remain so until he died. The courtiers at first thought that this was just another of his recurrent infatuations, but throughout 1935 they became increasingly alarmed as her role became more prominent and impinged on the performance of his duties." The government was also aware that Wallis Simpson was in fact involved in other sexual relationships.

This included a married car mechanic and salesman called Guy Trundle and Edward Fitzgerald, Duke of Leinster. More importantly, they had evidence that Wallis Simpson was having a relationship with Joachim von Ribbentrop , the German Ambassador to Britain. The FBI definitely believed this was the case and one report suggested that he had sent a bouquet of seventeen red roses to Princess Stephanie's flat in Bryanston Court because each bloom represented an occasion they had slept together. Chips Channon also believed the couple were having an affair. He recorded in his diary: "Much gossip about the Prince of Wales' alleged Nazi leanings; he is alleged to have been influenced by Emerald Cunard (who is rather eprise with Herr Ribbentrop) through Wallis Simpson." MI5 were also concerned by Simpson's relationship with Ribbentrop and was now keeping her under surveillance. Collin Brooks noted in his diary: "The suggestion has been made in many quarters that he could, if he wished, make himself the Dictator of the Empire." Paul Foot has argued: "The Prince was proud of his German origins, spoke German fluently, and felt an emotional, racial and intellectual solidarity with the Nazi leaders...

Such sympathies were of course common, at least for a while, in London society, but when others began to waver, the Prince of Wales remained steadfast. He asked the Germans to fix up a special dinner for him at the German Embassy, as a special mark of his solidarity with their government. The Germans, on instructions from Berlin, invited Mrs Simpson, who was then his paramour." Robert Bruce-Lockhart has reported the conversation that took place between Prince of Wales and the grandson of the former Kaiser, Prince Louis-Ferdinand : "The Prince of Wales was quite pro-Hitler and said it was no business of ours to interfere in Germany’s internal affairs either re Jews or anything else, and added that the dictators are very popular these days, and that we might want one in England before long." George V died on 20th January, 1936. Edward now became king and his relationship with Wallis Simpson was now being reported in the foreign press. The government instructed the British press not to refer to the relationship. Wallis divorced Ernest Simpson in 1936. He told his friends that he believed the new king wished to marry his wife.

The prime minister, Stanley Baldwin , urged the king to consider the constitutional problems of marrying a divorced woman. Although the king received the political support from Winston Churchill and Lord Beaverbrook , he was aware that his decision to marry Wallis Simpson would be unpopular with the British public. Cosmo Gordon Lang , the Archbishop of Canterbury also made it clear he was strongly opposed to the king's relationship. Ribbentrop described him as "a kind of English national socialist". King Edward VIII did receive support from Oswald Mosley . He attacked those criticised his relationship with Mrs. Simpson: "He who insults the British Crown thus insults the history and achievements of the British race... The King has been loyal and true to him." Mosley went on to state that the king deserved, after many years' faithful service as Prince of Wales, the right to live in private happiness with the woman he loved." Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe then became involved in the controversy.

According to Jim Wilson , the author of Nazi Princess: Hitler, Lord Rothermere and Princess Stephanie Von Hohenlohe (2011): "Princess Stephanie, still seeking to fulfil Hitler's wish, was the person who originally floated the concept of a morganatic marriage as a solution to the king's dilemma. She, like the diplomats in the German Embassy, was desperate to find a means of keeping Edward and Wallis in power in Buckingham Palace. The device of a morganatic marriage, she explained, would have allowed Edward to marry Mrs Simpson, but on the condition that she would merely be his consort and would not take the title Queen of England. It was very much in Hitler's interests that a way should be found out of the constitutional maze which threatened to force Edward off the throne." Robert Vansittart , Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, had received information that Wallis Simpson was passing information to the German government, and conveyed his fears to Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin . A FBI report at the time stated: "Certain would-be state secrets were passed on to Edward, and when it was found that Ribbentrop...

actually received the same information, immediately Baldwin was forced to accept that the leakage had been located." Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden decided to restrict information shown to the King. The authors of Baldwin (1969) have pointed out: "Mrs. Simpson... was under close scrutiny by Sir Robert Vansittart and both she and the King would not have been pleased to realise that the Security Services were keeping a watching brief on her and some of her friends. The Red boxes sent down to Fort Belvedere were carefully screened by the Foreign Office to ensure that nothing highly secret should go astray. Behind the public facade, behind the King's popularity, the Government had awakened to a danger that had nothing to do with any question of marriage." Walter Monckton later explained: "Before October 1936 I had been on terms of close friendship with King Edward, and, though I had seldom met her save with the King, I had known Mrs Simpson for some considerable time and liked her well. I was well aware of the divorce proceedings which led to the decree nisi pronounced by Mr Justice Hawke at Ipswich in October. But I did not, before November 1936, think that marriage between the King and Mrs Simpson was contemplated.

The King told me that he had often wished to tell me, but refrained for my own sake lest I should be embarrassed. It would have been difficult for me since I always and honestly assumed in my conversations with him that such an idea (which was suggested in other quarters) was out of the question. Mrs Simpson had told me in the summer that she did not want to miss her chance of being free now that she had the chance, and the King constantly said how much he resented the fact that Mrs Simpson's friendship with him brought so much publicity upon her and interfered with her prospects of securing her freedom. I was convinced that it was the King who was really the party anxious for the divorce, and I suspected that he felt some jealousy that there should be a husband in the background." The FBI continued to keep Wallis Simpson under surveillance and in one report to President Franklin D.

Roosevelt he stated: "It has been ascertained that for some time the British Government has known that the Duchess of Windsor was exceedingly pro-German in her sympathies and connections, and there is a strong reason to believe that this is the reason why she was considered so obnoxious to the British Government that they refused to permit Edward to marry her and maintain the throne... Both she and the Duke of Windsor have been repeatedly warned by representatives of the British Government that in the interest of the morale of the British people, they should be exceedingly circumspect in their dealings with the representatives of the German Government." Clement Attlee the leader of the Labour Party , was strongly opposed to Wallis Simpson becoming Queen. "As a Privy Councillor I attended the meeting in St. James's Palace of the Accession Council....I thought that King Edward looked very nervous and ill-at-ease. I remember Baldwin expressing to me his anxiety for the future and his doubts as to whether the new King would stay the course. I had met him on several occasions, when he had been most charming, and I was struck by his genuine solicitude for the unemployed... It was not until a late stage that I became aware of the position which had arisen with regard to Mrs.

Simpson. Then I went to Baldwin and asked him for information. Later, as the crisis developed, he invited me to tell him what I thought would be the Labour attitude to the various proposals which were being made, in particular that of a morganatic marriage. The talk was confidential, so that I could not consult the Party or even my intimate colleagues. I had to give him what, in my judgment, would be the reactions of the Party." On 20th October, 1936, Stanley Baldwin met King Edward VIII at the king's country house, Fort Belvedere . The King once again stated his intention to marry Wallis Simpson. Baldwin replied that if this happened he would be forced to resign as Prime Minister. Mrs Simpson's biographer, Philip Ziegler , has argued: Once Mrs Simpson realized that marriage to her would cost the king his throne, she tried to change his resolve. Anticipating much hostile publicity when the story broke in the United Kingdom, she retreated first to Fort Belvedere, and then to the south of France. From there, in a series of distraught telephone calls, she tried to persuade Edward not to abdicate, even if this meant giving her up.

She accomplished nothing; this was the only subject on which she was unable to dominate her future husband." In a debate on the constitutional crisis in the House of Commons , the Communist Party MP, William Gallacher , commented: "The King and Mrs Simpson do not live in a vacuum. Sinister processes are continually at work... The Prime Minister told us he was approached about a morganatic marriage... but he did not tell us who approached him.... It is obvious that forces were encouraging... what was going on...

I want to draw your attention to the fact that Mrs Simpson has a social set, and every member of the cabinet knows that the social set of Mrs Simpson is closely identified with a certain foreign government and the ambassador of that foreign government." On 10th December, 1936, the king signed a document that stated he he had renounced "the throne for myself and my descendants." The following day he made a radio broadcast where he told the nation that he had abdicated because he found he could not "discharge the duties of king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love." On the night of his abdication, 500 Blackshirts shouting support and giving the Fascist salute gathered outside Buckingham Palace chanting, "We Want Edward". The following day, Oswald Mosley demanded the question of the abdication be put to the British people in a referendum. The Daily Mirror reporting the abdication of King Edward VIII (10th December, 1936). A copy of this newspaper can be obtained from Historic Newspapers .

Unity Mitford , Hitler's friend and admirer who had just returned from Berlin , apparently said: "Hitler will be dreadfully upset about this. He wanted Edward to stay on the throne." In Nazi Germany , Hitler's express instructions, Joseph Goebbels ordered the media to make no mention of the constitutional crisis raging in Britain. Goebbels was also furious with the way that Edward had handled the matter. In his diary he wrote: "He (Edward) has made a complete fool of himself. What's more it was lacking in dignity and taste. It was not the way to do it. Especially if one is king." Edward moved to Austria and stayed with friends until Wallis Simpson obtained her divorce from her former husband. On 3rd June, 1937, the couple were married at the Château de Candé in France , owned by Charles Eugene Bedaux , a man suspected of being a Nazi agent (he committed suicide after being arrested by the FBI in 1944). The new king, his younger brother, George VI , granted him the title, the Duke of Windsor.

However, under pressure from the British government, the king refused to extend to the new duchess of Windsor the rank of "royal highness". While living in France the Duchess of Windsor employed Armand Gregoire as her lawyer. French Intelligence described him as "one the most dangerous of Nazi spies" and showed that he was working as a lawyer for Joachim von Ribbentrop and Otto Abetz . (After the war the French authorities put Gregoire on trial, accused him of collaboration with Nazi Germany, and he was sentenced to to hard labour for life.) Many senior officials became convinced that the Duke of Windsor saw himself as a potential leader of the fascist movement in Britain. In 1937 Sir Ronald Lindsay , British Ambassador to Washington, wrote: "The active supporters of the Duke of Windsor within England are those elements known to have inclinations towards Fascist dictatorships, and the recent tour of Germany by the Duke of Windsor and his ostentatious reception by Hitler and his regime can only be construed as a willingness on the part of the Duke of Windsor to lend himself to these tendencies." In October 1937 the couple decided to visit Nazi Germany .

The travel and all the costs of their stay in Germany were paid for from German government funds. Officially, the 12 day trip, was organized by Fritz Wiedemann and Rudolf Hess Later, Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe claimed that she played a major part in the planning and realisation of the visit. Martha Schad , the author of Hitler's Spy Princess (2004) has argued: "It was billed as a study trip to look at the country's social institutions. But behind this there was another agenda. After the humiliating treatment his wife had received from the British, the duke wanted to show her a country that would extend her a truly royal welcome. The men in power in Berlin expected that in the not too distant future the former king of England would return to the throne under their patronage." The couple were the official guests of Robert Ley , the head of the German Labour Front . They also met Joseph Goebbels , Joachim von Ribbentrop and Hermann Goering . Goebbels recorded in his diary that he found the Duke of Windsor was a "nice, friendly young man, clearly equipped with sound common sense" and became "really fond of him".

He added: "His wife is unassuming, but distinguished and elegant; though without any side, a real lady." On 22nd October, the Windsors visited Adolf Hitler in his mountain-top retreat, the Berghof . Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson meet Adolf Hitler in October 1937. The Duke of Windsor later recalled: "Hitler was then at the zenith of his power. His eyes were piercing and magnetic. I confess frankly that he took me in. I believed him when he said that he sought no war with England... I thought that the rest of us could by fence sitters while the Nazis and the Reds slogged it out." As the couple left the Berghof , Hitler gave them a formal Nazi salute, and the duke in turn extended his arm to salute the Führer." The New York Times reported: "The Duke's decision to see for himself the Third Reich's industries and social institutions, and his gestures and remarks during the last two weeks, have demonstrated adequately that the abdication did rob Germany of a firm friend if not indeed a devoted admirer on the British throne...

The Duke is reported to have become very critical of English politics as he sees them and is reported as declaring that the British Ministers of today and their possible successors are no match for the German and Italian dictators." By 1938 British intelligence was becoming very concerned about the activities of Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe . A report said: "She is frequently summoned by the Führer who appreciates her intelligence and good advice. She is perhaps the only woman who can exercise any influence on him." They also reported that she seemed to be "actively recruiting these British aristocrats in order to promote Nazi sympathies." (PROKV2/1696). According to MI5 the list of people she had been associating with over the last few years included the Duke of Windsor, Wallis Simpson , Prince George , Duke of Kent, Ethel Snowden , Philip Henry Kerr (Lord Lothian), Geoffrey Dawson , Hugh Grosvenor , 2nd Duke of Westminster, Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart , 7th Marquess of Londonderry, Ronald Nall-Cain , 2nd Baron Brocket, Lady Maud Cunard and Walter Rothschild , 2nd Baron Rothschild.

In August 1938 French intelligence, the Deuxième Bureau , told MI6 that it was almost certain that Princess Stephanie was an important German agent. When France was occupied by the German Army in 1940, Edward and his wife moved to Madrid. Winston Churchill was concerned that Edward would be captured by the Nazis and insisted that they move at once to Lisbon. When the former king initially refused, Churchill reminded him that if he disobeyed government instructions, as a senior British officer still under military authority, he would be subject to court martial. Joachim von Ribbentrop sent emissaries to Lisbon and promised to return Edward to the British throne when Germany had defeated and occupied Britain. At Buckingham Palace a senior courtier, Alec Hardinge , made a note on an intelligence report: "Germans expect assistance from Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Latter desiring at any price to become Queen. Germans have been negotiating with her since June 27th." While in Portugal the Federal Bureau of Investigation received information that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were being used by the Nazis to obtain secrets about the Allies. On 13th September 1940, an FBI officer sent a memo to J.

Edgar Hoover that: "An agent has established conclusively that the Duchess of Windsor has recently been in touch with Joachim von Ribbentrop and was maintaining constant contact and communication with him. Because of their high official position, the duchess was obtaining a variety of information concerning the British and French official activities that she was passing on to the Germans." Michael Bloch , the author of Operation Willi: The Plot to Kidnap the Duke of Windsor (1984) has suggested: "The Duke unwittingly encouraged Hitler's hopes and illusions concerning him in a remarkable degree; and his presence in Europe, while it lasted, appears to have had a tantalizing effect on Nazi policy. The consequences may possibly have been fateful. Throughout that July, Hitler hesitated to order the attack on Great Britain - Operation Sealion - thus giving the British a chance to regroup their forces and survive." The British government also discovered that Adolf Hitler planned to make Edward the puppet king of the United Kingdom if the Germans won the Second World War . When he heard the news, Winston Churchill , the British prime minister, arranged for the Duke of Windsor to leave Europe and become the governor of the Bahamas .

It has been argued by Philip Ziegler , the author of The Official Biography of King Edward VIII (1990): "There seems little doubt that he (Edward) did think Britain was likely to lose the war and that, in such a case, he believed he might have a role to play." However, Ziegler believes that he would have refused the throne under the Nazis , "the Duke's belief in the British meant he could not have allowed himself to rule by favour of the Germans over a sullen and resentful people". Philip Ziegler has argued: "The duchess hated their five years in Nassau and made no secret of her views to those close to her, but on the whole she performed the duties of governor's lady conscientiously and well. She entertained stylishly and went through the rituals of opening bazaars and inspecting hospitals with unexpected grace. Her happiest weeks, however, were spent on shopping expeditions in the United States, and she was much criticized for irresponsible extravagance at a time when Britain was under assault." Michael Bloch , the author of Secret File of the Duke of Windsor (1988) has argued that the Duke was naive.

He thought, Bloch suggests, that the Nazis were "rough but reasonable men". Charles Higham , the author of Wallis: Secret Lives of the Duchess of Windsor (1988), disagrees: "The repeated absurdity of journalists that the couple’s commitment to Fascism and a negotiated peace in World War Two was based upon a transcendent foolishness stood exposed the moment one entered a conversation with the Windsors. Whatever one might think of their views, those views were not entered into lightly or from a position of blind ignorance." In December 1940, the Duke of Windsor, gave Fulton Oursler an interview. This appeared in Liberty Magazine on 22nd March 1941. The Duke told Oursler that it would be tragic for the world if the Nazi dictator was overthrown; Hitler was the right man at the right time and the logical leader of the German people and called for a negotiated end to the war: "It cannot be another Versailles. Whatever the outcome a new order is going to come into the world... it will be buttressed by police power.

When the peace comes this time there is going to be a new order of social justice - don't make any mistake about that." Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary: "The Duke of Windsor has given an interview to a magazine in the USA in which he pretty frankly disclaims all chance of a British victory." According to Jim Wilson , the author of Nazi Princess: Hitler, Lord Rothermere and Princess Stefanie Von Hohenlohe (2011), the Duke of Windsor asked Oursler to take a message of President Franklin D. Roosevelt : "The American understood he was being asked to carry a message to the President, but he was unsure of the exact terms. As he was leaving the governor general's residence, the duke's aide-de-camp spelt it out. He instructed Oursler to tell the President that if he would make an offer for intervention for peace, before anyone in England could oppose it, the duke would instantly issue a statement supporting the move. It would start a revolution in England and, the duke hoped, lead to peace." Oursler passed on the message to Roosevelt but he would have nothing to do with his treacherous scheme.

Instead he instructed the FBI to send him any information they had on the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. J. Edgar Hoover sent one FBI report to Roosevelt, that was dated 13th September 1940: "An agent has established conclusively that the Duchess of Windsor has recently been in touch with Joachim von Ribbentrop and was maintaining constant contact and communication with him. Because of their high official position the Duchess was obtaining a variety of information concerning the British and French official activities that she was passing on to the Germans." In May 1941 Hoover sent a message to President Roosevelt in which he said information had arrived at his office suggesting that the Duke of Windsor had entered into an agreement to the effect that if Germany was victorious, Hermann Goering would seek to overthrow Adolf Hitler would install the Duke as King. Hoover claimed that this information came from Allen McIntosh , a close friend of the Duke of Windsor. Edward and Wallis remained in contact with Charles Eugene Bedaux until he was arrested in 1943 while in North Africa by the American authorities as a Nazi agent.

He was taken to Miami on a charge of treason but committed suicide while being interrogated by the FBI in February 1944. Duke and Duchess of Windsor After the war the Duke and Duchess of Windsor settled in France . His biographer, Colin Matthew has argued: "From the duke's point of view his life was lived at its fullest during his years with the duchess. The love which had drawn him into that relationship showed, on his side, no sign of diminution. Preoccupied with seeing that the duchess received adequate recognition of her status by those who met her - he insisted that guests refer to his wife as her royal highness - the duke consequently and somewhat ironically found himself the champion of status and its rights. Indeed his position depended on his status (and former status as king) being taken seriously by his coterie, and he never intended that abdication would lead to the ordinary life of a commoner. He abdicated from the throne, not from the royal family. Though he retained the charm and good looks of his youth they began to have a frozen quality, as the ageing Windsors contrasted in the photographs with Princess Elizabeth and her young family.

The modish social views of the 1920s turned to reactionary convention." According to Philip Ziegler "Their life became a dreary - though to the duchess, presumably, satisfying - merry-go-round that featured principally Antibes, Paris, New York, and Palm Beach. The duchess entertained lavishly and was counted among the best dressed and most fashionable figures in international society. Some of her friends were raffish, a few even vicious, but it was the sterility of her life that was most remarkable. Though her husband resumed a somewhat cool relationship with his mother and siblings, the duchess was never received by the royal family and remained fiercely hostile to them." Oswald Mosley and his wife took up residence in France, only a few miles from the Windsors' home and all four became close companions, dining together twice a week. As Charles Higham , the author of Mrs Simpson: Secret Lives of the Duchess of Windsor (1988): "They became very close to Sir Oswald and Lady Mosley, who lived at the Temple de la Gloire, only a few miles from the Mill... It was unwise for the Windsors to associate with the Mosleys at this particular juncture.

The Mosleys not only were persona non grata in London but were not to be received by British diplomatic representatives in Europe. One would have thought that, in the wake of all they had been through, the Windsors would have wished to associate only with those who were apolitical, or who by no stretch of the imagination could recall the disastrous commitment to a vanquished and deceased Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. Instead, they chose to enjoy a public friendship with the man most clearly associated with Nazism in the minds of thinking Britons." Diana Mosley later recalled: "The Windsors agreed with me, and the Duchess was certainly politically sophisticated and knew exactly what she was doing and saying, that World War I had been a total failure, that it was a disaster the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been broken up, that the Versailles Treaty was grossly unfair, and that Germany should never have been encircled in the i93os. If Hitler had been given a free hand to destroy Communism, and if he had been allowed to deport the Jews, if Britain and America had accepted them, there would have been no need for a holocaust. There was of course no room in Palestine for them.

Hitler felt the Jews behaved abominably in Germany after World War I, and all he wanted to do was be rid of them. And one mustn't forget that anti-Semitism was endemic everywhere in Central Europe: the Poles hated them, the Czechs hated them, everyone did. Of course, my husband and the Windsors and I felt that we could not exonerate Hitler for being impatient and provoking World War II. With two egos like Churchill and Hitler, there was little chance for peace in the world. But still, if the right people had been in power in England, particularly Lloyd George, there could have been a negotiated peace." It was claimed that she remain promiscuous and according to Jimmy Donahue , the grandson of the multimillionaire stores owner, Frank Winfield Woolworth , he had a four-year affair with her. According to Anna Sebba , the author of That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess Windsor (2011): "Much more shocking was Wallis's flirtation with the millionaire homosexual playboy Jimmy Donahue.

The Windsors first met the outrageous Donahue, heir to the Woolworth fortune, in 1947, and Wallis, always restless and often bored, was intrigued by his salacious conversation and often sordid actions. The Windsors and Donahue became a well-known threesome for a while, even though many in society were scandalized by their friendship with such a character. Wallis may have initially responded to Donahue out of jealousy, seeing a mutual attraction between the two men, and then deliberately set about making the Duke jealous in turn by embarking on some sort of a relationship with Donahue herself which excluded the Duke. Many concluded that she had acted out of boredom." The Duke of Windsor Dies at 77 The Duke of Windsor Dies at 77 By Reuters LONDON, Sunday, May 28--The Duke of Windsor, who gave up the British throne in 1936 to marry an American divorcee, died in his home near Paris early today, a Buckingham Palace spokesman announced here. The Duke was 77 years old.

A statement from Buckingham Place, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth, the Duke's niece said: "It is announced with deep regret that his Royal Highness, the Duke of Windsor, has died at his home in Paris at 2:25 A.M., Sunday, May 28, 1972. "A further announcement from the Palace will be made later about the funeral arrangements." The death announcement reached New York shortly after 1:10 A.M. Eastern daylight time. The Duke, who reigned for 10 months as King Edward VIII before abdicating, had been ill for some time. The Duke defied the British Establishment to marry Mrs. Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, a twice-divorced American. The couple lived in virtual self-exile from Britain since the abdication. Queen Elizabeth visited her ailing uncle at his Paris home during her state visit to France earlier this month. The Duke, who would have been 78 on June 23, was too ill to leave the first-floor sitting room of the house overlooking the Bois de Boulogne. The Duke underwent a hernia operation earlier this year. One of his personal physicians, Dr.

Arthur Antenucci, of the Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, flew to Paris to see him two days ago. In Paris, a spokesman for the Duke said: "He died peacefully." Asked what had been the cause of death, the spokesman--the Duke's longtime secretary, John Utter--said: "Just natural causes." Two weeks before the Queen, Prince Phillip and the Prince of Wales made their teatime call on the Duke and Duchess at their home near Longchamp Racecourse during the royal visit to France this month, the Duke was reported to be "in need of a long rest." After the 40-minute royal visit, the Duke was said to be in good spirits. Later the Duke's secretary said he was being treated at home for an illness, but its nature and his treatment were not disclosed. Abdicated in 1936 "But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love." With these words, delivered with sadness over the radio on Dec.

11, 1936, to his subjects in Britain, Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, became the first monarch in British history to voluntarily abdicate his throne, which he did 11 months after assuming it. A popular king, Edward VIII touched off a sensation at home and abroad with the announcement that he intended to leave the throne to marry Mrs. Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American who had been twice divorced. 'I Lay Down My Burden' Edward had been determined to marry Mrs. Simpson, although Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin had tried to dissuade him, on the ground that the King, as head of the Church of England, would be violating the church's doctrines against divorce. In the absence of legislation that would permit the marriage, King Edward chose to abdicate. He was succeeded by his brother, the Duke of York, who became King George VI. The new King made his predecessor the Duke of Windsor. "I now quit altogether public affairs, and I lay down my burden," Edward said in his broadcast the day after the act of abdication had been signed. Then, on Dec. 12, at 2 A.M., he left England. He married Mrs.

Simpson six months later in France. He remained in virtual exile from Britain ever since, estranged from the royal family until recently. It was not until 1965 that Queen Elizabeth II met the Duchess of Windsor at the bedside of the Duke while he was in London for eye operations. Two years later, the Duke and Duchess were formally received by the Queen at a memorial ceremony for Edward's mother, Queen Mary. Last May 18, Queen Elizabeth visited her ailing uncle at his Paris home. After the abdication, the Duke and Duchess attracted wide publicity as they traveled about. They often attended charity balls and other events in New York, where they stayed at the Waldorf- Astoria. The Duke performed some official duties in World War II, when he was appointed governor and commander in chief of the Bahamas. Called David at Home Much of the time in recent years was spent at their home in the Bois du Boulogne on the edge of Paris, where the Duke enjoyed gardening and occasionally received visitors, including Emperor Hirohito of Japan on his world tour last year.

Edward was born on June 23, 1894, in the 57th year of the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His mother was the former Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, later to be Queen Mary, and his father was the Duke of York, later to become King George V. He was christened Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David of the House of Saxe- Coburg-Gotha. In 1917, George V renounced the German name and proclaimed it the House of Windsor. Edward--whom the royal family referred to by his last given name, David--spent much of his childhood at Sandringham in Norfolk, in a household where his father insisted on stern discipline. "I have often thought," the Duke later wrote, "that my father liked children only in the abstract." Served in France In 1907, Edward entered the Royal Naval College at Osborne on the Isle of Wight, where the discipline was rigorous. With the death of his grandfather, Edward VII, in 1910, and the ascension of George V, Edward became heir apparent and was sent to Magdalen College at Oxford for a broader education.

Edward did not excel in academics, but he enjoyed college life, engaging in such extracurricular pursuits as dancing and playing the banjo. When World War I began, he was transferred to the Grenadier Guards. As a result of his own persistence he was eventually sent to France, where he served on the staff of the commander of the British Expeditionary Force. He was never permitted on the front lines for long, but was under fire several times. After the war, the Prince of Wales took a series of royal tours around the world that attracted great attention. He was accorded a particularly thunderous welcome in New York in 1919, and newspapers carried headlines stressing his eligibility as a bachelor. The Prince's genuine friendliness, which allowed him to mingle with people, combined with a somewhat shy, almost wistful manner, convinced those who saw him that he would be a popular king. In 1930 the Prince met Mrs. Ernest Simpson, wife of an American maritime broker. Mrs. Simpson's first marriage, to E. Winfield Spencer, had ended in divorce.

"In character," the Duke later wrote in his memoirs, "Wallis was, and still remains, complex and elusive, and from the first I looked upon her as the most independent woman I had ever met. This refreshing trait I was inclined to put down as one of the happier outcomes of the events of 1776." About the time that the Prince of Wales decided that he wanted to marry Mrs. Simpson, his father, George V, died, on Jan. 20, 1936. Two days later, Edward VIII was proclaimed King. In his 11 months on the throne, Edward made it clear through his personal style that his would be an unorthodox approach to the monarchy. But as it became clear that a marriage to Mrs. Simpson, who had received a preliminary divorce decree that October, could not be accommodated with his own position, Edward VIII decided to abdicate before his coronation. The marriage took place June 3, 1937, at the Chateau de Cande at Monts, near Tours, France. "I did not value the crown so lightly that I gave it away hastily," he later explained.

"I valued it so deeply that I surrendered it, rather than risk any impairment of its prestige."

Question: Who was Prime Minister of the UK at the time of the abdication of Edward VIII?
Answer: STANLEY BALDWIN