0:00:02 > 0:00:08A few hours ago, I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13When King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16he sparked a constitutional crisis.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20It wouldn't have surprised me if the monarchy had crumbled.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21It was a family crisis too,
0:00:21 > 0:00:26forcing his reluctant younger brother Bertie to become King.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29'Bertie wasn't brought up to be King.'
0:00:29 > 0:00:32But at the heart of it all was a bitter conflict
0:00:32 > 0:00:34between two strong and determined women...
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Behind that great abundance of charm,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41lies a shrewd, scheming and extremely ruthless woman.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44..Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47for whom the King gave up the throne...
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Nothing can change how I feel about you.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52What man ever gave up so much for one woman?
0:00:53 > 0:00:56He'd chosen the lowest of the low.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00..and Bertie's wife Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother...
0:01:00 > 0:01:01I'm not as nice as I look.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05..who blamed Wallis for the whole scandal.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Everybody has this idea
0:01:06 > 0:01:11that she was this sweet, frothy, eminently dismissible granny.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Well, she wasn't.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15It was a knife fight
0:01:15 > 0:01:19between two tough women who would not give an inch.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Ma'am.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24She was not fit to be the King's wife.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27It was a feud that would last a lifetime.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57After 30 years, a royal reunion, the man who was once King Edward VIII
0:01:57 > 0:01:59is welcomed back to Britain
0:01:59 > 0:02:01with the woman he gave up the throne to marry.
0:02:01 > 0:02:07In 1967, a royal ceremony is about to bring Elizabeth, the Queen Mother,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11and Wallis, the Duchess Of Windsor, together for the first time
0:02:11 > 0:02:13since the abdication crisis 30 years before.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16'From among their many journeys, this is particularly notable
0:02:16 > 0:02:19'for it's to attend a Royal Family ceremony.'
0:02:19 > 0:02:21I really don't want to see her today...
0:02:22 > 0:02:24..but Lillibet wanted her here.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28She said, "After all these years, Mummy, can't you bury the hatchet?"
0:02:28 > 0:02:32I suppose one must do what one must do.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33- TV:- 'It's the first such occasion
0:02:33 > 0:02:37'that the Duke and Duchess have attended since the abdication.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38'Michael Barratt, reporting...'
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Duty or not, Elizabeth is still bitter after all these years.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48That woman killed my husband.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Across London, her sister-in-law, Wallis,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00is not in a forgiving mood either.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03She blames Elizabeth for banishing her husband David,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06the former King Edward VIII, from his own country.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08He's very jittery about the ceremony today...
0:03:10 > 0:03:12..worried how she'll receive me,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14whether she'll do one of her giant snubs.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18Poor Cookie.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23I wonder what she's wearing.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Probably some kind of flouncy sofa cover.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Those who've written about the women, or knew them personally,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42agree their dislike for each other was more than just petty rivalry.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I think the central issue here is that we've got a quartet
0:03:46 > 0:03:50where the two men were weak and the two women were strong...
0:03:50 > 0:03:53- Very, very right!- ..and they continued a fight
0:03:53 > 0:03:56for the rest of their lives.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Well, I have to say I think there was a malicious element
0:04:00 > 0:04:02to Elizabeth's treatment of Wallis.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06I think it was vindictive, vicious,
0:04:06 > 0:04:11and she set out to destroy them as a couple.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Yes, you're absolutely right.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15She thought that her effect on David was appalling,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17she thought that her effect
0:04:17 > 0:04:20on the monarchy was helping to disintegrate it.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22So she had no time for Wallis
0:04:22 > 0:04:26and of course Wallis referred to her as the Scottish Cook or Cookie
0:04:26 > 0:04:30so there was a lot of bitchiness and rancour between the two women.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33And it became much more bitter
0:04:33 > 0:04:35and vitriolic over the years.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44It was during the big chill of 1933, at a skating party near Windsor,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46that American socialite Wallis Simpson
0:04:46 > 0:04:49and Elizabeth, the Duchess Of York, first met.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Hot toddies, strong enough to numb the piston rings!
0:04:55 > 0:04:56No, thank you.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01Wallis was married to her second husband, Ernest.
0:05:02 > 0:05:03Thank you.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08Elizabeth was wife to Bertie. David, his brother, was Prince Of Wales.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12He was with his married mistress, Thelma Furness.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Let's put out the remains of the Irish stew.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- Oh, that is a good idea.- Oh!- Mmm.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Such a bore Ernest isn't here.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Such a bore he's got a cold! He'd hate it anyway.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26He can't skate.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27He could hold a chair like me.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Oh, no. He was in the Coldstream Guards.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Come on, Wally, tell us, where did you learn to skate like that?
0:05:34 > 0:05:36So fast.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- I've always loved speed.- Because you're afraid you'd be left behind?
0:05:39 > 0:05:44So I can stay ahead of the pack... Your Highness.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47THEY CHUCKLE
0:05:48 > 0:05:51'I think there really was only one Mrs Simpson.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54'What you saw was pretty much what you got.'
0:05:54 > 0:05:56But I think there were several Queen Mothers.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58I mean, there were lots of different Queen...
0:05:58 > 0:05:59Yes, the Queen Mother was sweet
0:05:59 > 0:06:00and immensely lovable.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01Wallis Simpson, I don't think,
0:06:01 > 0:06:02was lovable at all...
0:06:02 > 0:06:04certainly not to me.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08But, er, but she was fun and she was a wisecracker.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13- The ball came whistling back over the net...- Yes.- ..and that was fun.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15If you found yourself sitting next to her at dinner,
0:06:15 > 0:06:16you had a good time.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I bet you did and I remember your mother, Lady Diana Cooper,
0:06:19 > 0:06:20she saying that people sharpened up
0:06:20 > 0:06:23when she came into the room, she brought the best out of people.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31An American woman of my generation was happy to take men on,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35while English women - oh, so tough as meat jerky in their own sphere -
0:06:35 > 0:06:37were still subservient.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41I didn't care who I was talking to, I'd say what I wanted.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45I used to say to David,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47"You're just a heartbreak to any woman,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49"because you could never marry her."
0:06:54 > 0:06:57'As an American, I think that the only thing you can say about her'
0:06:57 > 0:06:58is that she was like
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Scarlett O'Hara, and she was determined never to be poor again
0:07:02 > 0:07:06and she just kept trading up with husbands and she hit the jackpot.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Yes, the world absolutely adored the Prince Of Wales -
0:07:08 > 0:07:10thought he was charming and wonderful.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13- I mean, he had a certain sort of charisma, there was a...- Yes.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15There was a charm.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17I mean, in his youth, there was absolutely no question about it.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19He could absolutely bewitch people.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26David was the first royal matinee idol of the 20th century.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32He had enormous charm - women would keep his picture by their bedside.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37- He was a sexy guy, but what you saw was not what you got.- I agree.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Many of those closest to him despaired of how he'd be as a king.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47He didn't seem to have the seriousness, the aptitude,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49- the attitude to responsibility.- Yes.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53You know, often on tours abroad, he'd be terribly late
0:07:53 > 0:07:57because he was still in bed with some wife of a local official.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01- He was... He behaved very badly to women.- Yes.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04We know he had other flings and things, but, I mean,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07he didn't hesitate to just cast somebody aside when it suited him.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10He was already in love with Wallis when he was carrying on with Thelma.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Thelma was, of course, the person who led to Wallis,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- that was the thing.- Thelma lead... introduced him to Wallis.- Yes.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Then of course famously said,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19- "Look after the little man while I'm away."- "Look after the little man,"
0:08:19 > 0:08:22- which she looked after him very well.- Which she did. - Which she did - in spades.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28On her return from a trip to America,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Thelma sensed she too would soon be cast aside.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34I tell you he's changed.
0:08:34 > 0:08:35Baloney.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38You're imagining it.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42You don't imagine anything after four years.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46You're just off the boat - you've got to get used to each other again.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49Something's wrong.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52I know it.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56I gave up everything for him.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02I was the one who pushed for divorce, not Duke.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04You're wrong. You're all wrong.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07You're still the Princess Of Wales, kiddo.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22I think that Wallis was very clever in fishing for men,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24catching men and playing men...
0:09:26 > 0:09:30'..and David was relatively naive when it comes to that...'
0:09:30 > 0:09:31Naughty!
0:09:31 > 0:09:34'..even though he'd had his fair share of mistresses.'
0:09:34 > 0:09:35WALLIS CHUCKLES
0:09:39 > 0:09:43By the summer of 1934, David had dumped Thelma
0:09:43 > 0:09:46for the brash and still-married Wallis,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49much to the distaste of the straight-laced Elizabeth.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53'That woman was like one of his fads...'
0:09:54 > 0:10:00..knickerbockers or loud tweed or that modern triple-decker sandwich
0:10:00 > 0:10:01she introduced at Balmoral,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04which completely unnerved the kitchen staff.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09She was nothing more than an adventuress,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12part of the Ritz bar set along with Lady Ottoline Morrell...
0:10:14 > 0:10:16..or Lady Utterly Immoral as they called her,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19and that bunch would drop her like a brick
0:10:19 > 0:10:22when they realised they'd backed the wrong horse.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31'That was one of the reasons that people disliked Wallis
0:10:31 > 0:10:34'in the first place, all these things that she represented,'
0:10:34 > 0:10:38- the cocktail age and brittle high society...- Yes.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40..as opposed to the good old home values -
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Sunday lunch and a walk in the park,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and I don't think there's any real answer
0:10:45 > 0:10:48to the question of, "What did he see in her?" He fell in love with her.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50- Yes.- He thought she was Helen Of Troy.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52He thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55We all thought she had a face like an old boot.
0:10:55 > 0:10:56But that wasn't the point.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58- The point was that he loved her and no-one else.- Yes.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The point is that David liked married women.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06He liked married women partly because that was traditional
0:11:06 > 0:11:09for the aristocracy so that if the woman became pregnant,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12the child could then be passed off with the other man
0:11:12 > 0:11:14who would bring him up.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17The other reason for liking a married woman
0:11:17 > 0:11:20is because she understands how to do it.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24And there are many ways to please a man, and Wallis knew them.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28David was the open sesame to a new
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and glittering world that excited me as nothing ever before.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43He had an unmistakable aura of power and authority.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49It seemed unbelievable that I, Wallis Warfield of Baltimore,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51could be a part of his enchanted world.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56It was like being Wallis in Wonderland.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Wallis firmly believed Elizabeth -
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Cookie as she dismissively called her -
0:12:02 > 0:12:04was jealous of her fairy-tale romance.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09Cookie was sweet on David.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Naturally, he wasn't interested.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19What could a silly little girl like her offer him, a man of the world?
0:12:20 > 0:12:22She only married Bertie
0:12:22 > 0:12:25when she realised it wasn't going to wash with David.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30I turned Bertie down twice.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37I was wary of marrying him, nervous of my privacy taking second place.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39I didn't want to be in the limelight at all.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43I was very fond of his older brother.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48Well, that's no secret. Oh, David was tremendous fun.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50He used to have a great sense of humour.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56And he changed, once she...
0:13:00 > 0:13:02She was always going to hate me.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05I had the prize.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07She had second best.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13It's true she stopped his drinking and the bags under his eyes...
0:13:16 > 0:13:19..but who was left with the lines, then?
0:13:24 > 0:13:25'People will deny it,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27'but I think she was a little bit in love with David.'
0:13:27 > 0:13:29I had a friend called Rosemary Olivier,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32who remembers going to a ball at Wilton in 1921,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35seeing the Prince of Wales and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
0:13:35 > 0:13:37sitting out together laughing their heads off,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40and, "You could have supposed," she said, "that there was something was going on."
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Why didn't she marry David?
0:13:42 > 0:13:45She tried to marry David. David was not interested in her.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49He liked that slender, sleek and svelte-like Wallis.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55He didn't like them plump-like and old-fashioned like Elizabeth.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00No, I don't buy it. Nobody is that goody-goody.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05You know, David and I call her Cookie
0:14:05 > 0:14:08because she looks like a tubby Scottish cook.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12- AS ELIZABETH:- "Oh, it's been so lovely to see you,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16"but you really must excuse me, I'm dying to get this corset off'.
0:14:23 > 0:14:24Ma'am...
0:14:26 > 0:14:28..would you please join us?
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Such a killjoy, she had no sense of humour about her.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- She said I had, um... - SHE CLEARS HER THROAT
0:14:47 > 0:14:50- AS WALLIS:- "No sense of humour."
0:14:50 > 0:14:51Poppycock!
0:14:51 > 0:14:57A friend of mine sent me some wonderful face powder from America.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00It was called Duchess Of York Pink.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05You can imagine where I put it.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09I don't know anything about politics,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12but I do know a declaration of war.
0:15:12 > 0:15:13CANNON FIRES
0:15:13 > 0:15:14ORDERS ARE SHOUTED
0:15:19 > 0:15:21- NEWSREEL:- 'His Majesty King George V of England
0:15:21 > 0:15:23'has died at his Norfolk home.'
0:15:26 > 0:15:28On the death of his father, George V,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32David the playboy Prince Of Wales became King Edward VIII.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I said, "I'm very sorry."
0:15:39 > 0:15:42It was only as I hung up I realised he was now King.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47For Wallis, being mistress to the King
0:15:47 > 0:15:49meant things were going to change.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Not that I liked his father one jot.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57A man like that is all too familiar -
0:15:57 > 0:16:02we both grew up in the house of a foul-tempered bully.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06The King had one ambition for his children -
0:16:06 > 0:16:08that they should be frightened of him.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15'King George V was a brute.'
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Everybody agrees he was a brute,
0:16:17 > 0:16:22and I think this also goes back to why David also had issues.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27George V was so worried about how this irresponsible young man
0:16:27 > 0:16:29would actually measure up to being King.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32- There was an extraordinary prophecy, wasn't there...- Yes.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35- ..by George V... - Yes, well, you know the story.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38..simply saying that within a year of his succession he will be out?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40This boy will ruin himself in 12 months.
0:16:40 > 0:16:41- In 12 months.- Yes.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42FANFARE
0:16:46 > 0:16:47CANNON FIRES
0:16:48 > 0:16:54Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David...
0:16:54 > 0:16:55GUN SALUTE
0:16:56 > 0:16:59..is now Edward VIII.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00CHEERING
0:17:01 > 0:17:06The day after his father died, David was proclaimed King.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Shockingly, he broke royal protocol
0:17:09 > 0:17:12by joining his married mistress to watch the ceremony.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22From now on, it's all going to be different.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27No...it isn't.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Nothing can change how I feel about you.
0:17:35 > 0:17:36Nothing.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Elizabeth, like the late King,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48believed that Wallis was a corrupting influence on David.
0:17:48 > 0:17:49BELL RINGS
0:17:52 > 0:17:56The King considered her unsuitable as a friend,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00disreputable as a mistress
0:18:00 > 0:18:04and unthinkable as Queen of England.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06She had two husbands living.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09She had no idea about the British people or the British government.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11All she knew was how to get a man.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15They said, in her presence,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18David was like a rabbit in front of a ferret.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26'Now he's King, there's little left of Peter Pan.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30'He's become a prisoner of his heritage.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36'But I think he'll make a great King of a new era
0:18:36 > 0:18:39'and I believe the country thinks the same.'
0:18:40 > 0:18:43'David was modern and thrusting.'
0:18:43 > 0:18:50And his political aspirations, such as they were, were for change,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55modernity, improving the system, revamping the system.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59You know, he used to refer to his performances as kinging and princing
0:18:59 > 0:19:01and, you know, he thought that...
0:19:01 > 0:19:03He didn't take it seriously.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05No, I don't think it's that he didn't take it seriously.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10I think it's that he thought that there was another way to be royal.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12What we haven't said is that,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16actually, David was not over-burdened with intelligence.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20That actually David didn't like reading books or newspapers,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22so he wasn't very well-informed.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Now, that's a major disadvantage for somebody who's going to be King.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29There was something not quite right about him.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32- Well, I believe that that is my strong impression...- You know...
0:19:32 > 0:19:35- That is my strong impression. - He was not entirely normal.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38He didn't attend to his state papers - left them lying around.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40- He never bothered about his state papers.- He'd climb out of the window
0:19:40 > 0:19:43and go off and they wouldn't know where he was and all that stuff.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47He was the first modern sovereign who discontinued
0:19:47 > 0:19:50the practice of having a daily report from Parliament
0:19:50 > 0:19:52when Parliament was in session.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54You might say, being devil's advocate,
0:19:54 > 0:19:56that maybe he was trying to be a modern monarch
0:19:56 > 0:20:00and sweep away some of these boring anachronisms of the past.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04It's custom-designed by Buick -
0:20:04 > 0:20:08hydraulic brakes, coiled springs in the front.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12120 horsepower which will take you to 60mph in...
0:20:12 > 0:20:13What's wrong with a Daimler?
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Because it's a Daimler.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18It's the best of British.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20This is fast, it's modern,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22it's completely different to anything we produce here.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26He always has to have the latest thing.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27Hmm, knickerbockers.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30- It doesn't mean it's better, it's just different.- Get in!
0:20:30 > 0:20:33- What?- Get in!- Oh, David.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35We're going for a spin.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36Yes, yes, all right!
0:20:36 > 0:20:39It's the only way to convince you.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41He'll never be the same again.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53If we're looking at the essential differences between these two women,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57being modern, cutting-edge, sharp and fashionable
0:20:57 > 0:21:00was everything that mattered to Wallis.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03I think another thing is that Wallis was far more superficial
0:21:03 > 0:21:06- a personality than Elizabeth. - Brittle.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Elizabeth cloaked herself in old-fashioned virtue.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12I think you're a bit unfair on Elizabeth
0:21:12 > 0:21:15because I think what's important is that her character was formed
0:21:15 > 0:21:18in the crucible of the First World War,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22so she grew up with duty and responsibility and service.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24So, we have different values emerging, then, don't we?
0:21:24 > 0:21:27We've got sacrifice and duty for Elizabeth,
0:21:27 > 0:21:32we've got self-interest, self-absorption for Wallis.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Beneath the veneer of politeness,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Elizabeth felt threatened by Wallis, who seemed to be encroaching
0:21:40 > 0:21:43upon everything that she and Bertie held dear.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49This was all a wilderness when we moved in. Bertie transformed it.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53It's so sweet you've done it yourselves,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55we found Norah invaluable.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58It's his passion. You see those trees?
0:22:00 > 0:22:03He landscaped them all to give a better sense of depth in the view.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06They both love gardening, don't they?
0:22:09 > 0:22:12I always carry in my mind the odd picture of David -
0:22:12 > 0:22:16a slight figure in plus fours, loping up the slope of a hill,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18swinging a billhook and whistling.
0:22:20 > 0:22:21That's when I fell for him.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26We've gone for a silver look at the Fort with birches.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27You must come and see.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35All right, all right, I do understand!
0:22:35 > 0:22:36I knew it.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Certainly useful for a shooting-brake,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41but it's still not the motorcar for me.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43Will I never get you out of Victoriana?!
0:22:43 > 0:22:44David...
0:22:46 > 0:22:48..do you see those trees over there?
0:22:50 > 0:22:51If you cut them down,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55and dug out part of that hill, it would really improve the view.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59It would open up the potential here.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06'I knew what that woman was up to.'
0:23:08 > 0:23:12She was trying to take over David and humiliate Bertie.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15The Royal Lodge was our house. We'd put everything into it.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23His own mother said, "At present, he's utterly infatuated,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27"but my great hope is that violent infatuations usually wear off."
0:23:28 > 0:23:31His mother was so afraid she might have to receive her.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38I thought David was a little mad.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42He seemed bewitched -
0:23:42 > 0:23:46a slave to her, it wasn't a case of normal love.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Elizabeth and leading members of the Establishment
0:23:52 > 0:23:56were mystified by Wallis's power over David.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Salacious rumours began to spread about her past.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06I mean, Romeo was a cold fish compared to Edward VIII.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10There was this long theory that he had these terrible sexual hang-ups
0:24:10 > 0:24:14and that Wallis taught him a few little tricks she'd learnt in China.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Wallis was surrounded by a sexual mythology.
0:24:17 > 0:24:18There was the China dossier,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22which said that she'd worked in brothels in Shanghai and Peking.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25There was the fact that von Ribbentrop,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27the German ambassador to Britain,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30was apparently seen giving her 17 carnations in bouquets,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34which showed the number of times they'd had sex together.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36I think that the point about the China dossier,
0:24:36 > 0:24:41why people believed in it, was possibly Prime Minister Baldwin
0:24:41 > 0:24:45wanted to find some reason why David couldn't marry Wallis,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47so they did all their digging
0:24:47 > 0:24:49and their homework and that's how the rumours...
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Yes, it was a smear campaign, it was a smear campaign.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Well, they thought they would find what was Wallis's sexual techniques,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00- you know, the Baltimore grip, the China clinch...- But, you know, I...
0:25:00 > 0:25:02- ..the Shanghai squeeze. - All of this is utter rubbish.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05But more than that, the point about this is
0:25:05 > 0:25:07- this is what the Establishment believed...- Not all...
0:25:07 > 0:25:09..and this is how they went forwards.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13So, they based their decision-making on the fact that they believed
0:25:13 > 0:25:17that Wallis was one step up from a prostitute,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19so they were seen as toxic.
0:25:19 > 0:25:20Not to be trusted.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26He may have been King and Emperor,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30but David would let nothing stand in the way of his passionate affair.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34In the summer of 1936, he abandoned his duties
0:25:34 > 0:25:37and went on an extended holiday with his married mistress.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43It was a great surprise to my parents
0:25:43 > 0:25:47that they were invited on this cruise,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51because the King thought that my father was the most likely member
0:25:51 > 0:25:55of the Cabinet to sympathise with him, which in fact my father didn't.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58I mean, it was typical of King Edward VIII in a way -
0:25:58 > 0:26:03being photographed with nothing on but a tiny pair of bathing shorts,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06you know, and swimming off the side and doing all these things.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09I mean, this man had become King of England only six months before...
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- And with everything else...- ..that he should go off with his mistress.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15- With everything else that was going on in the world...- Yeah.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17I mean, they were in the Mediterranean, you know,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20the Italians had taken Addis, Hitler was in the Rhineland,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24Spain was aflame with civil war and he was in the pond.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29I just don't think he grasped the sensibilities -
0:26:29 > 0:26:34intellectual and moral - of people who thought it was monstrous.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42Even Wallis, with her love of luxury and boundless ambition,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44realised the holiday had been a step too far.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49After the cruise, I went to Paris alone.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55I saw the American papers, full of the most lurid reports.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58I immediately wrote to David - to go on fighting the inevitable
0:26:58 > 0:27:02could only mean tragedy for him and catastrophe for me.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05We could only create disaster together.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11I honestly didn't believe we could ever make each other happy.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12It was over.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18He telephoned immediately. He said...
0:27:23 > 0:27:27..if I tried to leave him, he'd cut his throat.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31I had to come straight back to Balmoral.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40As they lounged in the Mediterranean,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44David and Wallis had delayed an important annual event -
0:27:44 > 0:27:47the traditional gathering of the Royal Family in Scotland.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52To make matters worse, David then asked his mistress to act as host.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57For Elizabeth, this was an affront to everything she stood for.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58Please excuse me.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03- Why, ma'am, how wonderful to see... - I'm here to dine with the King.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06David, so lovely to see you.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10So lovely to see you. You look beautiful, of course.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15'She had no idea of the bonds that constrain a constitutional monarch.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17'She utterly misunderstood what she was playing with.'
0:28:20 > 0:28:24'Elizabeth was very sweet and saccharine,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26'but there was arsenic in the marshmallow.'
0:28:28 > 0:28:29Everybody has this idea
0:28:29 > 0:28:32that she was this sweet, frothy,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35eminently dismissible granny.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Well, she wasn't. There was a whole heap more to her.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41- She was steely.- Very. - It was more that she had steel,
0:28:41 > 0:28:43because she needed to have that
0:28:43 > 0:28:44to help her husband.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46My understanding of the Queen Mother
0:28:46 > 0:28:49is that she wasn't by nature a hater,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52and people always said she hated the Duchess Of Windsor.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55She didn't. She was always very correct in her behaviour with her.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57She was rather keen not to know her.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00I'm sure she was very keen not to know her and I'm sure that,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04you know, that she had a way of sort of icing people out very quietly.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10Elizabeth was appalled at Wallis playing Queen at Balmoral -
0:29:10 > 0:29:14a still-married divorcee sleeping with the King
0:29:14 > 0:29:17in Queen Victoria's bed was sacrilege.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22- Ladies...- Ladies, shall we retire?
0:29:24 > 0:29:28For Elizabeth, Wallis's presence could no longer be tolerated.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38People in this country do not mind fornication
0:29:38 > 0:29:39but they loathe adultery.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43It would be better that I was a widow.
0:29:44 > 0:29:45I was not.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Even though Ernest and I had come to the end of our run...
0:29:51 > 0:29:53..the core of our marriage had dissolved,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56only a shell remained, a facade to show the outer world.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Wallis's divorce was imminent.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06David had already come to a gentleman's agreement with Ernest
0:30:06 > 0:30:08to set Wallis free so that he could marry her.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14The whole Mrs Simpson problem wasn't of course a problem at all
0:30:14 > 0:30:15while she was still Mrs Simpson,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17while she was still married to Ernest Simpson.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21The only time it became a problem was when divorce proceedings
0:30:21 > 0:30:23were instituted against Mr...
0:30:23 > 0:30:27Well, that he agreed to be the guilty party in the divorce case.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31I think that Ernest Simpson did what nice men did when their wives
0:30:31 > 0:30:33wanted a divorce - he went to a hotel with another woman
0:30:33 > 0:30:38making himself the guilty party and I don't believe he was trapped.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Really, I suppose, that was what, sort of September, October 1936?
0:30:41 > 0:30:43And then of course it became a private crisis.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45A crisis, which blew up very, very quickly.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47Very fast, yeah, absolutely.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54The government and Church Of England, like Elizabeth, were adamant
0:30:54 > 0:30:58that David should not marry the soon-to-be-twice-divorced Wallis.
0:30:59 > 0:31:00What is it?
0:31:00 > 0:31:04It was seen as constitutionally and morally indefensible.
0:31:05 > 0:31:06What?
0:31:16 > 0:31:18"The silence of the British press
0:31:18 > 0:31:22"on the subject of Your Majesty's friendship with Mrs Simpson
0:31:22 > 0:31:25"is not going to be maintained.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29"The effect will be calamitous.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33"There is only one step, which holds out any prospect of avoiding...
0:31:34 > 0:31:39"..this dangerous situation and that is for Mrs Simpson
0:31:39 > 0:31:41"to go away without further delay."
0:31:43 > 0:31:45- My God.- No.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50You'll do no such thing. I won't have it.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54This is impertinence.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56David, it's from Hardinge, your private secretary.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59He is trying to warn you that the British government
0:31:59 > 0:32:01will insist you give me up.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04I am fed up with all of England taking cracks at me
0:32:04 > 0:32:06and no decent society speaking to me.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10What have I done to deserve this?
0:32:10 > 0:32:11They can't stop me.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14On the throne or off...
0:32:15 > 0:32:18..I am going to marry you.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21- This is madness. You can't... - You can do whatever you want...
0:32:21 > 0:32:24- David, will you please listen... - ..you can go wherever you wish.
0:32:27 > 0:32:33I will always...always follow you.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38David immediately arranged for Wallis to flee to France,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41away from growing press and public anger.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45It was now clear to those close to the King
0:32:45 > 0:32:48that he was never going to give up Wallis...
0:32:51 > 0:32:53..even if it cost him his crown.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00I don't think he ever wanted to be King.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06He had this extraordinary charm... and then it all disappeared.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11Bertie wasn't brought up to be King.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15There was his stutter and lack of confidence...
0:33:16 > 0:33:19..and I didn't want Lilibet to be heir to the throne.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22I didn't want the children to move from their happy home.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28How can a woman be a whole empire to a man?
0:33:29 > 0:33:32I was desperate for him not to abdicate.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35It would put me in the wrong light to the entire world,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38because they'd say I could have prevented it.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41All I could do was remove myself from his life.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44I even put out a press statement saying I'd go.
0:33:44 > 0:33:45He wouldn't stand for it.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50It seemed almost incredible that David would contemplate such a step.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54You know, every day I prayed that he would see reason
0:33:54 > 0:33:55and not abandon his people.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00The only thing is...
0:34:01 > 0:34:03..he was quite happy with her.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09I, who sought no place in history, would now be assured of one -
0:34:09 > 0:34:12an appalling one, carved out of blind prejudice.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18I think certainly that our monarchy was closer
0:34:18 > 0:34:23to dissolution than at any time before or since.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25With the possible exception of Charles I.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30- Since 1649 anyway...- Yes. - ..but this was by far the worst.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32It wouldn't have surprised me, I think, if the monarchy
0:34:32 > 0:34:35had crumbled completely, and we'd become a republic.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42For David, the choice was now stark.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45To remain King and marry Wallis would bring down the government
0:34:45 > 0:34:49and throw the country and empire into constitutional chaos.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52There could be only one outcome.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59On December 11th, 1936, he broadcast his decision to the world.
0:35:00 > 0:35:08- RADIO:- 'A few hours ago, I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor...
0:35:09 > 0:35:12'..and now that I have been succeeded by my brother...
0:35:13 > 0:35:18'..my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him.'
0:35:20 > 0:35:27You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31'But you must believe me
0:35:31 > 0:35:35'when I tell you that I have found it impossible
0:35:35 > 0:35:39'to carry the heavy burden of responsibility'
0:35:39 > 0:35:46without the help and support of the woman I love.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54'And now...we all have a new King.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58'I wish him and you
0:35:58 > 0:36:01'happiness and prosperity
0:36:01 > 0:36:04- 'with all my heart.' - HE SOBS
0:36:07 > 0:36:08God bless you all!
0:36:10 > 0:36:12God save the King!
0:36:17 > 0:36:23He failed his family, he failed his country and he failed himself.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28His own mother said it was inconceivable to those
0:36:28 > 0:36:31who had made such sacrifices during the Great War,
0:36:31 > 0:36:36that he, as their King, refused a lesser sacrifice.
0:36:38 > 0:36:39SHE SIGHS
0:36:42 > 0:36:45If that woman was not fit to be Queen,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47she was not fit to be the King's wife.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51The Crown must be above all controversy.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56Now that David was no longer King, he needed to remove himself
0:36:56 > 0:37:00from the picture so that Bertie could establish himself.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03But he had lost the common touch...
0:37:05 > 0:37:07..and chosen the lowest of the low...
0:37:08 > 0:37:11..a thoroughly immoral woman.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17'I am sure that the Duchess Of York'
0:37:17 > 0:37:20viewed the abdication with absolute horror,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22because she saw the implications for her husband.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25He obviously thought, "My God, how can I ever be King,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29"cos I can't speak in public?" It didn't matter a bit.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32He had the strength of the Queen Mother behind him, which was great,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35I mean, she was the power behind the throne, very clever.
0:37:35 > 0:37:36She was the power behind the throne,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39but even she couldn't really make him a good speaker.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43I think the defining characteristic about Elizabeth was someone
0:37:43 > 0:37:47who was prepared to sacrifice herself
0:37:47 > 0:37:51ultimately on the altar of monarchy, in a way that Wallis Simpson
0:37:51 > 0:37:54was never really prepared to sacrifice herself for anything.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Yes, I think duty is terribly important
0:37:57 > 0:38:00and Christian duty as well, and Christian charity.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03Well, I actually think the danger with Elizabeth has been
0:38:03 > 0:38:06to glamorise her and sanctify her
0:38:06 > 0:38:11and use the abdication as the vehicle for sanctification.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15But Elizabeth was also a very competitive individual
0:38:15 > 0:38:17and Elizabeth also liked the limelight.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21MUSIC: Pomp And Circumstance by Elgar
0:38:21 > 0:38:23- NEWSREEL:- 'The glory of a British coronation.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26'Nowhere in the world is there anything half so wonderful.'
0:38:26 > 0:38:31On May 12th, 1937, Elizabeth was at her husband Bertie's side
0:38:31 > 0:38:33when he was crowned King George VI -
0:38:33 > 0:38:36the same date David's coronation had been planned for.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39- NEWSREEL:- 'Only once or twice in the life of each one of us
0:38:39 > 0:38:40'comes such a day as this.'
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Now with the new title of the Duke Of Windsor,
0:38:43 > 0:38:45David joined Wallis in France.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48'May 12th, 1937, will be one of the dates in English history
0:38:48 > 0:38:50'that the schoolchildren will learn about...'
0:38:50 > 0:38:53'The words of the service rolled over me like a wave.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56'Mental images of what might have been
0:38:56 > 0:38:59'and should have been were racing through my mind.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07'As a woman in love, I was prepared to go through rivers of woe,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11'seas of despair and oceans of agony for him.'
0:39:11 > 0:39:13'..when we know generations of Englishmen to come
0:39:13 > 0:39:15'will look back on this day.'
0:39:15 > 0:39:16CHEERING
0:39:25 > 0:39:28- AMERICAN NEWSREEL:- 'It was a romance that rocked the empire
0:39:28 > 0:39:29'but it thrilled the world.'
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Within three weeks of his brother becoming King,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36David married the woman he loved at a chateau in France
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and Wallis became the Duchess Of Windsor.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44So by the time David and Wallis finally get married,
0:39:44 > 0:39:45it's after the coronation.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48They do at least wait until then.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51And how many people turn up at the wedding? Seven.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59Of course we wouldn't go or send a royal chaplain to officiate.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03I mean, didn't he realise what he had done?
0:40:03 > 0:40:05He'd given up the throne!
0:40:06 > 0:40:08'The Royal Family made very clear'
0:40:08 > 0:40:12that anybody who went to David and Wallis's wedding were out.
0:40:12 > 0:40:13If they were clergymen, they were out,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15if they were aristocracy, they were out,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18if they were members of the Royal Family, definitely not.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23So there was an edict that basically ostracised anyone who dared
0:40:23 > 0:40:25to go to the so-called "wedding of the century".
0:40:25 > 0:40:29The wedding must have been another shock for the Duke Of Windsor
0:40:29 > 0:40:32because originally he thought that his family would all come out -
0:40:32 > 0:40:35his mother, he thought that he'd have his brothers as supporters
0:40:35 > 0:40:39and all these things, and none of that happened.
0:40:39 > 0:40:46Elizabeth went out of her way to ruin David and Wallis's wedding
0:40:46 > 0:40:52with a degree of vindictiveness that is really quite astonishing.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55Perhaps the biggest disappointment, at any rate to him, was the fact
0:40:55 > 0:40:59that they denied her the HRH title because she wasn't a Royal Highness.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02And this was, as the Duke Of Windsor said,
0:41:02 > 0:41:07"A fine wedding present dropped in their lap just before the wedding."
0:41:09 > 0:41:12David said that Cookie was an arch-intriguer,
0:41:12 > 0:41:16dedicated to making life hell for both of us.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Behind that great abundance of charm
0:41:20 > 0:41:23lies a shrewd, scheming and extremely ruthless woman.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30She and David blamed all the hoo-ha about the title on me,
0:41:30 > 0:41:33as if I could have any influence on such a matter.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37David was the one who utterly refused to come back to the country
0:41:37 > 0:41:40unless that woman was given the HRH.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46He rang Bertie and berated him and when Bertie said no,
0:41:46 > 0:41:47David burst into tears.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50For goodness' sake, I...
0:41:50 > 0:41:51we...
0:41:52 > 0:41:55..Bertie had already made her a Duchess!
0:42:00 > 0:42:03The morning after the wedding, I woke up...
0:42:05 > 0:42:07..and there was David standing beside the bed
0:42:07 > 0:42:10with his innocent smile, saying...
0:42:11 > 0:42:13.."And now what do we do?"
0:42:14 > 0:42:15Hmm.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23My heart sank.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33Here was someone whose every day had been arranged for him
0:42:33 > 0:42:37all of his life and now I was the one who was going to take the place
0:42:37 > 0:42:39of the entire British government
0:42:39 > 0:42:40trying to think up things for him to do.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47- NEWSREEL:- 'The Duke and Duchess of Windsor visit Germany.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49'There's a big crowd at the station to catch a glimpse
0:42:49 > 0:42:50'of his Royal Highness
0:42:50 > 0:42:53'and the Duchess on their arrival from Paris.'
0:42:53 > 0:42:56Shunned by his own family and nation,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00David grabbed the first hand of friendship he was offered.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05'He wanted to take Wallis somewhere where she'd feel she was a Queen,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08'where she'd be treated as if it was a state visit
0:43:08 > 0:43:12'because she didn't have HRH so nobody would curtsey to her.'
0:43:12 > 0:43:15I mean, how foolish and stupid but I think what that shows
0:43:15 > 0:43:17is how vulnerable they were
0:43:17 > 0:43:21because the British Establishment had withdrawn all useful sources
0:43:21 > 0:43:26of advice, so they go off to Germany and here are these pictures,
0:43:26 > 0:43:28which come back to haunt Wallis
0:43:28 > 0:43:31of her smiling and curtseying to Hitler.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35Now, in 1937 they should have known this was not a place
0:43:35 > 0:43:38where members of the British Royal Family should go.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44From the moment Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47he was fascinated with David.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50There was an ally that he could use, an ally that he could trust,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53someone who would mould British opinion.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56He saw him as a man who was modern, progressive,
0:43:56 > 0:43:58and in tune with National Socialist values.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04What a curse black sheep are in a family.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08Hmm.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12David's an odd creature that is exactly like Hitler in thinking
0:44:12 > 0:44:17that anybody who doesn't agree with him is automatically wrong.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22Oh, there's just time before the ceremony to take
0:44:22 > 0:44:24a trot around the garden with the boys.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30David said it was no business of ours to interfere
0:44:30 > 0:44:34in Germany's internal affairs regarding the Jews or anyone else.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38Everyone knows I like Jews. The rich ones!
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Besides, David said dictators are very popular these days
0:44:43 > 0:44:44and we might want one in England.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48CROWD ROARS
0:44:49 > 0:44:52Hitler gave one a feeling of great inner force.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55His eyes were truly extraordinary
0:44:55 > 0:44:57and I found myself confronted with a mask.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02He told David categorically, he sought no war with England.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15- NEWSREEL:- 'Poland, September 1939, the German foe begins
0:45:15 > 0:45:18'its ruthless march of conquest and sets the stage
0:45:18 > 0:45:19'for World War II.'
0:45:21 > 0:45:24When war broke out, David and Wallis were in France
0:45:24 > 0:45:27and they were seen as a threat to national security,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30so the government ordered them back to Britain.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36We were fighting a war on two fronts - the big one,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39and the little cold war with the family.
0:45:41 > 0:45:46Once France fell, they couldn't get us "home" quick enough.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50They were obsessed with David being used by Hitler.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Mind you, if David had stayed on the throne
0:45:54 > 0:45:57we wouldn't have had a war in the first place.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02'What were we going to do about Mrs S?'
0:46:05 > 0:46:10I sent her a message saying I was sorry, but I could not receive her.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14I thought it honest to make it quite clear, so she kept away.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16She hated this country.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20It's quite unsuitable for her to be here during wartime.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Besides, Bertie was still finding his feet.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29So, back they went to France, where we hoped they would remain.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35I think at last David realised there was no place for him here.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40More and more damning evidence is coming to light
0:46:40 > 0:46:43about David's wartime allegiances,
0:46:43 > 0:46:47proving Elizabeth was right to be suspicious of him and Wallis.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54When France was invaded in May 1940,
0:46:54 > 0:46:56Wallis and David made their way to fascist Spain.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00They were very vulnerable there, but they were very loquacious.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03They were talking about the need for Britain to be heavily bombed,
0:47:03 > 0:47:05they were indiscreet, they were defeatist
0:47:05 > 0:47:09and the government was horrified by this.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12They both said some dreadful things.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15I mean, David said he really thought that
0:47:15 > 0:47:18if the British were bombed, they'd make peace sooner.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21And Wallis said, "Well, after all I've been through,
0:47:21 > 0:47:25"it's not very much for them to suffer that,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27"I've suffered much more."
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Even Roosevelt, the President of America,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32believed that short-wave radios were transmitting information
0:47:32 > 0:47:35gleaned from Wallis and David back to the Nazis.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39So, that's the level of paranoia that was in the Establishment
0:47:39 > 0:47:41with regards to David and Wallis.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44He thought you could do business with Hitler, and, you know,
0:47:44 > 0:47:46your father resigned from the Cabinet over that quite properly.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Well, you know, I know that he loved the Germans
0:47:49 > 0:47:51and he loved speaking German, all that,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54but I... I think of him more as a fool than a traitor.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56I think he was really a fool,
0:47:56 > 0:48:00but I think he was very taken by everything about Nazi Germany.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02We all know, I mean, he was extremely sympathetic...
0:48:02 > 0:48:06If not violently pro-Nazi, then he was at least extremely sympathetic
0:48:06 > 0:48:09to them and they played him like a wonderful fish on the line
0:48:09 > 0:48:12all the time with little promises that when, you know,
0:48:12 > 0:48:13if they won he would be King,
0:48:13 > 0:48:17they'd get rid of George VI, but it takes us towards treachery.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20They were suspicious of him, they were suspicious of his wife,
0:48:20 > 0:48:24they thought that Wallis could possibly be feeding secrets
0:48:24 > 0:48:27to the Germans, some thought that she was still a Nazi spy.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31The government decided the solution was to dispatch David
0:48:31 > 0:48:34to a place where he could cause as little harm as possible.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38- NEWSREEL:- 'The royal couple faces a new life in a new land.'
0:48:38 > 0:48:40The Bahamas.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43I suppose, if you're going to be sidelined and there's a war on,
0:48:43 > 0:48:45there are less awful places to be sent than the Bahamas
0:48:45 > 0:48:48with all those palm trees and the nice climate and so forth.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Quite a number of people, as you know, headed off to the Bahamas.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54Quite a lot of sinister characters, to get away from the war,
0:48:54 > 0:48:55they used it as their base.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58They did, yes. I mean, it would have been vastly preferable
0:48:58 > 0:49:01to the Falklands, but at the same time, I mean, I think, you know,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04I mean, the Bahamas was lovely for a fortnight in February
0:49:04 > 0:49:07but to be there for two and a half years, open-ended,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10not knowing that it might not even be much longer than that,
0:49:10 > 0:49:12I think that's rather a different cup of tea, you know.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15No, and he expected to be Governor General of Canada
0:49:15 > 0:49:17- or Ambassador to Washington.- Yes.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20This is the basic stupidity of the man, he never understood
0:49:20 > 0:49:23- that he was never going to get sent to Washington, for example.- Mm-hm.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26Or that maybe he could get Wallis made Queen.
0:49:26 > 0:49:27The rest of us could see,
0:49:27 > 0:49:30- all of us could see...- Yes. - ..that it was out of the question.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33The Bahamas!
0:49:34 > 0:49:37We couldn't think of anywhere more ghastly.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40The whole place was a dump. It was sweltering hot.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44It was a double zero job in a moron's paradise.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54When I heard her reaction to the Bahamas posting,
0:49:54 > 0:49:58I knew Bertie was absolutely right.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02I don't mind admitting I was terrified
0:50:02 > 0:50:04when we started being bombed.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13The Blitz...
0:50:14 > 0:50:18..the destruction was so awful and the people too wonderful.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22They deserved a better world.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29It made me all the more determined to beat those unspeakable Huns.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35The King and Queen Elizabeth really did rise to the occasion
0:50:35 > 0:50:38during the war, I mean, they were real figureheads
0:50:38 > 0:50:41and they made a point of going to the bombed areas
0:50:41 > 0:50:45and the Queen Mother made these broadcasts to the nation
0:50:45 > 0:50:47and indeed even to the French.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50Oh, yes, the broadcast to the women of France
0:50:50 > 0:50:53is absolutely remarkable and beautiful.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56I cannot read it today without weeping.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58She says your sorrows are our sorrows
0:50:58 > 0:51:00and she concludes with saying,
0:51:00 > 0:51:05"I promise you that the women of Britain are ready for the sacrifices
0:51:05 > 0:51:09"you are making and we are no less determined," and I think it is
0:51:09 > 0:51:12one of the most brilliant political speeches of the 20th century.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Not for nothing did Hitler evidently describe her...
0:51:14 > 0:51:16As the most dangerous woman in Europe.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18..that she was the most dangerous woman in Europe.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23You could not have imagined or scripted a better wartime Queen
0:51:23 > 0:51:25than she truly was.
0:51:25 > 0:51:26GUNSHOT
0:51:27 > 0:51:29I'm not as nice as I look.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36'I would not be taken like the royals in Belgium and Luxemburg.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39'I would go down fighting.'
0:51:52 > 0:51:55It's a "bore war" - that's what I'm going to call it.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59- I'm glad they were bombed.- Darling!
0:51:59 > 0:52:01Well, you know, after what they did to me -
0:52:01 > 0:52:04a whole nation against one lone woman.
0:52:06 > 0:52:07Oh, careful.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11At least bombs are exciting.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15I promise you, once Hitler crushes the Americans
0:52:15 > 0:52:19and the whole bally mess is over, we'll go back.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22They may not want me as their King,
0:52:22 > 0:52:24but they'll damn well have me as their leader.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Wallis and David saw out the rest of the war in the obscurity
0:52:33 > 0:52:38of the Bahamas, before they returned as exiles to France in 1945.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50- WINSTON CHURCHILL:- 'Yesterday morning, at 2.41am,
0:52:50 > 0:52:54'the representative of the German High Command
0:52:54 > 0:52:58'signed the act of unconditional surrender
0:52:58 > 0:53:03'to the Allied Expeditionary Force.
0:53:03 > 0:53:09'Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight.'
0:53:12 > 0:53:15Elizabeth and Bertie won the hearts of the nation during the war
0:53:15 > 0:53:21and ruled for another seven years until his premature death in 1952.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27Clearly, the triumphal figure in this whole episode
0:53:27 > 0:53:28is the Queen Mother.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32She emerges covered in glory, reinvents the royal family.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36But of course she doesn't see herself as a total winner
0:53:36 > 0:53:40because she blames Wallis for these long years of widowhood,
0:53:40 > 0:53:43for the premature death of her husband from cancer,
0:53:43 > 0:53:48and the stress aggravating that, so she believed that actually
0:53:48 > 0:53:53she'd been denied the happy, quiet family life with her two daughters,
0:53:53 > 0:53:56which she maintained was all that she craved.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04The day before my darling Bertie died,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08he was so full of plans and ideas for the future -
0:54:08 > 0:54:14making gardens, planning vistas and re-hanging pictures at Windsor
0:54:14 > 0:54:17and other very English things, which he never had time for.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25He was such an angel to me and the girls.
0:54:28 > 0:54:36And I have no doubt that that woman was the root of his early death.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41They said I hated her. It's not true.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46You have to know someone to hate them.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51She never invited me to Bertie's funeral.
0:54:53 > 0:54:54David went.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58He said...
0:55:00 > 0:55:02..Cookie was as sugar as ever,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05but she and his mother were ice-veined bitches.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07Hmm!
0:55:09 > 0:55:12When we are dead, perhaps she may at least forgive us.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13KNOCK ON DOOR
0:55:18 > 0:55:21I have been pretty flattened out by the world in general,
0:55:21 > 0:55:26and I've certainly had my share of everything from the beginning...
0:55:29 > 0:55:31..used by politicians...
0:55:33 > 0:55:37..hated by jealous women, accused of everything.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40KNOCK ON DOOR
0:55:40 > 0:55:42Come in.
0:55:48 > 0:55:50Ready, darling?
0:55:51 > 0:55:56For years, Wallis has been blamed for causing the abdication crisis,
0:55:56 > 0:56:00but recent evidence suggests, however unintentionally,
0:56:00 > 0:56:04she may have saved Britain from a weak and treacherous King.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07The ultimate result of it is that we got George VI
0:56:07 > 0:56:11instead of Edward VIII, and for that we can only be grateful.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14My view is that the King saw a route of escape in Wallis
0:56:14 > 0:56:18even though I don't think he actually articulated that, but...
0:56:18 > 0:56:22But the crucial thing was that she had two living husbands
0:56:22 > 0:56:25and that was... that was the political solution
0:56:25 > 0:56:27- to the problem of Edward VIII. - I think that's right.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29- I think she saved the monarchy... - I think she did, too.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31I think she saved the country, she saved the Empire,
0:56:31 > 0:56:33she quite possibly saved the world.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36I think she should be on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.
0:56:36 > 0:56:37I think that that's right.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40And apparently Noel Coward always said there should be a statue
0:56:40 > 0:56:43of her on every village green in England because she saved us.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48- NEWSREEL:- 'The Duke and Duchess of Windsor
0:56:48 > 0:56:49'attend their first public engagement
0:56:49 > 0:56:52'in the presence of the Queen since the Duke's abdication.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55'This occasion somehow sets the seal on royal reconciliation...
0:56:58 > 0:57:01..the occasion, the unveiling of a plaque
0:57:01 > 0:57:03..to the Duke's mother, Queen Mary.'
0:57:04 > 0:57:08This was the chance at last to bury the hatchet
0:57:08 > 0:57:10and end a feud that had spanned 30 years.
0:57:12 > 0:57:13Hail.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17So lovely to see you again.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21It's nice to be here on Mother's big day.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24I'm so sorry we can't see you afterwards, maybe another time?
0:57:24 > 0:57:28- Yes...that would be super. - When?
0:57:46 > 0:57:49Do you know what the Duke Of Windsor's dying words were?
0:57:49 > 0:57:54"The waste, the waste, the waste of it all."