:00:00. > :00:00.opportunities to do that for more young people earlier on? Before the
:00:00. > :00:42.lines and divisions start hardening. Ladies and gentlemen,
:00:43. > :00:47.this is the fourth in a series of six lectures on British monarchs
:00:48. > :00:49.from Queen Victoria The only king to voluntarily
:00:50. > :01:06.abdicate from the Throne. And this abdication was the most
:01:07. > :01:09.serious crisis faced by the monarchy Because of it, 1936, the year
:01:10. > :01:13.when Edward came to the Throne, and the year when he abdicated,
:01:14. > :01:22.was the year of the three Kings. I think not since 1066 had we seen
:01:23. > :01:26.three Kings in one year. In a sense, the abdication
:01:27. > :01:29.was not a crisis. But a resolution of the crisis
:01:30. > :01:33.because the crisis was caused by the desire of Edward VIII
:01:34. > :01:36.to marry Mrs Simpson, At the time, it was thought
:01:37. > :01:41.that the abdication might In fact, it left it virtually
:01:42. > :01:51.unscathed, though I suspect it seems I think it is fair to say
:01:52. > :01:59.that the abdication continues A man called Tom Jones,
:02:00. > :02:08.who was deputy cabinet Secretary in the 1920s,
:02:09. > :02:11.and then in the 1930s very close to Stanley Baldwin,
:02:12. > :02:15.who was Prime Minister at the time of the abdication, Tom Jones wrote
:02:16. > :02:19.this in his diary at the time. He said, we invest our
:02:20. > :02:23.rulers with qualities We connive at the illusion,
:02:24. > :02:28.those of us who know better, because monarchy
:02:29. > :02:33.is an illusion that works. But I think there is a rather
:02:34. > :02:39.more prosaic reason, a constitutional reason,
:02:40. > :02:42.that we are interested in it, because the essence of monarchy
:02:43. > :02:44.is the succession to the Throne being automatic.
:02:45. > :02:50.And not a matter of choice. As soon as the sovereign treats
:02:51. > :02:53.the office is one that can be voluntarily renounced,
:02:54. > :02:55.automatic rule of succession Under monarchy, the great advantage
:02:56. > :03:05.for those who support it, succession is not a matter of choice
:03:06. > :03:08.but of duty so it's removed In a play written in the 19th
:03:09. > :03:15.century, it was said what suicide is to a man,
:03:16. > :03:18.abdication is to a king. 1936 is the only voluntary
:03:19. > :03:21.abdication in our history. It was said in 1689 that James II
:03:22. > :03:26.had abdicated but in fact he was forcibly deposed
:03:27. > :03:28.by Parliament and fled It is sometimes suggested today
:03:29. > :03:35.that the Queen should advocate to relieve herself of her heavy
:03:36. > :03:37.workload as sovereigns in But the Queen set on a Speech
:03:38. > :03:44.on her 21st birthday that she would devote her whole
:03:45. > :03:47.life, whether it be long or short, And during her silver jubilee
:03:48. > :03:59.in 1977, she reiterated the pledge, saying although it had been made
:04:00. > :04:02.in my salad days when I was green in judgment, I do not regret
:04:03. > :04:05.retract one word of it. I think it is very unlikely
:04:06. > :04:07.the Queen will abdicate. Another figure involved
:04:08. > :04:11.in the abdication of the 1930s was Lord Beaverbrook,
:04:12. > :04:13.who was a newspaper proprietor He was the Rupert
:04:14. > :04:23.Murdoch of his age. Unlike Murdoch, he was a friend
:04:24. > :04:26.of the monarchy, or at least He said abdication is
:04:27. > :04:31.a very grave course. While it may close one set
:04:32. > :04:34.of problems, it opens another. For instance, it is an object lesson
:04:35. > :04:39.in the quick disposal of a monarch who gets at cross purposes
:04:40. > :04:41.with the executive. The reign of Edward VIII
:04:42. > :04:44.lasted just 325 days. Just over ten months.
:04:45. > :04:51.Dominated by the abdication. He was already 41 when
:04:52. > :04:56.he came to the throne. Indeed, we know a lot more about him
:04:57. > :05:00.than we do about other monarchs. Because he is the only monarch
:05:01. > :05:02.to have written an autobiography, By which time he had
:05:03. > :05:06.become Duke of Windsor. The book is mainly devoted
:05:07. > :05:11.to the abdication but there is also a great deal of material on the role
:05:12. > :05:21.of the King and Prince of Wales. at the Royal Naval cottage
:05:22. > :05:28.in Osborne then in Dartmouth. Then eight terms at
:05:29. > :05:30.Maudlin College, Oxford. The head of the college
:05:31. > :05:35.in his report on him said, LAUGHTER I think not
:05:36. > :05:44.an unfair comment. In World War I, he joins
:05:45. > :05:47.the guards but was restricted, much to his dismay,
:05:48. > :05:48.to staff appointments. Unlike his brother, Albert,
:05:49. > :05:51.later George VI, who saw active He was not allowed to go
:05:52. > :05:55.to the front for fear that he might be kidnapped and held to ransom
:05:56. > :06:00.by the Germans. He said I feel such a swine,
:06:01. > :06:03.he said, having such a comfortable time out
:06:04. > :06:05.here while the Guards He was invested as Prince
:06:06. > :06:11.of Wales in 1911. As Prince of Wales, Edward, or David
:06:12. > :06:18.as he was called by his friends, proved an extraordinarily
:06:19. > :06:20.glamorous heir to the Throne with his blond hair,
:06:21. > :06:23.blue eyes and winning smile. Indeed, his favourite phrase
:06:24. > :06:31.was anything to please. He became really a figure
:06:32. > :06:33.at the centre of society. I think he was the first
:06:34. > :06:36.heir to the Throne on whom a song was written.
:06:37. > :06:40.In 1927. The song was, I have danced
:06:41. > :06:43.with a man who has danced with a girl, who has danced
:06:44. > :06:47.with the Prince of Wales. If the people have it ready in IT,
:06:48. > :06:56.we can hear the song. I have danced with a man who has
:06:57. > :07:09.danced with a girl, who has danced I think the only song ever written
:07:10. > :07:14.for an heir to the Throne, and certainly the only one that
:07:15. > :07:17.will be mentioned in these lectures. One must not dismiss the Prince
:07:18. > :07:20.of Wales as being purely glamour. He was the first heir to the Throne
:07:21. > :07:24.to find a role for himself. He particularly felt he was
:07:25. > :07:26.a spokesman for ex-service men. At the Mansion House in 1919,
:07:27. > :07:31.he said he wanted all ex-service men in every part of the Empire
:07:32. > :07:41.to remember me as an old comrade in to look on him
:07:42. > :07:43.as a comrade. He was the first to promote British
:07:44. > :07:51.goods in overseas markets. Lloyd George called him our
:07:52. > :07:53.greatest ambassador. In that connection, he helped to
:07:54. > :07:55.found the British Council in 1934. He made a tour of the Commonwealth,
:07:56. > :07:58.which was a great success. Even George V, his father,
:07:59. > :08:01.who was not overgenerous with praise, wrote to him,
:08:02. > :08:03.I offer you my warmest congratulations on the splendid
:08:04. > :08:05.success of your tour. Which is due in a great measure
:08:06. > :08:09.to your own personality. And the wonderful way
:08:10. > :08:11.you have played up, it At home, he seemed to show a concern
:08:12. > :08:19.for the underprivileged and was idolised by many
:08:20. > :08:21.of the general public. The wife of a Government minister
:08:22. > :08:24.said, visiting the slums, He knocked the door,
:08:25. > :08:31.when the women opened it, he said, I am the king,
:08:32. > :08:34.May I come in? He said that he and his brothers
:08:35. > :08:37.had picked up vermin When he became king,
:08:38. > :08:42.his Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, said of him, he has the secret
:08:43. > :08:51.of youth in the prime of age. He has a wider and more intimate
:08:52. > :08:53.knowledge of all classes and subjects than any
:08:54. > :08:57.of his predecessors. George V was a very traditional man,
:08:58. > :09:10.and one of Edward's biographers said, perhaps not unfairly,
:09:11. > :09:12.that George V had all the character for royalty
:09:13. > :09:15.but Edward VIII had all the talents. Edwards says in his memoirs,
:09:16. > :09:18.I had no desire to go down Edward the Innovator, that might
:09:19. > :09:22.have been more to the point. Yet I had no notion of tinkering
:09:23. > :09:25.with the rules of the monarchy, nor of upsetting the proud
:09:26. > :09:28.traditions of the court. In truth, all I ever had in mind
:09:29. > :09:33.was to throw open the windows and to let into venerable
:09:34. > :09:39.institutions some of the fresh air I had been accustomed
:09:40. > :09:42.to breathe as Prince of Wales. My modest ambition was to broaden
:09:43. > :09:45.the base of monarchy a little more to make it more responsive
:09:46. > :09:47.to the changed He opened the Royal Victorian order
:09:48. > :09:57.and other honours granted He tried unsuccessfully to get rid
:09:58. > :10:11.of the so-called royal declaration read by the sovereign at the opening
:10:12. > :10:14.of his first Parliament on Protestantism, which he thought
:10:15. > :10:16.was offensive to Roman Catholics. And they would no doubt
:10:17. > :10:19.have been other reforms He seemed a rather modern figure,
:10:20. > :10:23.in contrast to the somewhat stuffy And rather disturbing
:10:24. > :10:29.to traditionalists. For the council after
:10:30. > :10:31.the death of George V, He was the first
:10:32. > :10:35.monarch to use a plane. He emerged without a hat,
:10:36. > :10:38.very daring in those days. Instead of travelling the short
:10:39. > :10:41.distance from St James Palace to Buckingham Palace,
:10:42. > :10:45.in a chauffeur driven car, This disturbance to traditionalists
:10:46. > :10:51.is beautifully captured in a poem written by John Betjeman,
:10:52. > :10:54.later to be a poet laureate. It is a poem he wrote
:10:55. > :10:57.on the death of George V. Those who attended my lecture
:10:58. > :11:02.on George V will remember that his main hobbies went shooting
:11:03. > :11:05.birds and stamp collecting, and that he was very concerned,
:11:06. > :11:08.many would say obsessively concerned, with correct
:11:09. > :11:17.standards of dress. Spirit of well-shot Woodcock,
:11:18. > :11:21.Partridge, Snipe flutter In that red house, in a red mahogany
:11:22. > :11:31.bookcase, the stamp collection waits The big, blue eyes are shut
:11:32. > :11:43.which saw wrong clothing and favourite fields
:11:44. > :11:48.and covets from a horse. Old men in country Houses hear clock
:11:49. > :11:50.ticking over thick carpets Old men who never cheated,
:11:51. > :11:59.never doubted, communicated monthly. Sit and stare at the new suburb
:12:00. > :12:02.stretched beyond the runway. Where a young man lands
:12:03. > :12:09.hatless from the air. The establishment felt the new king
:12:10. > :12:15.did not know the rules. Edward VII had been dissolute,
:12:16. > :12:23.but he knew the rules. Edward VIII seemed to think
:12:24. > :12:26.he could divide his public from his private life
:12:27. > :12:28.was that he said to one of his advisers, they must
:12:29. > :12:31.take him as he was. A man different from his father
:12:32. > :12:33.and is determined to be himself. He would be available for public
:12:34. > :12:36.business and private But his private life
:12:37. > :12:39.was to be his own. As long as he performed his public
:12:40. > :12:42.duties, his private life, he said, For a member of the Royal
:12:43. > :12:47.family, the two overlap. subordinate some aspects
:12:48. > :12:51.of his public duties. In particular, his mother,
:12:52. > :12:57.Queen Mary, wife of George V, Shortly before the session, she told
:12:58. > :13:06.an adviser that she was concerned as to whether the prince had fully
:13:07. > :13:10.realised his responsibilities and how far he would have
:13:11. > :13:16.to alter his manner of living. Perhaps all would have worked out
:13:17. > :13:19.had he not met Mrs Wallis Simpson, The king always insisted,
:13:20. > :13:30.for reasons that will become clear I hope later on,
:13:31. > :13:33.that she had never been his mistress And he would sue anyone
:13:34. > :13:39.who suggested the opposite. Some time, perhaps in 1934 or '35,
:13:40. > :13:41.he formed a definite He later said he had hoped
:13:42. > :13:45.to discuss the matter with his father, George V,
:13:46. > :13:47.but the occasion never arose. It is sometimes said that,
:13:48. > :13:51.had the king lived longer, there would have been
:13:52. > :13:55.a discussion between them. But I think that's unlikely
:13:56. > :13:59.because the truth is that George V was so distant and authoritarian
:14:00. > :14:03.as a father, there was such a gap between these two men of different
:14:04. > :14:05.generations with very different views of the world, that a genuine
:14:06. > :14:08.discussion between the two But George V was aware
:14:09. > :14:11.of the attachment. Shortly before he died,
:14:12. > :14:18.he told a courtier very surely, He also said, after I am
:14:19. > :14:28.dead, the boy will ruin To understand the abdication,
:14:29. > :14:34.we have to understand Even if we don't sympathise
:14:35. > :14:42.with that atmosphere. We also have to understand
:14:43. > :14:44.the law of divorce, The monarchy in the 1930s was seen
:14:45. > :14:52.as even more important and essential to the emotional lives
:14:53. > :14:56.of the British than it is today. That was partly because of the rise
:14:57. > :14:59.of dictatorships on the continent. The British public became even more
:15:00. > :15:06.attached to the stability and moderation of the system
:15:07. > :15:08.of Government which made Britain appear a paradise compared
:15:09. > :15:11.to most of the continent, where democracy was
:15:12. > :15:14.a threatened species. That was true on the left
:15:15. > :15:20.as much as the right. On the death of George V, aptly,
:15:21. > :15:23.the opposition leader said in the House of Commons
:15:24. > :15:26.that the late King has been not only a Democrat but also a real social
:15:27. > :15:29.reformer who had recognised the claims of social justice,
:15:30. > :15:41.which was perhaps a bit Secondly it was an age of much
:15:42. > :15:47.greater deference than today. Little was known and rightly in my view,
:15:48. > :15:52.but little was known about the private lives of the members of the
:15:53. > :15:57.Royal family. The press. It wrong to expose such details and remarkably
:15:58. > :16:01.the British papers said nothing about Mrs Simpson until ten days
:16:02. > :16:04.before the application. American newspapers which reported the
:16:05. > :16:10.friendship were censored. One centred headline read QT Simpson
:16:11. > :16:17.cuts out bloodless British women in royal choice. The British press
:16:18. > :16:20.operated a voluntary censorship which is inconceivable today.
:16:21. > :16:25.Consequently the public were completely unaware of the friendship
:16:26. > :16:30.between the King and Mrs Simpson until shortly before the abdication
:16:31. > :16:36.by which time the key decisions had been made. We Londoners with our
:16:37. > :16:41.insatiable thirst for scandalous gossip tend to presume everyone knew
:16:42. > :16:44.all about Mrs Simpson and I was rather staggered on visiting
:16:45. > :16:48.Birmingham and Manchester a week prior to the crisis to find not a
:16:49. > :16:54.single soul I talked to had ever heard of her. But there was gossip
:16:55. > :16:58.in London and contemporary joke. Mrs Simpson is supposed to have got in a
:16:59. > :17:09.taxi and said Kings Cross and the taxi driver sorry, lady. LAUGHTER
:17:10. > :17:14.But even if the public had known it is doubtful if public influence
:17:15. > :17:17.could or would have been exerted. In the days before opinion polls
:17:18. > :17:21.politicians were eager to say the public opinion favoured one view or
:17:22. > :17:27.another but in general people were happy to let the politician make the
:17:28. > :17:31.key decisions. Now because of this deference people felt they had to
:17:32. > :17:34.see the King as a model human being and that was strengthened by the
:17:35. > :17:39.fact that Britain was a much more religious society then than today. I
:17:40. > :17:43.greater belief in the truth of Christianity and strong support for
:17:44. > :17:46.the Church of England which is the established church. Perhaps was an
:17:47. > :17:51.element of hypocrisy in it which was well picked up by Stanley Baldwin.
:17:52. > :17:56.He said the average working man likes to spend Sunday in bed reading
:17:57. > :18:00.the newspaper, if possible to the accompaniment of a pint of beer. But
:18:01. > :18:04.he says to himself all the time, well anyhow I am glad the King and
:18:05. > :18:09.queen are going to church even if I am not doing it myself this morning.
:18:10. > :18:13.The Royal family were expected to observe the rules and the new King
:18:14. > :18:18.was to arouse criticism by not attending church every Sunday. The
:18:19. > :18:21.monarch was expected to be a role model and the monarchy was
:18:22. > :18:25.particularly associated with concepts of duty and sacrifice. On
:18:26. > :18:31.the death of George V the Baldwins said on the radio that the doing of
:18:32. > :18:35.his duty was the guiding principle of his life. This notion of
:18:36. > :18:40.sacrifice was particularly powerful since the end of World War I which
:18:41. > :18:44.had seen so many lives sacrificed. One of the sermons for the
:18:45. > :18:49.coronation of Edward VIII which never actually occurred was to say
:18:50. > :18:55.that true royalty reveals itself in self-denying sacrifice. Queen Mary
:18:56. > :18:57.wrote to her son after the abdication, it seemed inconceivable
:18:58. > :19:05.to those who had made such sacrifices during the war that you
:19:06. > :19:08.as their king refused a lesser sacrifice. She said my feelings for
:19:09. > :19:17.you and your mother remain the same and I'll will be after all my life I
:19:18. > :19:23.have put my country before anything else and I simply cannot change now.
:19:24. > :19:26.So where is a romantic view that perhaps many hold today and many
:19:27. > :19:30.held abroad was that the King had given up the throne for love, in
:19:31. > :19:35.Britain the feeling was he had neglected his duty. When he came to
:19:36. > :19:39.the throne there could be no question of marrying Mrs Simpson
:19:40. > :19:44.because she was already married to Ernest Simpson, her second cousin.
:19:45. > :19:50.To marry the King she would have to divorce. Divorce in those days was
:19:51. > :19:55.not easy. It was granted only in cases of adultery. Interestingly Mrs
:19:56. > :19:59.Simpson's first divorce granted in America on grounds of cruelty, her
:20:00. > :20:03.first husband being a brutal alcoholic, this was not recognised
:20:04. > :20:07.by the church of England. This system where you could only get a
:20:08. > :20:12.divorce for adultery was defended by the mothers union which was 500,000
:20:13. > :20:16.strong at this time. The reason they gave was that it should not be made
:20:17. > :20:21.easier for men to ditch their wives for a younger model. But it led to a
:20:22. > :20:26.great deal of hypocrisy because the better off could always secure a
:20:27. > :20:29.divorce by paying, agencies arranged it. The husband would do the
:20:30. > :20:34.gentlemanly thing, approach the agency and pay a sum of money plus a
:20:35. > :20:38.deposit for the agency to procure a young woman to spend the night in a
:20:39. > :20:46.hotel with him quite innocently. If the man sought further services he
:20:47. > :20:49.forfeited his deposit. LAUGHTER The made with bed-and-breakfast and
:20:50. > :20:56.see the two together and the hotel register would be used as evidence
:20:57. > :20:59.of adultery. The law was intended to prevent divorce by consent which was
:21:00. > :21:03.seen as a threat to public morals, the well off could get round it. The
:21:04. > :21:08.less well-off had no such advantage and often had to stay in dreadful
:21:09. > :21:12.marriages, even violent ones because desertion or violent abuse was not
:21:13. > :21:17.grounds for divorce. There was a stigma for divorce at that time,
:21:18. > :21:22.only around 5000 per year and divorcees could not be remarried in
:21:23. > :21:27.church and so-called guilty parties were excluded from royal functions.
:21:28. > :21:31.Innocent parties were admitted from the late 1920s but do they were
:21:32. > :21:36.admitted there case was inspected and Queen Mary never came to terms
:21:37. > :21:39.with that. She was once asked to invite a divorcee to a royal
:21:40. > :21:45.function and told the person concerned was the innocent party.
:21:46. > :21:49.There is no innocent party in a divorce she replied. Before Mrs
:21:50. > :21:53.Simpson was first presented at court in 1931 she had to submit the
:21:54. > :21:59.records of her first divorce. Scottish nobleman sought admission
:22:00. > :22:04.to a royal function and told George V that his divorce had been purged
:22:05. > :22:07.by subsequent remarriage in church because the rules of the Scottish
:22:08. > :22:11.church were more liberal than those of the church of England. He was
:22:12. > :22:14.told that may well get you into the kingdom of heaven but it will not
:22:15. > :22:20.admit you to the Palace of Holyrood House. LAUGHTER
:22:21. > :22:26.Very oddly at that time amongst the upper classes adultery between
:22:27. > :22:31.married people as long as depression occurred and did not become public
:22:32. > :22:34.was more tolerated than divorce. Baldwin explicitly told the King
:22:35. > :22:39.that there would be no objection to Edward VIII making Mrs Simpson his
:22:40. > :22:44.mistress. He said to the King was it absolutely necessary he should marry
:22:45. > :22:47.horror. In their peculiar circumstances certain things are
:22:48. > :22:51.sometimes permitted to royalty which are not allowed to the ordinary man.
:22:52. > :22:56.To this he immediately replied there is no question of that, I am going
:22:57. > :23:00.to marry her. This is all quite different to modern times weather is
:23:01. > :23:05.less stigma over divorce but adultery is viewed more critically.
:23:06. > :23:09.I'll leave you to judge whether our models are better or worse than
:23:10. > :23:17.those of our grandparents but Edward VIII had to work in the age in which
:23:18. > :23:20.he lived. The legal position was that until Edward came to the throne
:23:21. > :23:26.his marriage like those of other members of the Royal family was
:23:27. > :23:30.regulated by the Royal marriages act of 1772 which meant the marriage had
:23:31. > :23:36.to be approved by the King who would do it on advice. Certainly the
:23:37. > :23:41.government would have advised against it. But once Edward came to
:23:42. > :23:46.the throne that was no longer the case, the King could legally marry
:23:47. > :23:52.anyone he liked except he could not through the act of settlement marry
:23:53. > :23:57.a Catholic. When Edward came to the throne, some ministers pressed the
:23:58. > :24:01.Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to intervene and ask the King to end
:24:02. > :24:05.the friendship. Perhaps even to offer official advice to do so. But
:24:06. > :24:11.Baldwin declined, and that was partly out of a natural inertia. He
:24:12. > :24:14.tended to presume that crises left alone would blow over. But partly
:24:15. > :24:18.out of an instinct that if the government appeared to dictate to
:24:19. > :24:24.the King Edward arouse a wave of sympathy for him and divide the
:24:25. > :24:27.country. But the position altered when in 1936 Mrs Simpson decided to
:24:28. > :24:32.initiate divorce proceedings against her husband because this opens the
:24:33. > :24:39.possibility she might marry the King. It was at this point Stanley
:24:40. > :24:43.Baldwin intervened. Less than seven weeks before the abdication on the
:24:44. > :24:47.20th of October 1936 he was persuaded to do so by the King 's
:24:48. > :24:53.private secretary who said the King must be warned so that he could not
:24:54. > :24:57.say afterwards he had not been told of the significance of the divorce.
:24:58. > :25:00.Only the Prime Minister could convince the King that the
:25:01. > :25:06.association with Mrs Simpson would raise a constitutional issue and not
:25:07. > :25:10.merely a private one. On the 20th of October 1936 Baldwin heard the first
:25:11. > :25:15.of eight meetings with the King and we have extremely detailed accounts
:25:16. > :25:19.of this meeting from Baldwin's speech in the Commons after the
:25:20. > :25:23.abdication and from the Kings own autobiography. The conversation I
:25:24. > :25:26.think is very revealing, not only on specific issue but about the
:25:27. > :25:28.conventions which govern the monarchy and the relationships
:25:29. > :25:36.between the monarch and the Prime Minister. Baldwin went to the King
:25:37. > :25:39.'s private home at Virginia water and the King said they met in the
:25:40. > :25:45.garden and they began by talking about gardening. He said Boldon 's
:25:46. > :25:49.attitude was friendly, casual discourse, he might have been a
:25:50. > :25:54.neighbour who had called to discuss a dispute over a boundary fence. But
:25:55. > :25:59.when they went inside Baldwin became rather nervous, as well he might be,
:26:00. > :26:03.and asked if he could have a whiskey and soda this is about ten in the
:26:04. > :26:09.morning. When he was going to pour a drink for the King the King gave him
:26:10. > :26:16.a rebuke seeing all know Mr Baldwin, I do not drink before 7pm. Baldwin
:26:17. > :26:21.began gingerly. He said you have all the advantages and man can have, you
:26:22. > :26:27.are young, you have before you the example of your father, your fond of
:26:28. > :26:31.your home and your house and you like children, you have only one
:26:32. > :26:37.disadvantage. You are not married and you should be. The King did not
:26:38. > :26:41.rise to debate, he said nothing. Baldwin continued, he said you may
:26:42. > :26:46.think me Victorian Sara, you may think my views of date, but I
:26:47. > :26:49.believe I know how to interpret the mind of my own people and I say that
:26:50. > :26:56.although it is true standards are lower since the war it only leads to
:26:57. > :26:59.people expecting a higher standard from their King. People expect more
:27:00. > :27:05.from their king than they did 100 years ago. The King said nothing,
:27:06. > :27:08.there was applause. Baldwin said people are talking about you and
:27:09. > :27:14.this American woman Mrs Simpson. Again the King said nothing. Baldwin
:27:15. > :27:18.used a phrase the King was fond of. I don't believe you can go on like
:27:19. > :27:23.this and get away with it. He said I think you know are people, they will
:27:24. > :27:27.tolerate a lot in private life but they will not stand for this kind of
:27:28. > :27:34.thing in the light of the public personage. And when they read in the
:27:35. > :27:38.courts of Mrs Simpson 's visit to Balmoral, the resented it. It may be
:27:39. > :27:45.asked how many people actually read about it. The King rather sadly then
:27:46. > :27:50.said I hope you will agree I have carried out my duties as King with
:27:51. > :27:54.dignity. Baldwin said I do agree but all the more as they know the duties
:27:55. > :27:57.of royalty are not much to your liking. The King said rather
:27:58. > :28:02.plaintively I know there is nothing kingly about me but I have tried to
:28:03. > :28:07.mix with the people and make them think I was one of them. Baldwin at
:28:08. > :28:12.last came to the point, can you not have this coming divorce put off?
:28:13. > :28:16.The King replied Mr Baldwin that is the lady 's private business. I have
:28:17. > :28:21.no right to interfere with the affairs of an individual. It would
:28:22. > :28:24.be wrong if I attempted to influence Mrs Simpson just because she is a
:28:25. > :28:33.friend of the King. Baldwin said later that is the only occasion on
:28:34. > :28:36.which the King was not straight with him because of course it was he who
:28:37. > :28:38.had praised Mrs Simpson to initiate divorce proceedings so he could
:28:39. > :28:43.marry her. Baldwin said sites might be taken and factions grow up in a
:28:44. > :28:48.matter where no faction ever to exist. He then referred to the value
:28:49. > :28:51.of the monarchy in holding the empire together and maintaining the
:28:52. > :28:55.moderation of the political system. He said the crowd was not only the
:28:56. > :29:02.last leg of empire that is left but the guarantee in this country as
:29:03. > :29:06.long as it exists against many evils that have affected and inflicted
:29:07. > :29:10.other countries. The conversation ended, they went out to the garden
:29:11. > :29:13.and Baldwin again commented on what a pleasant garden it was. The
:29:14. > :29:17.question of marriage was not mentioned. Baldwin then later told
:29:18. > :29:24.the governor general of Canada that at least the ice had been broken but
:29:25. > :29:28.the King lately commented that the only ice that had been broken was
:29:29. > :29:34.the eyes that melted any Prime Minister's whiskey and soda. A week
:29:35. > :29:44.after this Mrs Simpson was granted degree nice eye at Ipswich.
:29:45. > :29:50.He said he could understand why people were put in the tower in the
:29:51. > :29:56.old days and would put Mrs Simson there if you could. The abdication
:29:57. > :30:03.of the divorce would come in six-month time with the coronation
:30:04. > :30:08.due in May. It was the granting of a degree which precipitated the
:30:09. > :30:13.crisis. Under the law at that time, there were two obstacles to making
:30:14. > :30:18.the decree absolute. The first was, it would not be granted if it could
:30:19. > :30:24.be shown the petitioner had herself committed adultery. You had the odd
:30:25. > :30:27.situation, if both partners of the marriage had committed adultery, no
:30:28. > :30:31.divorce could be granted. This is why the King insisted that Mrs
:30:32. > :30:35.Simson was not his mistress. You may say a further
:30:36. > :30:37.element of hypocrisy. Second, the decree would not be
:30:38. > :30:40.granted if it could be shown the divorce was collusive or based
:30:41. > :30:42.on fake evidence. The Simpson divorce clearly
:30:43. > :30:44.was collusive and based on fake evidence, as nearly all divorce
:30:45. > :30:46.in those days were. But Ernest Simpson,
:30:47. > :30:49.having told his wife, being told by his wife
:30:50. > :30:57.that she wanted a divorce, agreed to spend the night quite
:30:58. > :31:00.innocently with a lady procured for the purpose at a hotel called,
:31:01. > :31:02.perhaps appropriate, In Berkshire which was frequently
:31:03. > :31:10.used for this purpose. There was a joke between
:31:11. > :31:13.the wars, Are you married LAUGHTER And Mr Simpson left
:31:14. > :31:18.at the hotel for the night and flat which he shared with Mrs Simpson,
:31:19. > :31:21.providing the basis for the divorce, and Mrs Simpson generously
:31:22. > :31:24.repaid her ex-husband's costs. Under the laws then,
:31:25. > :31:28.any private citizen could intervene to show cause why the decree should
:31:29. > :31:33.not be made absolute. An official called King's Proctor,
:31:34. > :31:36.who was then under a legal And when the archives were open
:31:37. > :31:43.a few years ago, it became apparent that the King's Proctor had received
:31:44. > :31:45.a number of complaints from For example, a solicitor's clerk
:31:46. > :31:54.wrote to say that the divorce was collusive and the petition had
:31:55. > :31:57.committed adultery with the King. The Proctor chose to ignore his
:31:58. > :32:00.legal duty to investigate. Baldwin, meanwhile, received
:32:01. > :32:08.a visit from the Leader of the Opposition,
:32:09. > :32:11.Atley, who told him ... While Labour people had no objection
:32:12. > :32:18.to an American becoming queen, I was certain they would not approve
:32:19. > :32:21.of Mrs Simson for this position. I found I had correctly gauged
:32:22. > :32:28.the party's attitude despite sympathy for the king,
:32:29. > :32:30.and the affection which his visits A typical Atley waspish comment,
:32:31. > :32:35.the party, with the exception of a few of the intelligentsia
:32:36. > :32:38.who can be trusted to take the wrong LAUGHTER He says, the party
:32:39. > :32:41.were in agreement with That was important because there
:32:42. > :32:47.was no alternative Government should The civil service was now preparing
:32:48. > :32:55.a draft submission to the King giving advice he should end
:32:56. > :33:00.the association with Mrs Simpson. Baldwin did not want to do that,
:33:01. > :33:04.not to want to put pressure on the King and decided instead
:33:05. > :33:06.to call on senior ministers At this point, the King's
:33:07. > :33:14.private Secretary, He was worried about the meeting
:33:15. > :33:19.of senior ministers and worried by what he was told by the editor
:33:20. > :33:22.of the Times. That the self-denial
:33:23. > :33:24.of the press could not be He wrote a letter to the King
:33:25. > :33:28.telling him about this meeting, which could result
:33:29. > :33:30.in the resignation of The only solution was for Mrs
:33:31. > :33:38.Simpson to go abroad immediately. The King did not reply
:33:39. > :33:40.to this letter, which he But in response asked
:33:41. > :33:44.Baldwin to meet him, The second meeting was held
:33:45. > :33:55.on the 16th of November. Baldwin made it clear the King
:33:56. > :33:59.could not marry Mrs Simpson The conversation began by the King
:34:00. > :34:03.saying, I understand that you and several members
:34:04. > :34:05.of the Cabinet have some fear of a constitutional crisis
:34:06. > :34:07.developing over my friendship Baldwin said, yes,
:34:08. > :34:11.sir, that is correct. Baldwin said, such
:34:12. > :34:13.a marriage would not be I said earlier, the King could,
:34:14. > :34:27.in statutory terms, marry whom he liked and was not bound
:34:28. > :34:29.by the Royal Marriages Act. The King said, in wishing
:34:30. > :34:37.to marry Mrs Simpson, he was only claiming the same
:34:38. > :34:40.freedom as his subjects enjoyed. Baldwin said, the King was not
:34:41. > :34:42.in the same position since his wife becomes Queen,
:34:43. > :34:45.so the choice must be suitable. And the Government,
:34:46. > :34:47.as representatives of the people, Furthermore, the King,
:34:48. > :34:49.by his Coronation oath, is defender of the faith and supreme
:34:50. > :34:52.Governor of the church of England. And at that time, the church
:34:53. > :34:55.would not marry a divorcee In theory, no doubt, the King
:34:56. > :35:01.could contract a civil marriage, but under these circumstances,
:35:02. > :35:03.the Archbishop of Canterbury might refuse to crown him
:35:04. > :35:05.because the coronation So the King was limited
:35:06. > :35:13.in his choice, not by Because the Queen, like the King,
:35:14. > :35:20.represents the people. And unlike the King,
:35:21. > :35:22.Baldwin as Prime Minister had been elected by the people
:35:23. > :35:30.to interpret their wishes. So Parliament decides who can
:35:31. > :35:37.and cannot be Queen. As shown in 1689, when James II had
:35:38. > :35:40.abdicated, they decide Parliament can at any time alter
:35:41. > :35:43.the line of succession. Our monarchy is not only
:35:44. > :35:45.hereditary monarchy, In the debate on the abdication,
:35:46. > :35:48.Baldwin quoted Polonius' His will is not his own, for
:35:49. > :35:58.he himself is subject to his birth. He may not as unvalued people
:35:59. > :36:00.do carve for himself, for honest choice depends the safety
:36:01. > :36:08.and the health of his whole state. The King said this -
:36:09. > :36:11.I to be the first to know that I had made up my mind and nothing
:36:12. > :36:14.will alter it. I have looked into it from all sides
:36:15. > :36:17.and I mean to abdicate He said if he could marry and remain
:36:18. > :36:22.King he would do so and be sure It is important to note the King
:36:23. > :36:27.and not the Prime Minister He said, sir, this is a very grave
:36:28. > :36:37.decision and I am deeply grieved. The King had made his
:36:38. > :36:39.decision and never came In a sense, the whole
:36:40. > :36:45.of the abdication is encapsulated The day after he saw Baldwin,
:36:46. > :36:53.the King saw his older brother, the Duke of York, later to become
:36:54. > :36:56.George VI, who broke down A few days later, Prince Albert,
:36:57. > :37:03.later George VI, wrote to the King and said,
:37:04. > :37:05.the news had come But he wanted his brother
:37:06. > :37:08.to find happiness with And the Duke of York said,
:37:09. > :37:14.after the abdication, he would be prepared
:37:15. > :37:19.to undertake the succession. who was a friend of the King,
:37:20. > :37:24.said, why don't you delay until after the coronation and then
:37:25. > :37:28.you can try again to get married Your hand would be
:37:29. > :37:32.much strengthened. Rather cynical, meant the King would
:37:33. > :37:38.be ignoring his coronation oath. In fact, what Duff Cooper
:37:39. > :37:41.and the King's friends hoped was that this was just
:37:42. > :37:43.an infatuation that would end. The King said, for me to have gone
:37:44. > :37:47.to the coronation ceremony while harbouring in my heart
:37:48. > :37:51.a secret intention to marry, contrary to the church's tenets,
:37:52. > :37:54.would have meant being crowned He also insisted his relationship
:37:55. > :37:58.with Mrs Simpson was not Either the King was going
:37:59. > :38:08.to abdicate, or he would have But at that point, there
:38:09. > :38:14.seem to be a way out. Under a morganatic marriage,
:38:15. > :38:22.the wife of the King is not the Queen, and the children do not
:38:23. > :38:26.succeed to the Throne. It is a foreign conception
:38:27. > :38:29.because foreign monarchs are required to marry
:38:30. > :38:31.from a specific range There is no such
:38:32. > :38:38.restriction in Britain. Oddly enough, Queen Mary's
:38:39. > :38:40.grandfather from a German principality made a morganatic
:38:41. > :38:43.marriage. But to have a morganatic marriage
:38:44. > :38:46.in Britain would involve And it would be not only Westminster
:38:47. > :38:54.which would have to change the law but the other self-governing
:38:55. > :38:56.dominions, of which there Canada, New Zealand,
:38:57. > :39:01.Australia, South Africa This was proposed to Mrs Simpson,
:39:02. > :39:11.the idea of a morganatic marriage. By Esmond Harmsworth,
:39:12. > :39:13.who was the son of Lord Rothermere, Another Rupert Murdoch
:39:14. > :39:16.sort of figure. And when they met again on the 25th
:39:17. > :39:20.of November, the third meeting, the King suggested to Baldwin,
:39:21. > :39:23.and Baldwin knew it had come from the Daily Mail,
:39:24. > :39:26.a paper he did not like, he said, the Daily Mail
:39:27. > :39:29.was the worst judge in England LAUGHTER And he later told the King
:39:30. > :39:36.that the King was supported The News Chronicle,
:39:37. > :39:40.which was a liberal paper that no longer exists,
:39:41. > :39:41.the Daily Mail and And the King said they were perhaps
:39:42. > :39:49.the worst papers in London. But he said he would put this issue
:39:50. > :39:52.to the Cabinet and dominions. That just left the two
:39:53. > :40:05.stark alternatives. The silence of the press then ended
:40:06. > :40:10.through a chance event. On the 1st of December, the Bishop
:40:11. > :40:17.of Bradford gave a sermon. In which he regretted the fact
:40:18. > :40:20.of the King had only attended And said he was
:40:21. > :40:24.neglecting his duties. I think that was probably the first
:40:25. > :40:27.time in modern history the sovereign has been publicly and openly rebuked
:40:28. > :40:30.by a bishop. The Bishop of Bradford's
:40:31. > :40:35.name was Dr Dr Blunt. The King had been wounded
:40:36. > :40:40.by a blunt instrument. There was an immediate
:40:41. > :40:46.discussion in the press. On the 4th of December,
:40:47. > :40:48.the King asked whether he could make the broadcast putting his case
:40:49. > :40:51.to the country. Again, the Government said, no,
:40:52. > :40:54.goes that would put the King These were the only two issues
:40:55. > :40:59.on which the King sought advice. The morganatic marriage
:41:00. > :41:04.and the radio broadcast. He did not seek advice on abdication
:41:05. > :41:07.and was not advised to abdicate. It was he who proposed it
:41:08. > :41:12.of his own free will. At this point, near the very end
:41:13. > :41:15.of the crisis, supporters Lord Beaverbrook, who I mentioned
:41:16. > :41:27.already, and Winston Churchill, who told the King to barricade
:41:28. > :41:34.himself in Fort Belvedere to buy time for what Churchill
:41:35. > :41:36.called characteristically The position of Churchill
:41:37. > :41:40.van was quite different He is seen now as
:41:41. > :41:43.a national saviour. In the 1930s, he was widely seen
:41:44. > :41:46.as a political adventurer. He had switched from
:41:47. > :41:48.the Conservatives to the Liberals Churchill said, ruefully,
:41:49. > :41:54.anyone can rat, but it takes some Then he had broken
:41:55. > :42:01.with the Conservative leadership in the early 1930s
:42:02. > :42:04.because he was opposed to proposals An issue on which most people
:42:05. > :42:09.thought he was wrong. He was seen as a man who would do
:42:10. > :42:20.anything to get back to power. The wife of one of Baldwin's
:42:21. > :42:25.ministers, referring to Churchill in some anger, mixed metaphors, saying
:42:26. > :42:39.he was the possible snake in the grass. It makes him a dark course.
:42:40. > :42:46.-- horse. He said Noel cover, the King should be allowed to marry his
:42:47. > :42:59.duty. The reply, he did not wish for a queen, QT. -- cutie. He said, the
:43:00. > :43:04.King files in and out of love and the present attachment would follow
:43:05. > :43:08.the course of all the others. Not even the King's closer supporters
:43:09. > :43:12.believed really the marriage would take place. They helped with time
:43:13. > :43:21.the relationship with ends which was a profound misjudgement. Advising
:43:22. > :43:28.the King to abdicate and hassling him off the Throne. The question is
:43:29. > :43:32.whether he is to abdicate in advice of his ministers of the day, which
:43:33. > :43:37.was the opposite of the trip. Churchill suggested to the King to
:43:38. > :43:42.play for time. The King got rather worried that they were telling the
:43:43. > :43:46.King that the ministers did not represent the view of the country
:43:47. > :43:52.but he, Churchill, date and would form an alternative Government if he
:43:53. > :43:59.resigned. Neville Chamberlain said, Churchill was moving mysteriously in
:44:00. > :44:03.the background. It would be a refusal of Government if there was a
:44:04. > :44:07.refusal on our part. Churchill would tapped to dissolve parliament and a
:44:08. > :44:08.General Election on the question of the King which would be deeply
:44:09. > :44:16.divisive. The King however in the end decided
:44:17. > :44:23.that the proposal be blocked and having been refused permission to
:44:24. > :44:27.broadcast he would abdicate. He told the prime ministers he would
:44:28. > :44:32.definitely abdicate, on the tenth bill was introduced into the Commons
:44:33. > :44:35.pass to all stages quickly and the Lords stages without amendment and
:44:36. > :44:41.the declaration of abdication act took effect on the 12th of December
:44:42. > :44:45.and similar legislation passed in the dominions. Baldwin made one of
:44:46. > :44:51.his great speeches on the abdication in Parliament. One MP said it was
:44:52. > :45:00.the best speech we shall ever hear in our lives. Churchill accepted in
:45:01. > :45:03.the debate the decision, he said it was essential there should be no
:45:04. > :45:09.room for assertions the King had been hurried in his decision. I
:45:10. > :45:12.accept wholeheartedly what the Prime Minister has proved, namely that the
:45:13. > :45:17.decision taken this week has been taken by His Majesty freely,
:45:18. > :45:24.spontaneously, at his own time in his own way. Was Baldwin right in
:45:25. > :45:28.the age before opinion polls? Susan Williams wrote a book called the
:45:29. > :45:31.People's King showing an basis of a great deal of research from letters
:45:32. > :45:37.the King received there was great popular support for him. But Baldwin
:45:38. > :45:41.and other MPs received letters from people opposing the King. The
:45:42. > :45:46.monarchy loses its value once it becomes a source of division. It
:45:47. > :45:49.must unify the country. My own judgment is the majority disapproved
:45:50. > :45:57.of the King so I think Baldwin was right. He was in a good position to
:45:58. > :46:02.weigh up public opinion. One of his ministers said if compared to a
:46:03. > :46:07.wireless, Baldwin has his error in the British soil and his aerial
:46:08. > :46:10.listening to the British public. The abdication is sometimes called the
:46:11. > :46:15.constitutional crisis but the fact it avoided what would have been a
:46:16. > :46:19.constitutional crisis had the King sought to defy his ministers. The
:46:20. > :46:23.abdication was a resolution of a crisis and because the King acted in
:46:24. > :46:28.accordance with the constitution it did not give rise to a
:46:29. > :46:32.constitutional crisis. Baldwin said whoever writes about the abdication
:46:33. > :46:37.must give the king his due, he was not behaved better than he did. Most
:46:38. > :46:41.of the tensions between Baldwin and the King were concerned with
:46:42. > :46:49.principles but ways and Means and from that point of view it's quite a
:46:50. > :46:53.simple story. The King said in his radio speech after the abdication
:46:54. > :46:57.that there has never been any constitutional difference between me
:46:58. > :47:00.and them, his ministers, and the parliament. In the tradition of my
:47:01. > :47:08.father I should never have allowed such an issue to arise. He says in
:47:09. > :47:12.his memoirs I put out of my mind all thoughts of challenging the Prime
:47:13. > :47:17.Minister. I would no longer be King by the free and common consent of
:47:18. > :47:21.all. The cherished conception of the monarchy above politics would have
:47:22. > :47:24.been shattered. Shortly after the abdication of friend wrote to him
:47:25. > :47:29.when the history of this episode comes to be written it will be
:47:30. > :47:33.realised your mobility refusing to even texture popularity was a sign
:47:34. > :47:41.of true greatness and probably saved the existence of the Empire. I must
:47:42. > :47:43.humbly express my intense admiration for your obvious and inflexible
:47:44. > :47:47.determination not to encourage King 's party. It was within your power
:47:48. > :47:50.to create civil war and chaos. You only had to lift a finger or come to
:47:51. > :47:55.London and show yourself to arouse millions in your support. Churchill
:47:56. > :48:00.at his final meeting with the King on the eve of abdication with tears
:48:01. > :48:05.in his eyes quoted as he left the poem on the execution of Charles the
:48:06. > :48:10.first, he nothing common dead or mean upon that memorable scene. The
:48:11. > :48:15.danger came not from the King but from political extremists you tend
:48:16. > :48:20.to use the crisis for their own advantage. The Communist Party and
:48:21. > :48:23.the British union of Fascists supported him and also from
:48:24. > :48:27.political adventurers seeking to use the crisis to their own advantage,
:48:28. > :48:32.Lord Beaverbrook and Winston Churchill. They wanted to four King
:48:33. > :48:36.'s party but as Lord Beaverbrook admitted later we were indeed the
:48:37. > :48:41.King 's party but unfortunately the King was not a member of it.
:48:42. > :48:44.LAUGHTER Perhaps the main political system
:48:45. > :48:49.that against the damaged the reputation of Winston Churchill,
:48:50. > :48:54.harming his campaign. He was shouting down in the Commons and it
:48:55. > :48:59.says in his war memoir is all the forces I had gathered together were
:49:00. > :49:03.estranged and dissolved. I was myself so smitten in public opinion
:49:04. > :49:10.that it was almost the universal view that my political life was at
:49:11. > :49:14.last ended. Baldwin's reputation by contrast was greatly enhanced and he
:49:15. > :49:19.retired in 1937 to nearly universal acclaim. In my opinion he handled
:49:20. > :49:23.the abdication with great skill. He hoped the King would remain on the
:49:24. > :49:28.throne but acted so that if he did not the damaged the monarchy would
:49:29. > :49:31.be minimal. He was convinced the decision as to whether the marriage
:49:32. > :49:36.took place or whether other was to be an abdication must be the Kings
:49:37. > :49:40.and not the governments and it must be a spontaneous decision by the
:49:41. > :49:46.King. At no time did the government advise abdication. Baldwin thought,
:49:47. > :49:50.rightly in my view, that it would divide the country and obscure the
:49:51. > :49:54.constitutional issue. The King later came to believe in his embittered
:49:55. > :49:58.exile that Baldwin had harried him of the throne, that there had been a
:49:59. > :50:02.conspiracy but the King did not believe it at the time and thank
:50:03. > :50:06.Baldwin forgiving every consideration. Baldwin told the
:50:07. > :50:09.Cabinet and I think quite rightly that the issue had not been a
:50:10. > :50:13.constitutional struggle between the King and his ministers but rather a
:50:14. > :50:18.struggle in the human heart. I struggle in which he himself was
:50:19. > :50:22.trying to find a solution. Baldwin I think was right to say that. So
:50:23. > :50:28.perhaps it's best to end of a human note. At their final meeting on the
:50:29. > :50:35.eve of the abdication as he was about to say goodbye, the King said
:50:36. > :50:40.to Baldwin, I quite understand the reason you and Mrs Baldwin don't
:50:41. > :50:44.approve of my action. It's the view of another generation. My generation
:50:45. > :50:50.don't feel like that about it. And Baldwin replied, it's quite true
:50:51. > :50:54.that there are no two people among the subjects who are more aggrieved
:50:55. > :51:00.at what is happening than we are. But I beg you will always remember
:51:01. > :51:04.that there are no two people who hope more truly and sincerely that
:51:05. > :51:09.you may find happiness where you believe it is to be found. At this,
:51:10. > :51:13.the King 's eyes filled with tears and he said, of all the people I
:51:14. > :51:19.have had around me during these last months you are the only one that has
:51:20. > :51:21.said anything that showed you cared about my happiness. Thank you.
:51:22. > :51:52.APPLAUSE Can I welcome everyone
:51:53. > :52:01.to what is the final meeting of the International Development Committee
:52:02. > :52:06.of this Parliament? And just to say briefly
:52:07. > :52:09.in this public session what I've just said in a private session,
:52:10. > :52:12.thank all of my committee colleagues and the committee staff,
:52:13. > :52:14.but also to thank the many, many organisations and individuals
:52:15. > :52:18.whose evidence today effectively, and in particular to
:52:19. > :52:23.those who have submitted to our work We were keen as a
:52:24. > :52:29.committee still to have today's session because the set of
:52:30. > :52:33.issues that arise from both the food