Edward VIII Lecture - Vernon Bogdanor Briefings

opportunities to do that for more young people earlier on? Before the

lines and divisions start hardening. Ladies and gentlemen,

this is the fourth in a series of six lectures on British monarchs

from Queen Victoria The only king to voluntarily

abdicate from the Throne. And this abdication was the most

serious crisis faced by the monarchy Because of it, 1936, the year

when Edward came to the Throne, and the year when he abdicated,

was the year of the three Kings. I think not since 1066 had we seen

three Kings in one year. In a sense, the abdication

was not a crisis. But a resolution of the crisis

because the crisis was caused by the desire of Edward VIII

to marry Mrs Simpson, At the time, it was thought

that the abdication might In fact, it left it virtually

unscathed, though I suspect it seems I think it is fair to say

that the abdication continues A man called Tom Jones,

who was deputy cabinet Secretary in the 1920s,

and then in the 1930s very close to Stanley Baldwin,

who was Prime Minister at the time of the abdication, Tom Jones wrote

this in his diary at the time. He said, we invest our

rulers with qualities We connive at the illusion,

those of us who know better, because monarchy

is an illusion that works. But I think there is a rather

more prosaic reason, a constitutional reason,

that we are interested in it, because the essence of monarchy

is the succession to the Throne being automatic.

And not a matter of choice. As soon as the sovereign treats

the office is one that can be voluntarily renounced,

automatic rule of succession Under monarchy, the great advantage

for those who support it, succession is not a matter of choice

but of duty so it's removed In a play written in the 19th

century, it was said what suicide is to a man,

abdication is to a king. 1936 is the only voluntary

abdication in our history. It was said in 1689 that James II

had abdicated but in fact he was forcibly deposed

by Parliament and fled It is sometimes suggested today

that the Queen should advocate to relieve herself of her heavy

workload as sovereigns in But the Queen set on a Speech

on her 21st birthday that she would devote her whole

life, whether it be long or short, And during her silver jubilee

in 1977, she reiterated the pledge, saying although it had been made

in my salad days when I was green in judgment, I do not regret

retract one word of it. I think it is very unlikely

the Queen will abdicate. Another figure involved

in the abdication of the 1930s was Lord Beaverbrook,

who was a newspaper proprietor He was the Rupert

Murdoch of his age. Unlike Murdoch, he was a friend

of the monarchy, or at least He said abdication is

a very grave course. While it may close one set

of problems, it opens another. For instance, it is an object lesson

in the quick disposal of a monarch who gets at cross purposes

with the executive. The reign of Edward VIII

lasted just 325 days. Just over ten months.

Dominated by the abdication. He was already 41 when

he came to the throne. Indeed, we know a lot more about him

than we do about other monarchs. Because he is the only monarch

to have written an autobiography, By which time he had

become Duke of Windsor. The book is mainly devoted

to the abdication but there is also a great deal of material on the role

of the King and Prince of Wales. at the Royal Naval cottage

in Osborne then in Dartmouth. Then eight terms at

Maudlin College, Oxford. The head of the college

in his report on him said, LAUGHTER I think not

an unfair comment. In World War I, he joins

the guards but was restricted, much to his dismay,

to staff appointments. Unlike his brother, Albert,

later George VI, who saw active He was not allowed to go

to the front for fear that he might be kidnapped and held to ransom

by the Germans. He said I feel such a swine,

he said, having such a comfortable time out

here while the Guards He was invested as Prince

of Wales in 1911. As Prince of Wales, Edward, or David

as he was called by his friends, proved an extraordinarily

glamorous heir to the Throne with his blond hair,

blue eyes and winning smile. Indeed, his favourite phrase

was anything to please. He became really a figure

at the centre of society. I think he was the first

heir to the Throne on whom a song was written.

In 1927. The song was, I have danced

with a man who has danced with a girl, who has danced

with the Prince of Wales. If the people have it ready in IT,

we can hear the song. I have danced with a man who has

danced with a girl, who has danced I think the only song ever written

for an heir to the Throne, and certainly the only one that

will be mentioned in these lectures. One must not dismiss the Prince

of Wales as being purely glamour. He was the first heir to the Throne

to find a role for himself. He particularly felt he was

a spokesman for ex-service men. At the Mansion House in 1919,

he said he wanted all ex-service men in every part of the Empire

to remember me as an old comrade in to look on him

as a comrade. He was the first to promote British

goods in overseas markets. Lloyd George called him our

greatest ambassador. In that connection, he helped to

found the British Council in 1934. He made a tour of the Commonwealth,

which was a great success. Even George V, his father,

who was not overgenerous with praise, wrote to him,

I offer you my warmest congratulations on the splendid

success of your tour. Which is due in a great measure

to your own personality. And the wonderful way

you have played up, it At home, he seemed to show a concern

for the underprivileged and was idolised by many

of the general public. The wife of a Government minister

said, visiting the slums, He knocked the door,

when the women opened it, he said, I am the king,

May I come in? He said that he and his brothers

had picked up vermin When he became king,

his Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, said of him, he has the secret

of youth in the prime of age. He has a wider and more intimate

knowledge of all classes and subjects than any

of his predecessors. George V was a very traditional man,

and one of Edward's biographers said, perhaps not unfairly,

that George V had all the character for royalty

but Edward VIII had all the talents. Edwards says in his memoirs,

I had no desire to go down Edward the Innovator, that might

have been more to the point. Yet I had no notion of tinkering

with the rules of the monarchy, nor of upsetting the proud

traditions of the court. In truth, all I ever had in mind

was to throw open the windows and to let into venerable

institutions some of the fresh air I had been accustomed

to breathe as Prince of Wales. My modest ambition was to broaden

the base of monarchy a little more to make it more responsive

to the changed He opened the Royal Victorian order

and other honours granted He tried unsuccessfully to get rid

of the so-called royal declaration read by the sovereign at the opening

of his first Parliament on Protestantism, which he thought

was offensive to Roman Catholics. And they would no doubt

have been other reforms He seemed a rather modern figure,

in contrast to the somewhat stuffy And rather disturbing

to traditionalists. For the council after

the death of George V, He was the first

monarch to use a plane. He emerged without a hat,

very daring in those days. Instead of travelling the short

distance from St James Palace to Buckingham Palace,

in a chauffeur driven car, This disturbance to traditionalists

is beautifully captured in a poem written by John Betjeman,

later to be a poet laureate. It is a poem he wrote

on the death of George V. Those who attended my lecture

on George V will remember that his main hobbies went shooting

birds and stamp collecting, and that he was very concerned,

many would say obsessively concerned, with correct

standards of dress. Spirit of well-shot Woodcock,

Partridge, Snipe flutter In that red house, in a red mahogany

bookcase, the stamp collection waits The big, blue eyes are shut

which saw wrong clothing and favourite fields

and covets from a horse. Old men in country Houses hear clock

ticking over thick carpets Old men who never cheated,

never doubted, communicated monthly. Sit and stare at the new suburb

stretched beyond the runway. Where a young man lands

hatless from the air. The establishment felt the new king

did not know the rules. Edward VII had been dissolute,

but he knew the rules. Edward VIII seemed to think

he could divide his public from his private life

was that he said to one of his advisers, they must

take him as he was. A man different from his father

and is determined to be himself. He would be available for public

business and private But his private life

was to be his own. As long as he performed his public

duties, his private life, he said, For a member of the Royal

family, the two overlap. subordinate some aspects

of his public duties. In particular, his mother,

Queen Mary, wife of George V, Shortly before the session, she told

an adviser that she was concerned as to whether the prince had fully

realised his responsibilities and how far he would have

to alter his manner of living. Perhaps all would have worked out

had he not met Mrs Wallis Simpson, The king always insisted,

for reasons that will become clear I hope later on,

that she had never been his mistress And he would sue anyone

who suggested the opposite. Some time, perhaps in 1934 or '35,

he formed a definite He later said he had hoped

to discuss the matter with his father, George V,

but the occasion never arose. It is sometimes said that,

had the king lived longer, there would have been

a discussion between them. But I think that's unlikely

because the truth is that George V was so distant and authoritarian

as a father, there was such a gap between these two men of different

generations with very different views of the world, that a genuine

discussion between the two But George V was aware

of the attachment. Shortly before he died,

he told a courtier very surely, He also said, after I am

dead, the boy will ruin To understand the abdication,

we have to understand Even if we don't sympathise

with that atmosphere. We also have to understand

the law of divorce, The monarchy in the 1930s was seen

as even more important and essential to the emotional lives

of the British than it is today. That was partly because of the rise

of dictatorships on the continent. The British public became even more

attached to the stability and moderation of the system

of Government which made Britain appear a paradise compared

to most of the continent, where democracy was

a threatened species. That was true on the left

as much as the right. On the death of George V, aptly,

the opposition leader said in the House of Commons

that the late King has been not only a Democrat but also a real social

reformer who had recognised the claims of social justice,

which was perhaps a bit Secondly it was an age of much

greater deference than today. Little was known and rightly in my view,

but little was known about the private lives of the members of the

Royal family. The press. It wrong to expose such details and remarkably

the British papers said nothing about Mrs Simpson until ten days

before the application. American newspapers which reported the

friendship were censored. One centred headline read QT Simpson

cuts out bloodless British women in royal choice. The British press

operated a voluntary censorship which is inconceivable today.

Consequently the public were completely unaware of the friendship

between the King and Mrs Simpson until shortly before the abdication

by which time the key decisions had been made. We Londoners with our

insatiable thirst for scandalous gossip tend to presume everyone knew

all about Mrs Simpson and I was rather staggered on visiting

Birmingham and Manchester a week prior to the crisis to find not a

single soul I talked to had ever heard of her. But there was gossip

in London and contemporary joke. Mrs Simpson is supposed to have got in a

taxi and said Kings Cross and the taxi driver sorry, lady. LAUGHTER

But even if the public had known it is doubtful if public influence

could or would have been exerted. In the days before opinion polls

politicians were eager to say the public opinion favoured one view or

another but in general people were happy to let the politician make the

key decisions. Now because of this deference people felt they had to

see the King as a model human being and that was strengthened by the

fact that Britain was a much more religious society then than today. I

greater belief in the truth of Christianity and strong support for

the Church of England which is the established church. Perhaps was an

element of hypocrisy in it which was well picked up by Stanley Baldwin.

He said the average working man likes to spend Sunday in bed reading

the newspaper, if possible to the accompaniment of a pint of beer. But

he says to himself all the time, well anyhow I am glad the King and

queen are going to church even if I am not doing it myself this morning.

The Royal family were expected to observe the rules and the new King

was to arouse criticism by not attending church every Sunday. The

monarch was expected to be a role model and the monarchy was

particularly associated with concepts of duty and sacrifice. On

the death of George V the Baldwins said on the radio that the doing of

his duty was the guiding principle of his life. This notion of

sacrifice was particularly powerful since the end of World War I which

had seen so many lives sacrificed. One of the sermons for the

coronation of Edward VIII which never actually occurred was to say

that true royalty reveals itself in self-denying sacrifice. Queen Mary

wrote to her son after the abdication, it seemed inconceivable

to those who had made such sacrifices during the war that you

as their king refused a lesser sacrifice. She said my feelings for

you and your mother remain the same and I'll will be after all my life I

have put my country before anything else and I simply cannot change now.

So where is a romantic view that perhaps many hold today and many

held abroad was that the King had given up the throne for love, in

Britain the feeling was he had neglected his duty. When he came to

the throne there could be no question of marrying Mrs Simpson

because she was already married to Ernest Simpson, her second cousin.

To marry the King she would have to divorce. Divorce in those days was

not easy. It was granted only in cases of adultery. Interestingly Mrs

Simpson's first divorce granted in America on grounds of cruelty, her

first husband being a brutal alcoholic, this was not recognised

by the church of England. This system where you could only get a

divorce for adultery was defended by the mothers union which was 500,000

strong at this time. The reason they gave was that it should not be made

easier for men to ditch their wives for a younger model. But it led to a

great deal of hypocrisy because the better off could always secure a

divorce by paying, agencies arranged it. The husband would do the

gentlemanly thing, approach the agency and pay a sum of money plus a

deposit for the agency to procure a young woman to spend the night in a

hotel with him quite innocently. If the man sought further services he

forfeited his deposit. LAUGHTER The made with bed-and-breakfast and

see the two together and the hotel register would be used as evidence

of adultery. The law was intended to prevent divorce by consent which was

seen as a threat to public morals, the well off could get round it. The

less well-off had no such advantage and often had to stay in dreadful

marriages, even violent ones because desertion or violent abuse was not

grounds for divorce. There was a stigma for divorce at that time,

only around 5000 per year and divorcees could not be remarried in

church and so-called guilty parties were excluded from royal functions.

Innocent parties were admitted from the late 1920s but do they were

admitted there case was inspected and Queen Mary never came to terms

with that. She was once asked to invite a divorcee to a royal

function and told the person concerned was the innocent party.

There is no innocent party in a divorce she replied. Before Mrs

Simpson was first presented at court in 1931 she had to submit the

records of her first divorce. Scottish nobleman sought admission

to a royal function and told George V that his divorce had been purged

by subsequent remarriage in church because the rules of the Scottish

church were more liberal than those of the church of England. He was

told that may well get you into the kingdom of heaven but it will not

admit you to the Palace of Holyrood House. LAUGHTER

Very oddly at that time amongst the upper classes adultery between

married people as long as depression occurred and did not become public

was more tolerated than divorce. Baldwin explicitly told the King

that there would be no objection to Edward VIII making Mrs Simpson his

mistress. He said to the King was it absolutely necessary he should marry

horror. In their peculiar circumstances certain things are

sometimes permitted to royalty which are not allowed to the ordinary man.

To this he immediately replied there is no question of that, I am going

to marry her. This is all quite different to modern times weather is

less stigma over divorce but adultery is viewed more critically.

I'll leave you to judge whether our models are better or worse than

those of our grandparents but Edward VIII had to work in the age in which

he lived. The legal position was that until Edward came to the throne

his marriage like those of other members of the Royal family was

regulated by the Royal marriages act of 1772 which meant the marriage had

to be approved by the King who would do it on advice. Certainly the

government would have advised against it. But once Edward came to

the throne that was no longer the case, the King could legally marry

anyone he liked except he could not through the act of settlement marry

a Catholic. When Edward came to the throne, some ministers pressed the

Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to intervene and ask the King to end

the friendship. Perhaps even to offer official advice to do so. But

Baldwin declined, and that was partly out of a natural inertia. He

tended to presume that crises left alone would blow over. But partly

out of an instinct that if the government appeared to dictate to

the King Edward arouse a wave of sympathy for him and divide the

country. But the position altered when in 1936 Mrs Simpson decided to

initiate divorce proceedings against her husband because this opens the

possibility she might marry the King. It was at this point Stanley

Baldwin intervened. Less than seven weeks before the abdication on the

20th of October 1936 he was persuaded to do so by the King 's

private secretary who said the King must be warned so that he could not

say afterwards he had not been told of the significance of the divorce.

Only the Prime Minister could convince the King that the

association with Mrs Simpson would raise a constitutional issue and not

merely a private one. On the 20th of October 1936 Baldwin heard the first

of eight meetings with the King and we have extremely detailed accounts

of this meeting from Baldwin's speech in the Commons after the

abdication and from the Kings own autobiography. The conversation I

think is very revealing, not only on specific issue but about the

conventions which govern the monarchy and the relationships

between the monarch and the Prime Minister. Baldwin went to the King

's private home at Virginia water and the King said they met in the

garden and they began by talking about gardening. He said Boldon 's

attitude was friendly, casual discourse, he might have been a

neighbour who had called to discuss a dispute over a boundary fence. But

when they went inside Baldwin became rather nervous, as well he might be,

and asked if he could have a whiskey and soda this is about ten in the

morning. When he was going to pour a drink for the King the King gave him

a rebuke seeing all know Mr Baldwin, I do not drink before 7pm. Baldwin

began gingerly. He said you have all the advantages and man can have, you

are young, you have before you the example of your father, your fond of

your home and your house and you like children, you have only one

disadvantage. You are not married and you should be. The King did not

rise to debate, he said nothing. Baldwin continued, he said you may

think me Victorian Sara, you may think my views of date, but I

believe I know how to interpret the mind of my own people and I say that

although it is true standards are lower since the war it only leads to

people expecting a higher standard from their King. People expect more

from their king than they did 100 years ago. The King said nothing,

there was applause. Baldwin said people are talking about you and

this American woman Mrs Simpson. Again the King said nothing. Baldwin

used a phrase the King was fond of. I don't believe you can go on like

this and get away with it. He said I think you know are people, they will

tolerate a lot in private life but they will not stand for this kind of

thing in the light of the public personage. And when they read in the

courts of Mrs Simpson 's visit to Balmoral, the resented it. It may be

asked how many people actually read about it. The King rather sadly then

said I hope you will agree I have carried out my duties as King with

dignity. Baldwin said I do agree but all the more as they know the duties

of royalty are not much to your liking. The King said rather

plaintively I know there is nothing kingly about me but I have tried to

mix with the people and make them think I was one of them. Baldwin at

last came to the point, can you not have this coming divorce put off?

The King replied Mr Baldwin that is the lady 's private business. I have

no right to interfere with the affairs of an individual. It would

be wrong if I attempted to influence Mrs Simpson just because she is a

friend of the King. Baldwin said later that is the only occasion on

which the King was not straight with him because of course it was he who

had praised Mrs Simpson to initiate divorce proceedings so he could

marry her. Baldwin said sites might be taken and factions grow up in a

matter where no faction ever to exist. He then referred to the value

of the monarchy in holding the empire together and maintaining the

moderation of the political system. He said the crowd was not only the

last leg of empire that is left but the guarantee in this country as

long as it exists against many evils that have affected and inflicted

other countries. The conversation ended, they went out to the garden

and Baldwin again commented on what a pleasant garden it was. The

question of marriage was not mentioned. Baldwin then later told

the governor general of Canada that at least the ice had been broken but

the King lately commented that the only ice that had been broken was

the eyes that melted any Prime Minister's whiskey and soda. A week

after this Mrs Simpson was granted degree nice eye at Ipswich.

He said he could understand why people were put in the tower in the

old days and would put Mrs Simson there if you could. The abdication

of the divorce would come in six-month time with the coronation

due in May. It was the granting of a degree which precipitated the

crisis. Under the law at that time, there were two obstacles to making

the decree absolute. The first was, it would not be granted if it could

be shown the petitioner had herself committed adultery. You had the odd

situation, if both partners of the marriage had committed adultery, no

divorce could be granted. This is why the King insisted that Mrs

Simson was not his mistress. You may say a further

element of hypocrisy. Second, the decree would not be

granted if it could be shown the divorce was collusive or based

on fake evidence. The Simpson divorce clearly

was collusive and based on fake evidence, as nearly all divorce

in those days were. But Ernest Simpson,

having told his wife, being told by his wife

that she wanted a divorce, agreed to spend the night quite

innocently with a lady procured for the purpose at a hotel called,

perhaps appropriate, In Berkshire which was frequently

used for this purpose. There was a joke between

the wars, Are you married LAUGHTER And Mr Simpson left

at the hotel for the night and flat which he shared with Mrs Simpson,

providing the basis for the divorce, and Mrs Simpson generously

repaid her ex-husband's costs. Under the laws then,

any private citizen could intervene to show cause why the decree should

not be made absolute. An official called King's Proctor,

who was then under a legal And when the archives were open

a few years ago, it became apparent that the King's Proctor had received

a number of complaints from For example, a solicitor's clerk

wrote to say that the divorce was collusive and the petition had

committed adultery with the King. The Proctor chose to ignore his

legal duty to investigate. Baldwin, meanwhile, received

a visit from the Leader of the Opposition,

Atley, who told him ... While Labour people had no objection

to an American becoming queen, I was certain they would not approve

of Mrs Simson for this position. I found I had correctly gauged

the party's attitude despite sympathy for the king,

and the affection which his visits A typical Atley waspish comment,

the party, with the exception of a few of the intelligentsia

who can be trusted to take the wrong LAUGHTER He says, the party

were in agreement with That was important because there

was no alternative Government should The civil service was now preparing

a draft submission to the King giving advice he should end

the association with Mrs Simpson. Baldwin did not want to do that,

not to want to put pressure on the King and decided instead

to call on senior ministers At this point, the King's

private Secretary, He was worried about the meeting

of senior ministers and worried by what he was told by the editor

of the Times. That the self-denial

of the press could not be He wrote a letter to the King

telling him about this meeting, which could result

in the resignation of The only solution was for Mrs

Simpson to go abroad immediately. The King did not reply

to this letter, which he But in response asked

Baldwin to meet him, The second meeting was held

on the 16th of November. Baldwin made it clear the King

could not marry Mrs Simpson The conversation began by the King

saying, I understand that you and several members

of the Cabinet have some fear of a constitutional crisis

developing over my friendship Baldwin said, yes,

sir, that is correct. Baldwin said, such

a marriage would not be I said earlier, the King could,

in statutory terms, marry whom he liked and was not bound

by the Royal Marriages Act. The King said, in wishing

to marry Mrs Simpson, he was only claiming the same

freedom as his subjects enjoyed. Baldwin said, the King was not

in the same position since his wife becomes Queen,

so the choice must be suitable. And the Government,

as representatives of the people, Furthermore, the King,

by his Coronation oath, is defender of the faith and supreme

Governor of the church of England. And at that time, the church

would not marry a divorcee In theory, no doubt, the King

could contract a civil marriage, but under these circumstances,

the Archbishop of Canterbury might refuse to crown him

because the coronation So the King was limited

in his choice, not by Because the Queen, like the King,

represents the people. And unlike the King,

Baldwin as Prime Minister had been elected by the people

to interpret their wishes. So Parliament decides who can

and cannot be Queen. As shown in 1689, when James II had

abdicated, they decide Parliament can at any time alter

the line of succession. Our monarchy is not only

hereditary monarchy, In the debate on the abdication,

Baldwin quoted Polonius' His will is not his own, for

he himself is subject to his birth. He may not as unvalued people

do carve for himself, for honest choice depends the safety

and the health of his whole state. The King said this -

I to be the first to know that I had made up my mind and nothing

will alter it. I have looked into it from all sides

and I mean to abdicate He said if he could marry and remain

King he would do so and be sure It is important to note the King

and not the Prime Minister He said, sir, this is a very grave

decision and I am deeply grieved. The King had made his

decision and never came In a sense, the whole

of the abdication is encapsulated The day after he saw Baldwin,

the King saw his older brother, the Duke of York, later to become

George VI, who broke down A few days later, Prince Albert,

later George VI, wrote to the King and said,

the news had come But he wanted his brother

to find happiness with And the Duke of York said,

after the abdication, he would be prepared

to undertake the succession. who was a friend of the King,

said, why don't you delay until after the coronation and then

you can try again to get married Your hand would be

much strengthened. Rather cynical, meant the King would

be ignoring his coronation oath. In fact, what Duff Cooper

and the King's friends hoped was that this was just

an infatuation that would end. The King said, for me to have gone

to the coronation ceremony while harbouring in my heart

a secret intention to marry, contrary to the church's tenets,

would have meant being crowned He also insisted his relationship

with Mrs Simpson was not Either the King was going

to abdicate, or he would have But at that point, there

seem to be a way out. Under a morganatic marriage,

the wife of the King is not the Queen, and the children do not

succeed to the Throne. It is a foreign conception

because foreign monarchs are required to marry

from a specific range There is no such

restriction in Britain. Oddly enough, Queen Mary's

grandfather from a German principality made a morganatic

marriage. But to have a morganatic marriage

in Britain would involve And it would be not only Westminster

which would have to change the law but the other self-governing

dominions, of which there Canada, New Zealand,

Australia, South Africa This was proposed to Mrs Simpson,

the idea of a morganatic marriage. By Esmond Harmsworth,

who was the son of Lord Rothermere, Another Rupert Murdoch

sort of figure. And when they met again on the 25th

of November, the third meeting, the King suggested to Baldwin,

and Baldwin knew it had come from the Daily Mail,

a paper he did not like, he said, the Daily Mail

was the worst judge in England LAUGHTER And he later told the King

that the King was supported The News Chronicle,

which was a liberal paper that no longer exists,

the Daily Mail and And the King said they were perhaps

the worst papers in London. But he said he would put this issue

to the Cabinet and dominions. That just left the two

stark alternatives. The silence of the press then ended

through a chance event. On the 1st of December, the Bishop

of Bradford gave a sermon. In which he regretted the fact

of the King had only attended And said he was

neglecting his duties. I think that was probably the first

time in modern history the sovereign has been publicly and openly rebuked

by a bishop. The Bishop of Bradford's

name was Dr Dr Blunt. The King had been wounded

by a blunt instrument. There was an immediate

discussion in the press. On the 4th of December,

the King asked whether he could make the broadcast putting his case

to the country. Again, the Government said, no,

goes that would put the King These were the only two issues

on which the King sought advice. The morganatic marriage

and the radio broadcast. He did not seek advice on abdication

and was not advised to abdicate. It was he who proposed it

of his own free will. At this point, near the very end

of the crisis, supporters Lord Beaverbrook, who I mentioned

already, and Winston Churchill, who told the King to barricade

himself in Fort Belvedere to buy time for what Churchill

called characteristically The position of Churchill

van was quite different He is seen now as

a national saviour. In the 1930s, he was widely seen

as a political adventurer. He had switched from

the Conservatives to the Liberals Churchill said, ruefully,

anyone can rat, but it takes some Then he had broken

with the Conservative leadership in the early 1930s

because he was opposed to proposals An issue on which most people

thought he was wrong. He was seen as a man who would do

anything to get back to power. The wife of one of Baldwin's

ministers, referring to Churchill in some anger, mixed metaphors, saying

he was the possible snake in the grass. It makes him a dark course.

-- horse. He said Noel cover, the King should be allowed to marry his

duty. The reply, he did not wish for a queen, QT. -- cutie. He said, the

King files in and out of love and the present attachment would follow

the course of all the others. Not even the King's closer supporters

believed really the marriage would take place. They helped with time

the relationship with ends which was a profound misjudgement. Advising

the King to abdicate and hassling him off the Throne. The question is

whether he is to abdicate in advice of his ministers of the day, which

was the opposite of the trip. Churchill suggested to the King to

play for time. The King got rather worried that they were telling the

King that the ministers did not represent the view of the country

but he, Churchill, date and would form an alternative Government if he

resigned. Neville Chamberlain said, Churchill was moving mysteriously in

the background. It would be a refusal of Government if there was a

refusal on our part. Churchill would tapped to dissolve parliament and a

General Election on the question of the King which would be deeply

divisive. The King however in the end decided

that the proposal be blocked and having been refused permission to

broadcast he would abdicate. He told the prime ministers he would

definitely abdicate, on the tenth bill was introduced into the Commons

pass to all stages quickly and the Lords stages without amendment and

the declaration of abdication act took effect on the 12th of December

and similar legislation passed in the dominions. Baldwin made one of

his great speeches on the abdication in Parliament. One MP said it was

the best speech we shall ever hear in our lives. Churchill accepted in

the debate the decision, he said it was essential there should be no

room for assertions the King had been hurried in his decision. I

accept wholeheartedly what the Prime Minister has proved, namely that the

decision taken this week has been taken by His Majesty freely,

spontaneously, at his own time in his own way. Was Baldwin right in

the age before opinion polls? Susan Williams wrote a book called the

People's King showing an basis of a great deal of research from letters

the King received there was great popular support for him. But Baldwin

and other MPs received letters from people opposing the King. The

monarchy loses its value once it becomes a source of division. It

must unify the country. My own judgment is the majority disapproved

of the King so I think Baldwin was right. He was in a good position to

weigh up public opinion. One of his ministers said if compared to a

wireless, Baldwin has his error in the British soil and his aerial

listening to the British public. The abdication is sometimes called the

constitutional crisis but the fact it avoided what would have been a

constitutional crisis had the King sought to defy his ministers. The

abdication was a resolution of a crisis and because the King acted in

accordance with the constitution it did not give rise to a

constitutional crisis. Baldwin said whoever writes about the abdication

must give the king his due, he was not behaved better than he did. Most

of the tensions between Baldwin and the King were concerned with

principles but ways and Means and from that point of view it's quite a

simple story. The King said in his radio speech after the abdication

that there has never been any constitutional difference between me

and them, his ministers, and the parliament. In the tradition of my

father I should never have allowed such an issue to arise. He says in

his memoirs I put out of my mind all thoughts of challenging the Prime

Minister. I would no longer be King by the free and common consent of

all. The cherished conception of the monarchy above politics would have

been shattered. Shortly after the abdication of friend wrote to him

when the history of this episode comes to be written it will be

realised your mobility refusing to even texture popularity was a sign

of true greatness and probably saved the existence of the Empire. I must

humbly express my intense admiration for your obvious and inflexible

determination not to encourage King 's party. It was within your power

to create civil war and chaos. You only had to lift a finger or come to

London and show yourself to arouse millions in your support. Churchill

at his final meeting with the King on the eve of abdication with tears

in his eyes quoted as he left the poem on the execution of Charles the

first, he nothing common dead or mean upon that memorable scene. The

danger came not from the King but from political extremists you tend

to use the crisis for their own advantage. The Communist Party and

the British union of Fascists supported him and also from

political adventurers seeking to use the crisis to their own advantage,

Lord Beaverbrook and Winston Churchill. They wanted to four King

's party but as Lord Beaverbrook admitted later we were indeed the

King 's party but unfortunately the King was not a member of it.

LAUGHTER Perhaps the main political system

that against the damaged the reputation of Winston Churchill,

harming his campaign. He was shouting down in the Commons and it

says in his war memoir is all the forces I had gathered together were

estranged and dissolved. I was myself so smitten in public opinion

that it was almost the universal view that my political life was at

last ended. Baldwin's reputation by contrast was greatly enhanced and he

retired in 1937 to nearly universal acclaim. In my opinion he handled

the abdication with great skill. He hoped the King would remain on the

throne but acted so that if he did not the damaged the monarchy would

be minimal. He was convinced the decision as to whether the marriage

took place or whether other was to be an abdication must be the Kings

and not the governments and it must be a spontaneous decision by the

King. At no time did the government advise abdication. Baldwin thought,

rightly in my view, that it would divide the country and obscure the

constitutional issue. The King later came to believe in his embittered

exile that Baldwin had harried him of the throne, that there had been a

conspiracy but the King did not believe it at the time and thank

Baldwin forgiving every consideration. Baldwin told the

Cabinet and I think quite rightly that the issue had not been a

constitutional struggle between the King and his ministers but rather a

struggle in the human heart. I struggle in which he himself was

trying to find a solution. Baldwin I think was right to say that. So

perhaps it's best to end of a human note. At their final meeting on the

eve of the abdication as he was about to say goodbye, the King said

to Baldwin, I quite understand the reason you and Mrs Baldwin don't

approve of my action. It's the view of another generation. My generation

don't feel like that about it. And Baldwin replied, it's quite true

that there are no two people among the subjects who are more aggrieved

at what is happening than we are. But I beg you will always remember

that there are no two people who hope more truly and sincerely that

you may find happiness where you believe it is to be found. At this,

the King 's eyes filled with tears and he said, of all the people I

have had around me during these last months you are the only one that has

said anything that showed you cared about my happiness. Thank you.

APPLAUSE Can I welcome everyone

to what is the final meeting of the International Development Committee

of this Parliament? And just to say briefly

in this public session what I've just said in a private session,

thank all of my committee colleagues and the committee staff,

but also to thank the many, many organisations and individuals

whose evidence today effectively, and in particular to

those who have submitted to our work We were keen as a

committee still to have today's session because the set of

issues that arise from both the food