Eighty Years Ago This Week

The ever-ambitious Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, attempted to stage a double hijack by marshalling both Christmas and the pending coronation of George VI in May 1937, which had just been proclaimed, for his scheme to relaunch Christianity as a mass religion in Britain. Lang's broadcast on the Sunday after Christmas was labelled a "re-call to religion" and it was made known that the drive would focus on the coronation, although any connection with the abdication was disclaimed. Under a very thin ecumenical veneer, the intended role of the Church of England in leading this movement was plain to see. The birth of a daughter to the Duchess of Kent on Christmas Day (now Princess Alexandra) was probably more in keeping with what the public looked to the Royal family to provide As the siege of Madrid dragged on the British and French floated at tentative proposal for an international agreement to ban foreign "volunteers" from the Spanish Civil W...

The dust was only just settling after the abdication when the Archbishop of Canterbury weighed in with a radio broadcast, in which he bemoaned the fact that the ex-King had put his personal happiness before his duty and, worse, “Even more strange and sad it is that he should have sought his happiness in a manner inconsistent with the Christian principles of marriage, and within a social circle whose standards and ways of life are alien to all the best instincts and traditions of his people.” It was widely seen as a spiteful attack the former Edward VIII, but was appreciated at Downing Street where tolerance of Mrs. Simpson had sunk to a low level. On a more positive note, the new King George VI in an early statement of policy for the new reign, promised that the Royal racing stables would be conducted in the same manner as his father, George V, had done. The non-reference to the intervening sovereign told its story. International affairs brought little beyond the grim diet of...

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL  OUR READERS for following this blog for the past eleven months. It has been fascinating to discover the world of 1936 and how much was going on during Edward VIII's brief reign and I hope that it has been interesting  for you too. We will leave the newly created Duke of Windsor as HMS Fury carries him into exile, but keeping checking this blog and Twitter @adriangphillips for lots of exciting and fresh projects.

Friday 11th December 1936 At 1.52pm the abdication bill passed its last stage in Parliament and Edward VIII ceased to be King. Henceforth he was to be known as Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, as he and his oldest brother Albert, Duke of York, now George VI, had agreed. In practice the first part of the title was rarely used. That evening he broadcast to the nation and the world over BBC Radio from Windsor Castle to explain his decision. He wanted to deflect potential criticism from Mrs. Simpson by making it plain that the choice was his own. He did not succeed and she was widely blamed. That night he left Portsmouth for exile aboard the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Fury . Only at the outbreak of war almost three years later did he return to Britain at all and he never did more than visit briefly the country over which he had reigned. During the war he held the comparatively minor post of Governor of the Bahamas, but otherwise he had no occupation.

Wednesday 10th December 1936 Behind the Scenes The King was going and Baldwin had told the country  why, but there would still have to at least the formality of a debate in Parliament as the abdication bill was passed. Downing Street decided that stern measures would be needed to draw the teeth of the most significant source of potential trouble, a couple of dozen right-wing Conservative MPs, who were openly critical of the government's handling of the crisis. Their leaders were summoned to Downing Street and given a confidential briefing, which almost certainly made plain the fact that the government had available to it material deeply discreditable to Mrs. Simpson. They left with their enthusiasm for continuing the fight on Edward's behalf dimmed to disappearance.

Wednesday 10th December 1936 The nation woke to the knowledge that the King was to send a message to Parliament announcing his decision on the question which had dominated affairs for the past week.. It would not be delivered until about 3pm so there were still a few hours of uncertainty, or even hope, remaining, but the fact that a Cabinet committee was known to be preparing for eventualities that might arise, gave a firm hint that his decision was to be abdication. When the King's message was read out many in the House were nearly in tears as chose Mrs. Simpson over the throne. Baldwin faced one of the greatest challenges that has faced a Prime Minister when he spoke afterwards. He had to begin the task of repairing the public psyche after the traumatic decision by its head of state, the incarnation of national identity to abandon his duty in favour of his private happiness. Baldwin succeeded magnificently in a speech of apparent openness and simplicity, which set out a ...

Wednesday 9th December 1936 Behind the Scenes After his conversation with the King the previous evening at Fort Belvedere, Baldwin knew that there was no way of reversing his decision to abdicate and set out to bring the process to as rapid a close as possible. The first Cabinet meeting of the day agreed to send the King a letter asking him formally, but hopelessly to reconsider. Baldwin did not even wait for a written reply and once a phone message had come from Fort Belvedere that the King would abdicate he called a second Cabinet of the day to rubber-stamp the decision to make the practical preparations for abdication.