In 1937 the Queen’s father, George VI, was crowned in Westminster Abbey. George did not expect to become king. His older brother Edward inherited the crown. But within a year at the centre of a scandal that rocked the nation Edward had abdicated. Edward VIII: The Plot to Topple a King, Channel 4 2012
George VI became King to be followed by our Queen because of ... the Most Reverend Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury. ibid.
Lang turned his back on a young king in crisis. ibid.
The Archbishop was at the centre of a plot. ibid.
Lang hated what he called Edward’s liking for vulgar society ... Lang: ‘That dreadful common American woman’. ibid.
The Archbishop of Canterbury knew more about Mrs Simpson than most. He was at the centre of a well-oiled intelligence-gathering machine. ibid.
The King met Lang to plan the Coronation. And yet again things did not go well. ibid.
Lang: ‘I had a long talk with the prime minister Baldwin’ ... Lang was forcing events to a head. ibid.
The next day after meeting the editor of The Times, Baldwin authorised the delivery of a letter warning the King. ibid.
To Lang’s fury, the popular press sided with the King and turned on him. ibid.
Edward found himself alone against the full force of the old gang. ibid.
Lang’s words backfired ... The vengeful speech had destroyed the Archbishop’s reputation. ibid.
This was a coup that shouldn’t appear to be a coup. Dr Susan Williams, author The People’s King
Strange and sad it must be that for such a motive he should have abandoned the trust so great ... Even more strange and sad it is that he should have sought his happiness in a manner inconsistent with the Christian principles of marriage. Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
Let those who belong to this circle know that today they stand rebuked by the judgment of the nation. Cosmo Gordon Lang
I do not think you have ever realised the shock, which the attitude you took up caused your family and the whole nation. It seemed inconceivable to those who had made such sacrifices during the war that you, as their King, refused a lesser sacrifice. Queen Mary, letter to Duke of Windsor July 1938
From his childhood this boy will be surrounded by sycophants and flatterers by the score – [Cries of Oh! Oh!] – and will be taught to believe himself as a superior creation. A line will be drawn between him and the people whom he is to be called upon some day to reign over. In due course, following the precedent which has already been set, he will be sent on a tour round the world, and probably rumours of a Morganatic alliance will follow, and the end of it all will be that the country will be called upon to pay the bill. Keir Hardie, speech House of Commons 28th June 1894
Our cock won’t fight. Lord Beaverbrook, re Edward VIII
Since the war there has been a lowering of public standards and of public morals. But people expect even more of the monarchy. Stanley Baldwin
I can’t help thinking that the best thing that could happen to him and the country would be for him to break his neck. Alan Lascelles
We’ve met before, haven’t we? Wallis & Edward 2005 starring Joely Richardson & Stephen Campbell Moore & David Westhead & Richard Johnson & Clifford Rose & Margaret Tyzack & Bill Champion & Monica Dolan & David Calder & Miriam Margolyes et al, director Dave Moore, Edward to Wallis
You need someone to look after you. ibid. Wallis to Edward
It’s as if he sets out deliberately to hurt us. ibid. Queen Mary
You disgust me. ibid. George V to Edward
When I am gone, Baldwin, that boy will ruin himself and the monarchy within twelve months, you mark my words. ibid. George V
Sooner or later she’ll have to go. ibid. Baldwin to chief rozzer
We have to face up to things – the King is in love with you. ibid. Ernest to Wallis
I can’t be bought or sold. ibid. Wallis to Ernest
Confronting kings is a very risky business. ibid. Baldwin
Love is not the only thing in the world. ibid. Wallis to Edward
Tell him I shall never receive that woman, Bertie. Never. ibid. Queen Mary
People expect more of their monarch. ibid. Baldwin to Edward
If the country doesn’t like it, I intend to go. ibid. Edward to Baldwin
You occupy the greatest throne in the history of the world. The people love you. ibid. Churchill to Edward
They despise me, don’t they? Your family. I have stolen their King. ibid. Wallis to Edward
The rift with the Royal Family never healed and the Windsors were forced to live in exile for the rest of their lives. They were married for 35 years until Edward’s death in 1972. Without him, Wallis’s health declined and she became a house-bound recluse until her own death in 1986. ibid. caption
Perhaps one of the only positive pieces of advice that I was ever given was that supplied by an old courtier who observed, Only two rules really count – never miss an opportunity to relieve yourself; never miss a chance to sit down and rest your feet. Edward VIII
But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love. Edward VIII
Of course I do have a slight advantage over the rest of you. It helps in a pinch to be able to remind your bride that you gave up a throne for her. Edward VIII
When Edward gave up the throne for love and became Duke of Windsor a rift followed that was never healed. Reputations: George VI: The Reluctant King, BBC 1999
The Prince of Wales, eighteen months older, was everything his brother was not: raffish, charming when he wanted to be, a follower of fashion, a man who loved the life of glamour and the adulation of the public. ibid.
Relations between the brothers and their partners were strained. There were in effect two royal courts. ibid.
The monarchy had survived its worst crisis since 1688. ibid.
The fact that the Duke of Windsor had lied about money broke the tie between the two brothers. ibid.
Don’t make an ass of yourself talking to the workers. Bertie & Elizabeth 2002 starring James Wilby & Juliet Aubrey & Alan Bates & Eileen Atkins & Dolly Wells & William Mickleburgh & Charles Edwards & Alexandra Staden et al, director Giles Foster, George V to David
Oh, God, you really are turning into father, aren’t you. ibid. David to Bertie
We came to dine with the King. ibid. Elizabeth Queen Mother
To give up all that for a woman of no importance. ibid. Queen Mary
Your wife and my mother – a couple of ice-vein bitches. ibid. David to Bertie
In 1937 a twice-divorced American married a former British sovereign in their country of exile – France. Wallis Simpson: Loved and Lost, Yesterday 2014
He was approaching 43; she 41. It was a day of mixed emotions. ibid.
It was a sad and lonely demise ... A trap from which Wallis knew she could never escape. ibid.
Spying on the king [Edward VIII]: files that show how the police slandered his lover Wallis Simpson. Portillo’s State Secrets 3/10: Celebrity and Scandals, BBC 2015
On the frozen weekend of 5th November 1936 a nerve-shredded King Edward VIII made a secret telephone call from his office in Buckingham Palace. In a private conversation with his brother he confided that he could no longer be King if it meant abandoning the woman he loved. But recently declassified documents have revealed that his every word was being scrutinised. Spying on the Royals I, Channel 4 2017
A King suspected of Nazi sympathies … and a top-secret surveillance operation against the King. ibid.
[Albert] Canning began to investigate her background … she had a frustratingly murky past. ibid.
The question of identity of Wallis’s second lover became all-consuming. ibid.
The Prince of Wales seemed set on a woman who seemed far from set on him. ibid.
The press abroad: and they were starting to run the story. Edward and Wallis were becoming more brazen. ibid.