Pictured 30 years after the Abdication Crisis, The Duke and Duchess of Windsor in 1966 – aged 73 and 71 respectively
In these posts you will find a selection of glimpses into a fascinating moment in twentieth century British history. A king – hugely popular with the people, whom Prime Minister Winston Churchill worked assiduously to retain on the throne – yet one who his official biographer reveals – had expressed a desire to abdicate the throne more than a decade before he met the love of his life. And the love of his life, an American socialite – whose family lines descended from Charlemagne and King Edward I – who, having courted a king’s attention, found herself cornered by his passionate, life-long love and adulation.
Yet all this time later there’s still mystery to the story. Sifting through the pieces of an aggressive decades’ long smear-campaign to separate reality from disinformation is not a simple exercise. Absent of the hysteria, what was the truth of it?
In later life as the Duke of Windsor
Enjoy the 10 POSTS below. In them you will find 7 VIDEOS including Rare Interview footage with the Duke and Duchess, all reflecting different facets of this fascinating story. Enjoy…
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 1: Popularity and Misgivings
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 2: Finding a Reason
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 3: Letters from A Corner
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 4: Managing Popularity
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 5: Varying the Succession
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 6: Preparations in Advance
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 7: The Last Straw
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 8: Family Ties & Nazi Sympathies
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 9: Goodwill and Infamy
The 1936 Abdication Crisis – Part 10: Four Rare Videos with Interview Footage
Sources:
The Heart has its Reasons – The Duchess of Windsor (D.McKay)
King Edward VIII – The Official Biography – Philip Ziegler (Harper Collins)
That Woman – Anne Sebba (St Martin’s Press)
Go-Betweens for Hitler – Dr Karina Urbach, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London .(Oxford University Press)
