The Abdication Crisis - Part Two

Fort Belvedere

Link here to;

The Abdication Crisis - Part One

PART TWO - THE ABDICATION AND AFTERMATH

After a tumultuous early December 1936, King Edward VIII had been left with two options.  The first, give up any thoughts of marriage to the twice divorced Wallis Simpson, and remain King. Or abdicate and marry. The government, under Stanley Baldwin, was unwilling to consider necessary legislative changes that might have enabled the marriage on any terms, and the King was equally determined. The result was inevitable.

On December 10th, 1936, at his Fort Belvedere retreat, the King signed the Instrument of Abdication, in the presence of his three brothers, who also countersigned the document.   

The following day, the former King broadcast to the Empire on the BBC, and was introduced as His Royal Highness, Prince Edward;

"...At long last I am able to say a few words of my own.  I have never wanted to withhold anything, but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak.  A few hours ago, I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him.  This I do with all my heart..."

"...I now quit altogether public affairs and lay down my burden.  It may be some before I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British race and empire with profound interest, and if at any time in the future I can be found of service to his Majesty in a private station, I shall not fail..."

The key  element of the speech, and probably the best known, was his succinct explanation of his reasons;

"...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..."  

The speech can be read in its entirety here;

Edward VIII - Complete Abdication Broadcast Transcript

The following summer, the former King, now Duke of Windsor, and Wallis Simpson,  were married in France. None of the Royal Family attended, and celebrations were dampened by  the fact that the new Duchess would be denied royal rank (HRH; Her Royal Highness).   The rift in the royal family was now beyond repair, with anger and bitterness on both sides.  There ensued  arguments over the Duke and Duchess's financial settlement, when it was discovered that the Duke had not been entirely honest about the extent of his personal wealth, claiming he had around 90 000 pounds to his name, when he actually had saved as much as 1 000 000 pounds from his royal revenues.  

You can listen to a number of  fascinating first-hand recollections of the wedding, and the preceding crisis, thanks to the BBC Witness History programme.  Link here;

BBC Witness History - Edward and Mrs Simpson

The Duke's younger brother Bertie, Duke of York, had succeeded as George VI.  After an anxious beginning, it soon became apparent that his work ethic and adherence to the old traditions set him apart from his wayward brother.  He had a clear understanding of what was expected of him, his first duty, in his own words, to stabilise this rocking throne.   The subsequent coronation had a healing effect upon the nation, and even supporters of the former King fell in to line.  On observing the blessing of the Queen Consort as part of the Coronation ceremonies, Winston Churchill, according to his daughter Lady Soames, commented to his wife Clementine; you were  quite right, the other one would never have done.

The previously warm relationship between Winston Churchill and the former King soon cooled.  In 2001, the Telegraph reported on

Churchill's frustration at the Duke's clumsy attempts to meddle in British foreign affairs, and over a number of petty demands  made around the time of the Duke's appointment as Governor of the Bahamas in 1940. Questions were raised over the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's alleged Nazi sympathies, and even of a plot to restore him to the throne in the event of Nazi annexation of Great Britain.  

The Duke's tenure as governor ended in 1945, after which the Duke and Duchess lived in Paris as society retirees.

In 1969, the Duke and Duchess granted an interview to the BBC, during which they talked about their lives in Paris society.  The Duchess told the reporter;

"...I have a great many young people come here because that makes me feel young.  They behave like we did when we were young...They do little dances I don't know, they show them to me and we all try..."

The Duke added;

"...The Duchess and I are a little past the age of  being what they call with it today...But don't  for one minute imagine that we weren't with it when we were younger, in fact, I was so much with it, that that was one of the big criticisms that was levelled against me by the older generation..."

With President Nixon

The Duchess described her husband as ahead of his time, and observed that the Establishment, during the time the Duke had been Prince of Wales, had not been ready for his desire to modernise the business and image of the Royal Family,

"...He was very interested in everything that was going on, in people...he made a lot of trips, not only ceremonials but to go down among the people, which, for me as an American, is what I'm used to people doing, and I thought  that was very clever..."

The Duke told the BBC interviewer that he had offered his services to Britain, but had been rebuffed.  He wouldn't be drawn on why no job offer had been forthcoming, but made the point that most the the people who had prevented his return to any kind of public service were now underground.  Other reports suggested that the Duke's acceptance of any such role would be conditional upon the Duchess finally receiving her HRH, the absence of which remained a festering source of resentment. Inevitably, the stalemate remained.

In the absence of any meaningful work, the Duke and Duchess spent their time socialising, travelling in Europe, and overseeing their investments.  The Duke himself remained a keen golfer, but household sources suggested that this was not the kind of life that either Edward nor the former Mrs Simpson had envisaged for themselves, and they both regretted their inability to be useful.   On nights in which there were no parties or interesting company as a distraction, the mood was apparently often silent and a little bleak.

The Duke died of throat cancer in 1972, at which time his body was flown back to England by the RAF, for a traditional lying-in-state and subsequent funeral service at St George's Chapel, Windsor.  Thousands of people, queuing for miles and waiting for hours, as the Associated Press reported, came to pay their respects. The Duchess of Windsor was afforded a royal fight to Britain and accommodated at Buckingham Palace, after the Queen had visited them in Paris in the Duke's final days, where it appeared there was some resolution of the family rift. The Express reported that even the Queen Mother agreed to the attend services at the graveside, in a further gesture of reconciliation.

In the ensuing years, the Duchess' own health declined.  She died in 1986, having unsuccessfully tried to stop the award winning Thames Television series, Edward and Mrs Simpson, which aired to great acclaim in 1978.  

The Duchess was buried alongside her husband in the Royal burial ground, Frogmore.  The service, also in St George's chapel, was described as simple and stripped of all trappings of state.  The Royal Family, including the  Queen Mother, were all in attendance.

Here is a contemporary (BBC) news report of the funeral.

End Notes;

The Sun from the Summer of 1977. The death of Elvis predictably dominates, but it's interesting to note reference to the Duchess at the bottom of the page.







The mini-series, Edward and Mrs Simpson, starred Edward Fox as the King and Cynthia Harris as Wallis Simpson.   It appears to be historically accurate, with scenes actually shot at Fort Belvedere, and including verbatim re-creation of speeches, public and private.  The art direction, costumes and performances bring you as close to the 1930s as you could possibly be without a time machine.  Perhaps there is an argument that the portrayal of the the Prince of Wales, then King, was just a little too sympathetic, something that was remedied years later in a drama more from the point of view of the Duke and Duchess of York, Bertie and Elizabeth.

Read more about Edward and Mrs Simpson here;

BFI Screen Online - Edward and Mrs Simpson

SOURCES:
The Express
The Telegraph
The Guardian
AP reporting
BBC reporting
BBC World Service (Witness History)

Photographs are Public Domain unless otherwise specified.

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(c) 2019 George Fairbrother.

The Abdication Crisis - Part One

In the autumn  of 1936, and around the time of the
Jarrow March, King Edward VIII toured the Welsh Valleys, where poverty and unemployment were laying waste to the remnants of coal mining communities. While much of middle-class London and the Home Counties remained generally prosperous during the Great Depression, conditions were very different in the North and in Wales. The King was deeply affected by his visit to Wales, and publicly stated;  something should be done to find these people work.  This quote was also reported as something must be done, but either way, the King's contribution  wasn't appreciated by the Baldwin National Government, with whom a final showdown was looming over his desire to marry the twice-divorced American, Bessie Wallis Simpson, known as Wallis.  

By December he had abdicated, telling the Empire by means of a radio broadcast that he was unable to discharge his duties as King, on his own terms, without Wallis by his side.  His younger brother, the Duke of York, succeeded as George VI, and the following year the former King, now Duke of Windsor, married Mrs Simpson in what was a rather sparsely attended and sad affair in France.  The refusal  to grant the new Duchess royal rank, (HRH; Her Royal Highness) put something of a dampener on the celebrations, and was, perhaps, the last nail in the coffin of already strained relations within the Royal Family, whose female members the Duke of Windsor famously described as ice-veined bitches.  

How had it come to this?  As Prince of Wales, Edward, then known as David, was enormously popular and was described in the vernacular of the times as dedicated to fashion.  He was outgoing, charming, charismatic and good-looking; a 1930s equivalent of a rock star. He moved in a social circle of which his rigidly straight-laced father, George V, strongly  disapproved. As Prince of Wales, David enjoyed a close and loving relationship with his younger brother Bertie (then Duke of York), and his mischievous nature appealed to Bertie's wife Elizabeth, Duchess of York, (later Queen Mother), who had once written to the Prince of Wales, describing him as so naughty but delicious.

In 1934, David had begun a relationship with Wallis Simpson, who was at that time married to Ernest Simpson, a successful shipping agent. Rumours of this liaison eventually reached the Prince's parents, King George V and Queen Mary, however the Prince of Wales denied any impropriety.  With the prince spending so much time, at home and abroad,  with the still married Mrs Simpson, his royal duties were neglected, frustrating his father, who predicted that the boy will ruin himself in eighteen months after I've gone.  

The relationship continued, unreported by the press yet tolerated by the Establishment, and, it would seem, by Mr Simpson himself, and thoroughly enjoyed by elements of high society.  Upon the death of  George V in January of 1936, David ascended the throne as Edward VIII. 

But it soon became apparent that Mrs Simpson was far more than simply another in a line of married mistresses.  There was a degree of perceived safety provided by the fact that Wallis Simpson was married, but when the decree nisi (first stage of divorce proceedings) was granted in October 1936, and when the King finally told Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin of his desire to marry her, and make her Queen, both the government and the Church of England stood firm in their opposition.

Although it's hard to understand by current standards, the royals, in those days,  were supposed to set the moral example, and having a divorced woman as Queen Consort, Anglican bishops asserted, would undermine the family unit, the bedrock of British christian respectability. The King was also was Defender of the Faith, and at that time the church did not recognise the marriage of divorced persons. 

Sir Robert Rhodes James, author of A Spirit Undaunted -The Political Role of George VI, said;

"...The key moment was when (The King)  told Baldwin, the Prime Minister this, and then he, and not Baldwin, said, that if you don't agree, I will abdicate.  He was the person that first introduced the thought of abdication into their discussion, which was a threat.  And this revealed that the King had no idea whatever, of the Constitutional Monarchy.  The Monarchy is perfectly entitled to argue, to warn, to complain, to discuss.  What he has no right to do, is tell the Prime Minister of an elected government what to do..." 
  

The King's own behavior during the first months of his reign left himself open to feelings resentment and frustration.  There were raised eyebrows when Wallis assumed the duties of official hostess at a number of functions.  As the King's Godson, David Metcalfe, later recalled; 

"...(Wallis) was soon running the show, and the King did  as he was asked..."

Lord Deedes, a journalist for the Morning Post from 1931-37, described the King's attitude thus, in a 1999 BBC documentary;

"...He was impatient with what many people felt was an important surrounding of majesty...He was impatient with majesty...He was more a man of this age, than his own age.  He began to deformalise the court..."

In stark contrast to his father, the new King was not scrupulously attentive to his royal duties.  Official documents were returned unsigned and with circular stains from wine glasses, and he spent his time largely at Fort Belvedere with Mrs Simpson and her racy circle of friends.   Wallis' own attitude did not endear her; long serving royal attendants were treated poorly, she disparaged Balmoral (This Tartan has got to go) and was disrespectful to the Duchess of York, commenting unkindly about her weight and her clothes. 

The Duchess of York, for her part, was certainly no fan of Mrs Simpson, and her feelings toward her brother-in-law had also cooled dramatically.  She wrote  that the country was different, especially spiritually and mentally, since the death of George V, lamenting the pursuit of fashion rather than tradition.  The relationship  between the hitherto close brothers also became strained, and there emerged two rival royal courts, with very different values.

Although the romance had been reported in the United States, and was an open secret in London society, the vast majority of the British public remained oblivious. A gentlemen's agreement was in place between the proprietors of British newspapers and there was, as a result, no local reporting.  As the conflict with the government deepened, the King was taking advice from supporters including Conservative backbencher Winston Churchill, press baron Lord Beaverbrook,  and the King's  old friend and lawyer, Walter Monckton.  

One proposed compromise was a morganatic marriage, whereby the consort would not be Queen, and any children would fall outside of the line of succession.  The Statute of Westminster, however,  set out in law that dominions must be consulted if there was going to be any change to the accepted rules of succession. Following consultation in writing,  Baldwin claimed that almost all of the dominion governments opposed the marriage, even on morganatic terms. Only New Zealand demurred,  replying to Prime Minister Baldwin that they would respect the Kings wishes, and the government's decision.   In 2013, however, the Telegraph wrote that the opposition to the marriage might not have been as strong as Baldwin led the King to believe, citing (although not specifying) public support in new Zealand and Canada for the morganatic marriage.  Yet Baldwin and the government stood firm. The King remained equally adamant that he would not give up Mrs Simpson, to the dismay of Prime Minister Baldwin, Queen Mary, and other members of the Royal family.  The uncertainty took a particularly heavy emotional toll on the King's brother, the next in line, who, despite cracks in their relationship, remained loyal and supportive. 

Baldwin made it clear that if the King defied his government, the Prime Minister and Cabinet  would resign. The Opposition, led by future Labour  Prime Minister Clement Attlee, would likely refuse to form any kind of government so there would be a constitutional crisis, and deeply divisive general election with the King's personal life and royal scandal the central issue.  


At the beginning of December, following a vague reference to the King in a speech by the Bishop of Bradford, the press decided to break their silence, and events gathered pace. 

A newsreel of the day reported;

"...Ever since the newspapers, which had observed silence for months, first uncovered the soul-rending drama being fought out in the solitude of Fort Belvedere, the whole emotional life of the nation, indeed of the entire British race, has seemed to hang poised in suspense..."

Winston Churchill (1935 Photograph) 

The King had prepared a speech, apparently with some help from Winston Churchill,  to put his position to the British public through a radio broadcast. Baldwin subsequently described  the proposed speech as a grave breach of constitutional principle.

"...Such a broadcast can only be given on the advice of his ministers, who would be responsible for every sentence of it...For the King to broadcast in disregard of that advice, would be appealing over the heads of his constitutional advisers...The last time when this  happened in history was when Charles the First raised his standard at the beginning of the Civil War on August 22nd, 1642..."

And look what happened to him, Mr Baldwin might just as well have said.  The Prime Minister also suggested that the Royal Household's most loyal constituency, the womenfolk of Britain, would be shocked to hear directly from the King of his intention to marry a woman still, in the eyes of the church at least, married to another man. 

Keen to bring the matter to a conclusion, the Prime Minister was no doubt frustrated by the efforts of the King's supporters, including Churchill, to play for time.  Government was being disrupted, and there were grumblings that the Christmas trade was suffering. The day after Baldwin refused the King' permission to make his public statement, Churchill wrote to the Prime Minister;

"...The King having told me that he had your permission to see me as an old friend, I dined with His Majesty last night and had a long talk with him.  I strongly urged his staff to call a doctor.   His Majesty appeared to me to be under the greatest strain and near breaking point...He had two prolonged blackouts in which he completely lost the thread of the conversation..."

Churchill described how, during the dinner,  the King's gallant and debonair demeanor soon wore off and how His Majesty's mental exhaustion was painful to see.  He appealed to Baldwin not to fail in kindness and chivalry and that;

"...It would be a most cruel and wrong thing to extort a decision from him in his present state..."

On Friday, 4th December, the Prime Minister spoke in the House of Commons, and was subsequently reported in the Daily Mirror the following day, with the provocative headline; Tell us the Facts, Mr Baldwin.;

Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin

"...Suggestions have appeared that if the King decided to marry, his wife need not become Queen. These ideas are without any constitutional foundation...There is no such thing as what is called a morganatic marriage known to our law......The King himself requires no consent from any other authority to make his marriage legal, but, as I have said, the lady whom he marries, by the fact of her marriage to the King, necessarily becomes Queen...She herself therefore enjoys all the status, rights and privileges which, both by positive law and by custom, attaches to that position. And her children would be in direct line of succession to the throne...The only possible way in which this could be avoided would be by legislation dealing with a particular case.  His Majesty's government are not prepared to introduce such legislation... Such a change could not be effective without the consent of all the dominions.  I am satisfied from enquiries I have made, that this assent would not be forthcoming..."

Winston Churchill publicly pleaded for time and patience for the King, then on the following Monday, continued his advocacy on the floor of the House of Commons. His attempt at a question;  I ask that there should be an assurance that no irrevocable step...was aggressively shouted down by members across the House.  After words of caution from the Speaker to the effect that he should ask a direct question and not make a speech,  Churchill tried again;

"...I ask that there should be an assurance that no irrevocable decision will be taken until at least a statement has been made to Parliament of the constitutional issues involved..."

But by now, parliament, and public opinion, appeared to be united, and firmly on the side of Stanley Baldwin.  Churchill's question was ruled out of order, and the House moved onto other business of the day.

Link here to part two;

The Abdication Crisis - Part Two

Sources;

The Telegraph
The Guardian
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Express

Edward and Mrs Simpson (Thames Television 1978)  Additional research and verification  shows this to be a generally reliable account, including speeches quoted verbatim)
George VI-The Reluctant King (BBC Reputations Series, 1999)
Winston Churchill Blog by Bradley P Tolppanen
BBC World Service (Witness)

Photo Credits;

Public Domain unless specified
Edward and Wallis -By National Media Museum  
Edward in top hat ; Bundes Archive Link to Source


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Diversity in the Commons

The 1987 UK General Election saw the emergence, for the first time, of three MPs of African and/or Caribbean background, all on the Labour side. Bernie Grant was elected MP for Tottenham, Paul Boateng for Brent South,  and Diane Abbott for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.  

It's interesting to note that the first MP of South Asian background was Dadabhai Naoroji, who served as Liberal MP for Finsbury Central (1892-95) and had been one of the founding fathers of the Indian National Congress in 1885. On the Conservative side, Sir Mancherjee Merwanjee Bhownaggree served as MP for Bethnal Green Northeast from 1895-1906.  These two pioneering MPs don't take into account the presence of David Dyce Sombre, an Anglo-Indian, who had a fleeting career as MP for Sudbury, but was unseated for corruption in the 1840s.

But to the class of '87...

Bernie Grant

Bernie Grant is described as one of the most charismatic black political leaders of modern times, on the website 100 Great Black Britons.  Tony Blair said that he was an inspiration to Black British communities everywhere. 

Bernard Alexander Montgomery (Bernie) Grant was born in 1944, in British Guiana, now Guyana.  He arrived in Britain at the age of 19, and began working for British Rail.  He soon became active in  trade union affairs, including the Black Trade Unionists Solidarity Movement, and after a decade as a Councillor for the London Borough of Haringey, was elected as its leader in 1985.  He was the first black leader of a local authority, and at the general election of 1987, was elected Labour MP for Tottenham.

Bernie Grant was seen as being toward the radical socialist Left of the Labour Party, and earned a reputation for outspokenness and independence.  He fought against racism and discrimination on the basis of gender or sexuality, advocated for those with disabilities, and worked tirelessly for social justice.

His career was not without controversy.  Following rioting in the Broadwater Farm area of his borough in 1985, resulting in the death of a police officer, Grant opined that the general feeling within the community was that the police had been given a bloody good hiding.  

Having battled ill-health for some time, he died in 2000, at the age of 56.

Mike Phillips, writing The Guardian's obituary,  said this;

"...Even those who characterised him as rash and hasty, acknowledged that he was likeable, charming, generous to friends and enemies, and relentlessly honest.  Those closest to him understood that he never accepted the dogmatic positions of faction and party.  He had a passionate devotion to an ideal of justice, and be believed that politics was about these notions..." 

Read in more detail about the life and professional achievements of Bernie Grant here;

The Bernie Grant Archive (Official)

Paul Boateng

Paul Boateng was born in London in 1951.  He spent his early years in Ghana, his father being a Cabinet Minister in the Ghanaian government.   Following a military coup in 1966, his family returned to England, and by the late 1970s, Paul Boateng was building a reputation as a crusading housing and civil rights lawyer in Lambeth, South London.  He was elected to the GLC (Greater London Council) in 1981, and served on the police and ethnic minorities committees.  As chair of the police committee, he fought for  greater accountability from the Metropolitan Police, particularly in their dealings with minority and disadvantaged communities. He was elected as Labour MP for Brent South at the general election of 1987.  He was part of the move toward a more moderate ideology that was emerging under the leadership of Neil Kinnock, and served in a number of key Opposition posts.   

Ten years later,  Tony Blair's New Labour  defeated the Tories under incumbent Prime Minister John Major, consigning them to Opposition for the first time since 1979.   Boateng  served as a junior minister for Health and Home Affairs, and as a financial secretary at the Treasury.  

In 2002, he achieved another milestone, when he was promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, becoming the first black member of the Cabinet.   He did not seek reelection in 2005, and subsequently served as British High Commissioner to South Africa. In 2010 he was granted a Life Peerage, as Baron Boateng of Akyem and Wembley.   

Of his background, he once said; 

"...My colour is part of me, but I do not choose to be defined by my colour..."

You can follow Lord Boateng's latest work at his official parliamentary page here;

UK Parliament - Lord Boateng

Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott was born in Paddington, London in 1953, to Jamaican parents.  Having achieved a Masters Degree in history at Cambridge, she went into the Civil Service, then worked as a journalist, broadcaster and PR Consultant.  She was active in the National Council for Civil Liberties, and in the general election of 1987 was elected Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, becoming Britain's  first black female MP.

Her areas of particular interest include human rights  and justice, in Britain and abroad.  Like her fellow class of '87 MPs featured here, she has also been a vocal - and at times controversial - on issues around race-relations, social and class issues, policing ethnically diverse and minority communities, and the relentlessly controversial issue of police stop-and-search powers.  She founded the London Schools and the Black Child initiative, to work towards greater equality in education, as well as Black Women Mean Business, to  encourage and support black women entrepreneurs. 

Her poor media performance during the 2017 election campaign attracted widespread criticism, although she later explained that her Diabetes had been poorly managed during this period of intense personal pressure.  In spite of her stumbles, her personal popularity was undiminished, and she won in a landslide, with a constituency majority in excess of 35 000, or 75.1% in percentage terms.  

She served as Shadow Home Secretary under leader Jeremy Corbyn, however stood down in February 2020.

You can listen to Diane Abbott's 2008 interview on the BBC's Desert Island Discs programme here;

BBC Desert Island Discs

Her official website can be found here:

Diane Abbott (Official)

The first Conservative MP of African or Caribbean background is Adam Afriyie, MP for Windsor since 2005, and who has Ghanaian heritage.  Link here to his parliamentary web page;

Adam Afriyie Parliamentary Page

The focus of this piece has been purely on the first black MPs in Britain.  It's worth noting also that at the general election of 1987, Keith Vaz  won the constituency of Leicester East, and was the longest serving MP of Asian background until his controversial career ended in late 2019.  

Sources and credits (other than already specified in main text);

The Independent (online)

Operation Black Vote (website)

BBC News (online)

History of Parliament Online

Photo Credits:

Bernie Grant    Voice Online (UK)

Diane Abbott   Chris McAndrew - Official Portrait; Link to Details

Paul Boateng   UK Parliament-Official Portrait

Diane Abbott (Black and White)  Tides of History by Mark Broxton


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An ongoing important character in the Armstrong and Burton series is Janice Best, Tory MP for the fictional constituency of Streatham and Vauxhall, from 1979 to 1987.  Janice is the only black MP in our slightly adjusted Conservative Party, and serves briefly as a junior whip, then as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Sir Norman Armstrong at the Home Office.