PENGUIN BOOKS
THE PEOPLE'S KING
Susan Williams is a writer with a special interest in history and literature. Her most recent books include The Children of London (2001) and Ladies of Influence: Women of the Elite in Interwar Britain (2000) and she has also edited several anthologies, of which The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women won the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Award for Best Anthology in 1996. She grew up in Zambia and has worked as a writer and lecturer in Britain, Zimbabwe and Montreal. She now lives in London and is a historian at the University of London.
Susan Williams served as Historical Advisor to the Public Record Office for the release in 2003 of the government documents relating to the abdication.
SUSAN WILLIAMS
The People's King
The True Story of the Abdication
PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUIN BOOKS
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Published by Allen Lane 2003 Published in Penguin Books 2004 2
Copyright © Susan Williams, 2003 All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Typeset by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
For Tendayi and Monica
'He nothing common did or mean Upon that memorable scene'
Words spoken by Winston Churchill after saying farewell to King Edward VIII, 11 December 1936
from 'An Horatian Ode' by Andrew Marvell, 1650, on the beheading of King Charles I
Contents
List of illustrations
Photographic acknowledgements are given in parentheses. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders. The publishers will be happy to make good in future editions any errors or omissions brought to their attention.
1. Edward VIII walking to the Glebe Sports Ground at Abertillery, South Wales, November 1936 (Hulton Archive)
2. Edward with international troops on the Italian Front, 1917 (from F. G. H. Salusbury, George Vand Edward VIII: A Royal Souvenir, London, 1936)
3. Edward visiting Ontario Agricultural College, Canada, 1919 (Ibid.)
4. Edward visiting a miner's home in County Durham, 1929 (Popperfoto)
5. Edward presenting medals to players in a football cup final for unemployed men, early 1930s (Camera Press)
6. Edward receiving debutantes at Buckingham Palace, July 1936 (Topham Picturepoint)
7. Edward with his parents, Queen Mary and King George V, in 19x7 (courtesy A1 Fayed Archives)
8. The Duke and Duchess of York with their daughter Princess Elizabeth at the Richmond Horse Show, 1935 (Hulton Archive)
9. Wallis Simpson on holiday in Europe in 1929 with her aunt, 'Bessie' Merryman (Urban Archives, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)Wallis at the International Country Club, Wien Lainz, Austria, September 1936 (Victoria & Albert Museum Picture Library)
10. Wallis and Edward in Italy in 1936 (Pictorial Parade)
11. Wallis and Edward on holiday in Yugoslavia, 1936 (Hulton Archive)
12. Winston Churchill in conversation with Prince Edward, 1919 (Hulton Archive)
13. Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1929 (Hulton Archive)
14. Illustration of Stanley Baldwin speaking to the House of Commons, 4 December 1936 (Camera Press)
15. Crowd with anti-Baldwin banners outside Buckingham Palace, December 1936 (Popperfoto)
16. Telegram to Winston Churchill from the son of Sir Reginald Banks, December 1936 (Churchill College Archives, University of Cambridge (CHAR 2/599))
17. Letter to Edward from an anonymous correspondent, December 1936 (The Royal Archives, copyright © 2003 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
18. Letter to Edward from Harold H. Eastlake, December 1936 (The Royal Archives, copyright © 2003 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
II)
19. Letter to Edward from an anonymous correspondent, December 1936 (The Royal Archives, copyright © 2003 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
20. Wallis at Lou Viei, France, after the abdication (Victoria & Albert Museum Picture Library)
21. Edward and Wallis on their wedding day, Chateau de Cande, France, photographed by Cecil Beaton, 2 June 1937 (copyright © Cecil Beaton Photograph/courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum Picture Library)
22. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, photographed by Cecil Beaton, 1937 (copyright © Cecil Beaton Photograph/courtesy Camera Press)
Preface
In his portrait of Edward VIII in the Dictionary of National Biography, the historian John Grigg described the King as a man out of the ordinary, with virtues of moral and physical courage. 'He surely deserves honour', wrote Grigg, 'for the chivalrousness of his decision to abdicate, no less than the perfect constitutional propriety with which it was carried out." I was startled to read this warm description of Edward at the beginning of my research on the abdication. I had boundless respect for John Grigg, but little at that time for Edward. I shared most of the conventional - and unflattering - opinions about him and Wallis Simpson. My plan was to tell the story of the abdication through contemporary letters and the diaries of the British elite, most of whom regarded his approach to kingship as a threat to the survival of the monarchy. They thought even less of Mrs Simpson, and assumed that she was scheming to be Queen.
But I had barely scratched the surface of my research before I realized that the truth might be different. As I watched a newsreel of Edward VIII's tour of the Welsh valleys in November 1936 - when he urged that 'Something must be done' to find work for the unemployed - I saw a man who was visibly moved by the sufferings of the poor. He brought hope to the valleys, as to the other areas of unemployment he had visited as Prince of Wales, and the whole country seemed to admire and appreciate his efforts. I started to see the story of the abdication on a wider screen: it was no longer simply a tale of royalty and the Establishment, but included the ordinary people of Britain. Indeed, as I was later to discover, it also included the people of the Empire, across the globe. Edward's sixty million subjects counted as much in this story as the tiny circle of 'Society'.
Shortly after watching this newsreel, while doing some research at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, I stumbled - quite by chance - upon the diaries of a middle-aged linen draper in Belfast. The opinions he expressed in December 1936, just after the news of Edward's love for Wallis Simpson had broken in Britain, were very different from those I had found in Society diaries. As far as he was concerned, Edward was a fine King and Wallis Simpson a reasonable choice for a wife. I was fired with curiosity: how many other people had felt like he had? I started a search of record offices all over Britain and found many more diaries written by the general public - by the kind of people 'who li
ved faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs', as George Eliot put it in Middlemarch. Many of them, I discovered, were deeply sympathetic to Edward. Clearly, one's perception of the abdication changed if one looked outside and beyond the usual parameters of study.
Then the Royal Archives offered me access to a set of ten massive boxes, bursting with thousands of letters and telegrams that were sent to Edward during the weeks of the abdication crisis, from people all over Britain and from many other countries of the world. A former Assistant Private Secretary to Edward gave an account of these boxes in a note written nearly ten years after the abdication: 'They contain a remarkable cross-section of public opinion, from all classes, which should be of much interest & value to anyone who in years to come is writing about the Abdication.'
Some of the letters were hostile to Edward, others were written by cranks, but overwhelmingly they offered loyal and heartfelt support to the King. As I sat at a desk in the Round Tower at Windsor Castle, 1 was often moved by these letters: some were signed by every member of a family, from the smallest children to the grandparents; others were petitions signed by whole streets or by all the people in a cafe or a shop. Many were written by ex-servicemen, whose loyalty to Edward had been increased by the fact that he had shared with them the horrors of the First World War. With one letter there was a small packet containing one of a pair of four-leaf clovers. The veteran had been sent the clovers while he was serving at Gallipoli in 1915. Although the Allies had suffered a terrible and brutal defeat, with over two hundred thousand casualties, he had survived - thanks, he believed, to the clovers. He had carried them with him ever since, and now he hoped the King would accept one of the clovers 'for luck'.[1]
A striking feature of many letters is the acceptance of Wallis Simpson as a suitable wife for the King. Whereas the social elite dismissed her out of hand, many of the general public welcomed her as someone more like them - someone who came from an ordinary family and had struggled as they had themselves. 'A Commoner has a Soul & is worthy in the sight of God', wrote a woman from Wales, adding, 'It is character that Counts here, & in the Great Beyond, not a Tytle [sic]. The greatest thing in life is love & sympathy, & Your Majesty should be allowed to choose your Queen and help mate in life.'5 The fact that 'the Lady of your choice having been in a humbler position one time', said the wife of an unemployed ex-serviceman, was an advantage - 'she will know how to help you in doing what you have for the poor. Not like some who has never known what is to want a real meal, the same as I have. . . My wish is you will make the Lady of your Choice our Queen.'
I have quoted from a large number of these letters and telegrams in the book because they offer a unique window onto the attitudes and feelings of ordinary people. Many of the authors were not used to writing letters and had not received much schooling - as one person wrote, 'the writing and spelling is bad but my heart is good'. For the most part I have standarized the spelling and grammar, to make the book easier to read, but some of the idiosyncrasies have been left to keep the flavour of the letters. I have taken the same approach with the letters and telegrams sent to Stanley Baldwin and also to Winston Churchill, Edward's champion during the crisis - 'the ordinary letters from various people all over the country about the King', as a note to Mrs Churchill observed.
I was blessed with many strokes of good fortune in the course of my research for the book. One of these was the timely release in January 2003 of the government records relating to the abdication, which had been closed since 1936. I was honoured to serve as the Historical Advisor to The National Archives for this release, which gave me full access to the documents before they were opened to the public. For this privilege I am grateful to the Keeper, Sarah Tyacke, and to David Thomas. These documents - sprinkled liberally with the words 'Secret', 'Very Secret', and 'Top Secret' - have filled some important gaps in knowledge and have helped me to understand better the relationships between crown and government between the wars. This new information has wonderfully fleshed out the story told in this book. My time at The National Archives was exciting, and it was a great pleasure to work with Clea Relly, Robert Smith, and Stephen Twigge.
Research for the book depended on access to public record collections across Britain, and all of those consulted are listed at the end of the book. I was given generous help by librarians and archivists and should like to mark out two people for special thanks: John Gurney, Curatorial Officer of the Historical Manuscripts Commission; and Carolyn Jacob at the Merthyr Tydfil Public Library. The resources and expertise of the British Library (not least the Western Manuscripts and the Oriental and India Collections) and the Newspaper Library at Colindale were indispensable, as were the books and the wonderful flexibility of the London Library.
I am indebted to the following institutions for their help and for permission to make use of documents in their custody: Amgueddfa Pontypool Museum, and the assistance of Glyn Lloyd; Fototeca Berenson, Florence, and the help of Fiorella Gioffredi Superbi; Birmingham City Archives, where I benefited from outstanding help from Rachel MacGregor; Bristol Record Office, and the assistance of Rob
Petre; Caernafon Record Office; the Syndics of Cambridge University Library; East Sussex Record Office; Gwent Record Office, and the assistance of Luned Davies; the Kensington and Chelsea Reference Library; the Centre for Kentish Studies; the Lincolnshire Archive; Special Collections and Archives at the Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool; Mass-Observation Archive, University of Sussex; the London Metropolitan Archives; the Manuscripts and Archives Division at the New York Public Library, with special and much appreciated help from John D. Stinson; the Special Collections of the Robinson Library, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and the assistance of Lesley Gordon; the Modern Papers and John Johnson Reading Room at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, where all the staff deserve prizes; the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland; Somerset Record Office; Staffordshire Record Office at Stoke on Trent, where I was given wonderful help by Liz Street; King's College Library, University of Cambridge, and the assistance of Rosalind Moad; the Archives, University of Wales Swansea; Archives and Manuscripts at the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine; Westminster Library; West Sussex Record Office; and the West Yorkshire Archive Service: Bradford, where I was fortunate to be given excellent assistance by Lorraine Mackenzie.
This book relies heavily on papers that are held privately. Earl Baldwin gave me access to and permission to quote from the papers of Lucy Baldwin, and Lord Crathorne photocopied for me the abdication papers of his mother, Nancy Dugdale. I enjoyed stimulating discussions on various occasions with both Lord Baldwin and Lord Crathorne, who offered new insights into the abdication and a better understanding of the complexities of the period. Lady Mairi Bury kindly allowed me to quote from the papers of her mother, Edith Lady Londonderry. John Simon gave me permission to quote from the Simon Papers; George Trevelyan gave me permission to quote from the Moorman Papers; and Mr P. M. Furbank, the Turing Executor, gave me permission to quote from the Turing Archive. I am also grateful to Robin Dower for the permission of the Trustees of the Trevelyan Family Papers at the Robinson Library, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Ted Rowlands has taken a real interest in this book and provided me with information about the history of South Wales. Chandrika Kaul, a historian at the University of St Andrews, shared with me her unique knowledge of Edward's tour of India. Philip Williamson of Durham University has generously shared sources and information, and we have enjoyed discussing the subject of the abdication together. Andrej Olechnowicz, also at Durham, gave me a set of the Hilda Runciman and Trevelyan papers; he organized a conference on 'Manipulating the Monarchy' at Durham University in April 2002, where I had the opportunity to air some of my ideas and to participate in stimulating debate. Barbara Naegele in Ottawa sent me details about Edward's time in Canada. I am grateful to Steve Bailey and to Bill Barrell for information about postage rates in the past. Access to the photograph
s in the Windsor Albums was provided by the Victoria & Albert Museum, where Martin Durrant was especially helpful. Ann Towns made some excellent suggestions on searching for diaries. Bernard Welchman searched various local archives on my behalf; and Elizabeth Murray, with her characteristic efficiency and reliability, carried out some vital research. At moments of computer crisis I have been expertly bailed out by Alisdair Duthart.
Newsreels are an area of special expertise, and I was fortunate to meet Luke McKernan, Head of Information at the British Universities Film & Video Council, who helped me with all kinds of information. So did David Haynes of British Pathe, who also arranged for me to view numerous Pathe newsreels. Barbara Heavens, Senior Librarian at British Movietone News, answered all my queries and thoughtfully sent me shot lists. At the British Film Institute's National Film & Television Archive, I was ably assisted by Steve Tollervey, Chief Viewing Technician
Philip Ziegler's brilliant biography of Edward VIII is an essential source for anyone working in this area. I am heavily indebted both to the book and to Philip himself, who kindly set aside some time to talk to me, at my request. At the time I had been concerned about some aspects of the book; I emerged from our discussion thinking more clearly and feeling much happier. I am also grateful to Michael Bloch, whose books have made an important contribution to scholarship on the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Michael generously shared his ideas with me and also went to considerable trouble to find the print of the image that appears on the jacket. I should also like to acknowledge a debt to Greg King's outstanding biography of the Duchess of Windsor.
Many friends and colleagues helped me with this book. It is a pleasure to thank the kind and generous people who read and offered criticism and comments on the various drafts: Dennis Dean, Gervase Hood, Jackie Lee, and Margaret Wynn. All these readers improved the book immeasurably.
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