In the final part of our series on the Abdication crisis of 1936, we answer your questions. With Royal History Geeks creator, Gareth Streeter and Royal commentator, James Taylor.

The reign of King Edward VIII is over.  Now, the newly created Duke of Windsor begins his exile.  Painfully for Edward, he must wait several long months before he can make Wallis his Duchess.  This episode briefly explores the aftermath of the Abdication crisis. 

During this episode, RHG founder Gareth Streeter and Royal commentator James Taylor explore: 

• The immediate ‘logistics’ around the Duke’s relocation
•  A glimpse of happiness at the end of the worst year of Queen Mary’s life
• The controversy around the Windsor’s wedding, the date and the lack of Royal attendance
• The (questionably legal) decision to deny Wallis the HRH style
• The Duke and Duchess’s Nazi links and role in the war
• The “snub” to the Windsor’s at Princess Elizabeth’s wedding
• The ultimate death of the Duke and later the Duchess

After six weeks of build up, it is finally time to explore the actual Abdication of Edward VIII – the only truly voluntary surrendering of the throne in history.

It this episode, RHG founder Gareth Streeter and Royal commentator, James Taylor explore:

• The “last supper” where the Prime Minister tries to convince the King to stay but is denied a bed for the night
• The Duke of York and his last-minute preparations for the crown
• The Cabinet’s rush to prepare the legislation for Abdication
• Baldwin’s surprisingly spectacular Commons performance and the beginnings of the romantic myth of the crisis
• Queen Mary’s subtle sign of support for the government
• The arrangements for Edward’s future including title and income
• Edward’s master piece of a broadcast to the nation

Although Edward has now left the throne, this is not the end of the series. Next week we shall explore the aftermath.

In this episode we pause the continuity of the crisis to take a look at how the events of 1936 affected members of the Royal family. Despite it having huge repercussions on their lives, Britain’s premier pedigree were not major players in the crisis (apart from the King, of course). However, this is a ROYAL history podcast so we wanted to take a moment to look at events from the family’s vantage point.

In this episode, RHG founder Gareth Streeter and Royal commentator James Taylor discuss:

• Queen Mary, her background and reaction to the crisis
• The Duke and Duchess of York’s fears as they prepare to assume power
• The beginnings of the Duchess of York’s (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) feud with Wallis Simpson
• The closeness between Edward VIII and Princess Mary, the Princess Royal
• The wayward Duke of Kent and how some thought he should be King
• The cool relationship between Henry, Duke of Gloucester and his eldest brother

This episode also features comments by Elizabeth Basford, author of “Princess Mary: The First Modern Princess.”

When the story of the King’s relationship with the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson broke in the press, Edward VIII believed his abdication was inevitable.  But for a brief moment on the 4th and 5th of December, it looked as if a flicker of public support might light a path for his survival.

In the latest episode of “Royal Revolutions”, RHG founder Gareth Streeter and Royal commentator James Taylor discuss:

• Wallis’s tumultuous escape from Britain to France
• The motivations of the King’s supporters
• The media reaction and hints of public support for the King
• Why Harry Enfield ruined a teenage Gareth’s life back in the 90s
• Wallis’s latest attempts to break it off with the King
• The King’s planned broadcast appeal to the nation that never aired
• Baldwin’s fears of the constitutional settlement being overturned
• Winston Churchill’s outspoken role in the crisis
• Concerns about the legality of Wallis’s divorce

We are again joined by historian Adrian Phillips who helps us make sense of what the so-called “King’s Party” was.

By Gareth Streeter

Until recently I’d never given Wallis Simpson any serious thought.

As a Royal history geek from a young age, I encountered her role in the origin story of Elizabeth II, but by the time I was old enough to digest any relevant comment, the “what a wicked woman that stole the King away” narrative had largely dissipated.  The 90s, compared to previous decades, was a more sympathetic time.

Subconsciously, I think I had viewed her as a kind of 20^th-century Anne Boleyn.  She was supposedly not conventionally beautiful so there must have been something captivating about her that could tempt a King away from the lures and responsibility of ruling his empire.  I assumed that like Anne, she must have been a sparkling intellect, an unapparelled wit and a woman of fierce ambitions.

Devoted Royal history geeks will know that we are currently in the midst of a podcast series on the Abdication crisis.  While studying sources and scholarship, I’ve had big reasons to doubt this take on Wallis.  Here are three reasons why:

• Even Anne Boleyn’s fiercest critics would concede that the ill-fated Tudor Queen was a woman of impressive intellect.  With Wallis, there is little sign of much intellectual curiosity.  She certainly appealed to Edward VIII through her directness and – most importantly – her willingness to put him down.  But while Henry VIII was a reasonably clever man that required a very intellectual woman to outsmart him (as both his first two wives seem to have done), getting one over on Edward VIII was a much easier task
• Historians and enthusiasts debate the extent to which Anne Boleyn pursued a political agenda but I would argue she was a driving force behind religious reform.  Wallis seems to have no real political or societal agenda.  She may have wanted to be Queen when she thought it required little beyond wearing jewellery and entertaining friends at a palace but she seems to have shrunk away from any role in public life.  Years after the abdication, when asked about pressing social issues, she talked about the plight of rich widows who now received fewer dinner invitations.  A social reformer, she was not
• Anne also understood politics.  Yes, she ultimately came undone through a political miscalculation to take on Cromwell.  But this was after years of successfully using every tool at her disposal to get what she wanted, even when she had to move heaven and earth to do so.  Wallis, as one half of the doomed duo known as “Wallis and Edward”, habitually misread the public mood and made huge political errors.  Though I reserve the right to change my mind, I currently view the couple’s Nazi associations as an example of complete naivety, selfishness and foolishness rather than an act of decided political calculation

Do check out the first season of “Royal Revolutions” to join us as we journey through the tumultuous events of 1936…

As Wallis Simpson awaits her divorce hearing, the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, pleads with Edward VIII to change course.  From that moment, the relationship between the King and Mrs Simpson becomes an official issue of government business and the event can truly be called a constitutional crisis.

In the latest episode of our series on the abdication crisis, James Taylor and Gareth Streeter discuss:

• The King’s attitude toward the Prime Minister and the government
• Wallis’s divorce and the fallout
• The King’s dinner with Queen Mary, when he broke the news that he intended to marry Mrs Simpson
• The idea of a morganatic marriage and the attempts to find a compromise
• A controversial speech by an obscure Bishop
• The breaking of the story in the press

We were also joined by historian Adrian Phillips to learn more about Stanley Baldwin and his attitude toward the crisis.

As the events of 1936 heat up, the King abandons the traditional Balmoral summer for a pleasure cruise of the Balkans. The world media goes crazy for pictures of the King and Mrs Simpson. The pressure begins to get too much for Wallis.

In this episode, Royal commentator James Taylor joins RHG founder, Gareth Streeter to discuss:

• Churchill’s “failure” to tell the King and Wallis what they want to hear
• Edward’s “sulky” attitude toward his duties
• Why someone, please, in the name of mercy, needs to think of the poor debutantes
• Whether Wallis was intelligent
• Observations of Edward and Wallis’s behaviour on the Balkan trip, based on eye-witness testimony
• Wallis’s attempt to break it all off
• The King abandoning his duties to collect Wallis from Aberdeen station

Gareth also embarks on a rant about Edward acting like a rebel within the system, rather than the head of the system with real agency to make change if only he had the courage to confront.

The second part in our series on the Abdication crisis of 1936.

Edward VIII ascends the throne and immediately begins a subtle but determined campaign to position Wallis Simpson as his consort.

But even without the dangers posed by Wallis, Edward soon begins to ruffle feathers.  Among government, fears abound around the new King’s reliability, capability and political instincts.

This episode again sees Royal commentator James Taylor team up with RHG founder, Gareth Streeter to discuss the unfolding crisis.  It also features a guest interview with Adrian Phillips, author the “The King who had to go”.

We discuss:

• The circumstances of Edward’s ascension and his immediate decision to break protocol by watching his own proclamation with Wallis
• Concerns about the new King’s reliability and work ethic
• The early intervention of Cosmo Lang and Edward’s relationship with this seasoned Archbishop of Canterbury
• The politics of the 1930s and the circumstances that made Edward’s German sympathies more difficult to manage
• A potential plot to assassinate the King?
• Wallis Simpson’s first steps in divorcing her husband Ernest

Unfortunately, there are a few moments in this episode where there is bit of feedback sound.  RHG apologies for this but wants to reassure you that such distractions only crop up a few times and last for just a few seconds.

The love affair between Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson could never have been a truly private matter.  But when their relationship began in 1934 few could have predicted that it would lead to Britain’s most recent Royal Revolution.

This is the first episode of our series on the Abdication crisis of 1936.  It forms season one of our “Royal Revolutions” podcast.

Royal commentator James Taylor once again joins RHG founder, Gareth Streeter.  They discuss:

• The upbringing and early lives of Edward and Wallis
• Life in the early twentieth century Royal family
• George V and Queen Mary’s parenting skills
• The character, personality and limits of the dashing but dangerous Edward, Prince of Wales
• The Prince’s love affairs with Freda Dudley Ward and Thelma Furness
• Wallis and Edward’s meeting and early relationship
• The King and Queen’s reactions
• Wallis and her husband Ernest’s motivations for tangling with the Prince