38. Edward VIII

The Kings and Queens podcast

Edward VIII (1936) ruled for 325 days, the shortest reign of any English monarch since Lady Jane Grey in the 16th century. The first monarch to abdicate since James II in 1688 and the first to do so voluntarily. The abdication crisis shook the British establishment to its core. His connections to Nazi Germany has undoubtedly shrouded his life in ignominy. Even after the war, he was known to describe Hitler as ‘not such a bad chap’. Shunned by the royal family for the crisis he had created and for putting private desire above public duty. It could also have been because they knew, unlike the country, that he was a traitor.

Characters

Edward VIII - King of the United Kingdom and British Dominions. Emperor of India (1936). Duke of Windsor (1937-72)

Wallis Simpson - Duchess of Windsor (1937-86), wife of Edward

George V - King of the United Kingdom and British Dominions. Emperor of India (1910-36), father of Edward VIII and George VI

Mary of Teck - Queen consort of the United Kingdom and British Dominions. Empress of India (1910-36), mother of Edward VIII and George VI

George VI - King of the United Kingdom and British Dominions (1936-52). Emperor of India (1936-47). Younger brother of Edward.

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon - Queen consort of the United Kingdom and British Dominions (1936-52. Empress of India (1936-47). Wife of George VI

Queen Victoria - Queen of the United Kingdom (1837-1901), great-grandmother of Edward

Edward VII - King of the United Kingdom (1901-10), grandfather of Edward

Herbert Warren - Edward’s tutor and President of Magdalen college, Oxford

Lord Kitchener - Secretary of War

Cosmo Lang - Archbishop of Canterbury

Alec Hardinge - Private Secretary to the Sovereign

Louis Mountbatten - British Statesman and friend of Edward

David Lloyd George - Leader of the Liberal Party, Prime Minister (1916-22)

Stanley Baldwin - Leader of the Conservative Party, Prime Minister (1935-37)

Winston Churchill - Leader of the Conservative Party, Prime Minister (1940-45, 51-55)

Clement Attlee - Leader of the Labour Party, Prime Minister (1945-51)

Anthony Eden - Foreign Secretary, Prime Minister (1955-57)

Winifred Dudley Ward - mistress of Edward

Thelma Furness - mistress of Edward

Ernest Simpson - husband of Wallis (1928-37)

Lord Rothermere - media mogul, founder of the Daily Mail

Lord Beaverbrook - owner of the Daily Express

Oswald Mosley - leader of the British Union of Fascists

Ricardo Espirito Santo - Portuguese banker and associate of Edward

Adolf Hitler - Chancellor of Germany (1933-45), Fuhrer (1934-45)

Joseph Goebbels - Reichminister of Propaganda

Hermann Goering - Reichsmarschall and leading Nazi figure

Joachim von Ribbentrop - German ambassador to the United Kingdom, Reichminister of Foreign Affairs, Wallis Simpson’s lover.

Credits

Pomp and Circumstance No. 3Erika (German Soldier’s song)

When Eliza Rolls Her Eyes

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