The Reign and Abdication of Edward VIII by Michael Bloch
My mother had no time for Edward VIII, partly because he told the Welsh miners, enduring high unemployment and desolation, that he’d help them when he had absolutely no intention of doing anything for them. This is not quite true. He did have an adamant discussion with the officials of the depressed region about the derelict pits, and what could be done to revive them. When some of the papers reported his remarks, and implied that he was criticising the government, even a Labour minister was upset. He asked whether we wanted a fascist King, because, of course, it’s unconstitutional for a monarch to play any part in politics. Little did he know! This book was published in 1989, so presumably before new evidence of the former King’s treason. A sympathetic look at Edward VIII, it paints him as an intelligent and thinking man, but frantically obsessed with Wallace Simpson, who did everything she could to get away from him, once she knew that he was considering marria...
