ROLE OF FORMER KING

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22250, 15 November 1937, Page 9

ROLE OF FORMER KING

"IMPOSSIBLE" PART TO

PLAY

DUKE OF WINDSOR'S ACTIONS

CRITICISED

(Received November 14, 5.5 p.m.)

LONDON, November 12.

In an article in the "Daily Herald," Professor Harold Laski, Professor of Political Science in the University of London, says: "When the Duke of Windsor decided to abdicate, he ought to have realised that the only part it is possible for him to play is that of a private gentleman. The metier of a former king is impossible in this world. It means holding opinions and the expression of opinions and sooner or later this means fierce limelight and public debate about every utterance and action of himself and his entourage. From that to the formation of a party about him is only one step. Frankly it is not a dangerous step, but it is bound to involve others beyond himself. A member of our Koyal Family is limited to the purely ceremonial part of life, which raises him beyond the level where con-1 troversy can rage. His business is to unite opinions, not divide them, i Danger of Controversy "No doubt the Duke of Windsor is full of goodwill for social purposes, in which he is genuinely interested, and no doubt he thought himself capable of formulating views which he believed would be important to the public welfare, but ltis obvious that he cannot without involving himself in passionate controversies. Not only will he be involved, but it will involve the whole position of the Royal Family in a time of bitter controversy between Fascist and Democratic Powers. "The decision to visit Germany was a gesture incompatible with impartiality. I cannot help saying that a man is known by his friends. I cannot help feeling that such a choice of friends for the purposes of a disinterested inquiry reveals lamentable ignorance or the abandonment of neutrality. If it is the first, the Duke needs to be told that such ignorance is dangerous in a critical world. If it is the second it is a very grave departure."