New Book’s Account Of 1936 Abdication Crisis

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32030, 3 July 1969, Page 5

New Book’s Account Of 1936 Abdication Crisis

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON. Britain’s King Edward VIII recklessly disregarded advice from Sir Winston Churchill and others during the abdication crisis of 1936, according to a new account of the events published in London.

Churchill advised that the King should not flaunt his friendship with the American, Mrs Wallis Simpson, and asked one of the king’s dose advisers, Sir Walter (later Lord) Monckton, to pass this on to him. But according to an authoritative biography of Lord Monckton, which has just been • published, the King, who became the Duke of Windsor after his abdica-tion—-gave a "reckless response to counsels of prudence." The author, Lord Birkenhead, adds: “It seems that he had gone almost out of his way to notify his passion to the expectant world. The comment related to a dinner party at York House attended by the King, Mrs Simpson, and Sir Winston Churchill in July, 1936. The King abdicated in December, 1936. The biography, “Walter

Monckton,” is published by Widenfeld and Nicolson.

Lord Birkenhead says that Lord Monckton, then a trusted adviser of Edward VIII, acted as a bridge between him and the somewhat elderly British Cabinet led by Mr Stanley Baldwin. He died in 1965, leaving an account of the abdication with instructions that it should be published only after his death. Lord Monckton’s account tells how he discussed with Edward VIH his friendship with Mrs Simpson, and Sir Winston Churchill’s views. The King replied that he “was not ashamed of his friendship, and he was not going to hide it or try to deceive people.” The King informed Lord Moncktou as early as 1934 of his intention of marrying Mrs Simpson. From that time onwards, says Lord Monckton, the King never wavered from that decision. Lord Monckton writes of “the intensity and depth of the King's devotion to Mrs Simpson. “To him,-she was a perfect woman. She insisted that he should be at his best and do his best at all times, and he regarded her as his inspiration,” he says. Edward VIII had the strongest standards of right and wrong, but they were often “irritatingly unconventional.”

“He felt that he and Mrs Simpson were made for each other, and there was no other honest way of meeting the situation than marrying her.” Lord Monckton adds: "The easy view is that she should have made him give her up. But I never knew any man whom it would have been harder to get rid of.” Lord Monckton says that on one occasion in February, 1936, Mr Ernest Simpson told the King that “Wallis would have to choose between them, and what did the King mean to do about it? “Did be intend to marry her?" The King rose from his chair, and asked: “Do you really think that I would be crowned without Wallis at my side?”