PROTEST BY LORD BROWNLOW

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 159, 2 April 1937, Page 7

PROTEST BY LORD BROWNLOW

“Foolish Gossip”

UNDERMINING HIS POSITION

Lord Brownlow, Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire'and a personal friend of the Duke of Windsor, who acted as Mrs. Simpson's escort when she went to Cannes, made reference at a dinner in England to “public events of great difficulty, great misfortune, and sorrow.’’.

He recalled in a reference to his appointment as Lord Lieutenant that his family had served eight Sovereigns since 1790, and said that in his appointment he had realised one of his life’s ambitious. “Within a few months I became Involved in public events of great difficulty, great misfortune, and sorrow 7 ,” he said. In that connection there was a mistaken impression th.at the appointment of Lord Lieutenant was made by the Sovereign and might be liable to the influence of Court people and officials. “I have been told that there have been misunderstandings about my appointment, and in the peculiar circumstances in which I am placed this would be a very damaging allegation and do me no good,” he said, and added that Lord Lieutenants had never been appointed by the King during the last 100 years. “I do not intend to refer to the recent difficult position in which I have found myself,” he said. “My duties in this country and abroad require no explanation. Ido not propose to justify them or to apologise for them; it is not necessary.” , 'Archbishop’s Broadcast.

Referring to the broadcast address by the Archbishop of Canterbury shortly after the abdication of Edward VIII, Lord Brownlow said : “When I returned from abroad I interviewed his Grace and told him that some of the statements he had made might be taken to refer to me. The Archbishop said that, although he could not withdraw them publicly, he did not intend to refer to me or to pain me in any way.”

Lord Brownlow said foolish and illinformed gossip was undermining his position to a certain extent, and he thought it was only right to put the facts forward. “I am not apologising or asking for sympathy for anything in my immediate past. There is the position. You must judge it in your own way.”

Lord Brownlow was appointed a Lord-in-Waiting to the King in July. While at Cannes he issued Mrs. Simpson's statement a few days before the abdication th.at “she was willing to withdraw forthwith from a situation that, had been rendered both unhappy and untenable.” He returned to London on December 17 after calling at Enzesfeld Castle, where be stayed two days with the Duke of Windsor.