The Evening Star SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1936. ANXIOUS HOURS.

Evening Star, Issue 22514, 5 December 1936, Page 16

The Evening Star SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1936. ANXIOUS HOURS.

The King’s unfortunate affection for a lady who does not impress his subects as one likely to make a Queen Consort whom they could naturally honour and revere is causing anxious hours for the whole Empire. The strain is hardly relieved as we write, though there is some promise of a solution of the crisis in a message received late last night. The message states that in well-informed quarters there are hopes that as the result of latest consultations between the King and his mother and brothers, as well as Mr Baldwin, the position has been considerably ameliorated. It was believed that a proposal which it was hoped would be acceptable to all was under consideration. His Majesty will take the best advice if he takes that of his own family, which has never failed for a hundred years to put the wellbeing of the great nation over which it reigns before its own well-being. The crisis that has arisen now has caused deep grief and grave solicitude in all parts of the Empire. It is tragic in its possibilities, and yet there are some features of it which give cause for| thankfulness. The King’s character,

if ho were a private individual and not one weighted with responsibilities which make his own desires and inclinations the last thing for him to consider, would not have been aspersed in any way by gossip to which his name recently has been subjected. In some ways it has been vindicated by the latest development. Thanks in large measure to the example of his immediate ancestors we have advanced a long way in our requirements of ,kings and of morality. Before the advent of the House of Windsor sovereigns of England were not troubled by the conflict between personal desires and public duties which has made a crisis for Edward VIII. They had, pretty frequently, their mistresses, and made private or morganatic marriages in addition to State unions, and their subjects were not specially shocked by their conduct. We have put all that behind ns. If the King wants to marry an American woman at least he docs not want to marry anybody else. If she was the right American woman, one whom all her countrymen accepted as honoured by all sections of them and able to typify their nation at its best, it might be the ideal match. The King’s subjects know very little about the lady, except that she has figured twice in divorce suits, which threatens to be a fatal disadvantage, and must .be very fascinating, but on the King’s part there have been no subterfuges about the matter. There is point in a radical paper’s judgment. that the crisis is a tribute to the honesty of his character. There is a crisis, however, to be confronted. It is being considered in the best way by the Primo Ministers of the whole Empire in close touch with one another. People of mature judgment will pity more than they blame the King. Nobody would have any feelings except those of profound regret and loss if His Majesty should choose to abdicate, though their distress wpuld not bo aggravated by any doubts of a worthy succession to the throne. Scenes in London, when the National Anthem was sung, show the affection in which he is held, not in London only, but throughout his Empire. The whole problem is complicated by the fact that the Kingdom of a hundred years ago has grown now into a great Commonwealth of every clime and race. Would the people of India—to take the most extreme case—feel the same homage for an Emperor who might have a wife confined to a relatively humble station ? Would the position long be tolerable even to the Duchess wife, who would find, it difficult to he popular in her husband’s dominions? It is not good for kingship to be pitied. If His Majesty was minded to put anything else before his 'throne he should have thought of that before he succeeded ' his father. His doubts would then have been a severe shock to King George, as the present crisis must be to the Queen-mother, with whom all the Empire will feel sympathy. It cannot ho doubted that His Majesty will give most happiness to his family and also to his subjects, besides acting most consistently with his own past of less than a year ago, if he decides to give np Mrs Simpson, at whatever cost to his feelings. Not less the lady, if she considers all the trouble she is making, would he wise to give up ■the King. There may be some compromise course that would leave the Throne’s welfare and the Empire’s welfare entirely unaffected, but at present it is not easy to discern.