EX-KING SEVERELY CRITICISED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20680, 19 March 1937, Page 9

EX-KING SEVERELY CRITICISED

“LOYAL TO POOR IDEAL” STINGING INDICTMENT IN BIOGRAPHY NEW ZEALAND AUTHOR’S OUTSPOKEN WORK United Press Association—By Kleatru Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, March 17. "He blundered on, fiercely loyal to a poor ideal . . , the natural graces seemed to sour within him ... he became curiously parsimonious . . .. and a piteous figure as he estranged- himself from those who had served end respected him. . . Tills is the indwtment of the Duke of Windsor by the- New Zealander, Mr Hector Bolitho. in a volume entitled •‘Edward VIII; His Life and Reign." Mr Bolitho says: “With all the tumult of aflection George- V enjoyed in the last year of his. life, private grief made him an unhappy and disappointed man. He saw his eldest son retreating to a wilderness in which he could not help him. “Edward, uncertain of values in living, confused over strength and weakness in human nature, bitterly resentful of all interference—even affectionate advice—became a law unto himself and miilt up the usual defences of r. lonely man, uncertain of his own strength. He became increasingly stubborn and conceited over his popularity. The natural graces seemed to sour within him. Consideration for lita servants changed to pettiness. His troubled spirit found its focus in an Introduction to Mrs Ernest Simpson, who gave him contentment unknown before. “This friendship was a perpetual grief to his father; who called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to help, trying to persuade Edward from his error. The Prince rejected the advice of both. “Upon his father’s death Edward apparently suffered no self-reproach, going to Fort Belvedere and staying away from his mother In the hours when his place was beside her.” Tracing the changes in Edward’s character, Mr Bolitho says: "He was never a liberal spender, and, with the acquisition of great lands and fortune he became curiously parsimonious. He dismissed old servants at Sandringham and pared expense. “Edward became a piteous figure as he estranged himself from those who bad served and respected him. "Some murmured, ‘There Is a fault in his reason,’ and wondered how far it would bring the country into peril. Some said he Imagined a State of Royal dictatorship without the Constitution, but it is doubtful If he came so near megalomania on which dictators thrive. “He assumed the Crown with a Prime Minister wTib stood for safety and apathy, which he could neither respect nor endure, and with an Archbishop to whom he was hostile.” Yachting Cruise Recalled Dealing with the yachting cruise in 1936, from which the consoling figure of Mr Simpson was now withdrawn, Mr Bolitho says: "Everywhere Mrs Simpson was beside tfia Kihg. There is no denying that he was supremely happy, whatever the tide of criticism welling up against him., , „ ~. . "The King’s courage was not at fault, though he was incapable of conquest within himself. He did not avoid frightening Interviews with the Prime Minister (Mr Stanley Baldwin), his mother, Queen Mary, or Ills brothers. "He blundered on, fiercely loyal to a poor Ideal. For him to imagine the traditions of British respectability could withstand the union he proposed showed how far he had wandered from the knowledge of his people. "Future authors will not wri .e upon the romantic theme of a king who gave up his throne for love jo much as upon the theme of a mail of promise who came to disaster through the slow disintegration of his character, hastened by perpetual frustration.” EX-KING’S PLANS VISIT TO JEWELLER IN VIENNA United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph —Copyrigh t VIENNA, March 17. The Duke of Windsor visited a jeweller’s and examined rings and brooches. LIKELY DATE OF WEDDING FORTNIGHT AFTER CORONATION United Press Association—By Electee Telegraph —Copyright (Received March 18, 11.50 p.m.) LONDON, March 18. The Vienna correspondent of "The Morning Post” says that according to reliable information it is not definitely settled that the D :ke of Windsor’s wedding will take plans at the British Legation chapel in Vienna two weeks after the Coronation. The exact date has not yet been determined. Mrs Simpson "111 take up residence at Vienna a few days before the wedding.

A cable message received from London on January 9. said:— Mr Hector Bolitho. the New Zealander, who has won c reputation as biographer of Royal personages, has written "The Life of Fdward VIII,” which will be published on March 18. He states: “The Idea of writing a book came when I accompanied him on a journey through New Zealand. My ‘Life of Prince Consort,’ gave me the foundation from which it has been interesting to trace Prince Edward's Inheritance tn character, and see the conflict between the Coburg sense of duty and the Hanoverian appetite for pleasure. It is interesting to c°e how they remained so defined. It was easy

to like him for lack of humbug, his compassion and fierce sincerity; but these qualities ruined him, because his capacity for judgment was not great enough, and not serene enough to discipline his emotions. He kept his promise at Carnarvon to be a husband to his father’s people, but he failed in the end—this poisonous end to the story. Nevertheless, I do not think the people realise his loneliness. He was a great, a very great Prince of Wales.” Hector Bolitho was born In Auckland In 1897, and was engaged in journalism and free lance writings for some years. During the Great War he edited the “Camp Courier,” Featherston. Before establishing his reputation as a biographer, he wrote a series of travel b00k.,, Including’ "With the Prince in New Zealand.”