Does Edward get a little too much hate by the family?
-
tinagchristensen — 9 years ago(November 13, 2016 06:50 AM)
Yes you are right - -actually the family had every reason to hate him - Edward and his wife were the worst anyone could be - Nazi sympathizers. Thank God he found an excuse to abdicate from rhe throne (never wanted to be King in the first place)
-
bevaremeg — 9 years ago(November 13, 2016 12:39 PM)
Thank God he found an excuse to abdicate from rhe throne (never wanted to be King in the first place)
Having watched many documentaries over the years about the Duke of Windsor, this is the impression I always had. He didn't really want to be king - and Wallis Simpson was his excuse to get out of the gig, while deluding himself that he was doing it for love. I think Wallis Simpson got out of her depth - I'm not sure that she wanted to be queen, and I'm not sure she wanted Edward Viii for keeps. But once he became King the situation changed, and it all got out of hand.
I've always viewed it as a kind of 'marriage made in hell'. Once they married, they were stuck with one another whether they wanted to be or not. How could you divorce a man who game up a Kingdom and an Empire for you. And just like King Lear, who gives up his power but somehow still wants to maintain his position, the Duke of Windsor, having been the 'Golden Boy' of the 20s and 30s, just couldn't cope with being a nobody. He wanted a position in royal circles, but not the responsibility.
He'd spent 40 years being prepared for the throne. His younger brother - an ungainly, not terribly bright stammerer got landed with the job instead. He burst into tears and cried on Queen Mary's shoulder when he became King. He felt he was not fit for the job. And that's why the Queen Mother hated him with a vengeance - she blamed him for his brother's earlier death, the strain, particularly in war time, being so bad for his health.
So from what I've read, and what I remember seeing from the body language on TV when they met in later years, that hatred, particularly from the Queen Mother, was very real. -
tinagchristensen — 9 years ago(November 13, 2016 03:04 PM)
Great post and very interesting - I do believe you are VERY close to the thruth about what really happened and WHY it happened.
I really love the show, but two things bothered me 1) that Queen Elisabeth asked Edward if he would be her advisor - after all the misery he had brought on the family and the country - NO WAY she would ever ask him about anything 2) that the Nazi scandal is completely left out of the show. Well, I still give it 10/10 - It's not a documentary after all but scripted drama based on a true story. That said I do think it's more realistic and authentic than expected. Also there are limits how far they can go. -
CrabbyJack — 9 years ago(November 13, 2016 07:39 PM)
Edward was thoroughly despicable and selfish and deserves the low regard in which he is remembered. He was also a notorious Nazi sympathizer.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3173871/Was-Queen-s-uncle-Edward-VIII-Nazi.html -
supergran — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 03:03 AM)
I think the notion of the abdication for "the woman I love" is viewed as rather romantic by other countries. Certainly not here in Britain.
If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic. -
firstwinsgop-1 — 9 years ago(February 03, 2017 08:38 PM)
Oh good, someone noted his Nazi sympathies. Had he been king, I'm sure Britain would have become a Nazi satellite.
Then you are an idiot. Hitler never had any ambitions in Western Europe. According to Speer, Hitler frequently remarked that had Edward not abdicated, Germany and England would have remained at peace.
So the likely outcome of Edward remaining on the throne was not German domination, but rather a half million Englishmen would have not thrown their lives away for nothing in a pointless war.