The summer of love - part 3 of our series on the Abdication crisis
As the events of 1936 heat up, the King abandons the traditional Balmoral summer for a pleasure cruise of the Balkans. The world media goes crazy for pictures of the King and Mrs Simpson. The pressure begins to get too much for Wallis.
In this episode, Royal commentator James Taylor joins RHG founder, Gareth Streeter to discuss:
- Churchill's "failure" to tell the King and Wallis what they want to hear
- Edward's "sulky" attitude toward his duties
- Why someone, please, in the name of mercy, needs to think of the poor debutantes
- Whether Wallis was intelligent
- Observations of Edward and Wallis's behaviour on the Balkan trip, based on eye-witness testimony
- Wallis's attempt to break it all off
- The King abandoning his duties to collect Wallis from Aberdeen station
Gareth also embarks on a rant about Edward acting like a rebel within the system, rather than the head of the system with real agency to make change if only he had the courage to confront.
