The Crown in Crisis - As seen on Channel 4’s Edward vs George
Countdown to the Abdication
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2.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
In December 1936, Britain faced a constitutional crisis that was the gravest threat to the institution of the monarchy since the execution of Charles I. The ruling monarch, Edward VIII, wished to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson and crown her as his Queen. His actions scandalised the Establishment, who were desperate to avoid an international embarrassment at a time when war seemed imminent.
An influential coalition formed against him, including the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, his private secretary Alec Hardinge, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the editor of The Times. Edward seemed fated to give up Wallis and remain a reluctant ruler, or to abdicate his throne. Yet he had his own supporters, too, including Winston Churchill, the Machiavellian newspaper proprietor Lord Beaverbrook and his brilliant adviser Walter Monckton. They offered him the chance to remain on the throne and keep Wallis. But was the price they asked too high?
Using previously unpublished and rare archival material, and new interviews with those who knew Edward and Wallis, THE CROWN IN CRISIS is the conclusive exploration of how an unthinkable and unprecedented event tore the country apart. This seismic event has been written about before but never with the ticking-clock suspense and pace of the thriller that it undoubtedly was for all of its participants. Painstakingly researched, incisively written and entirely fresh in its approach, THE CROWN IN CRISIS brings the events of that time to thrilling life, and in the process will appeal to an entirely new audience.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Larman (Byron's Women) delivers a juicy account of the events leading up to and following British monarch King Edward VIII's abdication in December 1936. As German ambassador Joachim von Ribbentrop tried to forge an alliance with Edward, Larman notes, the British government was distracted by the "vexatious" king's affair with Wallis Simpson, a 40-year-old American divorc e. Viewed by royal courtiers as a "gold digger" with a "capacity for inspiring dislike," Simpson, who was still married to her second husband when she began her relationship with Edward, was rumored to have learned "specific sexual arts" while living in China in the 1920s. Larman delves into newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook's role in suppressing news of the affair and Simpson's impending divorce, and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's attempts to dissuade Edward from marrying Simpson. Lengthy subplots, including a review of recently declassified MI5 files indicating that a July 1936 incident in which a man threw his pistol at Edward might have been orchestrated by Italian spies, add intrigue but disrupt the narrative momentum. Still, even dedicated royal watchers will learn something new from this comprehensive account of one of the biggest scandals in the history of the British monarchy.
