Duke of Windsor - the Nazi King
I was watching this really cool documentary on TV last night about the man who would have been KING if he didn’t abdicate his throne for the love of a woman. I find the discussions on this radical King to be, very interesting. He had personal contact with Goebels many many times and went to Germany under invite of Hitler. Some say he was too much of a pro-Nazi. I even heard that he encouraged the bombing by Germany on England so that England give a surrender earlier, under the dismay of Churchill. When the Duke travelled all over Europe during the war from Spain to Portugal to the Bahamas, he was forced back to England by Churchill and ordered to keep his mouth shut. Some say, England would have surrendered if this man were King! I wonder if this could have happened? Anyways, it was interesting to learn about this Nazi sympathizer! I think he’s considered a thorn in Englands monarchy. Dam interesting fellow though!
<shrugs> He wouldn’t be the first king to be executed for treason!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_of_the_United_Kingdom
As you can see from his history, he defiantly listened to his own drummer.
In a way he became estranged from his own country. And maybe that explains his liking of Hitler.
Deaf
He wasn’t any different from a lot of other members of the British aristocracy and upper classes in the 1930s, and their equivalents in Europe, America, and elsewhere, who thought Hitler was a good thing until he went to war with the Western powers. And even after in some cases, notably Henry Ford.
Apart from anything else, Hitler’s hostility to communism ( doing deals with Stalin notwithstanding) endeared him to the privileged and capitalist classes in the West who saw the risk of communism spreading to their countries as a threat to their positions. Which indeed it was.
Edward was king, upon the instant his father, George V, died–he was just wasn’t crowned. I don’t think he ever really wanted to be king, at least not in the way the British wanted–although he was very, very popular during his time as Prince of Wales and during the abdication crisis.
Didn’t Hitler order Otto Skorzeny (sp?), who later snatched Mussolini after he was imprisoned, to kidnap the former Edward VIII? Hitler–and von Ribbentrop–had the hair-brained idea that they could reinstall Edward on the throne and he would agree to peace with the Reich. As I said in a previous post, Hitler was totally mistled about the British constitutioal system by his foreign minister, the self-proclaimed expert, Joichim von Ribbentrop.
Anyway, the kidnapping never came off and Churchill, to keep the Duke and his Duchess out of potential Nazi hands, sent them off to the Bahamas, where Edward was made governor–what a comedown from having been king-emperor of the world’s greatest empire!
I detest Edward and, upon reading more about the couple, find Wallis more sympathetic. I guess Edward’s inability to do much of anything other than wander the world with his duchess could be traced back to his dysfunctional upbringing, and his parents, George V and Mary.
I apologise in advance that I can’t recall the source, but I have read somewhere that in some of the early war peace feelers when England was isolated and stood alone against Germany, there were proposals to enthrone Edward as Tzar of Russia. IIRC the flight of Hess to England may have had some connection with this.
My impression is that Churchill allowed these peace feelers to take place especially through Spain to stall Hitler’s ambitions to invade England…
In March 1940 Roosevelt sent Sumner Welles as a peace envoy to propose a “New World Order” as he phrased it. This proposal was for a grand alliance of Germany, Italy, France and Britain against Bolshevism.
Two things however freaked out Hitler and caused him to invade Norway. First was shipment of arms and in particular a mercenary army of pilots and aircraft engineers to Finland via a railway line from Narvik in support of Finland’s first war against Russia. Second was German enquiries to purchase Norwegian Heavy Water in 1940 were rebuffed and it came to light that France had pre-empted Germany to acquire those stocks. Hitler saw the strengthened relations between Finland and England as a threat to Germany’s access to Iron ore in northern Finland.
It may have been Anthony Eden that suggested Edward be enthroned as Tsar.
Aneurin Bevan was frankly horrified, Mountbatten (whose claim was probably better in any case) wisely said nothing and stepped back a pace.
Clement Attlee went pale, and insisted to Winston that such a suggestion could never seriously be made.
Winston, being wise and wiley in these matters advised all to wait a while, and observe.
This is all, admittedly written-of as apocraphal, but seems consistent.
It was certainly sufficient for Chapman Pincher to refer to in various of his books.
It also accounts for some of the signs of strain between the Queen and Winston, postwar.
Likewise, there was a time in which Winston and Mountbatten did not speak to eachother.
That Attlee had suggested Mountbatten as UK Ambassador to Russia upset Mountbatten greatly.
That Churchill failed to rebuke Attlee for such crassness upset Mountbatten even more.
All of which tends to show the many personalities as having varying views and agendas, not least including Edward himself.
Mountbatten plainly did not like either Edward or Attlee, and his writings certainly reflect this attitude.
They also make sense, given the context of the events they refer.
Kind and Respectful Regards Kiwiguy, Uyraell.
Hopefully England would have kept their traditions and beheaded him! In the Tower of London no less!
Deaf
Nah, kings get special treatment - they get beheaded outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall…