Corruption in Buckingham: The endless fall of Edward VIII or a king

Controversy in view of His Majesty? According to an investigation by The Guardian newspaper, Queen Elizabeth II Would have succeeded in pressuring the British government to amend a law that would allow it to hide its wealth from the British government. But while embarrassing, this revelation still seems like a case in the long list of the crown’s secrets. The slanders of the royal family, Chapter One.

The story that follows seems to have come straight from a scene imagined by the cinema’s greatest masters. However, Life of Edward VIII Not a fiction. More than 40 years after the death of Elizabeth II’s uncle after being rejected by an entire nation, she is one of the most famous characters in British history.

An honorable heir …

Little David, son of King George 5 and Queen Mary, was born on a summer day in 1894. Quickly renamed Edward, the young man became the crown prince of the United Kingdom when he was 15 years old. A position he held for more than 25 years until the death of his father in 1936.

Without real intellectual skills, he manages to integrate Oxford Magdalen College into one of the most prestigious institutions in the country. But the future king, who is more interested in the military world, finally decides to join the army without getting a diploma. And At the dawn of the First World War, Here he is a member of the Grenadier Guards, ready to take part in the conflict to defend his country. A patriotic aspiration He was quickly challenged by the Secretary of War, Lord Kitchener, for refusing to allow him to advance, provoking the dire consequences of capturing the crown prince.

Undaunted, Edward continued to march on the battlefields in support of the British soldiers. Until now the general public did not know much, which became very popular after the war with the soldiers of the kingdom. Growing popularity, it intensified in the 1920s, thanks to its natural elegance and its singularity. In his book The Appeal: Twenty-Five Years Later, Louis Broad described him as “the most photographed personality in the world” at the time.

… but a medieval king

Highly publicized, Edward was not admired by the royal family, which did not make him a successor to the throne. His reputation as Don Juan annoys his parents, who see a man ruining the crown of their son.

Already worse, the relationship between Edward and his father deteriorates at the beginning of the love story between the Crown Prince and Wallis Simpson. The latter, still married to American-British businessman Ernest Simpson, was not welcomed into the family. But despite Her Majesty’s reluctance, the two young men become regular lovers.

In his father’s death in January 1936, Edward appeared with Wallis Simpson at his coronation and was officially in a relationship with her husband. If he does not file for divorce after several months, the two lovers will not hesitate to spend their leisure time together. An accomplice who has been active since November with the desire for the new king to marry his girlfriend as soon as the split with Ernest Simpson is pronounced. The request was immediately rejected by then-Prime Minister Stanley Buttwin, for whom the union was undermining the moral principles dictated by the Church of England Church. Edward VIII was elected to resign on December 11, 1936, within a year of his accession to the throne.

Unprecedented resignation

80 years before Prince Harry, Another member of the royal family relinquished his royal title. Honestly, now the former king announces his decision to the English the next day and in person. From a room in Windsor Castle, he justifies his choice by saying, “It’s impossible to carry out duties. [lui] Without the help and assistance of the woman, the king will fall[il] Love “.

The people of the kingdom and empire are stunned. This is the first voluntary dismissal in the history of a member of the royal family. But beyond the discount, it shocks the British: the relationship with the married woman. Edward, conspired by an entire population to accuse him of abandonment, took refuge in Austria the next day, while his brother George VI succeeded him to the throne.

Edward VIII, from Baria to the traitor

Despite his resignation, Edward VIII remains an important figure in international public life. In 1937, now Duke of Windsor went forever with Wallis Simpson, the man who would shake the whole earth two years later: Adolf Hitler. He was photographed several times during a Nazi salute and is suspected of wanting to move closer to Germany from political opportunism. Many historians today, such as Philip Ziegler, support this theory, suggesting that “The Fரhrer” has the ambition of turning Edward into the center of the royal family with the aim of turning the United Kingdom into a fascist state.

Except for the obvious success, the project will end in failure. Blame the British Secret Service for worrying about the return of events, and was able to capture Edward VIII just months after the war began. After serving in Lisbon, Great Britain, he was appointed Governor-General of the Bahamas, which removed him from the European conflict. He remained there until his resignation in 1945.

Restoring peace, he decides to end his life in his Parisian home in France. He died there 32 years later, along with his wife in 1986. Both wives now rest side by side at Fragmore Royal Cemetery.

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