Доклад "Edward VIII"
проект по английскому языку (11 класс)

Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования

«Нижегородский государственный университет им. Н.И. Лобачевского»

Арзамасский филиал

Историко-филологический факультет

Кафедра иностранных языков и культур

Выполнила:

Рьянова В.Е.,

студентка I курса

заочной формы обучения,

магистерская программа  

Лингвострановедение

межкультурная коммуникация

и профессиональный перевод

Доклад

Edward VIII.

Научный руководитель:

доктор культурологии,

кандидат филологических наук

профессор Кубанев Н.А.

Арзамас

2019

СОДЕРЖАНИЕ

Chapter I. Edward VIII

1.1 Personality

Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December the same year, after which he became the Duke of Windsor.

Edward was the eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was named Prince of Wales on his sixteenth birthday, nine weeks after his father succeeded as king. As a young man, he served in the British Army during the First World War and undertook several overseas tours on behalf of his father.

Edward became king on his father's death in early 1936. However, he showed impatience with court protocol, and caused concern among politicians by his apparent disregard for established constitutional conventions. Only months into his reign, he caused a constitutional crisis by proposing to Wallis Simpson, an American who had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second. The prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions opposed the marriage, arguing a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands was politically and socially unacceptable as a prospective queen consort. Additionally, such a marriage would have conflicted with Edward's status as the titular head of the Church of England, which at the time disapproved of remarriage after divorce if a former spouse was still alive. Edward knew the British government, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, would resign if the marriage went ahead, which could have forced a general election and would ruin his status as a politically neutral constitutional monarch. When it became apparent he could not marry Wallis and remain on the throne, Edward abdicated. He was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI. With a reign of 326 days, Edward is one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British history.

After his abdication, he was created Duke of Windsor. He married Wallis in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. Later that year, the couple toured Germany. During the Second World War, he was at first stationed with the British Military Mission to France, but after private accusations that he held Nazi sympathies he was appointed Governor of the Bahamas. After the war, Edward spent the rest of his life in retirement in France. Edward and Wallis remained married until his death in 1972.

Edward was born on 23 June 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond Park, on the outskirts of London during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. He was the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary). His father was the son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). His mother was the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck (Francis and Mary Adelaide). At the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind his grandfather and father.

He was baptised Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David in the Green Drawing Room of White Lodge on 16 July 1894 by Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury. The names were chosen in honour of Edward's late uncle, who was known to his family as "Eddy" or Edward, and his great-grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark. The name Albert was included at the behest of Queen Victoria for her late husband Albert, Prince Consort, and the last four names – George, Andrew, Patrick and David – came from the Patron Saints of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. He was always known to his family and close friends by his last given name, David.

As was common practice with upper-class children of the time, Edward and his younger siblings were brought up by nannies rather than directly by their parents. One of Edward's early nannies often abused him by pinching him before he was due to be presented to his parents. His subsequent crying and wailing would lead the Duke and Duchess to send him and the nanny away. The nanny was discharged after her mistreatment of the children was discovered.

Edward's father, though a harsh disciplinarian, was demonstrably affectionate, and his mother displayed a frolicsome side with her children that belied her austere public image. She was amused by the children making tadpoles on toast for their French master, and encouraged them to confide in her.

Initially, Edward was tutored at home by Helen Bricka. When his parents travelled the British Empire for almost nine months following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, young Edward and his siblings stayed in Britain with their grandparents, Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII, who showered their grandchildren with affection. Upon his parents' return, Edward was placed under the care of two men, Frederick Finch and Henry Hansell, who virtually brought up Edward and his brothers and sister for their remaining nursery years.

Edward was kept under the strict tutorship of Hansell until almost thirteen years old. Private tutors taught him German and French. Edward took the examination to enter the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and began there in 1907. Hansell had wanted Edward to enter school earlier, but the prince's father had disagreed. Following two years at Osborne College, which he did not enjoy, Edward moved on to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. A course of two years, followed by entry into the Royal Navy, was planned. A bout of mumps may have made him infertile.

Edward automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay on 6 May 1910 when his father ascended the throne as George V on the death of Edward VII. He was created Prince of Walesand Earl of Chester a month later on 23 June 1910, his 16th birthday. Preparations for his future as king began in earnest. He was withdrawn from his naval course before his formal graduation, served as midshipman for three months aboard the battleship Hindustan, then immediately entered Magdalen College, Oxford, for which, in the opinion of his biographers, he was underprepared intellectually. A keen horseman, he learned how to play polo with the university club. He left Oxford after eight terms, without any academic qualifications.

Edward was officially invested as Prince of Wales in a special ceremony at Caernarfon Castle on 13 July 1911. The investiture took place in Wales, at the instigation of the Welsh politician David Lloyd George, Constable of the Castle and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Liberal government. Lloyd George invented a rather fanciful ceremony in the style of a Welsh pageant, and coached Edward to speak a few words in Welsh.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Edward had reached the minimum age for active service and was keen to participate. He had joined the Grenadier Guards in June 1914, and although Edward was willing to serve on the front lines, Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener refused to allow it, citing the immense harm that would occur if the heir to the throne were captured by the enemy.

Despite this, Edward witnessed trench warfare first-hand and visited the front line as often as he could, for which he was awarded the Military Cross in 1916. His role in the war, although limited, made him popular among veterans of the conflict. Edward undertook his first military flight in 1918, and later gained a pilot's licence.

Edward's youngest brother, Prince John, died at the age of 13 on 18 January 1919 after a severe seizure. John suffered from epilepsy, and Edward, who was 11 years older than his brother and had hardly known him, saw his death as "little more than a regrettable nuisance". He wrote to his mistress of the time that "[he had] told [her] all about that little brother, and how he was an epileptic. [John]'s been practically shut up for the last two years anyhow, so no one has ever seen him except the family, and then only once or twice a year. This poor boy had become more of an animal than anything else." He also wrote an insensitive letter to his mother, Queen Mary, which has since been lost. She did not reply, but he felt compelled to write her an apology, in which he stated: "I feel such a cold hearted and unsympathetic swine for writing all that I did ... No one can realize more than you how little poor Johnnie meant to me who hardly knew him ... I feel so much for you, darling Mama, who was his mother.

Throughout the 1920s, Edward, as Prince of Wales, represented his father, King George V, at home and abroad on many occasions. His rank, travels, good looks, and unmarried status gained him much public attention, and at the height of his popularity, he was the most photographed celebrity of his time. He took a particular interest in science and in 1926 was president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science when his alma mater, Oxford University, hosted the society's annual general meeting.

He also visited the poverty-stricken areas of Britain, and undertook 16 tours to various parts of the Empire between 1919 and 1935. On a tour of Canada in 1919, he acquired the Bedingfield ranch, near Pekisko, Alberta, and in 1924, he donated the Prince of Wales Trophy to the National Hockey League. In 1929 Sir Alexander Leith, a leading Conservative in the north of England, persuaded him to make a three-day visit to the County Durham and Northumberland coal-fields, where at the time there was much unemployment. From January to April 1931, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George travelled 18,000 miles on a tour of South America, steaming out on the ocean liner Oropesa, and returning via Paris and an Imperial Airways flight from Paris–Le Bourget Airport that landed specially in Windsor Great Park.

Though widely travelled, Edward was racially prejudiced against foreigners and many of the Empire's subjects, believing that whites were inherently superior. In 1920, on a visit to Australia, he wrote of Indigenous Australians: "they are the most revolting form of living creatures I've ever seen !! They are the lowest known form of human beings & are the nearest thing to monkeys."

In 1919 the Prince agreed to be President of the organising committee for the proposed British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park, north-west London. The Prince wished the Exhibition to include "a great national sports ground", and so played a part in the creation of Wembley Stadium.

In 1917, during the First World War, he began a love affair with Parisian courtesan Marguerite Alibert (later Fahmy), who kept a collection of his indiscreet letters after he broke off the affair in 1918 to begin one with an English married woman, Freda Dudley Ward, a textile heiress.

Edward's womanising and reckless behaviour during the 1920s and 1930s worried Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, King George V, and those close to the prince. Alan Lascelles, the prince's private secretary for eight years during this period, believed that "for some hereditary or physiological reason his normal mental development stopped dead when he reached adolescence". George V was disappointed by his son's failure to settle down in life, disgusted by his affairs with married women, and was reluctant to see him inherit the Crown. "After I am dead," George said, "the boy will ruin himself in twelve months."

Second-in-line to the throne was the prince's younger brother Albert ("Bertie"). Albert and his wife, Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), had two children, including Princess Elizabeth ("Lilibet"), the future Queen Elizabeth II. George V favoured Albert and his granddaughter Elizabeth and told a courtier, "I pray to God that my eldest son will never marry and have children, and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne." In 1929, Time magazine reported that the Prince of Wales teased his sister-in-law, by calling her "Queen Elizabeth". The magazine asked if "she did not sometimes wonder how much truth there is in the story that he once said he would renounce his rights upon the death of George V – which would make her nickname come true".

In 1930, George V gave the prince the lease of Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park. There, he continued his relationships with a series of married women, including Freda Dudley Ward and Lady Furness, the American wife of a British peer, who introduced the prince to her friend and fellow American Wallis Simpson. Simpson had divorced her first husband, U.S. naval officer Win Spencer, in 1927. Her second husband, Ernest Simpson, was a British-American businessman. Wallis Simpson and the Prince of Wales, it is generally accepted, became lovers, while Lady Furness travelled abroad, although the prince adamantly insisted to his father that he was not having an affair with her and that it was not appropriate to describe her as his mistress. Edward's relationship with Simpson, however, further weakened his poor relationship with his father. Although King George V and Queen Mary met Simpson at Buckingham Palace in 1935, they later refused to receive her.

Edward's affair with an American divorcée led to such grave concern that the couple were followed by members of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch, who examined in secret the nature of their relationship. An undated report detailed a visit by the couple to an antique shop, where the proprietor later noted "that the lady seemed to have POW [Prince of Wales] completely under her thumb." The prospect of having an American divorcée with a questionable past having such sway over the heir apparent led to anxiety among government and establishment figures.

1.2 Reign

King George V died on 20 January 1936, and Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. The next day, accompanied by Simpson, he broke with custom by watching the proclamation of his own accession from a window of St James's Palace. He became the first monarch of the British Empire to fly in an aircraft when he flew from Sandringham to London for his Accession Council.

Edward caused unease in government circles with actions that were interpreted as interference in political matters. His comment during a tour of depressed villages in South Wales that "something must be done" for the unemployed coal miners was seen as an attempt to guide government policy, though it has never been clear what sort of remedy he had in mind. Government ministers were reluctant to send confidential documents and state papers to Fort Belvedere, because it was clear that Edward was paying little attention to them, and it was feared that Simpson and other house guests might read them, improperly or inadvertently revealing government secrets.

Edward's unorthodox approach to his role also extended to the coinage that bore his image. He broke with the tradition that the profile portrait of each successive monarch faced in the direction opposite to that of his or her predecessor. Edward insisted that he face left (as his father had done), to show the parting in his hair. Only a handful of test coins were struck before the abdication, and all are very rare. When George VI succeeded to the throne he also faced left to maintain the tradition by suggesting that, had any further coins been minted featuring Edward's portrait, they would have shown him facing right.

On 16 July 1936, an Irish fraudster called Jerome Bannigan, alias George Andrew McMahon, produced a loaded revolver as Edward rode on horseback at Constitution Hill, near Buckingham Palace. Police spotted the gun and pounced on him; he was quickly arrested. At Bannigan's trial, he alleged that "a foreign power" had approached him to kill Edward, that he had informed MI5 of the plan, and that he was merely seeing the plan through to help MI5 catch the real culprits. The court rejected the claims and sent him to jail for a year for "intent to alarm". It is now thought that Bannigan had indeed been in contact with MI5, but the veracity of the remainder of his claims remains open.

In August and September, Edward and Simpson cruised the Eastern Mediterranean on the steam yacht Nahlin. By October it was becoming clear that the new king planned to marry Simpson, especially when divorce proceedings between the Simpsons were brought at Ipswich Assizes. Although gossip about his affair was widespread in the United States, the British media kept voluntarily silent, and the public knew nothing until early December.

On 16 November 1936, Edward invited British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to Buckingham Palace and expressed his desire to marry Wallis Simpson when she became free to remarry. Baldwin informed him that his subjects would deem the marriage morally unacceptable, largely because remarriage after divorce was opposed by the Church of England, and the people would not tolerate Simpson as queen. As king, Edward was the titular head of the Church of England, and the clergy expected him to support the Church's teachings. The archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, was vocal in insisting that Edward must go.

Edward proposed an alternative solution of a morganatic marriage, in which he would remain king but Simpson would not become queen consort. She would enjoy some lesser title instead, and any children they might have would not inherit the throne. This was supported by senior politician Winston Churchill in principle, and some historians suggest that he conceived the plan. In any event, it was ultimately rejected by the British Cabinet as well as other Dominion governments. Their views were sought pursuant to the Statute of Westminster 1931, which provided in part that "any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom." The Prime Ministers of Australia (Joseph Lyons), Canada (Mackenzie King) and South Africa (J. B. M. Hertzog) made clear their opposition to the king marrying a divorcée; their Irish counterpart (Éamon de Valera) expressed indifference and detachment, while the Prime Minister of New Zealand (Michael Joseph Savage), having never heard of Simpson before, vacillated in disbelief. Faced with this opposition, Edward at first responded that there were "not many people in Australia" and their opinion did not matter.

Edward informed Baldwin that he would abdicate if he could not marry Simpson. Baldwin then presented Edward with three choices: give up the idea of marriage; marry against his ministers' wishes; or abdicate. It was clear that Edward was not prepared to give up Simpson, and he knew that if he married against the advice of his ministers, he would cause the government to resign, prompting a constitutional crisis. He chose to abdicate.

Edward duly signed the instruments of abdication at Fort Belvedere on 10 December 1936 in the presence of his younger brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York, next in line for the throne; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The document included these words: "declare my irrevocable determination to renounce the throne for myself and for my descendants and my desire that effect should be given to this instrument of abdication immediately"

The next day, the last act of his reign was the royal assent to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. As required by the Statute of Westminster, all the Dominions had already consented to the abdication.

On the night of 11 December 1936, Edward, now reverted to the title and style of a prince, explained his decision to abdicate in a worldwide radio broadcast. He famously said, "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love." He added that the "decision was mine and mine alone ... The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course". Edward departed Britain for Austria the following day; he was unable to join Simpson until her divorce became absolute, several months later. His brother, the Duke of York, succeeded to the throne as George VI. George VI's elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth, became heir presumptive.

Chapter II. Left-handed marriage

Edward VIII (1894-1972) became King of England upon the death of his father, George V, on January 20, 1936.

Nearly 42-years-old and a bachelor, Edward then made known his desire to marry an American woman named Wallis Warfield Simpson, whom he had known since 1931. He sought the approval of his family, the Church of England, and the political establishment to marry her, but met with strong opposition. She had been married twice before and her second divorce was still pending.

The love affair and possible royal marriage resulted in sensational newspaper headlines around the world and created a storm of controversy, but did not sway Edward. On December 10, 1936, King Edward VIII submitted his abdication and it was endorsed by Parliament the next day. He thus became the only British monarch ever to resign voluntarily.

His younger brother, George VI, took the throne and immediately gave Edward the title, Duke of Windsor. The Duke and Simpson were married in France on June 3, 1937 and lived in Paris. During World War II, Edward served as governor of the Bahamas. He died in Paris on May 28, 1972. His wife died there, April 24, 1986.

The speech below is from December 11th, when Edward publicly announced his decision via radio to a worldwide audience.

«At long last I am able to say a few words of my own. I have never wanted to withhold anything, but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak.

A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart.

You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire, which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.

But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.

And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.

I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of what would, in the end, be best for all.

This decision has been made less difficult to me by the sure knowledge that my brother, with his long training in the public affairs of this country and with his fine qualities, will be able to take my place forthwith without interruption or injury to the life and progress of the empire. And he has one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you, and not bestowed on me -- a happy home with his wife and children.

During these hard days I have been comforted by her majesty my mother and by my family. The ministers of the crown, and in particular, Mr. Baldwin, the Prime Minister, have always treated me with full consideration. There has never been any constitutional difference between me and them, and between me and Parliament. Bred in the constitutional tradition by my father, I should never have allowed any such issue to arise.

Ever since I was Prince of Wales, and later on when I occupied the throne, I have been treated with the greatest kindness by all classes of the people wherever I have lived or journeyed throughout the empire. For that I am very grateful.

I now quit altogether public affairs and I lay down my burden. It may be some time before I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British race and empire with profound interest, and if at any time in the future I can be found of service to his majesty in a private station, I shall not fail.

And now, we all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and prosperity with all my heart. God bless you all! God save the King!» December 11, 1936

Герцог и герцогиня Виндзорские, принц Эдуард и Уоллис Симпсон, в столице Багамских островов Нассау, январь 1941 года

О короле Эдуарде VIII, занимавшем трон в Великобритании в 1936 году с конца января по декабрь, помнят сегодня только то, что он отрекся от престола ради любви. Дядя Елизаветы II, старший сын ее деда Георга V в 1936 году принял решение, о котором никогда, как он говорил, не жалел: он оставил трон ради возможности жениться на своей многолетней возлюбленной – американке Уоллис Симпсон, дважды до этого побывавшей замужем. На момент свадьбы ему было 42 года – и до этого он никогда не думал о женитьбе.

Старшего сына короля Георга V всегда любили в Британии: очаровательный, демократичный, он был звездой вечеринок, прекрасно танцевал, играл в теннис и гольф. Воевать в Первую мировую его не пустили из опасений, что его ранят или, что еще хуже, возьмут в плен. По похожей причине ему не разрешали заниматься другими рискованными делами – например, участвовать в скачках или обучаться летному делу. Его это печалило – а сам он расстраивал отца тем, что он, наследник престола, никак не хотел остепениться и, наконец, жениться.

Герцог Виндзорский и Уоллис Симпсон во время отдыха в Биаррице во Франции, 1934 год

Печали добавляли и слухи о том, что принц Эдуард завел роман с замужней женщиной, американкой Уоллис Симпсон.

Их познакомила на домашней вечеринке леди Фернесс, как считается, состоявшая тогда в интимных отношениях с Эдуардом, принцем Уэльским. Уоллис Симпсон была приглашена туда вместе с супругом, Эрнестом Симпсоном, уроженцем Нью-Йорка. Пара жила в Великобритании, но Уоллис Симпсон со своим ярким балтиморским акцентом (она происходила из влиятельной семьи Новой Англии) и американской прямолинейностью ярко выделялась из британского окружения. Красивая, элегантная, остроумная, она, разумеется, понравилась принцу.

Мимолетное знакомство с парой американцев быстро переросло в дружбу – и вот уже их стали регулярно приглашать на мероприятия. Но когда однажды король Георг V, в очередной раз выражая сожаление, что Эдуард никак не женится, обвинил его в близкой связи с замужней американкой, принц Уэльский с возмущением ответил, что никаких «аморальных» отношений между ними нет. Даже после последовавшей через несколько лет свадьбы он продолжал утверждать, что Уоллис Симпсон не была его любовницей до брака. Несмотря на слухи. 

Первая полоса газеты The Daily Express от 8 декабря 1936 года была посвящена интервью с Уоллис Симпсон, в котором она заявляла, что готова исчезнуть, если это будет решением проблемы. Однако, уже через 3 дня Эдуард принял собственное, мужское решение.

Губернатор Багамских островов, герцог Виндзорский c герцогиней Уоллис Симпсон в официальной резиденции в Нассау, август 1940 года

Вечером 16 января 1936 года принц Уэльский практиковался в стрельбе в Большой виндзорском парке, когда он получил записку от матери, королевы Марии: в ней сообщалось, что королевский врач «недоволен состоянием папы в данный момент» и что он должен приехать в Сандрингемский дворец, только как-нибудь ненавязчиво, чтобы не создать излишнего напряжения. Следующим утром он прилетел во дворец на аэроплане. 20 января Георг V скончался, трон переходил к Эдуарду. Одной из первых об этом узнала Уоллис Симпсон.

У нового короля быстро испортились отношения с братьями – особенно герцогом Йоркским, будущим королем Георгом VI, — которых раздражало, что Эдуард VIII открыто забрасывает Уоллис Симпсон дорогими подарками и вообще поддерживает эту возмутительную связь.

В октябре 1936 года британская Ассоциация прессы проинформировала личного секретаря Эдуарда VIII о том, что Уоллис Симпсон подала на развод – дело должно было рассматриваться 27 октября. Он обсудил это с премьер-министром Стэнли Болдуином, который принял решение поговорить с королем о том скандале, который вызывает в обществе эта его «дружба» с означенной дамой и попросить его предотвратить развод.

Король отказался это сделать. Было понятно, что он планирует жениться на американке – это было известно всем, несмотря на то, что газеты пришли к джентльменскому соглашению не называть имя Уоллис Симпсон. 10 ноября это имя, тем не менее, впервые прозвучало на заседании Палаты общин из уст депутата-лейбориста из Глазго во время обсуждения будущей коронации короля. Точнее, того, что коронации может и не быть.

Становилось понятно, что отречение от престола – это для Эдуарда уже не столько возможность, сколько необходимость.

Лондон переполнился слухами. Даже друзья короля понимали, что если он женится на Уоллис Симпсон, ему придется немедленно отречься от престола – в противном случае, это приведет к конституционному кризису, всеобщим выборам, подъему левых настроений – и все это на фоне безработицы, рецессии и внешнеполитических проблем (напомним, это был 1936 год).

16 ноября король сообщил Стэнли Болдуину, что женится на Уоллис Симпсон в самое ближайшее время, одобрят его министры это или нет. Если нет, он отречется от престола. Позднее, вечером. Он сказал то же самое и матери и сестре. Разумеется, они были шокированы.

Конечно, они настаивали на том, что быть королем его долг, и он обязан отказаться от этой женщины. На что он ответил, что не сможет быть королем без нее, а это значит, что его настоящий долг – оставить трон. 10 декабря 1936 года в присутствии четверых своих братьев Эдуард VIII перестал быть королем. Впервые в истории Великобритании монарх добровольно отрекся от трона.

Герцог и герцогиня Виндзорские, принц Эдуард и Уоллис Симпсон, в замке Шато-де-ла-Кро на Лазурном берегу, июнь 1968 года

Они поженились 3 июня 1937 года во Франции – бывший король Великобритании, а ныне герцог Виндзорский и дважды разведенная дочь американского предпринимателя из Балтимора, сделавшего состояние на торговле мукой. Скромная свадьба состоялась в Шато де Канд, в Монте.

Члены семьи бывшего британского монарха на ней не присутствовали. Несмотря на то, что британской прессе было запрещено там находиться, журнал Time вел детальный репортаж с места событий, не забывая упоминать, что Эдвард не отрывает глаз от невесты.

На Уоллис Сипмсон было светло-голубое платье из креповой ткани и шляпка с полями, ореолом окружавшими голову, шею украшала крупная брошь. «Только два инцидента помешали церемонии, — сообщал Time. – Когда викарий Жарден спросил: «Будешь ли ты любить ее, заботиться о ней, уважать и беречь ее?», взволнованный Эдуард выкрикнул: «Да!» пронзительным голосом, больше похожим на крик. Когда же он надевал на ее палец простое кольцо из уэльского золота, традиционного в британской королевской семье, то дрожь в его руках была видна даже самым дальним наблюдателям».

Супруги прожили в браке вплоть до самой смерти Эдуарда в 1972 году. Уоллис Симпсон пережила его на 14 лет.