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Post by carlton43 on Mar 13, 2021 1:09:18 GMT
I once led for his position in a debate on him not acceding to the request to abdicate and using one section of the media and part of the Conservative party plus his then popularity with part of the WC to trash the then CofE and the stuffed shirt element of the Establishment 'holding us back' in a modern world, resticting a more modern approach to life, love, divorce and living together unmarried. Then fighting his corner for the monarchy, his choice of wife, a better deal for the poor and the WC and the disestablishment of the CofE and a change of government approach. And winning fairly easily after the authorities saw how people were reacting. An earlier form of culture wars taking firmly to the test.
I lost the debate but I think he might have won the argument if it was couched in the right manner of attacking stuffed shirts, wing collars, prissy ideals and embracing change for the manual trades and the poor and the veterens from WW1.
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Post by LDCaerdydd on Mar 13, 2021 9:43:58 GMT
Willis Simpson was strongly rumoured to be infertile, so if she was accepted and they married there’s every chance of no issue, the King dying in 1972 and Elizabeth II succeeding him.
His younger brother Albert/Bertie would certainly have lived longer although probably not for twenty years to become King himself.
Societal attitudes towards divorce would probably have quickened.
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Post by hullenedge on Mar 13, 2021 10:29:48 GMT
I once led for his position in a debate on him not acceding to the request to abdicate and using one section of the media and part of the Conservative party plus his then popularity with part of the WC to trash the then CofE and the stuffed shirt element of the Establishment 'holding us back' in a modern world, resticting a more modern approach to life, love, divorce and living together unmarried. Then fighting his corner for the monarchy, his choice of wife, a better deal for the poor and the WC and the disestablishment of the CofE and a change of government approach. And winning fairly easily after the authorities saw how people were reacting. An earlier form of culture wars taking firmly to the test. I lost the debate but I think he might have won the argument if it was couched in the right manner of attacking stuffed shirts, wing collars, prissy ideals and embracing change for the manual trades and the poor and the veterens from WW1. Edward8 was his own worst enemy. No way could he have survived the 1936 crisis. |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Mar 13, 2021 10:35:41 GMT
For Edward VIII to survive, it would have needed a Prime Minister less decisive and skilful than Stanley Baldwin.
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Post by hullenedge on Mar 13, 2021 11:02:45 GMT
A far more interesting question - was Guy Trundle shagging Wallis Simpson? If so where did she find the time and what was she playing at? If not what was MI5 up to?
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sirbenjamin
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Post by sirbenjamin on Mar 13, 2021 19:36:59 GMT
The Golden Jubilee celebrations due round about now would probably be postponed due to Covid...
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Richard Allen
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Post by Richard Allen on Mar 13, 2021 19:43:57 GMT
I would have thought the obvious question in the event of Edward VIII not abdicating is how much impact his favourable view of Nazi Germany would have had.
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DrW
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Post by DrW on Mar 13, 2021 23:08:15 GMT
Edward’s pro-Nazi sympathies seem to have been fuelled by rage at the British establishment, fear of Bolshevism and Hitler being willing to roll out the red carpet for him and his wife, and crucially, to treat Wallis like royalty. If he remains King then two of those three factors go away and I don’t see any reason why he would be not take the same attitude as the rest of the Establishment as appeasement ran its course. He and Churchill were friendly so I can’t see him standing in the way of Churchill’s appointment as PM.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2021 0:50:13 GMT
An interesting question would be what if he decided to marry one of his other mistresses like Freda Ward or Thelma Furness?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2021 1:11:25 GMT
An interesting question would be what if he decided to marry one of his other mistresses like Freda Ward or Thelma Furness? Posted this completely forgetting that both of these women were divorced. Did not realise Thelma Furness was Anderson Cooper’s great-aunt. I imagine if he’d tried to marry a divorced woman while his father was still alive that would have changed the dynamics of things somewhat. |
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Post by matureleft on Mar 14, 2021 8:41:24 GMT
Some of this sets aside what a very limited and flawed man he was. I can’t see any likelihood of him performing any active strategic purpose along the lines speculated on. As I’ve said on another thread the male offspring of this family has been pretty heavy on ordinary (at best) people for several generations and he was certainly one of those. Performing the limited role of a figurehead (and even that with a lot of help) would have been his future.
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Post by 🏴☠️ Neath West 🏴☠️ on Mar 14, 2021 11:44:20 GMT
I would have thought the obvious question in the event of Edward VIII not abdicating is how much impact his favourable view of Nazi Germany would have had. The influence of wives on these views is probably important: Mrs Simpson was already favorably disposed towards Germany (although those views were quite widespread at the time). If anything, the real timeline was influenced by the then Duchess of York having an unusually negative view of Germany, going back to the fact that one of her brothers had been killed in WWI and another had been a prisoner of war. |
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Post by 🏴☠️ Neath West 🏴☠️ on Mar 14, 2021 11:55:42 GMT
I once led for his position in a debate on him not acceding to the request to abdicate and using one section of the media and part of the Conservative party plus his then popularity with part of the WC to trash the then CofE and the stuffed shirt element of the Establishment 'holding us back' in a modern world, resticting a more modern approach to life, love, divorce and living together unmarried. Then fighting his corner for the monarchy, his choice of wife, a better deal for the poor and the WC and the disestablishment of the CofE and a change of government approach. And winning fairly easily after the authorities saw how people were reacting. An earlier form of culture wars taking firmly to the test. I lost the debate but I think he might have won the argument if it was couched in the right manner of attacking stuffed shirts, wing collars, prissy ideals and embracing change for the manual trades and the poor and the veterens from WW1. There would have been various ways of putting the CofE back in its place. Archbishop Lang's hand was surprisingly weak. Edward could have threatened to be crowned at Winchester, where the then Bishop, Cyril Garbett, was well-known to have a rather royalist understanding of the CofE as a national church. Or there was always the threat of holding the coronation in Edinburgh – after all, the King becomes a Presbyterian when he crosses the border, and doesn't need bishops any more. |
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Richard Allen
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Post by Richard Allen on Mar 14, 2021 20:18:36 GMT
Edward’s pro-Nazi sympathies seem to have been fuelled by rage at the British establishment, fear of Bolshevism and Hitler being willing to roll out the red carpet for him and his wife, and crucially, to treat Wallis like royalty. If he remains King then two of those three factors go away and I don’t see any reason why he would be not take the same attitude as the rest of the Establishment as appeasement ran its course. He and Churchill were friendly so I can’t see him standing in the way of Churchill’s appointment as PM. There was certainly a scenario where he remained King but was still bloody well livid with the political establishment that tried to take him down. |
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iang
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Post by iang on Mar 15, 2021 19:52:57 GMT
An interesting question would be what if he decided to marry one of his other mistresses like Freda Ward or Thelma Furness? [br Wasn't it "The King's Speech" that converted Churchill into an opponent of the abdication presumably on the grounds that Winston is not allowed to be wrong about anything? |
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Post by finsobruce on Mar 22, 2021 0:41:09 GMT
"Crown Matrimonial" by Royce Ryton -
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myth11
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Post by myth11 on Mar 22, 2021 19:32:01 GMT
Perhaps he does not marry Mrs Simpson She either remains as his mistress or is dumped at some future point Perhaps he does marry her and it is accepted or nut to a greater or lesser extent But either way no issue ensue How does this play out ? In the pc game hearts of Iron IV its causes a civil war and most times you have to reconquer the empire. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2021 1:50:46 GMT
How would Edward VIII / Wallace have conducted themselves compared with George VI / Elizabeth during the war?
The latter were very canny, and indeed showed courage by remaining in London and visiting bomb sites. George VI was very popular. Undoubtedly there'd have been a degree of of that with Edward as well during such a time of crisis, but if (for sake of argument) he'd been seen to a bit more disconnected or petulant in those times, that could've caused longer-term problems for the monarchy.
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