The Peoples King by Susan Williams

Author:Susan Williams [Williams, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Non Fiction, history
Published: 2011-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

His Majesty then said, 'You want me to go, don't you?' The Prime Minister agreed. He recalled that the King had told him that he wanted to go with dignity, in the best possible manner for Mrs Simpson and himself and his successor, without dividing the country .. ,so

It seemed to many that a division of the country, between the Cavaliers and Roundheads, might in fact be imminent. 'Clearly if the Gov. were to put pressure on HM they must be sure of everyone,' wrote Hilda Runciman in her diary. 'If the Gov. resign because HM wont [sic] take their advice cd. any one else form a Gov.?'51 Obviously some members of the general public thought Edward could. 'Marry whom you please, call on Winston Churchill, form government,' came a telegram from the chairwoman of the Barnet Urban District Council.52 'Dismiss the Cabinet,' urged one letter-writer. 'They are not worth a pennyworth of You. Ask Mr Churchill to form a Govt and all will be well.'53

There was a broad spectrum of support for the King: from Conservatives who feared that he was being pressed unreasonably, to left- wingers such as Harry Pollitt, Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, who admired his principles. 'The spectacle of the National Government laying down a code of morals and behaviour for the King', said Pollitt, 'is indeed a sight. . . there is no crisis in all this business for the working class. Let the King marry whom he likes. That is his personal business.'54 The Communist politician Walter Newbold wrote a letter of support to Churchill on 6 December - 'Count me all in once more with yourself in the line you are taking in respect of the King.' The sooner 'the old gang' were debunked, he added, the better.55

One problematic source of support for the King was Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). At a large meeting on Friday 4 December held in London's East End, Mosley asserted the King's right to marry whom he wished. The next day, the BUF published a special four-page newspaper entitled Crisis: the two inside pages covered Sir Oswald's speech and the meeting, while the front page showed the King against a background of the derelict pits of South Wales.56 Mosley believed that the line of division between those who supported the King and those who did not was 'broadly the line dividing the younger from the older generation'. However, the organizer of the BUF's northern campaign, who received reports on scores of meetings, came to a different conclusion. It was his view that the middle class, particularly the lower middle class, abhorred the marriage, while the working class was solidly for the King." Anthony Heap was a Londoner who admired Fascism and belonged to the BUF. He wrote in his diary that he did not share Mosley's enthusiasm for the King. 'The Cabinet rightly opposes the scandalous match,' he opined,

for it would not only make the King

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