The Love of a King
Peter Dainty
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
A Family Tree
From Queen Victoria to Princess Diana
Queen Victoria
King Edward VII
King George V = Queen Mary
Elizabeth Bowes Lyon
(The Queen Mother)
= King George VI King Edward VIII
(Duke of Windsor)
= Mrs Wallis Simpson
(Duchess of Windsor)
Queen Elizabeth II = Prince Philip
Prince Charles = Princess Diana
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The Duke and Duchess of Windsor
1894 Edward is born in Richmond, England.
1896 Wallis is born in Baltimore, USA.
1911 Edward becomes Prince of Wales.
1912 Edward enters Oxford University.
1914 The First World War begins. Edward sees fighting on the
front line in Belgium.
1916 Wallis marries Winfield Spencer.
1920 Edward begins a five years journey round the world. He vi-
sits 45 countries and travels 240,000 kilometres.
1927 Wallis divorces Winfield Spencer.
1928 Wallis marries Ernest Simpson.
1930 Edward meets Wallis at a weekend house party.
1936
January
King George V dies. Edward is now King.
June
Edward tells his mother that he wants to marry Wallis.
December
Edward gives the crown to his brother and leaves
England.
1937 Edward and Wallis marry in France. They take the name
Duke and Duchess of Windsor. None of the Royal Family
comes to the wedding. For the next thirty years the Duke and
Duchess live outside England.
1966 Queen Elizabeth II meets the Duke and Duchess at a small
party in London. ‘It’s time to forget the past,’ she says.
1972 Edward dies in Paris. His body is buried in England at Wind-
sor Castle.
1986 Wallis dies in Paris and is buried next to Edward at Windsor.
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1
A lonely Child
Prince Edward was born in 1894. His father, King George V, was
a tall, cold man who did not like children. ‘Why does Edward talk all
the time?’ he once said. ‘He’s a very noisy child!’
His mother, Queen Mary, agreed. ‘It doesn’t matter if Edward is
happy or unhappy,’ she said. ‘A child must be silent and strong.’
The family lived in Buckingham Palace, which had 600 rooms.
There were 8 kitchens, 19 bathrooms, 24 toilets, 11 dining rooms, 17
bedrooms and 21 sitting rooms.
Edward once told a story about the house:
Buckingham Palace was very big and people sometimes got lost.
One night my mother, my father and I were sitting in the dining
room. We were waiting for our dinner. We waited and we waited
but the food did not come. After twenty minutes my father was very
angry. He stood up and went to the kitchen. ‘Where is the cook?’ he
shouted, ‘and where is my food?’
‘But, Sir,’ the cook replied, ‘your dinner left the kitchen fifteen
minutes ago. Hasn’t it arrived yet?’
‘No, it hasn’t,’ my father shouted, ‘and I am hungry.’
The King left the kitchen and began to look for the food. Ten
minutes later he saw a woman who was carrying three plates of meat
and potatoes. ‘What happened to you?’ my father said. ‘Why didn’t
you bring us our dinner?’
‘I am sorry, Sir,’ the woman replied. ‘There are a lot of dinning
rooms. I couldn’t remember where to go. But if you return to the
table, Sir, this time I can follow you to the right room.’
Edward did not go to school with other children. He stayed in
Buckingham Palace where he had a special classroom just for him.
This is how Edward described his lessons:
My teacher, Mr Hansell, was a thin man. He never smiled and his
nose was very red. We had lots of books but they were all very
boring. They were full of words and they didn’t have any pictures.
Sometimes I stopped reading and looked out of the window. Mr
Hansell got very angry. He took a stick and his me on the arm.
‘Don’t look out of the window, little boy,’ he shouted. ‘Look at the
book.’ He hit me many times and my arm was red.
Every Friday the teacher took me to my father’s room. ‘And
what has my son learnt this week, Mr Hansell?’ the King asked.
And the answer was always:’ Not very much I am afraid, Sir.
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Edward doesn’t like his lessons. He never listens to what I say.’
When Mr Hansell left the room, my father was angry with me.
‘What’s wrong with you, child?’ he said. ‘Are you stupid? Why
can’t you learn anything?’
‘But the lessons are so boring, Sir,’ I replied. ‘And Mr Hansell
hits me.’
‘I don’t understand you, Edward. You’re a baby. You’re so
weak. You’ll never be a good King. A King must be strong. Go to
your room and stay there until the morning.
‘I spent many days alone in my room,’ Edward wrote later. ‘I never
played with other children and I didn’t have any friend. I lived in the
most beautiful house in England but I was always lonely and sad.
I saw my mother once a day at dinner time and I saw my father three
or four times a week but they never gave me any love. I was afraid
of them and everything I did was wrong.’
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The Prince of Wales
In the spring of 1911 King George called Edward into his room and
said:
‘Next month I’ll make you Prince of Wales and these are your
clothes foe the ceremony.’
The King opened a small cupboard and Edward started to cry.
‘But father,’ he said, ‘I am sixteen years old now. I can’t wear soft
shoes and a skirt. I’ll look like a girl. Why can’t I dress like other
people?’
‘Because you’re different and special,’ his father replied, ‘and
one day you’ll be King.’
Edward cried for the next two days but there was nothing he
could do.
And so, on 10
th
June 1911, the family drove to Caernarfon Castle
in North Wales and the ceremony began.
The King put a small gold crown on Edward’s head. There was
music and dancing and the crown began to shout.
The new Prince of Wales closed his eyes. ‘I feel terrible,’ he said.
‘Can we go home now?’
‘Not yet,’ the King replied. ‘The people want to see you.’
Edward walked to the front of the castle and looked down at the
crown. He was shaking and his face was red.
‘Smile, Edward,’ the King said. ‘You are happy!’
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