The Crown in Crisis by Alexander Larman

The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication
by Alexander Larman
St. Martin’s Press

H.L. Mencken called it “the best story since the Resurrection,” while others thought it the most shameful episode in the long history of the English monarchy. The abdication of King Edward VIII in the dreary winter of 1936 is a story replete with every element of a winning plot: duty, love, passion, and sacrifice. It is also a story well-documented; indeed, readers may wonder if there is anything new to learn about this scandalous affair in England’s history.

Thanks to Alexander Larman’s well researched new book, The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication, the veil is lifted on several aspects of the abdication crisis—as well as the relationship between Edward and Wallis—previously hidden in the pages of numerous diaries and letters of the dramatis personae. Larman, a journalist and historian of three previous books, mined this rich trove of archival material to capture a comprehensive and deeply personal account of this pivotal turning point of the monarchy and the nation.

After King George V’s death, Prince Edward (“David” to his intimates) watched from St. James Palace as the accession proclamation was read out on January 22, 1936. He was not alone, however. In attendance was Wallis Simpson, a married American woman (once divorced and soon to be twice) who saw in Edward her key to wealth, glamour, and a life of ease. In Wallis, Edward found the love—some might say the obsession—of his life. They had been in each other’s orbit for almost five years and lovers for nearly two. Edward’s accession to the throne, rather than a boon for both, became a nightmare for each in different measure.

The book’s subtitle is apt, as the “countdown” begins with those hours, days, and months after Edward’s accession in January 1936 to his final decision to abdicate in December of the same year. Delving into the early days of Edward and Wallis and their party-going lifestyle through the tumultuous early months of his reign, Larman’s pacing is impeccable and keeps the reader hooked. He avoids the pitfall of turning the narrative into a mere scandal sheet by introducing new archival material that touches on the range of sincere emotions people felt during the crisis. From the unyielding and disdainful Alex Hardinge, Edward’s private secretary, to the more sympathetic Walter Monckton, his chief adviser and lawyer, Larman introduces a variety of opinions about Edward, Wallis, and the survivability of the monarchy during such an unprecedented event.

The book is far broader in scope than just an expose on Edward and Wallis, however. Larman explains the “crisis” part in thorough detail as sides begin to form in both the political and public forum over the scandal. Working to thwart the king’s plan to marry Wallis (after her divorce proceedings with Ernest Simpson concluded) are the tired and put-upon Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, the theologically appalled Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang, and the acid-tongued Hardinge, who all attempt through direct and indirect means to convince Edward of ending his relationship with the married “Simpson woman.” On the other side are Lord Beaverbrook, influential newspaperman, and perhaps most surprisingly, Winston Churchill, a stickler for tradition who nearly ruins his political future in support of Edward VIII.

There is much to learn in this book, to be sure. Larman introduces new information on several key events such as the assassination attempt on King Edward VIII early in his reign, a first-hand account of Wallis Simpson’s divorce proceedings in October 1936, and the Duke of Windsor’s dubious relationship with the Nazis, to name just a few. But it is the personal ruminations upon a visibly shaken and damaged monarchy that most strike the mark.

If pressed to answer, one would say the adult in the room was Prince Albert, Duke of York, and eventually, King George VI. He understood the monarchy in a way that his brother David did not or did not want to. Service before self. A concept the soon-to-be ex-king bridled and rebelled at. As Larman eloquently observes:

He [Edward] had torn up centuries of protocol and expectation of how a monarch could, or should, behave, replacing it with a defiant expression of individualism. With this, he prefigured a century in which ideas of duty and honor would be increasingly replaced by free will and self-fulfillment.

As evidenced from recent news headlines, the English royal family (“The Firm”) is still very much haunted by Edward’s ghost, or at least his philosophy. With The Crown in Crisis, we have the most up to date telling of this oft-told tale—and it delivers the crown jewels.

Peggy Kurkowski holds a BA in History from American Public University and is a copywriter and book reviewer living in Denver, Colorado