tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post4381617508762053318..comments2023-10-12T02:21:40.102-07:00Comments on English Historical Fiction Authors: Edward VIII, the Abdication and the NazisDebra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-83598921439704595812018-01-19T12:43:02.485-08:002018-01-19T12:43:02.485-08:00I was delighted to see "The Crown" addre...I was delighted to see "The Crown" address the Queen's<br />dealings with her uncle Edward. Stunning stuff all!<br /><br />NO idea Edward was quite so ruthless, cruel and totally selfish. <br /><br />Thank you for opening our ears and eyes...seems we<br />will never reach the bottom of this pit where providence could have gone so terribly wrong and evil.<br /><br />Having been revitted twice now by "Darkest Hour," I am<br />still hopeful that a people can have the right leader at the right time<br />!Elizabeth IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18423527054324609317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-82963485169892890682015-01-09T00:05:34.267-08:002015-01-09T00:05:34.267-08:00Thank you all. I have very much appreciated readin...Thank you all. I have very much appreciated reading your comments on this. Regards, John B.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17469107325611747325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-86975753649844217302015-01-08T16:53:21.170-08:002015-01-08T16:53:21.170-08:00You might be able to obtain information about the ...You might be able to obtain information about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the United States through the Freedom of Information Act. I doubt the U.S. Government could claim any national security reason for keeping it secret after all these years, http://www.foia.gov/You wouldn't Believe me if I told youhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08385095928395959723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-5741144849923340232015-01-07T23:44:08.511-08:002015-01-07T23:44:08.511-08:00One reason the British working class fell for his ...One reason the British working class fell for his charms were because of a few carefully engineered public appearances when he professed sympathy for the unemployed etc. Most people hadn't even heard of Wallis Simpson until the very eve of the abdication because of press censorship. They working class loathed her. Of course they also learned little about Edward's other activities as his visits to Hitler etc where spun in a particular way. Sally is right about Churchill believing the necessity of the US entering the war. With just the British and the Russians fighting it might have taken several years longer and led to massively more British and Russian casualties. The British were not burnt toast by 1942 though. The British army was then about to throw back Rommel in the desert and its navy was more or less keeping the German Kriegsmarine penned up. Hitler had failed to subdue the British Isles, his bombers had caused considerable damage but relatively few casualties out of a population of 40 million, and morale had held up very well. And, in the period 39-42 had kept the flag of freedom flying. It has to be added that much of that would have been a lot harder but for Roosevelt flouting his country's neutrality and providing Britain with arms, supplies and ships. The most important thing to recognise is that the allied nations dispatched a madman leader and helped liberate the German people as much as all the other conquuered nations of the world. It might have been harder if Edward and his fellow travellers had prospered.<br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17469107325611747325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-30879572853009967502015-01-07T21:21:33.426-08:002015-01-07T21:21:33.426-08:00Why would the English aristocracy ever believe Hit...Why would the English aristocracy ever believe Hitler would not touch their land holdings?He would have had a field day looting their art works, etc. Very interesting post!Denisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15096299164024429829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-2168219135449571882015-01-07T13:21:57.696-08:002015-01-07T13:21:57.696-08:00My English parents always referred to Edward as Th...My English parents always referred to Edward as The Traitor. I never met one person who lived through the war who had any sympathy or affection for him after he inherited the throne -- before, yes. Everyone loved and honored King George. Mrs Simpson was universally disliked. She was never mentioned in our house. Americans glorifying this "romance" need education ... you would not want your daughter to emulate her. <br /><br />The "nobility" were decimated in WWI and vowed never again to wipe out an entire generation of young men. Britain hadn't recovered from WWI when the Nazis came to power, and there was huge resistance to committing to another blood-letting. After all, the Nazis had revived Germany ... perhaps they could get Britain rolling again? Winston knew Britain, even with support and men from the Empire, couldn't win, and his plan was to hold the line until America would fight for freedom and democracy. Thank God America got its act together in time. The Isles were burned toast already.<br /><br />The only people I have met with ny lingering attachment to Edward were British working class ... they took the brunt of the bombing and fighting, so why they liked him, God only knows.<br /><br />And of course, Edward was money laundering for the Nazis while he was Gov. of the Bahamas ... but that's another story for you to build a novel around. Sally Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11287628255330281037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-79041936183436467032015-01-07T10:16:52.310-08:002015-01-07T10:16:52.310-08:00Thank you Stephanie, I hope you enjoy it. Though i...Thank you Stephanie, I hope you enjoy it. Though it is a thriller, I've tried to present characters who represent the very wide political factions at the time. The good thing is the UK came through it. Had Britain stood aside and given Hitler, as some desired, a free hand in Europe, it is likely that he would have perfected rockets - including an atomic capability - that would have even reached the eastern seaboard of the States. Even as it was the Nazis were only a year or two from achieving that when the allies overran his research station in 1944-45. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17469107325611747325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-47742886324229077482015-01-07T08:18:22.550-08:002015-01-07T08:18:22.550-08:00I purchased your book on Kindle from Amazon.com; t...I purchased your book on Kindle from Amazon.com; thanks for this post!Stephanie A. Mannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14796489639420491857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-53522220001333975552015-01-07T06:52:10.844-08:002015-01-07T06:52:10.844-08:00Hard to say what documents will have survived, tho...Hard to say what documents will have survived, though the general belief is that the royal archives do preserve everything, however critical. Problem is that it is very difficult to gain access to the archives. I don't know whether it is easier in the US? The great shock of the Abdication in Britain was because that the majority of the British public - though almost everyone else in the world! - didn't know it was happening because of censorship in the British media. People felt betrayed by their newspapers and the BBC. Interesting that in the 1950s, when Princess Margaret was courting the divorcee Peter Townshend it was very well reported in Britain.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17469107325611747325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-36268397253945016202015-01-07T06:10:58.263-08:002015-01-07T06:10:58.263-08:00"... then the relevant files are probably in ..."... then the relevant files are probably in the archives of the United States."<br /><br />I suspect you're right - I have a hard time imagining Britain of the time compiling, or at least maintaining for decades, a lot of damning documents about major members of the royal family! Danny Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05886995452122864418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-82951633441602870142015-01-07T04:00:49.738-08:002015-01-07T04:00:49.738-08:00This is fascinating - there's so much we don&#...This is fascinating - there's so much we don't know about aristocratic relations with the Nazis e.g . Hess planned to parachute into Scotland to meet secretly with the Duke of Hamilton but his plane crashed & he was arrested. What secret deal was going on there? Still a mystery! Great post!Marie Macphersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10906943465845474431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-49147836209742972372015-01-07T02:49:38.277-08:002015-01-07T02:49:38.277-08:00Be sure to keep us updated if it emerges quietly.....Be sure to keep us updated if it emerges quietly....Debra Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-5904213461779355952015-01-07T02:19:03.324-08:002015-01-07T02:19:03.324-08:00John, excellent and important post! I'd heard ...John, excellent and important post! I'd heard rumors but underestimated the closeness of the ties between the Windsors and Nazis. I should not forget, however, that Wallis Simpson wasn't just a "divorcee" -- she was scandalous. Any British officer would have been required to resign his commission for marrying such a woman, which suggests to me that many people in British society heartily approved of the abdication -- even without the added, and undoubtedly more serious, risks of a monarch with too close ties to the Nazis. Again. great post.Helena P. Schraderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-18566274587375320052015-01-07T00:05:52.869-08:002015-01-07T00:05:52.869-08:00Thank you Sophia. Only now are documents emerging ...Thank you Sophia. Only now are documents emerging re recent British history. It will be fascinating to see what emerges over the next few years, regards John.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17469107325611747325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-2786028695352717602015-01-06T23:46:24.539-08:002015-01-06T23:46:24.539-08:00Well, that sheds a new light on matters for me. ;...Well, that sheds a new light on matters for me. ;) I had no idea.<br /><br />Thanks for the wonderful post, John! I'm definitely curious about your book.Sophia Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07909417504496472472noreply@blogger.com