Please forgive me for asking you this, but you are so understanding about these things. Please don’t give me away, as it really has nothing to do with me. I am being an interfering busybody, but the St John order is run by old old men, & they forget the rank & file! I felt I would so like to ask you this – it means so much to these excellent people. At all public functions the police notify the London District as to how many men & nurses they require, & the Brigade carry out these street duties absolutely free – a service gladly given by people like porters, postmen, shopmen etc. If you possibly can – it would be wonderful if you could inspect them.
Your loving sister in law Elizabeth
Tuesday undated [17 November 1936] to Queen Mary
145 Piccadilly
My Darling Mama,
Bertie has just told me of what has happened,* and I feel quite overcome with horror & emotion. My first thought was of you, & your note, just arrived as I was starting to write to you, was very helpful. One feels so helpless against such obstinacy. Would 10.30 be too early for you tomorrow morning? Bertie has a meeting later on in the morning. If we don’t hear to the contrary we will come at that hour. God help us all to be calm & wise.
Your devoted daughter in law, Elizabeth
Friday 20 November 1936 to Queen Mary
Wilton House
Salisbury*
My Darling Mama,
Thank you so very much for your letter, it was indeed kind of you to write so fully, and I am deeply grateful. What you say gives Bertie & I much courage and to know that we have your support at this turning point in not only our lives, but the lives of millions of people in the Empire is a wonderful encouragement & support.
Staying here, in a very normal English shooting party, it seems almost incredible that David contemplates such a step, & every day I pray to God that he will see reason, and not abandon his people.
I am sure that it would be a great shock to everybody and a horrible position for us naturally. However, it is no good going over the same ground again, but I must repeat that I do not know what we should do without you darling Mama. Please believe that Bertie & I will always do everything in our power to please you, and we do feel so thankful for your unfailing help & sympathy & wise advice.
It is a great strain having to talk & behave as if nothing was wrong during these difficult days – especially as I do not think that anybody here dreams of what is worrying all of us. […] it is truly the sword of Damocles again.
Ever your loving daughter in law, Elizabeth
23 November 1936 to King Edward VIII
145 Piccadilly
Private
Darling David,
Please read this. Please be kind to Bertie when you see him, because he loves you, and minds terribly all that happens to you. I wish that you could realize how loyal & true he is to you, and you have no idea how hard it has been for him lately. I know that he is fonder of you than anybody else, & as his wife, I must write & tell you this. I am terrified for him – so DO help him. And for God’s sake don’t tell him that I have written – we both uphold you always.
E.*
PS We want you to be happy, more than anything else, but it’s awfully difficult for Bertie to say what he thinks, you know how shy he is – so do help him.
23 November 1936 to Helen Hardinge
145 Piccadilly
Dearest Helen,
It was very kind, and just like you to write me such a nice letter. I would love to see you, because there is nobody that I can talk to, and I know that you understand the horrible complications of the situation. It’s bad whichever way one looks at it, both from our point of view, and the country’s, and the only thing that matters is the support and sympathy of one’s friends. I feel very depressed and miserable, and so am extra grateful for your support. You and Alec† are angels. E.
3 December 1936 to the Hon. Sir Richard Molyneux
145 Piccadilly
My dear Dick
I have put off lunching with Oswald Birley,* because I do not feel able to cope today. I am sure that he will understand, & you too. It is a great help to us to feel that we have good friends like yourself, for indeed we both are unhappy & terribly worried. We have just arrived back from Scotland, to be greeted with the bombshell of the daily papers† – it is all so dreadful & wasteful. Please tell the Birleys how sorry I am.
Yours v. sincerely Elizabeth
6 December 1936 to May Elphinstone
The Royal Lodge
My Darling May
Thank you 1000 times for being so angelic to us at Carberry. I can’t tell you what a joy it was to be with you all again, and I really don’t think that we could have got through the Edinburgh functions, in the present state of unhappiness, unless we had been with you. It made all the difference, and I am so grateful. Bertie and I are feeling very despairing and the strain is terrific.
Every day lasts a week, & the only hope we have is in the affection & support of our family & friends.
I feel so sad, & yet there is only a very straightforward case – if Mrs Simpson is not fit to be Queen, she is not fit to be the King’s morganatic wife. The Crown must be above all controversy –
Thank you again for all your wonderful kindness.
Your very loving
Elizabeth
7 December 1936 to Osbert Sitwell
The Royal Lodge
Dear Mr Sitwell,
I am deeply grateful to you for your very kind letter, I wish that I could tell you how much encouragement & support we feel in what you say. In these last few days, when every minute has seemed an hour, we have been sustained & helped by the sympathy of our friends. Please believe that your letter has been read with real gratitude.
It is extraordinary how one’s heart lightens at the kindness of friends, and I feel sure that you understand the great difficulties of the present situation – therefore your sympathy is very much appreciated. I thank you from my heart, & hope that we shall see you again soon.
Yours very sincerely,
Elizabeth
7 December 1936 to the Marchioness of Londonderry
The Royal Lodge
My dear Lady Londonderry*
I am so grateful to you for your very kind letter. Your sympathy is a great encouragement to us both during these terrible days that seem to last so long, and we are much encouraged by what you say. It is specially hard for my husband, involving as it does a much loved brother, and we are both feeling miserable, but sustained & helped by our friends indeed. Thank you from my heart for your kind thought in writing.
I do so agree with you about the calamity of Lord Beaverbrook & Lord Rothermere* bringing this very vital & constitutional matter down into an attack on Mr Baldwin. But I also think that it is essential for the Queen to remain outside any controversy – she must be above everything and her calm & dignity will prove to the people the futility of the cheap Press. I feel very sure of this – she must remain a serene and wise figure outside the ravings & ramblings of this agitated world. Do tell me that you agree with my view? Thank you again for your support, & kind thought in writing, & with messages from us both
I am, Yours affec.
Elizabeth
10 December 1936 to Queen Mary
145 Piccadilly
My Darling Mama,
I am so distressed that at this most vital and unhappy moment in the history of our country, I cannot leave the house to come & be with you.† Old Weir insists that I remain in my room, at least for today, and very unwillingly I have accepted his advice. My thoughts are continually with you, and we are sustained & encouraged more than I can say by your wonderful example of dignity and wisdom. Darling Mama, you are indeed a beacon of light to all the poor bewildered people who are now groping in the darkness of disillusionment, and with your leadership we must all combine to get the country back to what it was this time last year.
As I write, your message has come, & I shall look forward with great joy to your visit t
oday at 3.
I have great faith in Bertie – he sees very straight, & if this terrible responsibility comes to him he will face it bravely.
Much love, darling Mama,
your loving daughter in law
Elizabeth
Many years later, Queen Elizabeth reflected on the Abdication in her series of conversations with Eric Anderson:
‘It was a terrible surprise to everybody when he [the King] decided that he had to leave. It was the whole Commonwealth who said no no, we don’t want you to marry this lady. And it was just a terrible tragedy, it really was. We all loved the Prince of Wales and we all thought he was going to be a wonderful King. It was the most ghastly shock when he decided to go. It was a dreadful blow to his brother because, you see, they were great friends. It’s a terrible, bitter blow when somebody you love behaves like that.
‘Fortunately he was never crowned, and that was one of the good things he did. If he was going to make up his mind to go away, to do it before.
‘I wonder. I don’t think he ever wanted to be King. I don’t think he thought of it as something he ought to do. Very odd. People do change in a strange way. He had this extraordinary charm, and then it all disappeared. I don’t know what happened.
‘Nobody knows, really. He was frightfully popular. Everybody adored him. I think he may have thought he was so popular that people would want him back, whatever. I imagine that might have been in his mind. Oh, he was immensely popular all over the Commonwealth. He was extremely attractive. That makes it all the more strange, the whole thing. He must have been bemused with love, I suppose.
‘You couldn’t reason with him, nobody could. The whole Government tried, everybody tried. The only good thing is, I think he was quite happy with her.’
King Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication on the evening of 10 December 1936, and it was given legislative assent on 11 December. The Duke of York became King George VI and the Duchess of York his Queen Consort. The former King, now to be known as Duke of Windsor, made a radio broadcast that night to explain his decision, and left by sea for France en route to Austria.
11December 1936 to the Duke of Windsor
145 Piccadilly
Darling David
I am so miserable that I cannot come down to Royal Lodge owing to being ill in bed, as I wanted so much to see you before you go, and say ‘God bless you’ from my heart. We are all overcome with misery, and can only pray that you will find happiness in your new life.
I often think of the old days, & how you helped Bertie & I in the first years of our marriage. I shall always mention you in my prayers, & bless you, Elizabeth
12December 1936 to the Most Rev. Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
145 Piccadilly
My dear Archbishop
I cannot tell you how touched I am at receiving your most kind and helpful letter today. I can hardly now believe that we have been called to this tremendous task, and, (I am writing to you quite intimately) the curious thing is that we are not afraid. I feel that God has enabled us to face the situation calmly, and although I at least feel most inadequate, we have been sustained during these last terrible days by many many good friends. I know that we may count you among them, and it means a great deal to us to know this. When we spoke together at Birkhall only three months ago, how little did I think that such drama & unhappiness was in store for our dear Country. Thank you from my heart for your unfailing sympathy & good advice.
I would love to see you soon, as there are so many things to talk over, and for many years now, you have been so kind and wise about our troubles & joys that I fear you cannot escape this time. We both feel our responsibilities very deeply, and though quite prepared for a difficult time, are determined to do our best.
Your dear kind letter has helped us more than I can say – we were so very unhappy over the loss of a dear brother – because one can only feel that exile from this country is death indeed. We were miserable, as you know, over his change of heart and character during the last few years, and it is alarming how little in touch he was, with ordinary human feeling – Alas! he had lost the ‘common touch’. I thank you again from my heart for your wishes & prayers for our future, we pray most sincerely that we shall not fail our country, & I sign myself for the first time, & with great affection
Elizabeth R
14 December 1936 to Queen Mary
145 Piccadilly
My Darling Mama
I must write you one line to tell you that this evening Bertie gave me the Garter.* He had discovered that Papa gave it to you on his Papa’s birthday June 3rd, and the coincidence was so charming that he has now followed suit, & given it to me on his own birthday. I felt that I must let you know this. […]
Ever darling Mama, your loving daughter in law
Elizabeth
16 December 1936 to D’Arcy Osborne
145 Piccadilly
My dear D’Arcy
Thank you so much for your dear, understanding letter. I do wish that you had been here during these days of drama & tragedy and disappointment. It is hard to believe that the one that we knew as Prince of Wales could possibly have done what King Edward did.
I won’t say anything about it, except that you can imagine what a misery it has been to the present King to lose a loved brother in such a way. He is tackling the business very calmly, and we can only do our best. Do let me know what the reaction has been in Rome. I hope that when you come home again you will come and see us in exactly the same way as before.
I am keeping an open mind about everything at the moment, so will wait until later to write more fully.
I have been feeling ill with influenza for the last ten days, so forgive an extremely unintelligent letter – everything seems like a bad dream. But the curious thing is that I am not afraid. Inadequate, but unfrightened.
I wish you a very happy Xmas, & do believe that the knowledge that we have your friendship and sympathy is a great support to us just now. I mean that from my heart.
Thank you again for your kind letter.
I am,
Yours very sincerely,
Elizabeth
17 December 1936 to Osbert Sitwell
145 Piccadilly
Dear Mr Sitwell,
I wish that I could tell you how much real pleasure your most enchanting Xmas present has given me. I have long wished to have a book about the Pavilion* & never dreamt that I could ever have such a lovely one. Not only are the illustrations & drawings exquisite, but the binding & coat of arms are also a dream of beauty.
Please believe that I am deeply grateful to you for your very kind thought of me, and I want to thank you from my heart for giving me such a very perfect present.
Also, I want to thank you for your sympathetic and understanding letter of last week. I cannot tell you what a help it has been to us in the sad and tragic days that we have been through, to feel that we have the support & wishes of friends like yourself.
One can hardly believe that we could have survived such drama & tragedy, & yet, here we are, back at the old business – Buckling to, doing our best, keeping the old Flag flying hoorah, and of course it is the only thing that is worth doing now. I believe now, more than ever before, that this country is worth sacrificing a good deal for. In fact, if I was exiled, I should die, anyway in the spirit.
Again a thousand grateful thanks for the really beautiful book.
I am yours sincerely,
Elizabeth R
The new King and Queen, their children and Queen Mary spent Christmas, New Year and most of January at Sandringham, recuperating from the shock of the abdication and coming to terms with the future.
The King was able to stop the sale, ordered by his brother, of much of the Sandringham Estate. To the relief of the tenant farmers and the Household, he also reversed many of the changes that Edward VIII had made in the running of both Sandringham and Balmoral.
Owen Morshead, the Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle,
who was at Sandringham over Christmas, found the King and Queen very frank. The only topic of conversation was the new Duke of Windsor. The King and Queen dwelt on his extraordinary personality – ‘his amazing power of charming people, his flair for making any party go’. The Queen praised his ‘unique talents’ but was concerned that if he and Mrs Simpson did not remain together, ‘it would be dangerous to have such a powerful personality, so magnetic, hanging about doing nothing.’*
14 January 1937 to the Most Rev. Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
Sandringham
My dear Archbishop.
I write to thank you most gratefully for the book on the Coronation that you have so kindly sent me. I have read it with great interest, and shall look at it very often I expect. I am afraid that I was very ignorant anent (as we say in Scotland!) the wonderful amount of History & tradition that goes to make the great ceremony, and after reading your book I realize even more, the significance of what we have undertaken. I feel now, rather as if I was coming to after a heavy blow on the head. I think that the shock of those terrible days in December was literally stunning, and a merciful numbness overcame one at the time. The return to life is rather unpleasant – we shall need all our courage in the days to come.
Counting One's Blessings Page 23
