Cultural depictions of Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
There have been a number of depictions of King Edward VIII in popular culture, both biographical and fictional, following his abdication in 1936.
Literature
- The Doctor Who novel "Timewyrm: Exodus", by Terrance Dicks, takes place in an alternate timeline where the Nazis have won World War II and Britain is under their control. A newspaper headline states that Edward and Wallis are king and queen.
- Robertson Davies's The Deptford Trilogy has Edward's profound effect on his public as a key element. One of the characters, Boy Staunton, is a great admirer of Edward VIII, having met him in person once and styled himself after him. His discontent upon being appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario mirrors Edward's decision to choose love over his title and position.
- Guy Walters's The Leader – a fictional alternative history of World War II wherein Edward VIII does not abdicate but reigns as king with Wallis Simpson as queen. They rule a fascist England after World War II and are allied with a victorious Adolf Hitler, but are opposed by the hero of the book, Captain James Armstrong.
- Robert Harris's alternative history novel Fatherland also depicts Edward VIII as the ruler of England alongside Simpson as part of a pro-German puppet government in a Nazi occupied Britain.
- In the timeline of Robert Heinlein's first novel "For Us, the Living" (1939) - then a future history which can now be considered as a retroactive alternative history - Edward returns to England at the outbreak of war and distinguishes himself in wartime service. After the war - which ends in 1944 due to Germany's economic collapse - a European Federation is formed and Edward is made into a Constitutional Emperor of Europe, a task which he fulfills with great success. However, he dies without issue in 1970 (two years earlier than in actual history) and in the aftermath Europe is torn up in forty years of highly destructive war and is largely depopulated.
- I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, written under the pseudonym Hannah Green, a mental patient believes she is the secret first wife of Edward VIII.
- Famous Last Words, a novel by Timothy Findley, is a fictional recreation of the relationship between the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. In it, the couple conspire with Joachim von Ribbentrop to overthrow Hitler, with the intention of assuming control of the Nazi party and taking over Europe.[1]
- Royce Ryton's play Crown Matrimonial, telling the abdication story from Queen Mary's viewpoint, opened at the Haymarket Theatre in 1972, with Peter Barkworth as Edward, and Wendy Hiller as Queen Mary. In a televised version in 1974, Barkworth reprised his role, but Queen Mary was played by Greer Garson.
- Snoo Wilson's 1994 play HRH dealt with the Duke's life in Bermuda and examined his possible role in a suggested cover-up following the murder of multi-millionaire Harry Oakes in 1943. This subject also features prominently in William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart.
- In the detective novel Thrones, Dominations - completed by Jill Paton Walsh from notes left by Dorothy L. Sayers - Lord Peter Wimsey is charged with recovering secret documents which King Edward treated carelessly. Wimsey has an outspokenly negative opinion on Edward, whom he considers an irresponsible person unfit to be a King. Moreover, Wimsey discovers evidence of King Edward meeting secretly in France with high-level Nazi emissaries. Wimsey's report of this to the Foreign Office cannot be published, but it increases the pressure on the King to abdicate.
Screen
On screen, Edward has been portrayed by:
- John Greenidge in the silent film The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama (1925)
- Richard Chamberlain in the American TV drama The Woman I Love (1972), which focused on the love between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
- Peter Barkworth in the LWT adaptation of Royce Ryton's play Crown Matrimonial (1974)
- Ian Ogilvy in the BBC TV drama The Gathering Storm (1974), based on the book by Winston Churchill
- Edward Fox in the Thames Television drama series Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978), based on Frances Donaldson's 1974 biography, Edward VIII
- David Yelland in Chariots of Fire (1981). During a meeting with the committee regarding the status of British runner Eric Liddell, Lord Birkenhead (Nigel Davenport) calls him "David". He was known to close friends and family as "David".
- Madison Mason in the episode of the American TV series Tales of the Gold Monkey entitled "God Save the Queen" (1983)
- John Standing in the TV drama To Catch a King (1984), based on the novel by Jack Higgins
- Anthony Andrews in the HTV drama The Woman He Loved (1988)
- Peter Sands in the LWT TV drama Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun (1988)
- Andrew Ray in the TV drama Passion in Paradise (1989), about the murder of Sir Harry Oakes. Ray had previously portrayed Edward's brother (the future George VI) in both Crown Matrimonial and the TV series Edward and Mrs Simpson (above)
- Jonathan Weightman in the Portuguese film Passagem por Lisboa (1994)
- William Boyde in the TV series A Dance to the Music of Time (1997), based on the novels by Anthony Powell
- Charles Edwards in the Carlton Television drama Bertie and Elizabeth (2002)
- Julian Firth in the BBC TV series Cambridge Spies (2003)
- Stephen Campbell Moore in the TV drama Wallis & Edward (2005), billed as the first scripted account of the romance from Wallis Simpson's point of view.[2]
- Guy Pearce in the 2010 Oscar-winning film The King's Speech, a film about his brother's battle to overcome his stammer.
- Tom Hollander in the 2010 TV adaptation of Any Human Heart.
- James D'Arcy in the 2011 film W.E. directed by Madonna.
In the 1963 cartoon Million Hare, Bugs Bunny remarks that he has the same tailor as the Duke of Windsor.
Other
- The calypso "Edward VIII" by the Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Caresser, told the story of Edward's abdication and was the most popular calypso record in 1937.[3] The song included the chorus:
-
- It's love, love alone,
- that caused King Edward to leave the throne [4]
- In singer-songwriter Al Stewart's song "Life Between the Wars" there is a reference to Edward: "The King is leaving Buckingham Palace/It's far too cold; he'd rather have Wallis."
-
- Another story about a woman and a man
- Who can say it's right or wrong?
- He was the new king in the making but he said
- "Gonna give it up for love".
- He is referenced in the 1991 film, King Ralph when Sir Cedric (Peter O'Toole) is reminding King Ralph I (John Goodman) that the "House of Wyndham can ill afford another such scandal." He is referring to King Edward VIII's 1936 abdication of the throne for the woman he loved.
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