The Crown Steps Down

HISTORY This Week

The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios

Society & Culture, History

4.5 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2020

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

December 11, 1936. Just yesterday, King Edward VIII of England officially abdicated the throne. And tonight, some ten million people will hear the reason from the man himself. He tells the country in a radio address, “I have found it impossible to carry a heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love”. This “woman” is a twice-divorced American. The country is shocked. Edward VIII has become the first monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne in British history. How did Edward VIII cause trouble for England before, during, and after his reign? And how does his legacy continue to shape the fate of the royals to this day?

Thank you to our guests:

Adrian Phillips, author of "The King Who Had to Go: Edward Vlll, Mrs Simpson and the Hidden Politics of the Abdication Crisis"

Anna Pasternak, author of "The Real Wallis Simpson: A New History of the American Divorcée Who Became the Duchess of Windsor'

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Transcript

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0:00.0	History this week, December 11, 1936.
0:08.3	I'm Sally Helm.
0:11.8	At long last, I am able to say a few words of my own.
0:19.0	Engineers at the BBC have been told not to record this speech, but they do it anyways.
0:26.2	It's clear what an important moment this is.
0:29.6	It's yesterday, King Edward VIII officially abdicated the throne.
0:35.6	He's no longer King.
0:37.4	And tonight, the country will hear the reason from the man himself.
0:42.5	Before the big speech, the head of the BBC, Sir John Reef, comes over to Windsor Castle
0:46.8	to help set things up for the broadcast.
0:49.3	Edward arrives in a fur coat, smoking a cigar.
0:52.3	He takes wreath up the stairs, passes some furniture covered in dust cloths.
0:56.6	The
1:01.9	newspaper to test the microphone.
1:04.2	The press has been all over the abdication story, but Reef carefully chooses an article
1:08.4	that isn't about Edward himself.
1:11.6	And then, the moment comes.
1:15.2	Edward steps up to the microphone.
1:18.0	Reef and 10 million people around the country settle into listen as the King finally explains
1:24.4	himself.
1:27.6	But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the
1:36.8	heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without
	...

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