Exiled Edward plotted return to the throne
Sunday November 22 2009
BRITAIN'S Duke of Windsor plotted to return from exile in France and regain power as the health of King George VI deteriorated, according to letters discovered in America.
The duke, who was Edward VIII until he abdicated in 1936 to marry US divorcee Wallis Simpson, was at the centre of a conspiracy for him to become part of a regency. He may even have hoped to one day reclaim the throne, according to the letters.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor revealed their ambitious streaks in correspondence with Kenneth de Courcy, a maverick aristocrat.
The plotting reached its height in 1949. Some courtiers feared that George VI would become too ill to rule and that the young Princess Elizabeth -- then just 23 -- would effectively rule under the influence of Earl Mountbatten and Prince Philip of Greece, whom the future queen had married in 1947. In a letter to de Courcy in 1946, the duke refers to "the subject we discussed in Paris". He adds that he and the duchess want to "plan for the future in the most constructive and convenient way".
The duchess, who as a divorcee had forced the abdication crisis when she won the king's heart, was also in on the scheming. In a note to de Courcy in 1946, she said: "We are always busy turning things around and around in our heads -- there's no doubt that something must be done -- perhaps a good thunderstorm would clear the atmosphere. Anyway I can't sit by and see the Duke of Windsor wasted." In a letter dated May 13, 1949, de Courcy wrote to the duchess saying: "The King is gravely ill and out of circulation and he will not be in circulation again . . . the King will be able to do extremely little, and moreover . . . those around him will gain greater and greater power. I may tell you most confidentially that a Regency has already been discussed and it seems likely enough that presently [a regent] will be appointed. I do not think it too much to say that if the Regency should be one primarily influenced by the Mountbattens [ie Lord Mountbatten and Prince Philip], the consequences for the [Windsor] Dynasty might be fatal . . . the Mountbattens, thoroughly well-informed of the situation, will do everything in their power to increase their influence."
The letters, unearthed by Christopher Wilson, the historian and author, include a suggestion from de Courcy that the Windsors should "buy an agricultural property somewhere near London" which would "make a great appeal to the country".
© Telegraph
- Andrew Alderson in London
Sunday Independent
