WHY THE EX-KING OFFENDED

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 72, 12 April 1937, Page 7

WHY THE EX-KING OFFENDED

-PreBB Assn.-

An Empire on "Cocktail Party" Lines "A P00R CRIME LIST"

(By Telegraph-

-OopyrJght.1

(rtecervea xz, r.iiu p.m.; LONDON, April 11. "There was raore ln the drama of King Edward's abdication than a conflict between Mr Baldwin and the King over Mns Simpson," states Mr Geoffrey Dennis, in ' ' Coronation Commentary, ' ' published by Heinemann. "There were things done and said in his infatuation — his lover's prodigality, his shrill King's rage agaiust those who denied her to hijn. There were things left undone in his infatuation — dufcy neglected, papers held up, papers curiously neo-Kaiserishly annotated, no sound understanding of technique or limitations or necessary dignity of offlce, irregular hours, irregular habits, muddling, fuddling and meddling." Yet Mr Dennis seee in these things "a poor little list of criines which were 3ufficient to have broken an adored and devoted King." His dereliction of duty was hoped for and pounced upon, and was it no dereliction of duty by the Government complacently to leave half of England derelict? " 'His contempt for the dignity of oiiice' meant the evasion of certain exceeses of court etiquette; 'irregular hours ' meant once having kept the Right Honourablfl Jack-in-OfS.ee waiting five minutesj and 'meddling' meant trying to help the unfortuuatw. "In wanting to get rid of him for his other misdeeds, they may have been wrong. They may very well have been right, but until this marriage was mooted they had no notion of how to get rid of him. What they prerended was a disaster was in fact a godsend Her two divorces were a gift from heaven. ' ' While Mr Dennis expresses the opinion that the King's assoeiation with Mrs Simpson was a source of courage UTid strength and a stimulus to Edward, ;• -:ms up the national opinion in the . "For Queen of England a twiceJ.voiced woman with two former husbands living was not good enough. Sho olashed too crudely with the nation 's idea and ideal, the nation 's dream and myth of feminine royalty." Mr Dennis says also: "You cannot run an ancient monarchy on saxophone and cocktail party lines."