SHARP CRITICISM

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 442, 25 May 1937, Page 2

SHARP CRITICISM

DUKE OF WINDSOR Geoffrey Dennis’s Book ' London, May 1. On Friday last, when King George VI made his firsi public speech (with ▼ery little trace of his former stutter), as he unveiled a memorial to King George V outside Windsor Castle, newspaper sellers i® the background were displaying bills, ‘‘Duke of Windsor’s Libel Threat.” On Monday the threat became a reality, and the Duke issued a writ against William Heinemann, Ltd, publishers, and Geoffrey Dennis, author, for statements in Dennis's, recently published “Coronation

The book, which shares with Hector Bolitho’s recent best seller on Edward VIII the position of being the first of a number of openly critical •accounts of The King’s life, sold furiously over the week-end. Widely praised by Right Wing newspapers, it was chosen by the Right Book Club as the second of their choices. This meant that in fact it had the hearty approval of the Conservative party, and- par'icularly of iis leaders, such as Sir Samuel Hofere, who have been sponsors of th e club from the first. It was not until the middle of the last week that the Liberal “News Chronicle’s” reviewer commented on the unusually sharp references in the book to the King and Mrs. Simpson. The review said: “After the abdica. ton Mr Dennis .added a chapter which seems to me to have frankness in its. Cavour, but to b e so imitemperate expressed- as to se<t the reader’s tee h on edge. And of Mrs. Simpson he writes one sentenc e which neither he should have written nor hi s publisers published.” Bi ter Feelirig. It is true that in this book Mrs. Simpson is criticised in language such as the popular Press, despi e the chargee of “yellowness" brought against it from time to time, has never printed about her. But what is Chiefly interesting in this a tack is not that., someone has thought fi-t to criticise the ex. King and Mrs. Simpson, but that ibis criticism, ftampedr with the approval of the Right Book Club, represents approximately the view of the mass of Cone rt'lrive opinion in Britain to-day. ruling class of Britain undoubtedly feels a great bitterness towards the ex-King because of the blow’ his actions and abdication have given to the almost mys ical conception of mefcarchy which the Conservatives

regard as an invaluabl e weapon against extreme ideals. Partly (anger against him, partly an attempt to show that his actions are ■ the excepion which prove the rule that the British monarchy is above criticism, lie beh.ad their attacks. Hector Bolitho’s Biography. Hector Bolitho, New Zealard-born writer on Royal topics, is ci.e of hose who has dons much lately towards criticising Edward VHT. But in doing so h e has laid -himself open to an attack from tihe lively ASneri. can m'-gazine “Time,” which has

poin’ed out that last spring the smart society bi-weekly "Leisure” ran a teriel by Hector Bolitho on Edward VIII (then still, of course, King) in which the picture h e paints of Edward is very different —though covering the same period—from that which he has given in his new, post abddeai .'ion book. In rhe new- book, "Time” I points out, Mr. Bolitho says thlat Ed- ' ward was “harassed, unreasonable, j vain,” whereas he wrote only a year I ago h e was remarkable “for the gentleness of his judgments” and for the standards “as rigid as those of his father.” Last June Mr. Bolitho was writing of Edward, as one who knew him intimately, that “if compassion ruled his heart, common sense ruled his heart. He was morally brave . . hi s conscience was his gu‘de.” But, of exactly this same period, Hector Bolitho, after the abdication, wrote i “He blundered liercely on, loyal to bis poor ideal . . . distraughtj ~ L . unreasonable no matter whither his twisted reasc- i led him . . . Every hour he stayed in England was an injustice to his brothers assumption of the responsibilities of the Grown” “Time’’ concludes: “To-day popular Hector Bolitho, more than ever pet of the Royal family, in writing a new biography of King George VI. is re_ i puted to be describing His- Majesty in substantially th e identical terms he-trsed in ’Leisure’ to describe His Majesty when the King was Edward VIII.” “Author’s Reply t 0 Criticism. Two days- ago Mr. Bolit-ho replied to these criticisms, raying “About rix j’ears ago I wrote a series of articles on the then Prines of Wales. They did not appear until after the Ileah of King George. These articles described the Prince’s younger yei.-rt, and they were written sincerely in the light of my knowledge of him, fiv e or elx years ago. “My biography. ‘Edward VIII’, is an entirely different matter. Several years had 1 pasted and everything was changed. I wrote most of the book before,-the abdication, according to my judgment and knowledge I of his character and life at that time. I “It is not true that I rushed into print afterwards—my publisher can

prove, with manuscript and proofs, that the greater part of the book was actually in typ e before the abdication. This was the result of long labour, and was in no sense a hurried, piece of work. “The tragic end was added nlaturally. Arrangements had been made for publication in several countries, and it was too late to withdraw Ihe book. So I went ahead and I obeyedmy own conscience in what I wrote.” Mr. Bolitho’s publishers mfa.de a statement that the typescript of the earlier portion of the book was a,clually in page proof before the abdication, and the alterations made were very slight. If, therefore, Mr. Bolitho had materially changed his view 'after the writing pf the articles, he had changed It before, and not after tliei aftddeation.