The King & the Beaver

THE ABDICATION OF KING EDWARD VIII by Lord Beaverbrook. 122 pages. Atheneum. $4.50.

When Edward VIII decided in 1936 to marry twice-divorced Wallis Warfield Simpson, the King's friend Lord Beaverbrook was one of the first to rally to his side. Not that the Canadian-born press lord was impressed by Baltimore-bred Mrs. Simpson. He noted with a hint of irony that she had protested that she knew nothing about politics and was inexperienced in worldly affairs. Besides, "She was plainly dressed and I was not attracted to her style of hairdressing." Beaverbrook's basic motives seemed to be that he loved a good scrap, especially against the established morality.

This slender memoir, written in 1958 but not discovered until Beaverbrook's death at 85 in 1964, is his insider's view of the crisis that shook Britain and at times threatened to topple the throne. The Beaver's main thesis, certain to be debated, is that some supremely powerful opponents of the King's marriage were not merely interested in blocking it, but in using it as a pretext for ridding themselves of a ruler whom they did not want. The leaders in this back-room plot, believed Beaverbrook, were Tory Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury. "The Archbishop did not want either the King or the marriage," said the Beaver. "Baldwin, the Prime Minister, did not want King Edward and did not care about the marriage one way or the other."

Why They Opposed. According to Beaverbrook's version, the Archbishop's opposition arose because Edward was not a faithful or attentive son of the church, and was less than an ardent friend of the Establishment. The motives Beaverbrook ascribed to Baldwin were far more complex. For one thing, Beaverbrook was convinced that Baldwin had never liked Edward personally after they failed to hit it off together on a trip to Canada in 1927. Besides, Beaverbrook held, Baldwin had little regard for Edward's capabilities and resented the King's audacity in expressing skepticism about the value of the League of Nations and advocating a policy of friendship with Nazi Germany--without first consulting his constitutional advisers. By disposing of the King, Beaverbrook believed, Baldwin also hoped to grab more political power and enhance his personal popularity.

How Baldwin hoped to lift his own popularity by dumping the extremely popular King, the Beaver, who himself was a compulsive intriguer, never quite made clear. His case that Edward was the victim of some sinister plot is weakened because the author makes obvious that he was also using the memoir to carry on a vendetta against some of his own enemies. Besides Baldwin, Beaverbrook was particularly harsh on Geoffrey Dawson, editor of the Times of London, which vigorously opposed the marriage. On a couple of occasions, the editor of Beaverbrook's manuscript, Historian A.J.P. Taylor, drops a footnote of gentle correction when the charges become too outrageous.

What Wally Wanted. Beaverbrook is at his sprightly and informative best when he sticks to a straight narrative of the events that eventually led to the abdication. He felt, as did most other insiders, that Edward made his greatest strategic blunder when he stated in November that unless Baldwin and his government approved a morganatic marriage with Mrs. Simpson, he would not go through with his coronation in May. Both Beaverbrook and Winston Churchill advised him to put aside his marriage plans until after the coronation, and then press his demands with the power of the throne behind him. Edward insisted on a guarantee, before he was crowned, that a morganatic marriage would be acceptable. Beaverbrook made clear that he thought the person who really sought this guarantee was the woman whom Edward loved. "I knew my urgings were in vain," he said. "A morganatic marriage was what Mrs. Simpson wanted, and what Mrs. Simpson wanted was what the King wanted."

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