The Peoples King (39 page)

The Australian Parliament was recalled by wireless message. On Tuesday 8 December, John Curtin, the leader of the Labour Oppo­sition, put on record his firm refusal to back Lyons. He questioned the Premier's right to tell Baldwin that the whole of the Australian Government was behind him and stated that 'The Opposition will leave the King unfettered in choosing his wife. It will not agree that his selection in that matter should be impaired by any influence of any sort or description.' The Australian Labour Party, he added, 'hopes that the present King will remain upon the throne of England. It desires to remain, as it will remain, loyal to King Edward VIII.'
⁴⁴
On Wednesday, when Curtin attempted to move a resolution of 'loyalty and allegiance' to the King, the Government stifled the debate.
⁴⁵
It was reported that MPs received a flood of telegrams in support of the King.
⁴⁶
Harold Holt, a young member of the United Australia Party, summed up the feelings of many Australians about Edward - 'he understood us, and we looked to him to lop off from the tree of tradition the dead branches which threatened to interfere with its healthy growth within the British Empire.' Had the King chosen 'to select any woman, to whom he was legally entitled to be married, as Queen,' he said, I, for one, would not have hesitated in my loyalty to him.'
⁴⁷

Nor was there unqualified support for Baldwin among the people of Canada. 'There is no unanimous point of view,' admitted Dawson, 'as a certain element holds the Monarch's private life to be his own affair and thinks he should be allowed to marry the woman of his choice.' Although Dawson claimed that 'the great preponderance of opinion throughout Canada is seriously disquieted',
⁴⁸
this was not the whole story. On the one hand, the Establishment newspapers echoed the attitudes of
The Times.
Toronto's
Globe and Mail,
for example, declared that, 'We in Canada can only pray that [Edward] . . . will find duty more appealing than personal inclinations.'
⁴⁹
But other newspapers, such as the
Montreal Gazette
and the
Ottawa Citizen,
made clear their support for the King. According to the
Citizen,
it was probable that, with more time to reflect, the forces of British democracy would align themselves strongly behind the King.
⁵⁰
The editor of the
Canadian Post
reported to the King that he had inter­viewed many Canadians, and 'all are with you and [the] lady of your choice.'
⁵¹
A telegram sent from New York to Edward on 7 December reported that the Canadian Parliament was divided: that in a late poll of fifteen hundred people from all walks of life, three-quarters were in favour of Edward retaining the throne.
⁵²

'Full support and sympathy' were sent from the Dominion Federa­tion League to Abolish Poverty, based in Ottawa.
⁵³
'I am now express­ing the sentiments of all the Returned men of this vast Dominion', wrote a man in Vancouver to Edward's Private Secretary, 'when I state that we, I fear, regard our dear friend more as our Pal than our King and I want to tell him in the hour of this his great trial that no matter what happens now or in the future will always so regard him.'
⁵⁴
'Ride-em-cowboy, we know you'll win,' urged a letter from Toronto. 'We like your girl - she's OK with us. We're all cheering for you. Don't abdicate! We want you as our King! . .. these are Canadian sentiments.'
⁵⁵
I would like to see Winston Churchill and you head a British Cabinet', telegraphed a man from Ontario. 'You might astound the world!'
⁵⁶

'Mr King - Canada's Prime Minister,' wrote Wallis to Edward some time later, 'has seen it his duty to get up in whatever they have in Canada [she meant their House of Commons] and announce that he told "Mr Baldwin that the people of Canada would not approve King Edward VIII's marriage to Mrs Simpson whether she became Queen or not".' But how, she wondered, 'can Prime Ministers speak for the people when they have never even asked them?" It did seem that, as in Britain, there were sections of the population in the Dominions - the ruling class, the Conservative press, and the clergy - which supported Baldwin's position. But there were also large sections of the working class and the liberal middle classes - as in Britain - which supported the King but were never asked for their opinion. 'Canberra, Ottawa, Wellington, Cape Town - everywhere the story was the same', wrote Edward later in his memoirs. 'There had been no attempt to assess public opinion, which to the small degree that it had been sounded at all appeared to be divided.'
⁵⁸

The British Government did what it could to influence public opinion in the Empire. This was a considerable challenge given the vast extent of British rule in the world at this time. There was a flurry of telegrams, all in secret cipher, between London and the British colonies of central and southern Africa, it is possible that consti­tutional difficulties raised by proposed marriage of His Majesty the King may result in his deciding to abdicate', explained Sir William Clark, the British High Commissioner in Pretoria, in a telegram to the resident commissioners elsewhere in Africa. He asked, 'Will you consider and inform me in what manner announcement should be made to natives in event of abdication taking place.'
⁵⁹

In the event, reactions from the British colonies of Africa, at least, were reassuring to the Government. A telegram from the Resident Commissioner in Basutoland informed Sir William that the abdication of the King 'would be understood by natives here as marriages of ruling chiefs are similarly restricted.' He added that it 'would not I think affect loyalty to the Throne'.
⁶⁰
The Resident Commissioner in Mbabane, Swaziland, told the High Commissioner that he was confident about the Swazi people's views on the crisis. He was about to meet with the Swazi National Council at the Lobamba Kraal, 'principally to get the Chiefs and people to do more in the campaign against locusts', and he was sure that 'the Swazis would understand, in the case of the Paramount Chief's principal wife, the one expected to bear an heir to the Chieftainship, the objection which there is to the proposed marriage; she would have to be a spinster of noble birth.'
⁶¹

India was a different matter. Her reaction to the crisis was regarded as critical, and there was considerable anxiety in London about Indian sympathy for the King. While some newspapers, including the
Star of India
and
Amrita Bazar,
a leading nationalist daily in Calcutta, followed the line of the London
Times,
many others had been giving their support to the King ever since the story had broken. The
States­man
urged: 'let us give our sympathies to our King and turn from evil-minded ones who would have us believe that in his normal desire to marry the lady of his choice he has in any way demeaned himself or forfeited his claim to our loyalty and devotion.'
⁶²
The 'issue has resolved itself into . . . abandonment of the marriage or abdication neither of which can be contemplated with equanimity', observed
Hindu
on 4 December. On the same day, the
Bombay Sentinel
declared that the 'King will win . . . the British public [is] behind the King in his battle with the Baldwin Government.' On 5 December,
Hindu
pointed out that under the existing system in Britain, permitting divorce and remarriage, it would be a matter of simple logic to allow the King to have his way, since there was apparently no obstacle against marriage to the lady in question, either as a commoner or as an American.
⁶³

Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy, admitted in a telegram to Lord Zetland, the Secretary of State for India, that although 'responsible and informed Indian-owned press generally supports line taken by Prime Minister' it was also the case that smaller papers 'tend to ignore or to misunderstand importance of constitutional aspect and to concentrate on human side.
Bombay Chronicle
and
Sentinel
take line that class distinctions are out of date. There is general sympathy in press of all shades for King's dilemma.' He had found that Muslims in particular were likely to support the King: 'A letter I have received from a Muslim of some position in Delhi urges that if King cannot marry as he pleases, prestige of Throne will be detrimentally affected, and one or two Muslim press comments stress absence of class distinc­tions under Islam.' To these 'straws', he said, 'I attach little significance . . . sentimental considerations (coupled with support lent by Indian customs and traditions to view that King should marry where he likes) bulk fairly large in securing sympathy for His Majesty.'
⁶⁴

Efforts were made to shore up support for Baldwin in India. At a meeting of Ministers on 8 December, 'Emphasis was laid on the great importance of securing the widest possible publicity in India to the fact that the King's abdication was entirely voluntary and had been sug­gested by himself'
⁶
' - even though the abdication had yet to happen. Zetland cabled Linlithgow with some information on Edward's weak­nesses, suggesting that it 'may be useful for guidance in publicity'.
⁶⁶
The Viceroy asked his governors to report on the reaction of the individual provinces. The Governor of Bengal sent a telegram informing him that,

Among Europeans many inclined to feel on information published that more delicate handling at home and in dominions might have extricated King from an impossible situation. Feeling is virtually unanimous that Simpson impossible as Queen, but some vacillate on possibility of morganatic marriage.

The Governor perceived a difference between Hindu and Muslim opinion: that Muslims would take a more sympathetic view of the King's dilemma.
⁶
The Governor of Madras reported that 'European opinion' was shocked and disappointed by the King and did not think he should marry Mrs Simpson. However, there appeared to be 'no noticeable Indian reaction'.
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It was the Governor of Punjab's view that, 'Generally speaking, only a few educated Indians understand the constitutional issues involved. To the masses the King is King and the idea that he should be subject to the advice of Ministers is foreign to their conception of Kingship.'
⁶⁹
The Governor of Assam told Linlith­gow that Europeans were firmly against Edward, but that the Indians of Assam were less judgemental. 'They view matters more domest­ically', he reported, and think that 'a King is a King and may choose a very unworthy woman to be his wife without doing lasting injury to his position.'
⁷⁰

The Governor of the Central Provinces informed Linlithgow that local reaction was 'guarded and while sympathizing with King's diffi­culties recognise that he must follow wishes of people.'
⁷¹
An Indian citizen living in London took a different view. 'As one who knows both England and India well,' he wrote to the King, 'I would like to be able to assure Your Majesty that there is no truth in the traditional­ists' cry that public opinion both in England and in India has been shocked by your intention to marry the lady of your heart.' He appealed to him not to give up: 'Do not abdicate; do not compromise; do not worry. Be true to yourself and your love. India will applaud such a stand out of her better instincts. And, let England have a ballot on this question."
²

The editor of the
Oriental Post
in London said that he was 'one of those Indians' who had had great faith in British democracy. 'But I must confess,' he added, 'it is now shaking.' He pointed out that India was solidly behind the King. 'India has not been consulted,' he observed, 'but we 3 50 millions will out vote the rest of the 100 millions of the dominions etc, if the issue [comes] before us." ' A similar message came from the editor of the
Daily Milap
and the
Daily Hindimilap,
who telegraphed from Lahore to urge the King to dissolve the British and Dominion Parliaments and the Indian legislatures and to make his proposed marriage the sole issue for a referendum. He was sure that the people would vindicate the King 'as against conservative advice of your present ministers. Indian subjects constitute largest percentage have right make their say. Trust Your Majesty will give your people a chance to give their views.'
⁷⁴

Edward had delighted many people during his visit to India in the early 1920s. He had offended numbers of the British living there, but had won over many Indians. 'Again and again,' observed the Director of Public Information at the time, I heard the remark: "If only all you Europeans were like him!" '
⁷⁵
In an atmosphere of great tension and suspicion of British motives, he had evaded his minders to walk among the people. At Poona, for example, he horrified officials by walking around the stands after laying a foundation stone, so that people could see him - 'They rose to their feet and cheered themselves hoarse.'
⁷⁶
It was perhaps memories of this day that prompted a number of tele­grams to be sent from Poona in December 1936 to encourage the King. From other parts of India, too, came 'divine blessings'
⁷
and opposition to 'unconstitutional coerced abdication'from Calcutta, Patiala State, Bombay, Mydrim and Rawalpindi.