European Royalty

During the years the Duke of Windsor has been slandered up hill and down dale by all sorts of cliques and all manner of men; he has been called a cad, a shirker, a traitor, a Nazi, a snob a half-wit. Yet all his detractors can agree on one well-deserved sobriquet: dandy. No matter how you slice it, the man was well-turned out; and while he was busy tending to those matters that would render him deserving of such insults, he always did it as a fop, a beau, a buck or a swell. For as deep as his flaws may have been, he well understood tailoring and fabrics, stripes and plaids, cuffs and collars. His fashion admirers are born anew with each generation and he, more than any other man in the past century, created the definition of the well-dressed man. The following article pertains to his youthful air and fashion innovations.

Click here to see the Summer suits
other men wore during the Summer of 1932.

This is a very juicy, action-packed article written in the immediate aftermath of the abdication of Edward VIII.
The journalist detailed how the whole affair evolved at 10 Downing Street and in the parliament; the reaction across the empire. The writer also endeavored to introduce the readers to the two unknown heirs: George VI (1895 – 1952) and Elizabeth II (b. 1926).

Thus the ruler of the world’s greatest empire joined the shabby band of ex-kings – the wood-chopper of Doorn, Germany’s forgotten All Highest; Alfonso of Spain, who roams the Continent looking for pleasure; Ferdinand of Bulgaria, an old man doddering over his stamps; Prajadhipok of Siam, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Abdel Medjik of Turkey, and Amaah of Afghanistan.

At the end of the day, history will remember him simply as one of the most henpecked husband.

Ten days after a would-be assassin had leveled a gun at him in London, King Edward VIII was scheduled to return to the Western Front, where, as a gangling boyish staff captain, he narrowly missed death from a shell that wrecked his car and killed his chauffeur.

Few in Britain knew, at the time, of his repeated pleas to be allowed to forget his rank, lead the men over the top and, if fate so willed it, die for king and country.