Editing Neville Chamberlain (section)

===Role in the abdication crisis===
Chamberlain is believed to have had a significant role in the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|1936 abdication crisis]]. He wrote in his diary that [[Wallis Simpson]], Edward VIII's intended wife, was "an entirely unscrupulous woman who is not in love with the King but is exploiting him for her own purposes. She has already ruined him in money and jewels&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite book|last=Ziegler|first=Philip|title=King Edward VIII|year=1991|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|page=[https://archive.org/details/kingedwardviii00zieg/page/312 312]|isbn=978-0-394-57730-2|url=https://archive.org/details/kingedwardviii00zieg/page/312}}</ref> In common with the rest of the Cabinet, except [[Duff Cooper]], he agreed with Baldwin that the King should abdicate if he married Simpson, and on 6 December he and Baldwin both stressed that the King should make his decision before Christmas; by one account, he believed that the uncertainty was "hurting the Christmas trade".<ref name=wctwy>{{cite book|last=Gilbert|first=Martin|title=Winston Churchill, The Wilderness Years|publisher=Macmillan|year=1981|pages=169–70|isbn=978-0-333-32564-3}}</ref> The King abdicated on 10 December, four days after the meeting.

Soon after the abdication Baldwin announced that he would remain until shortly after the [[coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth]]. On 28 May, two weeks after the Coronation, Baldwin resigned, advising the King to send for Chamberlain.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|pp=44–45}} Austen did not live to see his brother's appointment as prime minister having died two months earlier.{{sfn|Smart|1999|p=148}}