Editing Abdication of Edward VIII (section)

==Opposition==
Opposition to the King and his marriage came from several directions. Edward's desire to modernise the monarchy and make it more accessible, though appreciated by many of the public,<ref>Williams, pp. 8–11.</ref> was distrusted by the British Establishment.<ref>The Duke of Windsor, p. 136.</ref> Edward upset the aristocracy by treating their traditions and ceremonies with disdain, and many were offended by his abandonment of accepted social norms and mores.<ref>The Duke of Windsor, p. 301; Beaverbrook, p. 14; Williams, pp. 70–71.</ref>

===Social and moral===
Government ministers and the royal family found Wallis Simpson's background and behaviour unacceptable for a potential queen. Rumours and innuendo about her circulated in society.<ref>See, for example, [[Virginia Woolf]]'s diary quoted in Williams, p. 40.</ref> The King's mother, Queen Mary, was even told that Simpson might have held some sort of sexual control over Edward, as she had released him from an undefined sexual dysfunction through practices learnt in a Chinese brothel.<ref>Ziegler, p. 236.</ref> This view was partially shared by [[Alan Don]], Chaplain to the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], who wrote that he suspected the King "is sexually abnormal which may account for the hold Mrs S. has over him".<ref>Howarth, p. 61.</ref> Even Edward VIII's official biographer, [[Philip Ziegler]], noted that: "There must have been some sort of [[sadomasochistic]] relationship&nbsp;... [Edward] relished the contempt and bullying she bestowed on him."<ref>Quoted in {{citation|author=Jones, Chris|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2699035.stm|title=Profile: Wallis Simpson|date=29 January 2003|publisher=BBC|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>

Police detectives following Simpson reported back that, while involved with Edward, she was also involved with a married car mechanic and salesman named Guy Trundle.<ref>Williams, pp. 96–97.</ref> This may well have been passed on to senior figures in the establishment, including members of the royal family.<ref>Vickers, p. 163.</ref> [[Joseph Kennedy]], the American ambassador, described her as a "tart", and his wife, [[Rose Kennedy|Rose]], refused to dine with her.<ref>Vickers, p. 185.</ref>

Wallis was perceived to be pursuing Edward for his money; his [[equerry]] wrote that she would eventually leave him, "having secured the cash".<ref>[[John Aird (equerry)|John Aird]]'s diary, quoted in Ziegler, p. 234.</ref> The future prime minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) wrote in his diary that she 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>Ziegler, p. 312.</ref>

Relations between the United Kingdom and the United States were strained during the inter-war years and the majority of Britons were reluctant to accept an American as [[queen consort]].<ref>{{citation|last=Pope-Hennessy|first=James|author-link=James Pope-Hennessy|title=Queen Mary|publisher=George Allen and Unwin Ltd|location=London|year=1959|page=574}}</ref> At the time, some members of the British upper class looked down on Americans with disdain and considered them socially inferior.<ref>Williams, pp. 40–41.</ref> In contrast, the American public was clearly in favour of the marriage,<ref>Williams, p. 266.</ref> as was most of the American press.<ref>Williams, p. 90; Ziegler, p. 296.</ref>

===Religious and legal===
In Edward's lifetime, the [[Church of England]] forbade the remarriage of divorced people in church while a former spouse was still living. The monarch was required by law to be in communion with the Church of England, and was its nominal head or [[Supreme Governor]]. In 1935 the Church of England reaffirmed that, "in no circumstances can Christian men or women re-marry during the lifetime of a wife or a husband".<ref>{{citation|author=Ann Sumner Holmes|title=The Church of England and Divorce in the Twentieth Century: Legalism and Grace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CglDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=44|isbn=9781315408491|ref=none}}</ref> The [[archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Cosmo Gordon Lang]], held that the king, as the head of the Church of England, could not marry a divorcée.<ref>G. I. T. Machin, "Marriage and the Churches in the 1930s: Royal abdication and divorce reform, 1936–7." ''Journal of Ecclesiastical History'' 42.1 (1991): 68–81</ref> If Edward married Wallis Simpson, a divorcée who would soon have two living ex-husbands, in a civil ceremony, it would directly conflict with Church teaching and his role as the Church's ''ex officio'' head.<ref name=time>{{citation|title=A Historic Barrier Drops|magazine=Time|date=20 July 1981|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954854,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213220519/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954854,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 December 2007|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>{{efn|Although [[Henry VIII]] remarried within the lifetimes of two of his ex-wives, [[Catherine of Aragon]] and [[Anne of Cleves]], those marriages were annulled—that is, declared invalid under [[canon law]]—rather than ended by divorce as such.<ref>{{citation|last=Laliberte|first=Marissa|date=19 March 2020|title=How Queen Elizabeth II Will Step Down—Without Giving Up Her Title|work=Reader's Digest|url=https://www.rd.com/article/how-queen-elizabeth-step-down-without-abdicating/|access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref> Divorce—the dissolution of a valid marriage—became a regular legal process with the [[Matrimonial Causes Act 1857]], but remained unrecognized by the Church. A person with an annulment has not been legally married, whereas a person with a divorce has been married already.<ref>{{citation|title=Divorced, Beheaded, Died|last=Phillips|first=Roderick|work=History Today|date=July 1993|volume=43|issue=7|pages=9–12}}</ref>}}

Wallis's first divorce (in the United States on the grounds of "emotional incompatibility") was not recognised by the Church of England and, if challenged in the English courts, might not have been recognised under [[English law]]. At that time, the Church and English law considered [[adultery]] to be the only grounds for divorce. Consequently, under this argument, her second marriage, as well as her marriage to Edward, would be considered [[bigamous]] and invalid.<ref>Bradford, p. 241.</ref> The [[Matrimonial Causes Act 1937]], which was passed shortly after Edward and Wallis's marriage, would allow for numerous other grounds for divorce.<ref>{{citation|doi=10.1093/ojls/13.2.183 |title=Matrimonial Causes Act 1937: A Lesson in the Art of Compromise |journal=Oxford Journal of Legal Studies |date=1993 |first=Sharon|last=Redmayne| volume=13|issue=2|pages=183–200}}</ref>

===Political===
[[File:Fort Belvedere 1900s.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Fort Belvedere, Surrey]], Edward's residence in [[Windsor Great Park]]]]

When Edward visited [[Great Depression|depressed]] mining villages in [[Wales]], his comment that "something must be done"<ref>The Duke of Windsor, p. 338.</ref> led to concerns among elected politicians that he would interfere in political matters, traditionally avoided by constitutional monarchs. [[Ramsay MacDonald]], [[Lord President of the Council]], wrote of the King's comments: "These escapades should be limited. They are an invasion into the field of politics and should be watched constitutionally."<ref>Ramsay MacDonald's diary, quoted in Williams, p. 60.</ref> Although Edward's comments had made him popular in Wales,<ref>See, for example, Williams, p. 59.</ref> he became extremely unpopular with the public in [[Scotland]] following his refusal to open a new wing of [[Aberdeen Royal Infirmary]], saying he could not do so because he was in mourning for his father and delegated the task to his brother Albert despite the logical inconsistency in doing so since both men shared the same father, George V. The day after the opening, he was pictured in newspapers on holiday: he had turned down the public event in favour of meeting Simpson.<ref>Vickers, p. 140; Ziegler, p. 288.</ref>

As [[Prince of Wales]], Edward had publicly referred to [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[county council]]lors as "cranks"<ref>The Duke of Windsor, p. 253.</ref> and made speeches counter to government policy.<ref>Beaverbrook, p. 20.</ref> During his reign as king, his refusal to accept the advice of ministers continued: he opposed the imposition of sanctions on [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] after its [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War|invasion of Ethiopia]], refused to receive the deposed [[Haile Selassie I|Emperor of Ethiopia]], and would not support a strengthening of the [[League of Nations]].<ref>Ziegler, pp. 271–272.</ref>

Members of the [[British government]] became further dismayed by the proposed marriage after being told that Wallis Simpson was an agent of [[Nazi Germany]]. The [[Foreign Office]] obtained leaked dispatches from the German Reich's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]], which revealed his strong view that opposition to the marriage was motivated by the wish "to defeat those Germanophile forces which had been working through Mrs Simpson".<ref>Howarth, p. 62.</ref> It was rumoured that Simpson had access to confidential government papers sent to Edward, which he left unguarded at his [[Fort Belvedere, Surrey|Fort Belvedere]] residence.<ref>Williams, pp. 196–197; Ziegler, pp. 273–274.</ref> While Edward was abdicating, the personal protection officers guarding Simpson in exile in France sent reports to [[Downing Street]] suggesting that she might "flit to Germany".<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/30/highereducation.past|first=Owen|last=Bowcott|author2=Bates, Stephen|title=Fear that Windsors would 'flit' to Germany|journal=[[The Guardian]]|date=30 January 2003|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>