Editing Edward VII (section)

===Political opinions===
[[File:King Edward VII Vanity Fair 19 June 1902.jpg|thumb|Portrait in naval uniform by ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' magazine, 1902]]
[[File:Stamp UK 1902 1p.jpg|thumb|upright|Edward VII on British 1-penny stamp of 1902]]
While Prince of Wales, Edward had to be dissuaded from breaking with constitutional precedent by openly voting for [[W. E. Gladstone]]'s [[Representation of the People Act 1884|Representation of the People Bill (1884)]] in the [[House of Lords]].<ref name="dnb" /><ref>[[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 241</ref> On other matters, he was more conservative; for example, he did not favour giving [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom|votes to women]],<ref name="dnb" /><ref>[[#Hattersley|Hattersley]], pp. 215–216; [[#Lee|Lee]], p. 468; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 403</ref> although he did suggest that the social reformer [[Octavia Hill]] serve on the [[Commission for Working Class Housing]].<ref>[[#Bentley-Cranch|Bentley-Cranch]], p. 98</ref> He was also opposed to [[Irish Home Rule]], instead preferring a form of [[dual monarchy]].<ref name="dnb" />

As Prince of Wales, Edward had come to enjoy warm and mutually respectful relations with Gladstone, whom his mother detested,<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 212</ref> but the statesman's son, [[Home Secretary]] [[Herbert Gladstone]], angered the King by planning to permit Roman Catholic priests in vestments to carry the [[Sacramental bread|Host]] through the streets of London, and by appointing two ladies, [[Lady Frances Balfour]] and [[May Tennant]] (wife of [[Harold Tennant|H. J. Tennant]]), to serve on a Royal Commission on reforming divorce law—Edward thought divorce could not be discussed with "delicacy or even decency" before ladies. Edward's biographer [[Philip Magnus-Allcroft]] suggests that Gladstone may have become a [[whipping boy]] for the King's general irritation with the Liberal government. Gladstone was sacked in the reshuffle the following year and the King agreed, with some reluctance, to appoint him [[Governor-General of South Africa]].<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 541</ref>

Edward involved himself heavily in discussions over army reform, the need for which had become apparent with the failings of the [[Second Boer War]].<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], pp. 91–93; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 389</ref> He supported the redesign of army command, the creation of the [[Territorial Force]], and the decision to provide an [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|Expeditionary Force]] supporting France in the event of war with Germany.<ref>[[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 130–134</ref> Reform of the Royal Navy was also suggested, partly due to the ever-increasing Naval Estimates, and because of the emergence of the [[Imperial German Navy]] as a new strategic threat.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kennedy |first=Paul M. |title=The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery |pages=215–216 |date=2004 |place=London |publisher=Penguin Books |author-link=Paul Kennedy}}</ref> Ultimately a dispute arose between Admiral [[Lord Charles Beresford]], who favoured increased spending and a broad deployment, and the [[First Sea Lord]] Admiral Sir [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|John Fisher]], who favoured efficiency savings, scrapping obsolete vessels, and a strategic realignment of the Royal Navy relying on torpedo craft for home defence backed by the new [[dreadnought]]s.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lambert |first=Nicholas A. |title=Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution |date=2002 |place=Columbia, South Carolina |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-57003-492-3}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Grove |first=Eric J. |author-link=Eric Grove |title=The Royal Navy since 1815 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-333-72126-1 |pages=88–100}}</ref>

The King lent support to Fisher, in part because he disliked Beresford, and eventually Beresford was dismissed. Beresford continued his campaign outside of the navy and Fisher ultimately announced his resignation in late 1909, although the bulk of his policies were retained.<ref>[[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 134–139</ref> The King was intimately involved in the appointment of Fisher's successor as the Fisher-Beresford feud had split the service, and the only truly qualified figure known to be outside of both camps was [[Arthur Wilson (Royal Navy officer)|Sir Arthur Wilson]], who had retired in 1907.<ref>Lambert, pp. 200–201.</ref> Wilson was reluctant to return to active duty, but Edward persuaded him to do so, and Wilson became First Sea Lord on 25 January 1910.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bradford |first=Admiral Sir Edward E. |title=Life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson |pages=223–225 |date=1923 |place=London |publisher=John Murray |author-link=Edward Eden Bradford}}</ref>
[[File:Edward VII and Willhelm II.jpg|thumb|upright|Edward VII (left) and Kaiser Wilhelm II (right)]]
Edward was rarely interested in politics, although his views on some issues were notably progressive for the time. During his reign, he said use of the word ''[[nigger]]'' was "disgraceful", despite it then being in common parlance.<ref>{{Citation |last=Rose |first=Kenneth |title=King George V |page=65 |date=1983 |place=London |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |author-link=Kenneth Rose |isbn=9780297782452}}</ref> In 1904, Wilhelm II and Edward met during an Anglo-German summit in [[Kiel]]. Wilhelm, with the Russo-Japanese War in mind, started to go on about the "[[Yellow Peril]]", which he called "the greatest peril menacing&nbsp;... [[Christendom]] and [[Western culture|European civilisation]]. If the Russians went on giving ground, the yellow race would, in twenty years time, be in Moscow and [[Poznań|Posen]]".<ref name="macdonogh">{{Citation |last=MacDonogh |first=Giles |author-link=George MacDonogh |title=The Last Kaiser |isbn=0312305575 |page=277 |date=2003 |place=New York |publisher=St Martin's Press}}</ref> Wilhelm went on to attack his British guests for supporting Japan against Russia, suggesting that the British were committing "race treason". In response, Edward stated that he "could not see it. The Japanese were an intelligent, brave and chivalrous nation, quite as civilised as the Europeans, from whom they only differed by the pigmentation of their skin".<ref name="macdonogh" /> Although Edward lived a life of luxury often far removed from that of the majority of his subjects, they expected it, and his personal charm with all levels of society and his strong condemnation of prejudice went some way to assuage republican and racial tensions building during his lifetime.<ref name="dnb" />