Editing Abdication of Edward VIII (section)

==Post-abdication==
[[File:The Duke of Windsor (1945).jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Duke of Windsor, formerly Edward VIII, 1945]]

George VI granted his elder brother the title of [[Duke of Windsor]] with the style [[His Royal Highness]] on 12 December 1936.<ref name=LG34350/> On 3 May the following year, the Simpsons' divorce was made final. The case was handled quietly and it barely featured in some newspapers. ''[[The Times]]'' printed a single sentence below a separate, and seemingly unconnected, report announcing the Duke's departure from Austria.<ref>"Mrs Ernest Simpson's Divorce". ''[[The Times]]'', Tuesday, 4 May 1937, p. 5, col. C; "The Duke of Windsor: Departure from Austria", ''The Times'', Tuesday, 4 May 1937, p. 5, col. C</ref>

Edward married Wallis in France on 3 June 1937. She became the Duchess of Windsor, but, much to Edward's disgust, George VI issued [[letters patent]] that denied her the style of Her Royal Highness.<ref>Ziegler, p. 529.</ref> The couple settled in France, and the Duke received a tax-free allowance from his brother, which Edward supplemented by writing his memoirs and by illegal currency trading.<ref>{{citation|last=Roberts|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Roberts (historian)|editor=[[Antonia Fraser]]|title=The House of Windsor|year=2000|publisher=Cassell and Co|location=London|isbn=0-304-35406-6|page=53}}</ref> He also profited from the sale of [[Balmoral Castle]] and [[Sandringham House]] to George VI, for a "colossal sum" according to [[Alan Lascelles]].<ref name="ph&v"/> Both estates are private property and not part of the Royal Estate, and were therefore inherited and owned by Edward, regardless of the abdication.<ref> Ziegler, pp. 376–378.</ref>

In October 1937, [[Duke and Duchess of Windsor's tour of Germany, 1937|the Duke and Duchess visited Germany]], against the advice of the British government, and met [[Hitler]] at his [[Obersalzberg]] retreat. The visit was much publicised by the German media. During the visit the Duke gave full [[Nazi salute]]s.<ref>{{citation|author-link=Frances Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Kingsbridge|last=Donaldson|first=Frances|year=1974|title=Edward VIII|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|isbn=0-297-76787-9|pages=331–332}}</ref> In an article for the New York ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'' and ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' of 13 December 1966 the Duke wrote that in 1937 Hitler persuaded him "it was in Britain's interest and in Europe's too, that Germany be encouraged to strike east and smash Communism forever&nbsp;... I thought the rest of us could be fence-sitters while the Nazis and the Reds slogged it out."<ref>"[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/12/13/page/1/article/duke-helpless-as-he-sees-drift-to-world-war-ii Windsor Helpless as World Drifts to War]", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', 13 December 1966, p. 2</ref>

After the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] in September 1939, Edward was assigned to the [[British Military Mission in France]].<ref name="matthew">[[Colin Matthew|Matthew, H. C. G.]] (September 2004; online edition January 2008) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31061 "Edward VIII, later Prince Edward, duke of Windsor (1894–1972)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/31061}}, retrieved 1 May 2010 (subscription required)</ref> In February 1940, the German ambassador in [[The Hague]], [[Count Julius von Zech-Burkersroda]], claimed that Edward had leaked the Allied war plans for the defence of Belgium.<ref>''Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918–1945'' Series D, Volume VIII, quoted in Bradford, p. 434</ref> When Germany [[Battle of France|invaded]] the north of France in May 1940, the Duke and Duchess fled to [[Lisbon]].<ref>Bloch, p. 91</ref>

Under the code name [[Operation Willi]], Nazi agents, principally [[Walter Schellenberg]], plotted unsuccessfully to persuade the Duke to leave Portugal, and contemplated kidnapping him.<ref>Bloch, pp. 86, 102; Ziegler, pp. 430–432</ref> [[Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote|Lord Caldecote]] warned [[Churchill]] that the Duke "is well-known to be pro-Nazi and he may become a centre of intrigue".<ref>Ziegler, p. 434</ref> Churchill threatened the Duke with a [[court-martial]] if he did not return to British soil.<ref>Bloch, p. 93</ref>

In July 1940, Edward was appointed [[Governor of the Bahamas]].<ref>Bloch, pp. 93–94, 98–103, 119</ref>   Edward reportedly told an acquaintance, "After the war is over and Hitler will crush the Americans&nbsp;... we'll take over&nbsp;... They [the British] don't want me as their king, but I'll be back as their leader."<ref name=walker>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2701965.stm|first=Andrew|last=Walker|work=BBC News|title=Profile: Edward VIII|date=29 January 2003|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> He was reported as saying that "it would be a tragic thing for the world if Hitler was overthrown".<ref name=walker /> Comments like these reinforced the belief that the Duke and Duchess held Nazi sympathies and the effect of the abdication crisis of 1936 was to force off the throne a man with extreme political opinions.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 434 ff.</ref> Claims that Edward would have been a threat or that he was removed by a political conspiracy to dethrone him remain speculative and "persist largely because since 1936 the contemporary public considerations have lost most of their force and so seem, wrongly, to provide insufficient explanation for the King's departure".<ref>{{citation|title=The monarchy and public values 1910–1953|author=Williamson, Philip|work=The monarchy and the British nation, 1780 to the present|editor=Olechnowicz, Andrzej|page=225|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-521-84461-1}}</ref>