1936 cover art

1936

The Year of Three Kings
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1936

By: Sian Evans
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About this listen

 In December 1936 King Edward VIII made history when he abdicated the British throne. The orthodox story is that he gave up his crown to marry the woman he loved, the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, who the establishment deemed unsuitable to become Queen.

But now historian Siân Evans suggests instead that a visit that the King made, in November 1936, to the distressed areas of South Wales was the tipping point that led to the abdication. Edward VIII's public sympathy for the unemployed, many of whom had fought alongside him in the Great War, caused him to overstep his constitutional role by drifting into politics. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was determined that he had to go, and he used the King's clandestine relationship with Mrs Simpson as the means to replace him.

1936: The Year of Three Kings explores the private motivations and public actions of the reluctant new King, month by month, from the death of his father George V, through to his abdication and the accession of his brother George VI. And it addresses the lasting repercussions for the British royal family that continue to this day, including the ultimate dilemma that Edward VIII faced: should desire for personal happiness and fulfilment triumph over the obligations imposed by an accident of birth?©2026 Siân Evans (P)2026 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Europe Great Britain Politics & Activism Royalty
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