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The Crown in Crisis

Countdown to the Abdication

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The Crown in Crisis

By: Alexander Larman
Narrated by: Richard Trinder
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About this listen

 In December 1936, Britain faced a constitutional crisis that was the gravest threat to the institution of the monarchy since the execution of Charles I. The ruling monarch, Edward VIII, wished to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson and crown her as his Queen. His actions scandalised the Establishment, who were desperate to avoid an international embarrassment at a time when war seemed imminent.

An influential coalition formed against him, including the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, his private secretary Alec Hardinge, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the editor of The Times. Edward seemed fated to give up Wallis and remain a reluctant ruler, or to abdicate his throne. Yet he had his own supporters, too, including Winston Churchill, the Machiavellian newspaper proprietor Lord Beaverbrook and his brilliant adviser Walter Monckton. They offered him the chance to remain on the throne and keep Wallis. But was the price they asked too high?

Using previously unpublished and rare archival material, and new interviews with those who knew Edward and Wallis, The Crown in Crisis is the conclusive exploration of how an unthinkable and unprecedented event tore the country apart. This seismic event has been written about before but never with the ticking-clock suspense and pace of the thriller that it undoubtedly was for all of its participants. Painstakingly researched, incisively written and entirely fresh in its approach, The Crown in Crisis brings the events of that time to thrilling life, and in the process will appeal to an entirely new audience. Europe Great Britain Law Politics & Activism Royalty Winston Churchill War

Critic reviews

Excellent, well written, deeply researched, THE CROWN IN CRISIS is a dynamic revisionist history of the Abdication that brings to life a national and personal drama with a flamboyant cast of princes, charlatans, socialites, courtiers, press barons, politicians and adventurers that is both heartbreaking and glamorous, scholarly and very entertaining.
Alexander Larman's well-researched and well-written THE CROWN IN CRISIS is both scholarly and highly readable. He has mastered the sources superbly, and his analysis of the extraordinary story is full of thought-provoking insights.
Larman combines the personal with the political, high drama with low morals, to create a compulsively readable and comprehensive account. Anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of one of the key events of the 20th century, whose reverberations are still with us today, must read this engagingly fun and detailed book.
A completely fascinating and authoritative account of the Abdication Crisis, written with tremendous sophistication and insight.
Larman's retelling zips along, infusing a well-known narrative with impressive suspense. His scholarly rummaging has
turned up fresh insights, too, notably into the role played by MI5. An enduringly relevant chapter of British history, brought to life with panache
Larman is an amiable and talented young writer ... rendered with brio and dispatch ... always interesting (David Aaronovitch)
The person we must feel most pity for, at the end of this great and well-told story, is Wallis Simpson .. she comes
across as much more sensible and conscientious than Edward
A fresh look at a time of catastrophe for the royals, with new ideas about a plot to assassinate Edward VIII ... Larman shows a delicate touch too in not banging home the obvious contemporary resonances. Instead he lets us find our own fun
forensically researched ... Larman has done a fine job of explaining the religious, social and political issues involved
A gripping new book on the abdication crisis reveals how the ambitious former Champagne salesman wooed Wallis to ingratiate himself with King Edward VIII... fuelling rumours of an affair
In this absorbing new book, Alexander Larman takes us through the whole, tangled story with great clarity.
His friends loathed her. He fell out with his beloved brother over her. His sister-in-law couldn't stand her diva demands. And when Edward VIII relinquished his throne to emigrate with glamorous American divorcee Wallis Simpson, the very future of the British monarchy hung in the balance ... Alexander Larman brings together unpublished archive material and witness testimonies to reveal exactly what went on at the Palace - almost a century before 'Megxit'
Documenting the personal and national reverberations of the love affair, it's an engaging, detailed, and suspenseful read; one that is equal parts empathetic and entertaining. You will be gripped.
All stars
Most relevant
I thought throughout the book the author was from USA, as he kept referring to “the King of England”, with a single exception, when quoting Edward VIII’s abdication speech, which used the proper title!
It does undermine a writer’s credibility when such an obvious mistake is made, but would have been more forgivable in an American writer.
However, it is an interesting story of the crisis in UK which preceded the big much more nasty one of the ‘39-45 war.
Edward VIII would not have been up to the challenge of being head of state throughout WWII and decolonisation. His younger brother Bertie -George VI - & niece Elizabeth maintained a dignified presence in the world.
Churchill was a malign influence in the intense negotiations which threatened the UK constitution as the result of Edward’s determination to marry, willy-nilly, a twice-divorced American adventuress.
The rôle of newspaper barons (unelected, unaccountable, mephistophelian) was already established. The reticence of the UK press was conditional, political, quid pro quo, but abroad royal shenanigans were cash in the bank. It is difficult now to imagine an era when news (and rumour) did not travel instantly.
The reputation of Stanley Baldwin should be re-evaluated in light of his management of the abdication crisis.
Great romance? No. 1936 had far more important issues to deal with than a spoilt playboy king and his obsession with one of his married mistresses.

Abdication = lucky escape

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A well known tale of boy meets girl, gives up throne, lives his selfish life, befriends Hitler, becomes a traitor to his country and for ever moans about money and the HRH title for his woman. Churchills part in this story was my only eye opener. Well narrated.

Edward VIII

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This is not the definitive work on the abdication by a long way. The author is obviously prejudiced against the notions of service and duty: but it is well narrated.
Thankfully the British peoples were delivered of Edward, this deranged, pathetic and unworthy man and his paramour. And blessed by George V1 ( Bertie and his wife Elisabeth The Duchess of York) who took the country through the years of the second world war and beyond. The errant pair, Edward and Wallis got their just deserts. There is an old adage which says 'Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.'

No definitive work

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A rather dull account of such dramatic events. The author is very partisan, clearly feeling the abdicating king to be shallow and vain - but doesn't attempt any serious insight as to, for instance, why Edward VIII took his duties so lightly, when his brothers took so different an approach. Very little insight either into the characters of Wallis Simpson, or the people around them. The narrative is very much of the "and then... and then.... and then" style. The impending world war, European politics and their impact on UK politics during the crisis is mentioned barely at all.

Pedestrian and not insightful

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Interesting new insights into the evolving drama of the abdication crisis of the mid 1930’s. The Author’s personal opinions occasionally intrude into the narrative, at one point alarmingly suggesting that it would have been a good thing if Edward VIII had been assassinated early in his reign.

The book does contain the odd mistake, suggesting Churchill, when a backbencher, made a speech from the despatch box in the House of Commons a big no no. Similarly that the Chamber broke out in applause a thing that would in the 1930 be regarded as deeply unparliamentary, still is today

Nevertheless I am pleased to have read it

Interesting but not without problems

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