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Traitor King

The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor

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Traitor King

By: Andrew Lownie
Narrated by: Andrew Lownie
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About this listen

 FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ENTITLED, 'THE MOST DEVASTATING ROYAL BIOGRAPHY EVER WRITTEN', DAILY MAIL
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

A Daily Mail Royal Book of the Year, 2021

'Darkly compelling...hundreds of eye-popping details...Gripping ... damning portrait of the Windsors' Daily Mail 'Book of the Week'

'Briskly written and compulsively readable...' - A.N. Wilson, TLS

'Meticulously researched' - Spectator

'Entertaining... convincing... timely. Urgent reading for royals' - Evening Standard


December 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his Crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after. But do they?

In Traitor King, bestselling historian Andrew Lownie draws on hitherto unexplored archives to uncover the dramatic world of the Windsors post-abdication. Lownie reveals a couple obsessed with their status, financially exploiting their position and manipulating the media. Filled with treachery and betrayal, this is a story of an exiled Royal and the Nazi attempts to recruit him to their cause. And of why the Royal family never forgave the Duke for choosing love over duty.©2021 Andrew Lownie (P)2021 Bonnier Books UK Europe Great Britain Politics & Activism Royalty

Critic reviews

"Darkly compelling...hundreds of eye-popping details.... Gripping...damning portrait of the Windsors." (Daily Mail, Book of the Week)

"Briskly written and compulsively readable...." (A.N. Wilson, TLS)

"Meticulously researched." (Spectator)

"Entertaining...convincing...timely. Urgent reading for royals." (Evening Standard)

All stars
Most relevant
A somewhat lacklustre reading of an interesting story. The premise of the story is that he/they were knowing and deliberate traitors before and during WW2. His black market gold and currency dealing during and after WW2 aren't much discussed.

Fascinating Story

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I did enjoy this book and it tells us a lot of things we didn’t know which surprised me as I thought I knew the story pretty well however I did get a little lost on certain things it’s just a matter of hanging in there and sticking with it, overall I enjoyed this book and am now interested in the Mountbatten story from the same author.

The things we never knew

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I chose this on the strength of the author's book on Guy Burgess, but it is a poor companion to that excellent tome.
The story of the Windsors has been told many times but Andrew Lownie's version shows some excellent research and use of background detail, revealing a level of self-absorption, entitlement and playing of the establishment that makes them hard to not despise.
Mr Lownie has chosen to narrate this tale himself and either because of the lack of an editor or studio time he doesn't do a very good job... and he's reading his own text. The basic mispronunciations and mistakes in rhythm and emphasis are most distracting. I listened to this book more than once, not through enjoyment but in order to piece the story together better. It wasn't a waste of time but could have been so much better, as the Guy Burgess book proves is possible.

A Tale of Two Wasters

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This is a very interesting, important, well researched, well organised and well written piece of English social history. Sadly, it is almost wholly ruined by the terrible narration by its author. He reads mostly in a monotone, swallows many of his words, stumbles in long sentences and occasionally puts a sudden emphasis on random words. It is a pity he did not delegate the job of reading his book aloud to someone with a fluent speaking voice who could have done it justice.

Interesting book spoilt by terrible narration

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The story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson is well known, but hearing his post-abdication career described here in detail fills one with with surprise and astonishment at the level of his selfishness, myopia and corruption. The life story is is compelling, but the reading less so. The reader hesitates over almost every foreign name, or pronounces them differently on different occasions. A rather emotionless and flat reading.

Sensational story, less sensational reading

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