Edward VIII: Backing the Wrong Duke

Anne Sebba revisits Michael Bloch’s article, first published in History Today in 1979, on the historian Philip Guedalla’s enthusiastic but misguided support for his friend, Edward VIII.

Michael Bloch’s essay on the almost forgotten historian, Philip Guedalla (1889-1944), and his defence of Edward VIII is a timely reminder of the king’s youthful charm and glamour, today qualities harder than ever to associate with the king who died in France in 1972 in a welter of bitterness and recrimination. He had ruled for just 326 days but was never crowned.

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