An Unnatural Life: Prince Edward Reveals His "Deep Down" Feelings

While on the quest through these fascinating letters, we have come across things about Prince Edward like his opinions, his love for gossip, his feelings for Freda and about his work. Now we are getting to a point where his relationship with Freda clearly deepens and he truly begins to open up. While reading these deeper letters, I actually began to see him in a very different light. See, the generally accepted narrative about Edward VIII was that he was a bit unruly, he wanted to do things his own way, his father said he would ruin himself, and he wanted to marry an American divorcé which ultimately caused him to abdicate the throne. But reading intimate thoughts of Edward’s, it is extremely clear why he is feeling the way he is, and frankly, at this early stage in his life, I think his thoughts are justifiable. No matter what anyone might feel about his actions later in life, (and quite honestly, will anyone ever completely know the whole story?) many of which I personally find to be childish, I am unearthing more and more about Edward that is often left out of his story. I continuously find myself wondering if he had been heard early on in his life, he would have been the popular and dazzling king that so many of his generation thought and hoped he would be. But, when one who is full of ideas and as his wife Wallis said in an interview, “is ahead of his time” which in many ways, he was, it is no shock that the disillusionment with his role would continue to grow each time he was thwarted.

It is no surprise that we see a much more detailed view of Edward’s inner thoughts during these particular letters (May-Nov 1919) as we see him, for the first time, sign off a letter to Freda using “David” the name that his family called him. I find this interesting for two reasons. First, I find it fascinating because for over 140 pages, the Prince has been professing his love for this woman, and oftentimes also his annoyance at his family, yet, it is clear that even though he was saying she was the most important thing in the world to him, he never used the name that only those closest to him use. Then, suddenly in a letter from early May 1919, he says, “What a divine fortnight this last one has been & I’ve never been so happy… I’m just longing to hear your sweet little voice on the telephone the you’ll be able to tell your David when he’s going to see you again.” This is the very first time in the collection of letters he refers to himself as “David” and it is a clear indication that they have reached a new level of trust and intimacy in their relationship. A second clear indication is as Edward has just left on his 1919 tour of Canada, he talks about Freda’s daughters saying “How are the babies, Darling? Pleath (He spelled it that way.) give them my love & tell them I hope they won’t forget all about me… I do love your 2 sweet little babies & I nearly cried when I had to say goodbye to them last Sunday evening as they are so divine always!!” Perhaps even more than his name, this talk about Freda’s daughters most certainly shows a deep level of intimacy if he was in their home and around her children. This had certainly become more than a fling, or even a basic relationship with the Prince.