The 4 Do's and 2 VERY Different Brothers
A study of the difference and irony surrounding Edward VIII and George VI
Hi Everyone!
I have decided to do something a little different…. While my aim is still to share both paid and free content on alternating weeks, I want to add in something extra. I have started to feel like I am not offering the bulk of my subscribers enough on weeks that paid content goes out, and quite simply, I want to! So, from now on, on the weeks that paid content goes out, the newsletter will go to all of you, dear subscribers, and I will share a historical tidbit (that might be related to the rest of the post, or might not be) as just a way to hopefully give you an extra bright spot to your day. If you are curious about the rest of the content, great, scroll on down to the preview. If you aren’t that is completely fine to. I just want to keep the historical conversation going as best I can!
I hope you enjoy your first historical tidbit:
Was Queen Elizabeth II Always Destined to be Queen?
So, for this week, I want to talk about the fact that even if Edward VIII had not abdicated the throne, it is very likely that his niece, Elizabeth II would have still become Queen. It is believed that Edward VIII was actually unable to father children as a complication from a case of the mumps that likely left him sterile. While this was never confirmed, it is very believable because in all of his relationships, (at a time when birth control methods were far less effective than today) he never had a child. So, sterile or not, even if he had stayed King until his death in the 1970s, and assuming his brother had died in the 1950s, the throne would have immediately gone to Elizabeth as she would have been the next in line. So, regardless of her father or uncle, King Charles would still likely have been the present day King, the path might have just looked a little different.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this subject!
The 4 Do's and 2 VERY Different Brothers
One part about being Prince of Wales, that the Prince certainly talks a lot about in his letters to Freda is the need for his private life to remain private. While this is felt by most people to an extent, it is particularly true if you are the Prince of Wales. This need for privacy however, is also met with the human need to connect and share your life and happiness with those close to you. When it came to his relationship with Freda, which was no doubt the happiest part of his life at the time, there were very few people who he could share the details of that relationship with. While then, the British Press was much kinder to the Royal Family than it is today, there was still a need for discretion to keep society gossip to a minimum.
One person who Prince Edward could heartily share his relationship with was his brother, Prince Albert (the future George VI and father of Elizabeth II) as for a time, he was engaged in an adulterous relationship as well, with Freda’s best friend, Sheila, Lady Loughborough.
This group called themselves the 4 Do’s and spent a lot of time together during the early part of Edward and Freda’s relationship. It must have felt somewhat normal for the Princes to feel like they had “couple friends”. Not only did this arrangement provide a place for the Princes to share about their relationships, but also for Freda and Sheila to as well because again, discretion was paramount.
“What big babies we 2 Do’s are & I think the other 2 Do’s (2nd Grade) are even bigger babies than we are!! What marvels fun we 4 do have don’t we angel & f— the rest of the world, though guess too et moi are the ‘bear leaders’ (perhaps to much sometimes & anyway we look on life more seriously & are so different team the other 2 Do’s!!”
Sheila, Lady Loughborough (originally Chisholm) was an Australian socialite who became Lady Loughborough upon the marriage to the first of her three husbands. She was very beautiful and was likely the one who made popular the Australian phrase “good looking Sheila.” Sheila was very close friends with Freda and that was how she fell in with Prince Albert, who was just eighteen months younger than his brother, Prince Edward. Though they spent at least a year and a half together, one can assume that the relationship between Prince Albert and Sheila, while fun, was not nearly as serious as the one between Prince Edward and Sheila. As a letter from William Shawcross’s official biography of the Queen Mother reveals, Prince Albert was willing to stop seeing Sheila upon the news from this father that he would be made Duke of York on his next birthday if he was willing to give up relationships with married women. Prince Albert happily wrote about this to his brother in 1920 and then was married and undoubtedly completely smitten with Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen Mother by 1923.
This is a huge difference from his brother Prince Edward who as we know, was ultimately willing to give up the Crown itself for the woman he loved. Was this because of personality differences? Was it because Prince Albert was not as in love with Sheila as Prince Edward was with Freda (and eventually Wallace Simpson)? While I do think arguments like these were certainly contributing factors, I think that it ultimately boils down to a little bit of nature, and a little bit of nurture.
As we are learning form these letters and as we know from history, by nature, Prince Edward was someone who the people adored. He was personable, handsome and could light up a room. However “deep down” (to understand this reference see the previous post) he was insecure, immature, stubborn, and he clung to Freda as both a partner, but also a maternal figure. He even referred to her as such several times. By nurture…he was raised from his first moment with the weight of an empire looming over him. He had more pressure on him, more responsibility, virtually zero flexibility and frankly, he was the one who people wanted access to. He tried to marry a woman who was completely suitable before his relationship with Freda, (learn more here) and he was told no. He was the one who arguably needed the most support from a loving and committed partner, not to mention his parents, and that was something he then had to find and cling to, as he stated himself that he felt he lived a very unnatural life.
On the other side, his brother Prince Albert was outwardly far more shy, he had a stammer, outbursts of anger, etc. But he was the one, alongside his wife, the formidable Queen Elizabeth, who ultimately became the steadfast and true monarch Britain and much of the world looked to during the perilous time of WWII. While Prince Albert also had lasting struggles from childhood stress, he grew up with the expectation of a MUCH freer life than his brother. He married the daughter of an Earl with the wholehearted blessing of his parents, and he was able to start a family and spend the days with a beautiful wife and daughters in relative obscurity for thirteen years. So, as Prince Albert had a shyer personality and gave Sheila up easily. Was it because he hadn’t been forced to give a fiancé up before and had more freedom? I think it interesting that on the outside, Prince Edward was more outgoing, but it was Prince Bertie that had the inner strength.
There is no doubt, that in the time they spent together, Freda, Sheila and their Prince’s had an absolute ball as the roaring 20’s were just beginning. While Freda was a very steadying influence for Prince Edward, it is no doubt that Sheila gave Prince Albert a much needed confidence boost. While these relationships may have been a sore point for King George V and Queen Mary, they were historically very important as they played a pivotal role in shaping two of Britains most prominent figures in the 20th century. One reason I love history is that looking back on times like these, while knowing how the story ends, provides an endless amount of “Ah Ha” moments as we see how the story played out through the years.
What are your thoughts on these very different brothers? Do you think one was just born “better” than the other? Or stronger? Or a combination of the two. Which role would you like to be born into?
Until Next Time,
McKenzie