1936

1937

This page : Royal events - Philatelic events

Headlines - UK - The Jarrow March.... violence at fascist marches in London - Germany remilitarises the Rhineland.... and hosts the Olympic Games.... Italy, under Mussolini, annexes Ethiopia.... Spanish Civil War begins.... Stalin's regime continues in the USSR.... Political unrest in Japan.... Africa largely a colonial continent.... Roosevelt re-elected US President....

Royal Events

The Year of Three Kings

20 January - Death of King George V. Prince Albert's elder brother became King Edward VIII - his coronation was planned for May, 1937.

The new reign was welcomed by most, for despite George V's popularity, there was a general feeling that it was time for a more modern and populist approach to royalty. Edward was regarded very much as a 'Prince of the People'.

Abdication of King Edward VIII

Edward's relationship with twice married and once divorced Wallis Simpson was well known and frequently reported in the foreign press - it was rarely referred to in the British press on government instructions.

The Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, urged the king to consider the constitutional problems of marrying a divorced woman. The Archbishop of Canterbury also made it clear that he was opposed to the King's relationship. Though a scandal and a constitutional concern, this was not an insurmountable problem.

However, there were political aspects to this relationship, which taken with King Edward's own political views, turned the problem into a crisis.

In 1934, as Prince Edward, he had suggested that he supported the views of the British Union of Fascists. The government was also aware that Wallis Simpson had been involved in other affairs, including a car salesman called Guy Trundle, and with Edward Fitzgerald, the Duke of Leinster. She was known to hold pro-Nazi political views and it was suspected that she was passing information to the Nazi government.

The government could not accept this situation. It is still not publicly known if Edward was aware of Wallis Simpson's other affairs and the suspicions of her role as a Nazi informer. Whatever he was told, Edward stated to the Prime Minister that either he would marry Wallace Simpson as King, or that he would abdicate. The question remains whether he expected, or even wanted, a public outcry in his favour when he announced his intention.

On 10 December, 1936, after a reign of 325 days, the king signed the abdication document.

"I, Edward the Eighth of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Emperor of India, do hereby declare my irrevocable determination to renounce the Throne for myself and for my descendants, and my desire that effect should be given to this Instrument of Abdication immediately.

In token whereof I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of December, 1936, in the presence of the witnesses whose signatures are subscribed.

Edward R.I."

The following day, Edward made a radio broadcast telling the nation that he had abdicated because he could not, "discharge the duties of king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love."

Prince Albert now became; 'His most Excellent Majesty George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.'

On the first night of his reign, talking to his cousin Lord Mountbatten, George declared; "Dickie, this is absolutely terrible. I never wanted this to happen; I’m quite unprepared for it, David [Edward VIII] has been trained for this all his life. I’ve never even seen a state paper; I’m only a naval officer, its the only thing I know about."

Right - 12 December, the King in admiral's uniform leaves 145 Picadilly to attend the Accession Council at St.James' Palace.

Postscript on Edward.

Edward moved to Austria and stayed with friends until Wallis Simpson obtained her divorce. His younger brother, George VI, granted him the title, Duke of Windsor. The couple were married on 3 June, 1937 at the Chateau De Cande, Monts, in France.

Edward toured Europe and in October, 1937 he met Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. In 1940, Edward and his wife moved from France to Spain and then Portugal. On 13 September, 1940, an FBI officer sent a memo to J. Edgar Hoover that: "An agent has established conclusively that the Duchess of Windsor has recently been in touch with Joachim von Ribbentrop and was maintaining constant contact and communication with him. Because of their high official position, the duchess was obtaining a variety of information concerning the British and French official activities that she was passing on to the Germans."

The British government also discovered that Adolf Hitler planned to make Edward the puppet king of the United Kingdom if the Germans won the Second World War. When he heard the news, Winston Churchill, then British Prime Minister, arranged for the Duke of Windsor to leave Europe and become the governor of the Bahamas.

After the war the Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived in France. Edward's book, A King's Story, appeared in 1951. His wife's book, The Heart has its Reasons, appeared in 1956. Edward, Duke of Windsor, died in Paris on 28 May, 1972.

Cover issued in France

Philatelic Events

Definitives -

17 February - 5d yellow-brown of George V photogravure set issued.

24 February - 10d turquoise-blue and 1/- bistre-brown of George V photogravure set issued

1 September - ½d green, 1½d red-brown, 2½d bright blue of Edward VIII issued.

14 September - 1d scarlet of Edward VIII issued.

11 December - the Postmaster General, G C Tryon, started preparations for a new design for the stamps of the new reign recognising that time was short before the Coronation. A few days later, King George stated that he did not wish to continue with the modern style of his brother's stamps, but to return to a more traditional design with a frame around a portrait head.

13 December - Flying boat 'Centaurus' left Hythe (Southampton) on a trial flight to Alexandria. One and a half tons of mail carried for South Africa, India and Australia.

24 December - Sir Thomas Gardiner of the Post Office asked the Council for Art and Industry to assist in producing designs for the new definitives.

Booklets -

October - 2/- Edward VIII booklet issued (series 4)

November - 3/- Edward VIII booklet issued (series 3)

1936 - 6d Edward VIII booklets issued (series 6A)

Airmail -

16 December - A special mail for Columbo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) included in Wednesday despatch by Imperial Airways from Croydon. The flight connected at Madras with a Christmas flight organised by the Tata company for the onward route to Columbo on 24 December. Cachet applied to mail on arrival at Columbo.

23 December - due to Spanish Civil War, mail to Canary Islands carried by German weekly service to South America which called at Las Palmas. German service started on 26 December with red cachet 'Europa - Sudamerika'. Air fee 4d for letters, 2½d for postcards.

23 December - Highland Airways were requested by the Post Office to fly mail stranded by stormy weather from Sanday Island to Kirkwall in the Orkneys.

29 December - First airmail service by Imperial Airways to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Frenchi Somali Coast and Italian Somaliland via Egypt and Ala Littoria. Air fee 1/3 for letters per half ounce, 7d for postcards.

Other -

November - 5d postage due stamp of Edward VIII issued

December - 4d and 1/- postage due stamps of Edward VIII issued

Postmarks -

December 1936 to January 1937 - 'Post Office Young People's Exhibition' slogan postmark, see 1937

December 1936 to February 1937 - 'British Industries Fair 1937 Feb 15 - 26 London & Birmingham'. Block.

Contact : Malcolm Sanders : kg6gb@hotmail.com