Abdication crisis
The abdication crisis arose on 16 November 1936, when King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom announced his irrevocable decision to marry his mistress, the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. (PROSE: Players [+]Loading...["Players (novel)"]) Edward had come to the throne earlier in the year, following the death of his father, George V. (PROSE: The Monster in the Cupboard [+]Loading...["The Monster in the Cupboard (novel)"]) The Seventh Doctor contacted Winston Churchill to advise him against supporting the King, warning that Simpson was a shapeshifter from Verossikon Prime. (PROSE:The Lost Diaries of Winston Spencer Churchill [+]Loading...["The Lost Diaries of Winston Spencer Churchill (short story)"]) The idea of a morganatic marriage among the Royals embroiled Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's Cabinet in something of a national scandal. (PROSE: Wolfsbane [+]Loading...["Wolfsbane (novel)"])
The matter was further complicated by Edward's strongly pro-German views. Simpson also grew close to the German Ambassador, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and spent a lot of time at the German Embassy. British Intelligence eventually discovered that sensitive diplomatic information had been leaked to the Germans from the King's private residence at Fort Belvedere. Simpson was the prime suspect and it was eventually decided that such information had to be withheld from the King, with his loyalty to his country brought into question. (PROSE: Players [+]Loading...["Players (novel)"]) By 28 November, the press was reporting the marriage controversy. (PROSE: Wolfsbane [+]Loading...["Wolfsbane (novel)"])
Baldwin informed the King that neither his subjects nor the British government would accept the marriage. After weeks of deliberation, the King claimed to have chosen to abdicate, but, having been manipulated by the Players, was really planning to dissolve Parliament and replace it with one more loyal to him, aided by support from the Nazi party.
The plan was thwarted by the Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown and Winston Churchill, after Peri managed to steal a list from von Ribbentrop that identified all major figures in Britain with Nazi sympathies. With this information, the group were able to arrange for forces under the command of Colonel Jeremy Carstairs to monitor everyone on the list while recording rather than broadcasting Edward's message. They then used that recording to coerce him into abdicating the British throne, threatening to have him charged with treason if he did not go along with the original plan. (PROSE: Players [+]Loading...["Players (novel)"])
Finally, on 10 December, Edward abdicated the throne to marry Simpson. He was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI. (PROSE: Players [+]Loading...["Players (novel)"], AUDIO: Neverland [+]Loading...["Neverland (audio story)"]) Edward then became Duke of Windsor. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"]) The year would later be known as the "year of the three kings". (PROSE: The Monster in the Cupboard [+]Loading...["The Monster in the Cupboard (novel)"])
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
Edward VIII's abdication resulted in a change in the succession of the British monarchy. George VI, Edward's successor and brother, was ultimately succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II, in 1952, (PROSE: Players [+]Loading...["Players (novel)"]) beginning a reign which would last for many decades. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern [+]Loading...["The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)"], PROSE: The Dying Days [+]Loading...["The Dying Days (novel)"], TV: Voyage of the Damned [+]Loading...["Voyage of the Damned (TV story)"], PROSE: The Last Pharaoh [+]Loading...["The Last Pharaoh (novel)"])
From the Seventh Doctor's perspective, he would next meet Winston Churchill in 1945, with the two recalling "that business with Mrs Simpson." (PROSE: The Lost Diaries of Winston Spencer Churchill [+]Loading...["The Lost Diaries of Winston Spencer Churchill (short story)"], AUDIO: Subterfuge [+]Loading...["Subterfuge (audio story)"]) In the interim, however, Churchill would meet other incarnations of the Doctor, both past and future, on numerous occasions over the course of the Second World War. (AUDIO: The Oncoming Storm [+]Loading...["The Oncoming Storm (audio story)"], TV: Victory of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Victory of the Daleks (TV story)"], COMIC: The Instruments of War [+]Loading...["The Instruments of War (comic story)"], PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass [+]Loading...["The Shadow in the Glass (novel)"], et al.)
Alternate timelines[[edit] | [edit source]]
In an alternate timeline in which Germany won World War II, Edward VIII was restored to the throne with Wallis as his Queen in 1940. He signed a treaty which established Great Britain as a protectorate of the Greater German Reich. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"])
Billy Coote heard the King's abdication speech in his mind a whole year before it was broadcast. (PROSE: Nightshade [+]Loading...["Nightshade (novel)"])
