Edward Viii

By Daniel Roth

When he is born the eldest of the six children of King George V and Queen Mary, Edward, the Prince of Wales, is treated appallingly by his parents. His father ensures Edward is frightened of him, just as he was of his own father, and his mother is cool towards him. But little does the Prince know that the consequences of this treatment will follow him into adulthood as he juggles a number of affairs with married women and shuns an outside world he has grown to hate.

When Edward’s father dies and he reluctantly trudges into his role as King Edward VIII, it is just a few months later that he abdicates the throne so he can marry Wallis Simpson. Forced to leave the country and spend the remainder of his life in Paris, Edward leaves his brother unprepared to take up the reins. But how might this abdication crisis have played out if it had been penned during Shakespeare’s time?

Shared in Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter format, this unique drama provides a different perspective on how King Edward VIII’s journey could have reached another conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Oct 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665596992

Daniel Roth

Daniel has spent 20 years as a special needs camp counselor at Wesley Forest. 20 years that have changed the way he sees the world. Currently Daniel spends alot of time helping at a Crisis Shelter in York Pa caring for children in crisis from birth to age six. The author may be contacted at: [e-mail]

Book preview

© 2022 Daniel Roth. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/21/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9698-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9699-2 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

SHAKESPEARE’S (?) EDWARD VIII by DANNY ROTH

ACT 1 SCENE 1

ACT 1 Scene 2

ACT 1 SCENE 3

ACT 1 SCENE 4

ACT 1 SCENE 5

ACT 2 SCENE 1

ACT 2 SCENE 2

ACT 2 SCENE 3

ACT 2 SCENE 4

ACT 2 SCENE 5

ACT 3 SCENE 1

ACT 3 SCENE 2

ACT 3 SCENE 3

ACT 3 SCENE 4

ACT 3 SCENE 5

ACT 3 SCENE 6

ACT 4 SCENE 1

ACT 4 SCENE 2

ACT 4 SCENE 3

ACT 4 SCENE 4

ACT 4 SCENE 5

ACT 5 SCENE 1

ACT 5 SCENE 2

ACT 5 SCENE 3

ACT 5 SCENE 4

ACT 5 SCENE 5

SHAKESPEARE’S (?) EDWARD VIII

by DANNY ROTH

26301.png

Characters represented:

Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, then the Duke of Windsor

Freda Dudley Ward, a friend to the prince,

Angie, her daughter,

Wallis, a foreign lady, Ernest, her husband, Bessie, her aunt,

Thelma Furness, Emerald Cunard, Sybil Colefax, Henry and Honor Channon, Duff and Diana

Cooper, friends to the prince,

King George V, Queen Mary, Albert, brother to the prince, Elizabeth, his wife,

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Beaverbrook.

Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, other politicians,

Walter Monckton, legal adviser to the prince,

Alec Hardinge, secretary to the King, Perry Brownlow.

Other members of the Royal family. Servants etc. A number of guests, bystanders.

ACT 1 SCENE 1

26301.png

London, Home of Freda.

Enter Edward, Freda, Angie, Freda’s daughter.

Angie turns over a card in a game where all three are playing:

Edw. The queen of spades - disparaged witch of fate;

Iconic mascot spells impending doom!

So fortune has deserted me once more;

My resolute exertions all in vain.

As Angie sallies home to wrest the pot,

Bewildered if defeat is to her known,

Such avaricious niggard never was!

Angie laughs; Freda smiles, embarrassed.

Freda. (to Angie)

Beloved daughter, fortune dominates;

But triumph must be curtain to the night;

Go, slumber and enjoy your happy dreams.

Angie. (looking up at the clock)

Oh, Mama, at such an early hour?

Freda. Indeed, my dearest child, it’s time for sleep

Angie starts to exit, curtseying abruptly to Edward.

Edw. A custom for thy style in season due,

Rehearsal for the ball of debutantes?

A pose of greater elegance is sought

To liken thy distinction to thy peer;

How is she called - a blossom of delight?

Angie. Primrose Salt, kind sir.

Edw. Aye, Primrose, as a flower of the field,

Whenever has such beauty ere beheld?

Yet, timely as the sunset she retires,

And settle in the stillness of her sleep.

Angie. (disgusted but polite)

Good night, Mama. Good night, kind sir.

Freda. Good night, my darling daughter; happy dreams!

Edw. Good night, my dear be rested and reposed,

Entreat the Lord our prayers will be heard,

Your sister shall in health be soon restored.

[Exit Angie]

A closure which befits a jaded week.

Freda. What tidings do you bring in your pursuit?

Edw. My dearest, much has happened these last weeks;

A visit to the Naval barrack hall,

A freedom for times past to be recalled;

With comrades all devoted to my side.

For them, I stood a source of merriment,

In costume, that I posed just as a clown

Invested to become the Prince of Wales.

The first of such outrageous ceremonies

In front of all, including Lloyd George,

A Welshman present as Prime Minister.

I spoke my maiden speech in Gaelic tongue -

Humiliation in Caernarvon Town.

Their greeting brought me nigh to shed a tear.

For Joey and the partisans abound.

Freda. Joey? Who be he my best beloved?

Edw. Aye, Piers Legh, a confidant of old,

An equerry who gained that epithet.

And twenty more who made the sea their lives.

In manner as my father years ago

Would view the Navy as the hub of life

And everything that mattered to his soul.

While I alone, coerced to bid farewell,

Compelled to spill the frenzy of the foam,

Was chastened to survival in the cold.

A treasured time to muse on raptures lost.

A period of reflection and regret.

And yet, for older sailors, comes the time

To seek the land as withered plants relapse -

Their future holds a life in poverty.

Freda. The pain of being born to be a prince.

What other matter passed thee ere we met?

Edw. Engaged in racing duel at the course;

We steeplechased in drama to the post;

My victory so close and yet so far.

A yard was interposed between our mounts.

Freda. (obviously surprised)

I thought the fences faded from thy sight.

Did not a prior fall leave you concussed,

And bade thy father bar thee from the course

And perils of the fight with gravity?

Edw. How can I be debarred from any joy?

The King portrays existence soaked in fear.

For every time my steed would take the air,

His dread is of a corpse upon the ground

To leave him doomed, and of his heir bereaved;

I stand in his protection as a jewel

Enclosed, as in a case of solid glass.

Freda. Your miseries are known to me too well

In letters by the thousand I receive;

Each day, a sorrow new to break thy heart.

You spoke of your approaching trip abroad.

Edw. The Eastern shores of darkest Africa.

Predestined that I have to be alone,

For days so few can thou not be nearby?

A transient repose to give content

Companionship and comfort to thy