GEORGE VI'S NAZI DILEMMA

As war raged across the globe, the king had to confront admirers of Adolf Hitler uncomfortably close to home

- Alexander Larman

Even today, 80 years after the Second World War, these words retain the power to shock. But when the Duke of Windsor reportedly uttered them to Lord Kinross in the 1960s, few in the upper tiers of the British establishment would have been surprised by the sentiments. The former Edward VIII has been described as the “traitor king” on account of his perceived fascist leanings, of which his belief that Hitler was “not such a bad chap” was almost the least egregious.

Edward’s sympathies were well-known enough by 1940 for Winston Churchill to write an initial draft of a letter – later diplomatically toned down – to the other prime ministers of the Commonwealth that stated: “The activities of the Duke of Windsor on the continent in recent months have been causing [His Majesty] and myself grave uneasiness as his inclinations are well known to be pro-Nazi, and he may become a centre of intrigue.”

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor had visited Germany in October 1937, a trip organised by the Nazi-sympathising industrialist Charles Bedaux as a quid pro quo for having hosted their wedding at his French chateau earlier that summer. The Windsors had met Hitler, and were given a curated tour of Germany as an energetic, forward-looking country, led by a near-messianic figure.