The Times of London on my appearance at the Oxford Literary Festival
Prince William and Prince Harry compared to King George VI and the Duke of Windsor
This morning I spoke at the Oxford Literary Festival about my recently published book, George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy. In the question-and-answer period afterward, a reporter from The Times of London was in the audience, although he didn’t identify himself as such, which was fair enough. When he asked me to compare the strained relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry with the estrangement between King George VI and his older brother, the former King Edward VIII, later known as the Duke of Windsor, I offered an unvarnished view that I have shared with many audiences in the United States.
To the reporter from The Times, what I said was newsworthy enough to land prominently on the front page of the edition published online tonight. I thought my Royals Extra subscribers might want to read his article.
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Meghan as narcissistic as Wallis Simpson, says royal biographer.
Duchess of Sussex dominates Prince Harry just as Wallis Simpson did with the Duke of Windsor, Sally Bedell Smith has said.
Arts Correspondent
Sunday March 17, 2024, 8.30pm GMT, The Times
The Duchess of Sussex is as narcissistic, controlling and dominating as the Duchess of Windsor while Prince Harry is as weak as the Duke of Windsor, according to one of the Royal Family’s “authorised” biographers.
Sally Bedell Smith, whose latest book explores how King George VI “saved the monarchy” after the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, said there were similarities between the Windsors in the 1930s and the Sussexes today.
The American writer said the Prince of Wales would feel a similar sense of “betrayal” towards his younger brother, Harry, as King George VI felt towards his “deceptive” older brother after the abdication.
Bedell Smith, who has previously written biographies of Queen Elizabeth and King Charles and is one of the few given relatively unfettered access to the royal archives, said that both then and now “an American woman came into the picture and changed the dynamic of the whole thing”.
King Edward VIII had been forced to abdicate because of his insistence on marrying the American socialite Wallis Simpson, who was in the midst of her second divorce.
His younger brother replaced him as monarch and reigned, with the late Queen Mother at his side, until his death in 1952.
Bedell Smith, whose new book, George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy, told the Oxford Literary Festival that there were intriguing parallels with the current dynamic.
The relationship between William and Harry has been severely strained for years with the pair apparently refusing to appear with each other at a Diana Legacy Award event in London last week.
Meghan had reportedly clashed with William after she married Harry in 2018.
Bedell Smith said that although the dynamic between the brothers in the 1930s and their descendants in the 21st century was different, because the Duke of Windsor had been King, there were similarities.
“The Duke of Windsor did a lot of harmful things [after his abdication],” she told the festival. “He lied to his brother about how much money he had. For example, he was in the process of selling a huge amount of land at Sandringham just so he could pocket the money. It was those kinds of deceptions, as well as his behaviour in general.”
Following his abdication the duke and duchess became huge embarrassments to the Royal Family and the government, most notoriously over the friendships they formed with leading fascists, including Adolf Hitler.
“It is different,” she added. “Harry was never going to be King. But I think there are similar feelings of betrayal that have resulted in William in particular being furious with his brother — with good reason.
“They had a difficult childhood but there was a period of time, as was the case with Bertie [George VI] and David [Duke of Windsor, formerly Edward VIII], when they were very close.”
Bedell Smith added: “And in some respects Meghan and the Duchess of Windsor have similar qualities: very narcissistic, very controlling, very dominating.
“And if you read David’s letters to his previous lover … you can see how weak he was and how much he needed a domineering woman, and it feels as if Harry is somewhat the same way.”