Once a king

Fifteen years after having abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson--the woman he loved--King Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor, published his memoirs. But while preparing the manuscript for his published and mostly ghostwritten book--which largely avoided controversy--the Duke also produced a private manuscript for posterity. This was written in his own words and with an uninhibited frankness. This book reproduces this previously unseen writing, including much that he could or would not write for publication in 1951. Tippett weaves together Edward's writing alongside newly uncovered interviews with the Duke and Duchess, diary entries from ghostwriter Charles Murphy and other sources. Together they form a new portrait of one of the most famous characters in modern royal history and his recollections and innermost feelings, particularly around the abdication of 1936.