В постели с королем: Запретная любовь под сенью трона

Though the marriage caused a constitutional crisis for the British monarchy, Edward's abdication saved Britain from having a supporter of Nazi Germany on the throne during World War II. Edward, a fan of all things German and fluent in the language, was frequently seen to give a limp Nazi salute on the streets of London throughout the 1930s. When Hitler heard of the abdication he groaned, "I've lost a friend to my cause!"

As the monarch was the personification of a people and a nation, his disdain for ancient rules and traditions would taint them all.

The world of past centuries was not round but pyramid-shaped, and the higher up one found oneself, the more tightly one was bound by religion and etiquette. Sitting at the apex, the king was so tightly constrained that he had little room to maneuver. Any monarch attempting to break through the conventions was soon engulfed in an international roar of derision.