Secret papers released this week by the Public Records Office in London shed new light on the British Abdication Crisis in 1936 when King Edward VIII renounced his throne in favour of his brother, George V1.
The crisis was caused by Edward's wish to marry American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson – despite the hostility of British public opinion and most MPs.
Wednesday's releases reveal that King Edward tried to avoid giving up his throne by proposing a morganatic marriage which would have recognised Mrs Simpson as his wife but not as queen. The papers also show that a number of leading figures including Winston Churchill – then in the political wilderness – were sympathetic to the King's desire to marry Mrs Simpson and remain on the throne.
But they were thwarted by the forceful action of the Conservative prime minister, Stanley Baldwin.
The papers also shatter contemporary illusions of a 'fairytale romance' by revealing that the Special Branch had uncovered evidence that Mrs Simpson was involved with another man, Guy Marcus Trund of York at the same time as her blossoming relationship with Edward VIII.
The 'King's Crisis' ended in December 1936 when Baldwin announced to a hushed House of Commons that the King had renounced his throne.
The necessary legislation was swiftly passed and Edward's shy, lacklustre brother reluctantly assumed the throne as George V1.
The ex-monarch, now designated the Duke of Windsor, left Britain to marry Mrs Simpson the following year.
The royal abdication was to have an important impact in the Irish Free State where the Fianna Fail taoiseach, Eamon de Valera was attempting to dismantle the 1921 Treaty with its recognition of Crown and Empire.
De Valera shrewly used the crisis at Buckingham Palace in December 1936 to remove all reference to the British King from the Irish constitution.
But de Valera was careful not to break off the south's tenuous links with the Commonwealth since these offered, in his words, 'the last bridge to the north'. It was not until 1949 that the Fine Gael-led government of John A Costello formally declared a Republic to de Valera's regret.
As Prince of Wales, the former king had visited Belfast in November 1932 to open the new Parliament Buildings at Stormont.
Mr James Kelly, the Irish News political columnist and then a reporter on de Valera's Irish Press, recalls how the ill-fated Prince arrived in the city in "a surly mood after a blazing row with his father", George V at Buckingham Palace. Dressed in the uniform of a Rear Admiral, the heir to the throne looked ill at ease during the Stormont proceedings and delivered his inaugural speech in "a sepulchral voice". The Unionist historian, St John Ervine suggests the Prince's lack of enthusiasm owed much to the influence of an Irish Nationalist friend who was "hostile to Ulster". As a result, according to Ervine, "he had at first refused to make the visit , and in the event was ordered to make it by the King".
Prince Edward's decision to beat a Lambeg drum at Hillsborough raised nationalist hackles. As James Kelly recalls: "Persuaded to speak to Orange drummers performing outside Hillsbor-ough Castle, the Prince obligingly allowed them to strap a big Lambeg drum over his shoulders and went down the village street whacking the drum, not realising its anti-Catholic significance. The Unionist press next day made the dubious announcement that the heir to the throne had ended his Northern visit by beating an Orange drum!"
