Edward VIII: The Plot to Topple a King
Ever since King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, the official explanation had been simply that the government disapproved of his marriage to a twice-divorced woman. However newly-released documents, embargoed until recently, suggest that Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, played a large part in a plan to make certain that Edward VIII abdicated, not only because of his marriage to a divorcee but also because the archbishop disapproved of the King's whole lifestyle and modern attitudes to life.
Storyline
Ever since King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, the official explanation had been simply that the government disapproved of his marriage to a twice-divorced woman. However newly-released documents, embargoed until recently, suggest that Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, played a large part in a plan to make certain that Edward VIII abdicated, not only because of his marriage to a divorcee but also because the archbishop disapproved of the King's whole lifestyle and modern attitudes to life.
Steve John Shepherd
Narrator
David Calder
Cosmo Gordon Lang
Rupert Procter
Alan Don
Hugo Vickers
Self - Royal Biographer
Robert Beaken
Self - Author, 'Cosmo Lang, Archbishop in War and Crisis'
Matthew Grimley
Matthew Grimley: Self - University of Oxford
Philip Ziegler
Philip Ziegler: Self - Official Biographer, Edward VIII
Susan Williams
Susan Williams: Self - Author, 'The People's King'