Talk:Edward VIII

RfC of interest
(non-automated message) Greetings! I have opened an RfC on WT:ROYALTY that may be of interest to users following this article talk page! You are encouraged to contribute to this discussion here! Hurricane Andrew (444) 20:05, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Claims that Edward VIII encouraged the continuation of the Blitz
An article from the CBC (see section "Captured documents suggest the duke encouraged the Germans to bomb Britain"), quotes biographer Andrew Lownie's interpretation of a cable in the Marburg Files. This cable, apparently sent in 1940, would have been sent during the Blitz. I am not a habitual contributor to pages on historical figures, but perhaps this would be a good addition to the penultimate paragraph of Edward_VIII? RSXS (talk) 23:59, 14 March 2024 (UTC)


 * For what it's worth, I did a cursory skim and couldn't find any scholarly reviews of the book, or any evidence it had been peer reviewed prior to release. It seems that he hasn't been given much credence by historians of the period—which is telling, because contrary to what many will insist, academics love arguing with public dilettantes and cranks if it makes their field more visible for a moment. That is to say, I wouldn't call Lownie a crank, I haven't read his book, but I would need to see some scholarly engagement with it before including it in the article. Remsense  诉  00:54, 15 March 2024 (UTC)
 * It's already in Marburg Files with a suitable rejoinder. Typically, Nazi (or any totalitarian) sources are not given much credence by proper historians, because they are often untruthful. DrKay (talk) 06:44, 15 March 2024 (UTC)
 * It wasn't during the Blitz, which started in September 1940, it was a cable from the German ambassador in Portugal to Ribbentrop on 10 July, asserting, 'The Duke believes with certainty that continued heavy bombing will make England ready for peace.' (Cited by Lownie to DGFP [Documents on German Foreign Policy] AA-B15/B002549, Vol.X, p.152.) This is, of course, a Nazi diplomat telling his superior what he thinks the superior wants to hear, but it is probably true, since there are so many accounts of Windsor's defeatism and Nazi sympathies at the time. He was a foolish person and he seems to have believed that Britain could not win, that the government would fall, his brother Bertie, George VI, would abdicate and he would be re-enthroned, to a rapturous public reception, as what his brother the Duke of Kent (among others) satirically called a 'Gauleiter'. The odd thing in the cable is the reference to 'continued heavy bombing', since the Germans were not doing much bombing of Britain at the time -- they started attacking Channel convoys on 10 July (a day on which the RAF lost only three Hurricanes, one of them due to an accident), but did not attack Fighter Command airfields till August, or London till September. Khamba Tendal (talk) 19:30, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

edit war zealot
discuss3MRB1 (talk) 09:44, 25 March 2024 (UTC)


 * It would be much easier if you could make your points in complete sentences. You've simply not added anything to the article but a redundant, poor-quality source as far as I can tell. Sorry. Remsense  诉  09:53, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Remsense *https://web.archive.org/web/20200723104341/https://www.americanheritage.com/secret-treason
 * discuss 3MRB1 (talk) 10:12, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * It's a poor-quality source that doesn't add anything to the article, whose claims are already covered by a better-quality source. Remsense  诉  10:14, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The source clarifies the date of the interview as 19 December? But the article doesn't mention that anyway, so it's probably unnecessary detail? Martinevans123 (talk) 10:22, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Martinevans123 amhist is a forbes mag, the article of very many pages is by son about father and E8 3MRB1 (talk) 10:26, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, I know, I read it. Which aspect of the article is this being offered to support? Martinevans123 (talk) 10:34, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Martinevans123 the interview and article 3MRB1 (talk) 10:38, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * We do not add ever more sources because we think they are interesting, they are meant to support specific claims made in the article. The relevant claims made in the article are already adequately cited. Remsense  诉  10:40, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Remsense point&click versus get books from somewhere 3MRB1 (talk) 10:48, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The ease of access of a source is generally not a factor in whether it's considered reliable; the quality of a source usually trumps perceived ease of access. Remsense  诉  10:53, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * It's still unclear for which details in this article you are proposing to use the American Heritage piece as a source. It might be a useful source at Fulton Oursler, as it is written by his son. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:56, 25 March 2024 (UTC)