Gunston Hall students awaiting the Prince of Wales departure from the French Embassy, Washington, D.C. The Gunston Hall School for Girls was a highly respected girls school in Washington D. C. that closed at the start of World War Two.
Edward, the Prince of Wales, continued his tour of Washington D. C. on this day in 1919 and was drawing admiring crowds.
Leaving the French Embassy.
I frankly don't really "get" royalty, so the crowds baffle me. I'd be inclined to try to contrast this to our current era, but you really can't. The English Royal Family continues to draw crowds wherever it goes today.
Prince of Wales at Walter Reed
Edward came close to bringing that royal family down. He'd be crowned King Edward VIII in January 1936 and occupy that office for less than a year, when he abdicated due to his intent to marry American divorcee Wallace Simpson.
Arriving at Walter Reed.
A dedicated womanizer, the Prince's earlier relationships had caused so much stress to the Royal Family that his father held the view that it would be better if his brother, George, became king. There was some speculation that Edwards suffered from a psychological problem that contributed to his reckless behavior with women, although he may simply have been a bored lech. His father was known to have stated that he hoped Edward would remain childless so that the crown could be inherited by George or one of his descendants.
Miss Dorthy Brown Priming of the Red Cross and the Prince.
As it happened, the relationship with Simpson in fact lead to that result. His intent to marry the difficult Simpson made his occupation of the position of monarch impossible as the Church of England did not recognize, and at least technically still doesn't approve of, divorce. Due to that a church marriage should have been a technical impossibility, although a willing Anglican priest was found for the service in France, and his role as head of the Church of England, which the monarch occupies, would have been problematic at best.
The relationship with Wallace Simpson had an odd Wyoming connection as it seems that the couple may have been introduced, oddly enough, by Mildred Harris, Charlie Chaplin's first wife, at a party.
The monarchy of course managed to survive the scandal and King George VI went on to be a great example of a modern English king. His daughter, Elizabeth II, remains the Queen. But the entire event does give ample evidence both of the absurdity of modern monarchy and how teetering all monarchies were following World War One. Edward gives a blatant example of how the assumptions made by the fans of monarchy are so far off the mark. Edward was situated to be head of the English nation and its state church when at least up until his marriage his personal conduct would lead a person to really question his suitability for either role. The near collapse of the monarchy in 1936 due to his marriage to Simpson shows how badly damaged all monarchies were following the Great War.
Elsewhere, the events in Centralia Washington were taking headlines all over the country. We noted that event a bit yesterday.
But only a bit.
This was an inexcusable omission, but readers here are already aware that this was a period of massive civil strife. The Centralia event was an extreme example of it.
It's also example of how such things achieve mythical status from which they can't be separated. What's clear is that hostility between the IWW and the American Legion erupted on Armistace Day resulting in five members of the Legion being killed and IWW leader Wesley Everest being lynched by being seized by a mob and hung off a bridge. The entire thing was brutal. Newspapers of the day sided with the Legion on the matter, but rather obviously the entire thing was out of hand.
The relationship with Wallace Simpson had an odd Wyoming connection as it seems that the couple may have been introduced, oddly enough, by Mildred Harris, Charlie Chaplin's first wife, at a party.
The monarchy of course managed to survive the scandal and King George VI went on to be a great example of a modern English king. His daughter, Elizabeth II, remains the Queen. But the entire event does give ample evidence both of the absurdity of modern monarchy and how teetering all monarchies were following World War One. Edward gives a blatant example of how the assumptions made by the fans of monarchy are so far off the mark. Edward was situated to be head of the English nation and its state church when at least up until his marriage his personal conduct would lead a person to really question his suitability for either role. The near collapse of the monarchy in 1936 due to his marriage to Simpson shows how badly damaged all monarchies were following the Great War.
Elsewhere, the events in Centralia Washington were taking headlines all over the country. We noted that event a bit yesterday.
But only a bit.
This was an inexcusable omission, but readers here are already aware that this was a period of massive civil strife. The Centralia event was an extreme example of it.
It's also example of how such things achieve mythical status from which they can't be separated. What's clear is that hostility between the IWW and the American Legion erupted on Armistace Day resulting in five members of the Legion being killed and IWW leader Wesley Everest being lynched by being seized by a mob and hung off a bridge. The entire thing was brutal. Newspapers of the day sided with the Legion on the matter, but rather obviously the entire thing was out of hand.
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