Monarchs Pre-1914 Q67384 during World War I

On 10 December 1936, Edward VIII executed an Instrument of Abdication. The following day, Edward gave Royal Assent to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act, by which Edward VIII and any children he might have were excluded from succession to the throne. The official account is that King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in December 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite. Up until it was changed to “Windsor” during World War I, the British royal family’s name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha made clear their strong German origins. The future King Edward VIII, known as David to his friends and family, was close to his German cousins, and strongly embraced German culture. When Edward became king following his father’s death in January 1936, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin stepped in, ordering Mi5 surveillance of the king. Edward's phones were tapped, and members of the Scotland Yard security team were required to provide information about the king they were charged with protecting. Hoover's FBI too began its own file on the couple, closely monitoring their visits to the United States and several memos of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s pro-German allegiances were sent to Franklin Roosevelt. After the abdication, Edward and his wife styled the Duke and Duchess of Windsor went to a decades-long semi-exile in continental Europe. When Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party began its rise to power in the late 1920s and early 1930s, many in Europe, Edward included, applauded the economic recovery of war-torn Germany. Documents, including recently declassified, suggest that the couple had pro-Nazi sympathies and were involved in a failed plot to overthrow the British crown during World War II. Edward purportedly told a German relative in 1933 that it was “no business of ours to interfere in Germany’s internal affairs either re Jews or re anything else... Dictators are very popular these days. We might want one in England before long.” Wallis Simpson also was rumored to have long-term affair with Joseph von Ribbentrop while he served as Germany’s ambassador to Britain in the mid-1930s passing confidential British government secrets gleaned from personal dispatches. In his memoirs, the Duke of Windsor would dismiss Hitler as a “somewhat ridiculous figure, with his theatrical posturings and his bombastic pretensions.” But in private, he claimed that Hitler was “not such a bad chap,” and frequently blamed any number of groups, including the British government, America, and even Jews themselves for causing World War II.

Christina Broom (née Livingston) was a pioneering British photographer who was born on 23 December 1862 and died on 15 June 1939. She is best known for her extensive documentation of London street scenes, events and portraits in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Christina Broom is regarded as one of the first female press photographers in Britain. Broom began her photographic career in her 40s, around 1903, and her work focused primarily on capturing life and events in and around London. She used large glass plate negatives to create her images, a common practice at the time. Broom's subjects ranged from suffragette rallies and sporting events to royal ceremonies and military parades. One of her most notable contributions was her coverage of the suffragette movement in the early 20th century. Broom documented various events related to the suffragettes, including protests, marches and key figures in the movement. Her photographs provide a valuable historical insight into the struggle for women's rights during this period. Christina Broom's work gained recognition and she became the official photographer for the Household Division of the British Army. She held this post from 1904 until her death in 1939. Broom's daughter, Winifred, assisted her in the business and they ran a successful photographic studio. While Christina Broom's work was highly regarded during her lifetime, her contribution to the history of photography and her documentation of important social and historical events has been increasingly recognised and appreciated in recent years. Her photographs are now considered valuable historical artefacts, offering a unique perspective on early 20th century London and its vibrant social and political life.