King George VI & Queen Elizabeth (Queen mother)

[rogue]

Did the Queen Mother ever reconciled with David or at least forgave him for the mess that he created,because i think i saw  a picture once of HM with David and Wallis.

[rosella]

I don't think the Queen Mother was ever reconciled, really. She invited the Duke of Windsor to tea on a couple of occasions after her husband's funeral, because the Duke pressed her to. He reported to his wife that "Cookie"  (the QM) "was sugar, as I've told you", and then went on to call Elizabeth and his mother "ice-veined bitches". He said she 'listened in silence to what I had to say without comment and closed on the note that it was nice to talk about Bertie with someone who had known him so well".

There were few meetings after that. The last was at Marina of Kent's funeral in 1968. Charles thought it might be fun to invite the Duke and Duchess to Windsor for the weekend occasionally, but according to Charles's biographer, when he raised it with his grandmother 'it xwas immediately apparent to him how difficult she would find it to be reconciled with the man whom she held responsible for consigning her husband to an early grave.'

Robert Fellowes, the Queen's Secretary, thought differently. After the Duke's death he said 'On the rare occasions I spoke to her about the Duchess she showed no animosity at all...'

[rogue]

^Interesting   especially the part about HM ,because they did a lot of things that could have jeopardized Britain's  future .  

[Lady Alice]

I don't think the Queen Mother was ever reconciled, really. She invited the Duke of Windsor to tea on a couple of occasions after her husband's funeral, because the Duke pressed her to. He reported to his wife that "Cookie"  (the QM) "was sugar, as I've told you", and then went on to call Elizabeth and his mother "ice-veined bitches". He said she 'listened in silence to what I had to say without comment and closed on the note that it was nice to talk about Bertie with someone who had known him so well".

There were few meetings after that. The last was at Marina of Kent's funeral in 1968. Charles thought it might be fun to invite the Duke and Duchess to Windsor for the weekend occasionally, but according to Charles's biographer, when he raised it with his grandmother 'it xwas immediately apparent to him how difficult she would find it to be reconciled with the man whom she held responsible for consigning her husband to an early grave.'

Robert Fellowes, the Queen's Secretary, thought differently. After the Duke's death he said 'On the rare occasions I spoke to her about the Duchess she showed no animosity at all...'

I suspect that those conversations between Fellowes and the queen weren't terribly deep.

There were all sorts of hard feelings after the abdication, and rightfully so. That David thought he should be able to return to the bosom of the family, welcomed with open arms, indicates really how self-involved he really was. As far as he was concerned, they should just have understood him and let bygones be bygones. But with the cost for Bertie and his little family so high after David flounced off into the sunset, how could they? Can't say I blame them.

But the country won in this case. David would have been disastrous had he continued as king.

[diamond]

    David only cared about himself and Wallis (at that stage), and after reading
Letters from a Prince March 1918-January 1925 by David and Mrs Freda Dudley Ward this country was very lucky to lose him.  The cost was high for Bertie and his family but "duty" was a driving force and with QEQM they pulled through.


I totally agree Lady Alice with your post and David spent the rest of his life feeling hard done by and constantly wanting more and more money, with the uproar he caused no wonder HM and QEQM felt the way they did towards him.

[Mary Stuart]

The Duke and Duchess of York with their daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret 12 July 1933





From the Royal Collection

[CathyJane]

What great pictures!!! Thanks for posting them!

[Winnifred]

The Duke and Duchess of York with their daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret 12 July 1933





From the Royal Collection

These are wonderful. I absolutely LOVE seeing a young, carefree QE. And the interactions between daughters and parents is just lovely.

[Lady Alice]

Wow, GVI had a GREAT bright smile - it really lit up his face. It's so rarely seen, and was rare to see such unfettered emotion, especially after he became king.

You can't manufacture that.

[fairy]

I know what you mean. Bertie should never have been force into being something he didn't want and was not prepared for. That said, he was very much loved and respected, probably more so than David would have been had he remained King and married Wallis.

Hope you won't consider me rude, but I have to strongly disagree. A lot of people are "forced" to live a life they would not choose had they all options open to them. (how many do have all options open, anyway?)
I find the lamenting of so many royals, about how their life's path was cemented without any mercy a severe slap in the face of all the people whose life's path does not include all those privileges but only the hardship.
Yes, Bertie and his family would much likely have preferred to live without the work the position brings with it. Who woudn't? Would they however have preferred to change with one of their many subjects, whose lives were spent in relative poverty during and after the war? Do you think QEQM would have preferred to live in a semi-attached townhouse in East Ealing on food stamps and later on on a widows allowance (after all a lot of men of that generation died earlier due to lingering ailments from war injuries)?
From all accounts QEQM very much enjoyed her position, and her husband after all died of a disease that is severely connected to his smoking.
Anyway, the entire concept of this monarchy is heritage and as the second in line Bertie must have occassionally remembered that it was not totally impossible that he would be called to the throne.

[Lady Alice]

... and as the second in line Bertie must have occassionally remembered that it was not totally impossible that he would be called to the throne.

It's never really impossible. Highly if extremely unlikely, especially given the modern age, but never impossible.

And yet the possibility was considered remote enough that nobody bothered to give Bertie any background, even as a possible regent for a potential minor child of his brother. He was completely blindsided. It's a testament to his courage and dedication that he wound up being beloved, even if it, combined with a war that almost brought England to her knees, did shorten his life considerably.

[A Citizen not a Subject]

... and as the second in line Bertie must have occassionally remembered that it was not totally impossible that he would be called to the throne.

It's never really impossible. Highly if extremely unlikely, especially given the modern age, but never impossible.

And yet the possibility was considered remote enough that nobody bothered to give Bertie any background, even as a possible regent for a potential minor child of his brother. He was completely blindsided. It's a testament to his courage and dedication that he wound up being beloved, even if it, combined with a war that almost brought England to her knees, did shorten his life considerably.

I know you don't mean anything by it, but the UK is more than just England.

[editorathome]

Never-seen photos of the King, Queen, and princesses visiting a 1942 film set
http://www.telegraph.co.u...photo-album-for-sale.html

[Raquel123]

the awaked momment
i didnt know the queen father had 3 other sibling.
i thought it was him and edward.

[GeorgiaLeigh]

the awaked momment
i didnt know the queen father had 3 other sibling.
i thought it was him and edward.

There were actually 4 other siblings, poor little John is always overlooked.