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Traitor King
Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor | Andrew Lownie
10 posts | 8 read | 14 to read
Praise for The Mountbattens 'Impressively well-researched... a fresh and dispassionate look' - Daily Mail, biography of the year 'Dares to go where no other Mountbatten biography has gone before' - The Lady 'A complex story, beautifully written - which never felt less like a history lesson, but I learned so much' - Anne Sebba 11 December 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his Crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorce. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after. But do they? Beginning his astonishing biography at the moment most turn away, bestselling historian Andrew Lownie reveals the dramatic lives of the Windsors post-abdication. This is a story of a Royal shut out by his family and forced into exile; of the Nazi attempts to recruit the Duke to their cause, and of why the Duke, as Governor of the Bahamas, tried to shut down the investigation into the murder of a close friend. It is a story of a couple obsessed with their status, financially exploiting their position, and manipulating the media to portray themselves as victims. The Windsors were, in their day, the most glamorous exiles in the world, flitting from sumptuously appointed mansions in the south of France to luxurious residences in Palm Beach. But they were spoiled, selfish people, obsessed with their image and revelling in adulterous affairs. Drawing upon hitherto unexplored archives, Lownie shows how their glittering, brittle world was riddled with treachery and betrayal, and why the Royal family never forgave the Duke for choosing love over duty.
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review
Lizpixie
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Pickpick

Bk3 of June is done. The 2nd Royal NF I was tandem reading was a much better experience, reading wise. This couple was once again, awful people. The Duke was absolutely in the grip of Wallis, and had no thought for anything but her. The damage they did could have been catastrophic, not just to Britain, but the whole world if they‘d been able to help the Third Reich as they‘d planned. Even after the war, tried to finagle their way back into power👇

Lizpixie and influence. I was appalled at the lengths they went to to wrest power back from the King, the amount of people who perished just through his advice to Hitler that continued the Blitz in WWII must have been horrific. That alone was shocking but there‘s much more in this meticulously researched book that beggars belief. History remembers them much kinder than they deserve. #BookspinBingo #ReadAway2024 5mo
DieAReader 🥳Fantastic! 5mo
Lizpixie If you watch The Crown Season 2 ep6 it gives you a good idea of what happened around World War II 5mo
See All 6 Comments
TheAromaofBooks Great review!!! 5mo
CarolynM Thinking of you, Liz. Hope you‘re doing OK💕 4mo
JessClark78 Noticed you haven‘t posted in a bit. Hope all is well with you. ❤️ 4mo
39 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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Lizpixie
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I‘m after recces for really good NF about WW2 drama and intrigue from the Brits,inspired by this brilliant book about the abdicated Duke & Duchess of Windsor and their many & convoluted ties to Hitler & Nazi Germany from before the war till the fall of the Reich. From their friendship(or affairs with)Ribbentrop(diplomat then Foreign Minister to Nazi Germany)to their agreement to be reinstated as King under a Fascist Govt when Hitler won the war.👇

Lizpixie It needs to be well written, easy to follow or at least put together well about intelligence offices of all the allies and give a deeply interesting picture of a world at war. Recommend away! Plus any that follow like the aftermath in Europe, the Nuremberg trials etc, Mussolini & Vichy France with collaborators and the resistance. Onto Korea, Vietnam etc. I know it‘s a wide net to cast but I‘ve read a lot of trash & want better please.🪖💼🎞️🇬🇧 (edited) 5mo
Lizpixie I‘d also take recommendations for tv or movie documentaries about the same subject that aren‘t sensationalised either 5mo
Lizpixie @CarolynM thanks! Have you read this yourself? 👆Is the youngest Baba Metcalfe, married to Fruity Metcalfe who was the Duke of Windsors best man? (edited) 5mo
CarolynM I have read it and yes, there is that connection. Also, the middle daughter was Mosely's first wife. 5mo
37 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Lizpixie
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Bk3 of my recent #BookMail is another #RoyalMail book! I saw an interview with this author by Andrew Gold on YT & he said the Govt tried to block him accessing info for his research on the next book up. The above book is about QEII uncle, who abdicated for his lover & forced her father to take a throne he did not want. Then him & his new wife aligned themselves with the fascist govt rising in Germany ie: Hitler. One of the OG Royal Scandals!

36 likes1 stack add
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JenDR
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Been in a reading slump. Stumbled across a new to me biography about Wallis Simpson. Think this should get me out of the winter blues.

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EvieBee
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Is anyone else watching the final season of THE CROWN? I‘ve been slowly watching each episode but who am I kidding? I‘m going to binge the rest in about 2 hours!

There have been several book compilations for those that would like more after completing the series. I was surprised this book wasn‘t mentioned. It‘s so good and juicy, and it helped me understand episode 3 100%! Give it a shot while it‘s still on #hoopla

Kimberlone I binged the whole thing in two days! 2y
JenReadsAlot I haven't yet! 2y
Prairiegirl_reading I hadn‘t heard of this!! Put it on hold on Libby immediately! Thanks for sharing!!! 2y
See All 18 Comments
vivastory I have never seen The Crown but I admit I was intrigued when I saw Dominic West in it. Love The Wire. 2y
jlhammar Only watched the first episode of the new season so far. Look forward to more this weekend! 2y
RowReads1 There will be a season 6. 2y
EvieBee @Kimberlone It‘s what I live for each year! Although the pandemic messed with the schedule. 2y
EvieBee @JenReadsAlot I hear you! Wanting to savor it. 2y
EvieBee @Prairiegirl_reading You are very welcome! If I find that list again I‘ll be sure to post it. There were quite a few books I hadn‘t heard of. 2y
EvieBee @vivastory West is so amazing!! I think you‘d definitely love The Crown. It‘s subtly cruel and heartbreaking but it has its moments, and the history is so spot on. It‘s so hard not to pause every second to google events. 2y
EvieBee @jlhammar I‘m so excited for you! I say this about every season but this one has been so good thus far! 2y
EvieBee @RowReads1 Wow! That is the best news ever. 2y
Kimberlone @EvieBee I know I really regretted binging once I remembered it‘s gonna be at least another year until the next season 😭😭😭 2y
Leftcoastzen On episode 5 of season 5 , feeling a binge coming on!😄 2y
EvieBee @Leftcoastzen Oh yeah! I can‘t imagine waiting a week in between episodes. Gah!! 2y
SamAnne I‘ve been watching. Mixed feelings on this season. And how does one make Dominic West look so unsexy? 😂😂😂 2y
EvieBee @SamAnne LOL! He‘s really feeling his role! 2y
DivineDiana The funny thing is I thought I was watching the new Season with flashbacks. Then my sister and I compared notes, and I was rewatching Season 1 (and loving it!) 🤣 Now, I have started the correct Season, but not warming up to the new actors yet. 🤦‍♀️ 2y
53 likes18 comments
review
EvieBee
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Pickpick

“Can you imagine a more terrible fate than to have to live up publicly to the legend of a love you don‘t feel? To have to face morning, noon, and night, a middle-aged boy with no other purpose in life than a possessive passion for you?”

Truly awful people that were fun to read about! It was always my impression that they were broke because of the cheap stunts they pulled. Alas, no. They were just greedy! #hoopla

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

EvieBee @rubyslippersreads Wow! I hadn‘t heard of Revenge, but it sounds great!! Looking forward to your review. 2y
53 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Sophronisba
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Wallis Simpson managing to be unlikable even when the victim of a robbery:

“When asked what jewellery she had been wearing that night, Wallis replied, as if perfectly obvious, ‘A fool would know that with tweeds or other daytime clothes one wears gold, and that with evening clothes one wears platinum.'“

#SundaySentence

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Sophronisba
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On Friday 11 December 1936, the final vote on the Abdication Bill was passed in Parliament and Edward VIII ceased to be king. He had reigned for 326 days. His father‘s premonition that within twelve months of his death his son would ‘ruin himself‘ had come true.

#FridayReads #FirstLineFridays

review
Verity
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Pickpick

This is a fascinating read. Whatever you thought of the Duke and Duchess before - and my opinion of them was not high - by the end I‘m fairly sure you‘ll have discovered that they were even more awful than you knew. And not just because they were in cahoots with the nazis - and that would be enough - but also because they treat everyone around them so appallingly.

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