There is something not quite English in the manner with which the British Government tries to stamp out the name of its former Prince and King. Few men in high office seem to remember how much service he gave the Empire as Prince of Wales, endlessly traveling to important markets to help English business and to win friends for his country. Without one public word of complaint or bitterness he gave in to the appeals of his Ministers and, abdicating, left England for three months of loneliness abroad. Only people in other countries can tell the English how much the gallant "Prince of Sales" did for them and how much brighter he made the Coronation by his friendliness towards his brother.
With the Coronation safely behind and his own place in history carved Premier Baldwin can afford to make a generous gesture toward a man who did much for England. Yet with an almost vengeful relentlessness he continues to harry Edward, forbidding him to live here or there, refusing him an income from the public funds, fighting to keep Edward's family from his wedding. Now the Prime Minister wishes to add insult to intolerance by refusing to Mrs. Simpson the title the Duke of Windsor's wife would ordinarily expect. Americans will not understand this move who have been taught to believe that the virtue of the English is their sense of fairness and good humor and their reluctance to hurt a man when he is down.
Edward is no Bonnic Prince Charlie full of plots to upset the Government, nor has he shown any but the friendliest feelings toward the brother who took his place. Indeed his silence in Austria compared well with the subtle defamations uttered at conventions by Princes of the Church and with some of the books that rushed to market to capitalize on his misfortune. In return for his service to the Empire in the past and in appreciation of his conduct since abdication, it is not too much to hope that the Government will smile upon him as he prepares to enter the life he prefers.
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