Flying the royal nest

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from the royal family is the latest in a string of shock exits from the monarchy dating back centuries. TRACY BORMAN looks to the past to consider how one can leave “the Firm” successfully – and the difficulties of life as a royal exile

- TRACY BORMAN

We woke in the reign of Edward VIII and went to bed in that of George VI.” The remark by Sir Henry “Chips” Channon, a close associate of Edward, summed up the general sense of disbelief at his decision to abdicate the throne in 1936. The parallels with a more recent royal prince are striking. Like Edward VIII, Prince Harry had enjoyed huge popularity thanks to his informal style, which brought welcome modernity to the royal family. Then without warning, he gave up his royal duties for the woman he loved – his wife Meghan Markle who, like Wallis Simpson, is an American divorcee. Even though Prince Harry had little prospect of ever inheriting the throne, the sense of shock sparked by his sudden departure was just as great, and there has been intense media scrutiny ever since, heightened by the recent Oprah Winfrey interview. But can he learn anything from his great-great uncle’s example – and that of other royal exiles?

Edward VIII himself admitted, “there is nothing kingly about me”. Sensitive and highly strung, he was more interested in fashion and parties than knuckling down to his royal duties. In January 1936, he ascended the throne on a wave of popularity, but the trouble was lurking just beneath the surface. There are photographs of him looking bored as he carried out his first public duties. He complained: “Being a monarch… can surely be one of the most confining, the most frustrating, and over the duller stretches, the least stimulating jobs open to an educated, independent-minded person.”

Now that he was king, Edward was expected to give up his mistress, the twice-married American socialite Wallis Simpson. As the head of the Church of England, which forbade marriage to divorcees, it was out of the question that Edward could take her as his wife. But he was ardently in love with her. “To him, she was the perfect woman,” a close friend recalled.