Eighty-Five years after his abdication, an event that shook Britain to its core, King Edward V111 still generates controversy and debate. Did Britain have a lucky escape when he decided to give up the throne because he couldn’t make Wallis Simpson, a divorced American, his Queen? Or was Britain deprived of a King whom some of his supporters believed would have reached an arrangement with Germany thus avoiding the horrors of the Second World War?

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In this fascinating presentation, part of his “Step Back in Time” series of Historical talks, Paul Robbins reveals much about the complex character that was Edward, Prince, King, Emperor and finally Duke. The talk explains his early life, the strained relationship Edward had with his father, his quest for a purpose in life, and his colourful and his often-disastrous personal life. The talk also asks the question of whether he was a Nazi sympathiser, and would have regained the throne had Germany won the war?

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This is an enthralling talk that has as its backdrop a crisis that threatened the very existence of Britain’s Royal family.