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Originally Posted by MARG
Of course he was popular. He was, young, handsome, rich, titled, a Prince, and of course, the next King. They were the grey days of the Great Depression and wierdly enough reports, photos and newsreels of him living life large, the fact that he was very attractive to women, all of those charismatic "quantity X" factors, did much to raise peoples spirits. They were proud of their Prince!
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People also felt that he cared about them. Royals, even with their very different lifestyle, can often connect with the people in ways that politicians can't, and he seemed to have that quality.
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The government was also as much out of touch with "the common man (or woman)" in thinking this as, in the minds of the majority of his "Subjects", men didn't marry their mistresses and their King certainly couldn't marry a (twice divorced) courtesan.
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It sounded as though Baldwin and the Archbishop were rather concerned that after the initial shock, the people might come round to the idea. They probably wouldn't have, but I'm not sure it was that much of a done deal.
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When all was said and done all that was left was a sad little life spend in the endless pursuit of some kind of purpose. It may also explain the incredibly poor judgement regarding the Nazi Party fiasco.
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That wasn't entirely their fault. He wanted to serve his country, but on the condition that the Establishment recognise Wallis. The Establishment, mostly in the persons of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, refused. Sure, he could have gone off and done good deeds in France, but he was British and he wanted to connect with his country.