The Crown and the People 1902 - 1953

"This brief work, written for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, sets forth the Duke of Windsor's feelings in this Coronation year on the functions and influence of the British Crown today. No one could have a more complete personal knowledge of the requirements of the Throne and yet be in a position to speak so freely of those many changes in the interpretation of the role of sovereign which have taken place during the past fifty years. "Every sovereign," says His Royal Highness, "inevitably becomes the symbol of the era spanned by his or her reign. Because of the exalted position, it is possible for a monarch, by the influence of example and personality, to impart a character and colouring to the era in a manner which lies quite outside the day-to- day function of Government." With this thought in mind the Duke has cast his memory back to the beginning of each of the reigns of the past half a century in an attempt to show how each sovereign has moulded and interpreted the monarchy in his own way under the influence of changing customs and progressive political thought."