edward vs george: the windsors at war

2 x 47’ - Channel 4 (2024)

This is the epic story of two brothers at war… with each other - the exiled Edward VIII and his younger brother George VI. A bitter family feud driven by ambition, health, wealth and their wives. 

Now, first-hand accounts from people close to the story, along with new evidence from historians reveal how the battle of the Windsor brothers continues to shape the British monarchy today. 

Episode 1

With privileged access inside Villa Windsor in Paris, personal testimony and rare archival material, this series examines the lives of the royal brothers Edward VIII and George VI, their wives, and the fall-out from the abdication crisis that rocked the United Kingdom and divided a family.

Austrian journalist Georg Stefan Troller speaks for the first time about his explosive interview with the Duke of Windsor at Villa Windsor in 1966.  Troller had been a Jewish refugee from the Nazi regime, so boldly challenged the Duke of Windsor about his relationship with Adolf Hitler. This resulted in the interview being stopped and Troller being thrown out of Villa Windsor.

Walter Monckton was a lawyer and close confidant of both Edward and George and his unpublished memoir, revealed for the first time on screen at Balliol Archives in Oxford, provides an intimate, first-hand account of the events surrounding the abdication. 

Author Alex Larman delves into a private collection of rare photographs which includes never-before-seen images of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s wedding in France in 1937. The photographs reveal Edward’s close association with their wedding host Charles Bedaux, a French-American businessman and known Nazi sympathizer. Later in 1937, and against the wishes of Buckingham Palace, Edward and Wallis would make an ill-advised visit to Nazi Germany and a fateful meeting with Adolf Hitler.

After the outbreak of World War II, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were banished to the Bahamas. Back in Britain, George VI and his family experience the terror of WW2 firsthand. Previously unseen diaries of Helen Hardinge, Queen Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting, capture the panic inside Buckingham Palace when it was bombed by the Nazis in 1940. Hardinge describes a night spent next to the King and Queen and filled with the sounds of sirens and gunfire. Her rare account illustrates the stark contrast between Edward’s distant post and his brother’s direct experience of the war.  

Upon his return from an exhausting royal tour of South Africa in 1947, King George VI's health began to decline swiftly. A long-time heavy smoker, the king soon developed serious health problems that left him unable to walk, stirring succession concerns within royal and government circles. Meanwhile, a letter from a scheming courtier Kenneth de Courcy reveals, amid George’s decline, a plot to bring the Duke and Duchess of Windsor back to Britain, and a possible return to power.

Episode 2

In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth make history as the first British monarchs to visit the USA, drawing massive crowds and strengthening transatlantic ties. Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor cultivate their own status in New York high society. Designer Nicky Haslam likens the Windsors to ‘movie stars’ and recalls his memorable first meeting with Wallis. 

As wives, Wallis and Elizabeth stand in sharp contrast, each wielding significant influence over their husbands. Wallis, known for her style & glamour, shapes the Windsors’ celebrity image, while Elizabeth acts as George’s emotional anchor during World War II.

A source of ongoing conflict between the brothers was the HRH title denied to Wallis. Richard René Silvin, a friend of the Duchess, reveals that staff at Villa Windsor referred to Wallis as ‘Her Royal Highness’. An unsent 1949 letter from George VI reveals a heated argument in Buckingham Palace and rebukes Edward’s claim to George that his “life was not worth living.”

The Windsors continue to defy royal tradition as Edward unleashes his explosive memoir, A King’s Story, in 1951. Newly uncovered footage shows Edward promoting his memoir on US television in a rarely seen interview. 

The unconventional relationship between Edward and Wallis is revealed by Nicky Haslam and Georg Stefan Troller, who respectively encountered the couple first-hand and raise questions about sexuality, gender and the dynamics of their partnership.

On January 31, 1952, King George VI makes his final public appearance, bidding farewell to Princess Elizabeth at London Airport. Just days later, he dies of coronary thrombosis, leaving the nation in mourning. The Duke of Windsor returns home alone for the funeral as his wife was not invited to accompany him.

Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953 is a dazzling celebration of renewal and hope as the young queen ascends the throne. Through one of her maids of honour, Lady Glenconner, we gain a first-hand glimpse into the splendour of the day - though not everyone is present to share in the joy. Edward, the former king and estranged uncle to the new monarch, watches from afar, relegated to viewing the coronation on French television.

Only in 1970 does a young Prince Charles clandestinely visit the aging Duke of Windsor in Paris, to herald a thawing of relations. Two years later Edward dies, and after years of exile, rejoins the firm, back in the royal burial ground at Windsor.