Unseen note reveals how MI5 were authorized to tap King Edward VIII’s phone at the height of abdication crisis because Wallis Simpson was ‘untrustworthy’
- ITV’s Inside the Crown: Secrets of the Royals uncovers unseen note from archive
- The handwritten note approves King Edward VIII’s phone to be tapped
- Officials were concerned about his relationship with Wallis Simpson in 1936
- First conversation when King Edward VIII told his brother Duke of York that he intended to abdicate was recorded by an MI5 agent ‘hiding in a Green Park bush’
A royal historian has uncovered an unseen note which authorised MI5 to tap King Edward VIII’s phone as his relationship with married American socialite Wallis Simpson progresseed in 1936.
Speaking on ITV’s Inside the Crown: Secrets of the Royals, which airs at 9pm tonight, historian Robert Hardman investigates the national archives at Kew, containing many documents which have been kept secret for 80 years.
Robert discovers a handwritten note from a senior home office official to the head of the post office, which gives the British secret service permission to listen into the King’s conversations.
The decision came following concern that Edward’s relationship with Wallis was exposing him to circles which included German diplomats and members of the British Fascist Movement, with Wallis considered an ‘untrustworthy’ option to marry the reigning King.
A royal historian has uncovered an unseen note which authorised the MI5 to tap King Edward VIII’s phone as his relationship with married American socialite Wallis Simpson progresseed in 1936 (They are seen in 1946)
Showing the handwritten note, Robert said: ‘This is the note saying we’re going to tap the King’s phone.
‘Everyone from the prime minister down was extremely worried about the state of the King’s mind and about which way he was going to go.
‘The note is effectively saying “yes he is head of our state and we have a sworn oath of allegiance but nonetheless we are going to spy on him because we feel it’s in the national interest”.
He continued: ‘Mrs Simpson had all sorts of dubious contacts and friendships, not least with German diplomats. The King was known to meet with leading members of the British Fascist Movement and they wanted to know it all.’
And speaking about the first time his subsequent abdication was discussed, he added: ‘Indeed it was later discovered that it was an MI5 operative hiding in a bush in Green Park who heard the first conversation in which King Edward told his brother Duke of York that he was going to abdicate.’
Robert discovers a handwritten note from a senior home office offical to the head of the post office, which gives the British secret service permission to listen into the King’s conversations
Speaking about the hostility towards Wallis, Piers Brendan, historian, said: ‘Wallis Simpson was an American adventuress, in the words of Queen Mary.
‘She absolutely captivated, entranced and bewitched King Edward VIII. He told the prime minister Stanley Baldwin in 1936 he was going to marry her [while she was still married] and he said parliament would refuse’.
But Edward VIII was not put off.
Speaking of his impending decision to abdicate, historian Jane Ridley said: ‘What Edward VIII said is “I have to be with the woman I love and that takes priority over everything”‘.
The public were informed on the 3rd of December and by the 12th of December Edward’s brother, the Queen’s father, was proclaimed King George VI.
Edward left the country and married Wallis in 1937 in France – but no one from the royal family attended the wedding.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on the television screen at the Paris home of Mrs. Margaret Biddle (right), the American millionairess