Freshly disclosed records from the National Archives in Dublin have exposed how Irish government officials in the 1930s schemed to turn King Edward VIII's constitutional crisis to their own benefit.
The confidential briefing papers, shared between senior figures in the Irish Free State, reveal a calculated assessment of how the monarch's determination to wed American divorcee Wallis Simpson could be leveraged for Ireland's political gain.
A handwritten annotation on the documents indicates they passed between Eamon de Valera, who led the Irish government as president of the executive council, and his finance minister Sean McEntee.
The papers formed part of the annual release of archival material and offer a striking insight into Dublin's strategic thinking during one of the British monarchy's most turbulent periods.
New documents reveal that Irish civil servants aimed to take advantage King Edward VIII's abducation
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The briefing documents argued that should the proposed marriage proceed, whether through special legislation or other means, it would inevitably damage both the British monarchy as an institution and the constitutional standing of the cabinet in Great Britain.
Irish officials justified their opportunistic approach with a pointed comparison to historical British conduct.
"Just as the British have used political divisions here for their political advantage, we are entitled and are bound to turn their present difficulty into our own account," the briefing stated.
The assessment concluded Edward VIII's determination to marry Mrs Simpson, which Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and his cabinet firmly opposed, presented a rare opportunity for the Irish Free State to advance its own interests at Westminster's expense.
The briefing papers reserved particularly scathing language for Winston Churchill, whom the Irish civil servant branded "venal and unscrupulous" and described as "the deadly enemy of Baldwin".
Sir Winston was portrayed as a man of "great potentialities and of overweening ambition" whose entire political career had been conducted as a gamble.
King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson
|UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE
The documents noted that Churchill had already signalled his willingness to challenge the cabinet's stance on the royal marriage.
Should he back the King and succeed, the briefing warned, the new prime minister would wield personal power unseen in Britain since the era of Walpole.
"However the crisis may be resolved, it will occasion a serious cleavage in Great Britain which will persist for a very long time," the assessment predicted.
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Edward VIII abdicated on December 10, 1936, having resolved to marry Mrs Simpson despite fierce opposition from Baldwin's government, just months after ascending to the throne.
The couple wed in June 1937, while his younger brother took the crown as King George VI.
The newly released files also contain a revealing diplomatic footnote from three decades later.
King Edward VIII abducated six months before marrying Wallis Simpson
|PA
In 1967, the British ambassador approached Irish authorities requesting they honour a policy of withholding documents concerning the Royal family indefinitely.
That request appears to have been disregarded with the publication of these papers, which lay bare the calculated manner in which Dublin viewed London's constitutional turmoil as a strategic opportunity to be exploited.
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