Describes the historical background for the romance and marriage between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, and shares the letters they exchanged between their meeting and marriage

The Duke of Windsor's own account of his royal upbringing, his education, his military service, his ascent to the throne, and his decision to abdicate for love of Wallis Simpson. -- Dust jacket.

While the letters exchanged between the man who was to become King Edward VIII/ Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson/ Duchess of Windsor have been preserved and published, it had long been thought that many of the Prince of Wales' letters to his earlier mistress, Mrs Freda Dudley Ward, had been destroyed by her some time before her death. But in November 1996, editor Rupert Godfrey came across by chance while holidaying abroad: 262 letters, dating from 1918 to 1921, over 100 photographs and assorted cards and memorabilia. They covered the last year of the First World War and the Prince's official tours of Canada, New Zealand and Australia, when he was in his early twenties. Revealing and touching, the letters will alter our perception of the man born to give up the throne for the woman he later came to love.

This book tells the story of the Duke of Windsor's early youth at Sandringham, his years at Naval School on the Isle of Wight, at Magdalen College, Oxford, in the army in World War I, and his tours of Canada, India, Australia, and New Zealand. After becoming king on the death of his father, he defied the wishes of Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, when he insisted on marrying Wallis Simpson. The book features details of his abdication and his marriage.

A postlude to "A King's Story", these reminiscences review his life, travel, sports, and the manners, customs, and styles of the royal family.