[Ed Thomas]

Ummm... no. It was Simpson all the way. Edward VIII could have married her if he accepted it'd be a morganatic marriage, but he wasn't willing to agree to this. His political views weren't all that different to George VI's really- the King after all reportedly wanted to sort out the European crisis in 1939 by going over and talking to Hitler as "one ex-serviceman to another".

The whole Simpson thing was a handy excuse as the establishment didn't like him much, but rumours of pro-fascism weren't the reason for him being pushed.

[iowamark]

Regarding Edward VIII's pro-Nazi and anti-democratic views, see, for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdication_Crisis_of_Edward_VIII#fn_2_back

"After the war is over and Hitler will crush the Americans . . . we'll take over. . . They (the British) don't want me as their king, but I'll soon be back as their leader."

Mrs. Simpson was an inappropriate figure but I believe that his shocking political attitudes, not shared by his brothers, were the key reason he was forced to abdicate.