Queen Elizabeth’s Uncle Believed That ‘The Day For Kings And Princes Has Passed’

With Queen Elizabeth II at the helm, the British monarchy has amazingly managed to stay relevant even in modern times. Barring any unforeseen event, it is inevitable that the world’s longest-serving monarch will one day pass the reins of power to her heir apparent, Prince Charles, who in turn will pass it on to his son, Prince William.

But a century ago, one of Queen Elizabeth’s relatives had a rather low opinion of the centuries-old institution that he was a part of. In fact, this royal believed that the monarchy is outdated and that kings and princes no longer play a role in modern times.

However, the most shocking part was that he was the heir apparent at that time. In a series of letters to his girlfriend, Freda Dudley Ward, the future King Edward VII, who was still the Prince of Wales at that time, candidly revealed to his lover just what he thought of his position.

“I love you, love you darling, and you know it, how you mean absolutely all and everything in life,” the romantic young prince wrote to Ward almost a century ago. The letter was dated Dec. 23, 1919.

Apparently, David, as he was known to his close friends and family, was not really looking forward to ascending the throne after his father, King George V, as he found most of his father’s duties tedious and boring. “Nothing else seems to matter now, not even my bloody job of which I am so, so sick,” the prince complained.

Four months later, he wrote another letter expressing his desire to get away from it all. What is more shocking is that he no longer believed in the monarchy’s relevance even back then.

“Each day, I long more and more to chuck this job and be out of it,” the Prince of Wales wrote to her lover on April 28, 1920. “The more I think of it all, the more certain I am that, really, the day for kings and princes has passed. Monarchies are out of date.”

Seen in this light, it’s easy to see why King Edward VIII would rather choose abdication rather than giving up Wallis Simpson, whom he met after parting ways with Ward in 1934. “I think basically his problem was that he liked the pluses of being a royal and not the minuses. He didn’t like the duty aspect of it,” historian Dr. Piers Brendon explained.