When he is born the eldest of the six children of King George V and Queen Mary, Edward, the Prince of Wales, is treated appallingly by his parents. His father ensures Edward is frightened of him, just as he was of his own father, and his mother is cool towards him. But little does the Prince know that the consequences of this treatment will follow him into adulthood as he juggles a number of affairs with married women and shuns an outside world he has grown to hate. When Edward’s father dies and he reluctantly trudges into his role as King Edward VIII, it is just a few months later that he abdicates the throne so he can marry Wallis Simpson. Forced to leave the country and spend the remainder of his life in Paris, Edward leaves his brother unprepared to take up the reins. But how might this abdication crisis have played out if it had been penned during Shakespeare’s time? Shared in Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter format, this unique drama provides a different perspective on how King Edward VIII’s journey could have reached another conclusion.
