between the exploitation of Black people in the USA and the conditions of coal miners in South Wales. 35 In 1936, the year in which Edward became King, Robeson was again in London, winning accolades in the role of Othello. But he still managed to visit South Wales and publicly to support the miners' cause.
King Edward's own warmth and concern for the poor marked him out as different from previous monarchs. He had first visited South Wales in 1919, after the end of the war, when he had spent four days visiting slum areas and had gone down a pit. This was the first of his numerous tours as Prince of Wales to the industrial and impoverished parts of Britain. King Edward VII, Edward's grandfather, had shown little interest in the ordinary people of Britain. 'He'd just sit in the open landau, receive an address, snip a ribbon and declare something open', observed Edward many years later, returning 'to dine with his girl friends. He didn't even leave that landau.' 36 David Lloyd George had considered King George V, King Edward VIII's father, to be obtuse about working-class grievances. 'He is a very very small man and all his sympathy is with the rich - very little pity for the poor', he wrote to his wife from Balmoral in 1911, when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. 'The King is hostile to the bone to all who are working to lift the workmen out of the mire.' 37
'You seem to us to be about the only reigning monarch who is worth anything at all', wrote a Chester woman to Edward VIII. 'We like you for the concern you have for the welfare of the poorest and most unfortunate of your subjects. No other King has gone among them as you have done, or shown signs of appreciating their distress in the way you do.' 18 A man who had spent forty-five years in the coal mines of South Wales and was now living in Brighton as a 'navvy washer up on washing steps', told Edward that 'No King in History has lived amongst the People as you have.' He himself, he added, was 'one of the Common People and The Commonest of Them'. 39 A woman in Sheffield wrote to thank him for some practical help. 'You once did me a great kindness I shall never forget', she said gratefully. 'You helped me a great deal when you sent the lady the money towards my teeth. It was and is a thing I shall thank you for all my life.' 40
Edward's ready sympathy for the sufferings of ordinary people was encouraged by his mother, Queen Mary. The Queen showed a genuine interest in the sufferings of the unemployed, and tried to help individuals and welfare organizations. Under her influence, Edward's brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York, had initiated the Duke of York's Camps in 1921. These were annual events where 200 boys from public schools joined 200 working-class boys at a summer camp for two weeks. The camps gave the different classes an opportunity to meet and mix with each other in an informal atmosphere, and Albert always spent one day with the boys. 41
George V was kind-hearted, like his wife, but with 'strict views as to the correct conduct of children', recalled Edward many years later. 42 Alec Hardinge, whose post as a retainer to King George required him to live in close quarters with the royal family, felt sorry at times for the sons when they were young. 'At lunch today,' he wrote to his wife in 1925, 'we had one of the King's tirades against the younger generation. My sympathy with his sons increases daily!' 43 Mabell, Countess of Airlie, who was lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary, commented that although King George V and Queen Mary were often depicted as stern, unloving parents, this was not the case. It was her belief that they were more conscientious and more truly devoted to their children than were the majority of parents in that era. 'The tragedy', she thought, 'was that neither had any understanding of a child's mind.' George V, she observed, 'was fond of his sons but his manner to them alternated between an awkward jocularity of the kind which makes a
King Edward's own warmth and concern for the poor marked him out as different from previous monarchs. He had first visited South Wales in 1919, after the end of the war, when he had spent four days visiting slum areas and had gone down a pit. This was the first of his numerous tours as Prince of Wales to the industrial and impoverished parts of Britain. King Edward VII, Edward's grandfather, had shown little interest in the ordinary people of Britain. 'He'd just sit in the open landau, receive an address, snip a ribbon and declare something open', observed Edward many years later, returning 'to dine with his girl friends. He didn't even leave that landau.' 36 David Lloyd George had considered King George V, King Edward VIII's father, to be obtuse about working-class grievances. 'He is a very very small man and all his sympathy is with the rich - very little pity for the poor', he wrote to his wife from Balmoral in 1911, when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. 'The King is hostile to the bone to all who are working to lift the workmen out of the mire.' 37
'You seem to us to be about the only reigning monarch who is worth anything at all', wrote a Chester woman to Edward VIII. 'We like you for the concern you have for the welfare of the poorest and most unfortunate of your subjects. No other King has gone among them as you have done, or shown signs of appreciating their distress in the way you do.' 18 A man who had spent forty-five years in the coal mines of South Wales and was now living in Brighton as a 'navvy washer up on washing steps', told Edward that 'No King in History has lived amongst the People as you have.' He himself, he added, was 'one of the Common People and The Commonest of Them'. 39 A woman in Sheffield wrote to thank him for some practical help. 'You once did me a great kindness I shall never forget', she said gratefully. 'You helped me a great deal when you sent the lady the money towards my teeth. It was and is a thing I shall thank you for all my life.' 40
Edward's ready sympathy for the sufferings of ordinary people was encouraged by his mother, Queen Mary. The Queen showed a genuine interest in the sufferings of the unemployed, and tried to help individuals and welfare organizations. Under her influence, Edward's brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York, had initiated the Duke of York's Camps in 1921. These were annual events where 200 boys from public schools joined 200 working-class boys at a summer camp for two weeks. The camps gave the different classes an opportunity to meet and mix with each other in an informal atmosphere, and Albert always spent one day with the boys. 41
George V was kind-hearted, like his wife, but with 'strict views as to the correct conduct of children', recalled Edward many years later. 42 Alec Hardinge, whose post as a retainer to King George required him to live in close quarters with the royal family, felt sorry at times for the sons when they were young. 'At lunch today,' he wrote to his wife in 1925, 'we had one of the King's tirades against the younger generation. My sympathy with his sons increases daily!' 43 Mabell, Countess of Airlie, who was lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary, commented that although King George V and Queen Mary were often depicted as stern, unloving parents, this was not the case. It was her belief that they were more conscientious and more truly devoted to their children than were the majority of parents in that era. 'The tragedy', she thought, 'was that neither had any understanding of a child's mind.' George V, she observed, 'was fond of his sons but his manner to them alternated between an awkward jocularity of the kind which makes a
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