Beschreibung:

Edward VIII, as Prince of Wales
Letters signed, to Admiral Sir Campbell Tate,
written while an undergraduate at Oxford and later during the First World War, 133 pages in all, 4to and 8vo, Magdalen College, Oxford, Sandringham, Buckingham Palace, and various military headquarters, 29 October 1912 to 13 January 1918, occasional spotting, a few ink stains; with four Christmas cards signed by the Prince and nine photographs captioned by Sir Campbell Tait; the collection bound in a cloth album
Sir Campbell Tait, KCB MVO (1886-1946) was a mutual friend and mentor to both George VI and Edward VIII. He was lieutenant and watchkeeper on the Hindustan, where he met the Prince of Wales, and later on the Collingwood, in which he was present with Prince Albert at the Battle of Jutland. These letters demonstrate the closeness he enjoyed with the young princes as they navigated their way through the confusion of World War I, airing their frustrations and dreams to the older naval officer.
These warm and informative letters by the Prince reveal much about his attitude to the First World War and his dissatisfaction with the unchallenging role he was forced to assume ("...We know each other so well that I feel you are one of the few people who do understand my moans...").
The series begins with jovial recollections of his time with Sir Campbell, who as watchkeeper in the battleship Hindustan, had played an important role in the Prince's naval education ("...I am sure that the time we were shipmates in the 'Hindustan', was one of the pleasantest periods I shall ever have..."). His detailed letters from Oxford are tinged with nostalgia for the sea and Sir Campbell's "yarns", though he endeavours to fulfil his undergraduate duties in a commendably industrious and abstemious manner:
...Everyone drank everybody else's health at least 10 times & so you can imagine how persistent it was, there being 100 present. Shouting & yelling never ceased & the amount of port consumed was astounding. I had 2 1/2- glasses & that was quite sufficient...
His longing for a life in the navy sharpens after a 10-day stint on the Collingwood, to which Sir Campbell had been transferred ("...I must have been very much in the way in 'A' turret, when I so inefficiently worked that range finder...I was perfectly miserable to leave the ship...It was like old 'Hindu' days, what with our night watches, & visits to all the store rooms & depts. on board..."). From August 1914, when the War becomes the focus of his letters, the Prince's mood often descends into despondency and frustration with the "soft life":
...[Wellington Barracks, 13 September 1914:] I am very depressed again...I'm not allowed out, & have been transferred to the 3rd Batt. This is the 2nd really g[rea]t blow of my life. The 1st was having to chuck active service in the Navy...It is astounding to think that I have a commission in both services, & am denied seeing active service in either!!...I can assure you I am a broken man...[Buckingham Palace, 4 October 1914:] How bloody and monotonous this life in London [is] for me, who is of an energetic nature & mad on travel & seeing life!...
The Prince was commissioned in the Grenadier Guards in August 1914, and although he never took a combative role, he was employed behind the lines encouraging troops and representing the royal family's involvement in the war effort. His letters constitute an importance source for the nature of this work and his perspective on the war:
...[Headquarters, British Army, St Omer, 26 January 1915:] I was sent on this trip in the French lines & motored straight down to Belfort in 3 days & went into Alsace (German territory occupied by French) from there. This in the S. extremity of the allies line & then I worked back N the whole length...I watched this gun shell a village & could see the shells exploding...I also went to Rheims & crossed the districts where our troops fought during the retreat from Mons...Then I have visited some completely ruined villages near Nancy...met a lot of French guns, & drove over 1000 miles myself!!...[St Omer, 3 April 1915:] This week I have been a cavalry soldier & spent 4 days with 10th Hussars...I'm rather handicapped by knowing no 'horsey' language & expressions...
He also describes his tour of the Middle East in 1916 in considerable detail: "...The 24 hrs in Cairo were more or less formal & I only went up the Gt. Pyramid & to the bazaars; no night stunts! At Ismailia I was living with the C. in. C. (Sir A. Murray) & strafed up & down the canal seeing the front line defences & the troops (particularly the 'Anzacs')...At the end of a fortnight I was sent right down to Khartoum on a 'banzai' stunt!!...by rail to Khartoum via At bara where I spent 3 bloody days...of ceremonies & official work to impress the native or some such balls!!...Of course it was interesting in a way...But one longed for chance of getting up the White Nile on one's own & penetrating into the Sudan..."
As well as passing on war news and proferring, often at length, his own opinions on its progress (including remarks about Churchill and Kitchener, and Dardanelles campaign, censorship, America's involvement, prospects of peace, etc.), the Prince urns to subjects such as his brother's health and career, his own routine, hunting and shooting, and "home chat".