Conservative Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister

Arthur Neville Chamberlain, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been elected leader of the Conservative Party of Britain. He uses in middle name in informal relations. Arthur is rarely used.

In the wake of the abdication, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin resigned. Upon his resignation, Baldwin advised the newly coronated King to call for Chamberlain.

Shortly after taking office, the new Prime Minister has removed Lord Walter Runciman from his post. This has deeply angered Lord Runciman, a member of the Liberal Party. He offered Lord Runciman the Lord Privy Seal but this was declined.

Also, Chamberlain has advised cabinet members to make proposals for two-year programmes to him in the very near future. It seems the government may be changing after all. For the better is anyone's guess.

Royal Crisis brewing in Great Britain

The King of Great Britain is in love with a married commoner. Bessie Wallis Simpson is a socialite from the United States. She has long been an acquaintance to the King. Mrs. Wallis Simpson is in the process of divorcing her second husband, Ernest Aldrich Simpson.

King Edward VIII informed Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin of his intention to marry a commoner on the evening of November 16. The Prime Minister informed the King that his subjects would not accept a marriage with a commoner on moral grounds. The Church of England does not allow for divorced persons to remarry. An American divorcée was even worse in public opinion.

The King also offered a Morganatic Marriage which would allow him to marry her without any inheritance of title to herself or any resulting issue the marriage might produce. This was rejected as well.

There is a particular law that also requires more than just the home government's acquiescence. The Statute of Westminster of 1931 states that "any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the united Kingdom."

Many of the commonwealths of the British Empire have rejected the possibility of the King marrying Mrs. Wallis Simpson. These include South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Only Ireland has been indifferent.

Mrs. Wallis Simpson has fled for the South of France to avoid the negative attention since the public became aware of the affair and the King's intention to marry her upon finalization of her divorce.

Great Britain unconcerned with Rhineland

Great Britain seems to be fairly unconcerned with Germany's military moving back into the Rhineland. Lord Lothian stated that is was no more than the Germans walking into their own backyard.

Thus far there have been no rallies or protests by the public against the German action. Also, it appears the House of Commons is pro-German. However, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin noted that the House is really just afraid of war. With the worldwide depression, Great Britain lacks the resources to engage in a war with Germany.