Edward VIII Exposed

Brisbane writer Susanna De Vries says the "myth" hides a bizarre and often pathetic reality of a puppy dog prince - an immature and needy individual who liked to baby-talk to his partners, was haunted by sexual inadequacy and enjoyed being humiliated.

He hated his father and despised the burdens of royal life. Desperate to escape, he begged a previous lover to run away with him - years before he met Mrs Simpson and handed the throne to his younger brother, George VI, whose battle to overcome a debilitating stammer was the subject of the Oscar-winning film The King's Speech.

The book traces many of the prince's problems back to his childhood and the influence of Nanny Green, a "deeply disturbed" woman who was eventually committed to a mental institution. It was her treatment of him as a child that would influence his later treatment of the women in his life and drive his sexual peccadilloes.

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