NEWS OF THE WEEK
BEFORE these words appear the marriage of the Duke of Windsor will have taken place, and the long and in many respects painful drama that broke on the world last December will have reached the culmination which the then King of England sought. There is no reason to think he has since repented of his choice, and though his wedding is being celebrated in circumstances very different from those traditionally associated with the marriage of an English Prince, the good wishes of the nation for his happiness will be universal and unstinted. The situation created last December was unprecedented, but all involved have adjusted themselves to it without bitterness and without distress. King Edward, once he had resolved to leave his throne and his country, avoided every step that might have caused needless difficulties and carried general sympathy with him to a foreign home. Comparisons are uncalled for and unfitting, but at least it may be said that if the country lost one king it gained another as well qualified personally, and better qualified through his happy marriage, to discharge the duties of kingship efficiently. King Edward, who decided he could not face his responsibilities without the support of a woman whom he recognised he could not make his queen, has gone, as Duke of Windsor, where his affections led him. The sacrifice he made deliberately was great ; the best his former subjects can wish him is that the compensa- tion may be equal to all his hopes.
