The historian and archivist joined Michael Weatherburn to discuss her freshly-released book, her thinking and research.

On 23rd November 2023, historian, archivist and author Jane Marguerite Tippett joined Dr Michael Weatherburn of Imperial College London for a research seminar entitled 'History, Memory and Truth: The Case of the Duke of Windsor'.

In her latest work, Once a King (Hodder and Stoughton, October 2023), Tippet tells "the real story" of Edward VIII – the King who abdicated the throne in 1936. 

Fifteen years after abdicating to marry the woman he loved - Wallis Simpson - King Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor, published his memoirs. But whilst preparing the manuscript for his published and mostly ghostwritten book – which, unlike Prince Harry’s autobiography, largely avoided controversy – the Duke also produced a private manuscript for posterity. This was written in his own words and with an uninhibited frankness. Tippett weaves together Edward’s writing alongside newly uncovered interviews with the Duke and Duchess, diary entries from ghostwriter Charles Murphy and other sources to forms an extraordinary new portrait of one of the most famous characters in modern royal history.

After an opening discussion on the book, the seminar broadened to situate Tippett’s work into the larger historiography of the British royal family and twentieth-century history generally. In discussion with Dr Weatherburn, Tippett provided fascinating insights into how novel and revelatory archival work can still be done, even in a digital age on extremely well-known topics. The event, which was held both in-person and online, ended with a Q&A session chaired by Dr Weatherburn.

The event was recorded and the recording can now be watched online. Watch the recording of 'History, Memory and Truth: The Case of the Duke of Windsor'.