Robert Anderson Jardine
The Reverend Robert Anderson Jardine (1878–1950), who published a memoir as R. Anderson Jardine, was an ordained priest of the
An unprecedented marriage
Following his
The dilemma facing the Duke and his fiancée was heavily covered at the time in the British and European press. A hitherto obscure vicar from the North of England, the Rev. Robert Jardine, publicly volunteered to perform the ceremony. Press supporters of the wedding called Jardine, whose working-class parish was dominated by heavy industry, the "poor man's pastor". The marriage was set for 3 June 1937 in the Château de Candé, Wallis's French home in exile.[2][3]
The Reverend and Mrs Jardine, with their 19-year-old son, Donald, left Darlington on Monday 31 May, but Mrs Jardine and Donald stayed with relations in Letchworth, while Jardine crossed the Channel. The Bishop of Durham, Dr Herbert Hensley Henson, warned Jardine by telegram that he was “without episcopal licence or consent to unite the Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Simpson.” The bishop did not have jurisdiction over Jardine's celebration of the sacraments while on the Continent, and under the immediate circumstances had no choice but to presume that the vicar had the permission of the Anglican bishop with jurisdiction.[4]
Widely varying reactions
J. A. Kensit, a leader of the Protestant Truth Society, to which Jardine belonged, commented “Mr Jardine is quite fearless in his advocacy of any cause which he judges right and would pursue his own line regardless of the consequences to himself."[4] A contrary view as to Jardine's motivations is found in the diary of Alan Don, who served as secretary to the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, and as chaplain to Lang, to George V, Edward himself, and George VI, as well as to the Speaker of the House of Commons. Don's diary entry for 8 June 1937 records the contents of a letter from Hensley Henson, the Bishop of Durham to Lang, and Don's reactions to it: Hensley described Jardine as a man "of no education", "heavily in debt" and a "notoriety-seeker of an objectionable kind". Don reflects whether Jardine's motives in volunteering to conduct the service were "financial embarrassment rather than Christian charity".[5]
The wedding was boycotted by almost the entire British establishment, and a small number of guests and a single pool reporter witnessed the wedding, which was conducted by Jardine "in a strong voice". Following the brief ceremony, the couple departed for a honeymoon in Austria, and Jardine returned home to Darlington, unsuccessfully attempting to return to his duties in his parish. However, he was soon made aware that he had performed an act which the church could not accept. His vestry committee resigned, and he was encouraged to follow them. Under pressure, he left England and attempted to emigrate to California. In 1943 Jardine published a memoir, At Long Last, of the unusual event.[2][3]
The marriage ceremony of the Duke and Duchess was not deemed to be a royal wedding.
Later life
Jardine's short-lived attempt to emigrate to California found him little work, while he tried unsuccessfully to capitalise on his fleeting fame. Some public statements which he made to American audiences — to the effect that he judged that there were circumstances in which the Duke of Windsor might have the Throne restored to him, and referring to Archbishop of Canterbury
See also
References
- ^ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11069448
- ^ ISBN 0-67-121810-7.
- ^ a b Jardine, R. Anderson (1943). At Long Last. Culver City, Cal.: Murray & Gee.
- ^ Evening Gazettedated 29 April 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-281-08398-5.
- ^ a b c d Wilson, Christopher (27 November 2019). "Robert Anderson Jardine: The plucky little parson who wed the Windsors". Daily Express. Retrieved 16 October 2022.