NARRATOR: As World
War I came to an end,
King George V would need to
call upon his children to help
him save the family business.
And image would be everything.
 King George
realizes that if he's
going to hold onto
the throne, he
has really got to
sell the royal family
to the population of Britain.
They have to go out to
win over hearts and minds.
NARRATOR: One of the first steps
in the king's rebrand had been
to change the family name from
the German "Saxe-Coburg Gotha"
to the quintessentially
British "Windsor."
Then, the king would
use his children
to help front the campaign.
Prince Bertie, who became
known as the Industrial Prince,
was dispatched to the factory
floors, which had been
the engine of the war effort.
Prince Henry, an army man
himself, saw to his lot,
the soldiers returning
home from the front
who had sacrificed so much.
And Princess Mary, who
had trained as a nurse
during the war, gave
thanks to the wounded
and those who cared for
them alongside her mother,
the queen.
DR. CHANDRIKA KAUL:
But the secret weapon
that the family launches
on the world is Edward.
DR. PIERS BRENDON: The
King is keen for Edward
to circulate the empire.
NARRATOR: The British Empire
was at its peak post-war--
but like at home, starting
to show dangerous divisions.
It would be Edward's job
as son and heir to shore up
his father's empire,
which made up
almost a quarter of
the world's landmass
and whose people had made a huge
contribution to the war effort.
DR. PIERS BRENDON: Edward on
these tours was a huge success.
He had glamor.
He had an ability actually
to relate to people.
He made a conscious effort to
step down off the pedestal.
His father always
occupied the pedestal.
But he thought, in the new
age, royal personages should be
more accessible to democracy.
 Film and radio were
modern, relatively speaking.
Edward just had the right
instincts, the right look,
the right personality
to project himself.
PIERS BRENDON: He was
great for the part.
He was stunting.
He was princely.
He was engaging in good
propaganda, as he said--
terms which infuriated
King George V back then.
No, that's not what
we're doing at all.
But that was what he was doing.
That was his
attitude towards it.
Well, Edward and the Windsors
were really, in one sense,
made by the modern media.
For the monarchy, it was about
perception and the creation
of a certain image.
But for the popular press--
the "Daily Mail's"
and the "Daily
Express's," the ones
selling more than a million
and more copies a day--
this was a symbiotic
relationship.
DR. PIERS BRENDON: The flip
side of the hugely successful PR
campaign was that
behind the scenes,
Edward was living for pleasure.
He was having affairs.
He was drinking.
He was smoking.
And this did not get
into the British press.
The British press portrayed
him as an immaculate figure.
