Casals supported the Spanish Republican government. When it was defeated he said that he would not return until Spain was once more a democratic country. He then left his country and went into exile. He went to live in the French village of Prades which was near the border with Spain. He continued his career as a cellist. After World War II, in June 1946, he went to England and played the cello concertos by Schumann and Elgar at the Royal Albert Hall with Sir Adrian Boult conducting. Outside the hall the police had to help him get to his car because so many people were crowding round him.