Edward VIII grave concern that the couple were followed by members of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch, who examined in secret the nature of their relationship. An undated report detailed a visit by the couple to an antique shop, where the proprietor later noted "that the lady seemed to have POW [Prince of Wales] completely under her thumb." The prospect of having an American divorcée with a questionable past having such sway over the heir apparent led to anxiety among government and establishment figures. King George V died on 20 January 1936, and Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. The
Cultural depictions of George VI to explain why he would not leave Britain for any safe zone, namely Canada, during World War II. George is a significant character in Michael Dobbs' 2003 novel "Winston's War", and Len Deighton's alternate history novel "SS-GB", in which he is imprisoned during a Nazi occupation of Britain and killed during an escape attempt. In the alternate history novel "Fatherland" by Robert Harris, George VI was deposed when Nazi Germany conquered the United Kingdom and the British Empire in the early 1940s. Most of the Royal Family were forced into exile in Canada and his elder brother Edward VIII was