| While still the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII meets the married American socialite, Wallis Simpson. Their relationship causes furor in the palace and in parliament, especially when King George V dies, Mrs. Simpson gets divorced, and King Edward announces his intention to marry her. |
| Name | Character | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Fox | King Edward VIII | 7 |
| Cynthia Harris | Wallis Warfield Simspon | 7 |
| Peggy Ashcroft | Queen Mary | 5 |
| John Shrapnel | Major Alexander Hardinge | 5 |
| Nigel Hawthorne | Walter Monkton | 5 |
| Andrew Ray | Duke of York | 5 |
| Charles Keating | Ernest Simpson | 4 |
| Jessie Matthews | Aunt Bessie Merryman | 4 |
| Patricia Hodge | Lady Diana Cooper | 3 |
| Patrick Troughton | Clement Atlee | 3 |
| Gary Waldhorn | Chips Channon | 3 |
| Wensley Pithey | Winston Churchill | 3 |
| Elsie Randolph | Lady Colefax | 3 |
| Ed Devereaux | Lord Beaverbrook | 2 |
| Hugh Fraser | Anthony Eden | 2 |
| Maurice Denham | Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury | 2 |
| Edward Jewesbury | Lord Dawson | 2 |
| T.R. Bowen | Duff Cooper (as Trevor Bowen) | 2 |
| Gerald Sim | Theodore Goddard | 2 |
| Marius Goring | King George V | 2 |
| Robert Flemyng | Sir Donald Somervell | 2 |
| Geoffrey Lumsden | Geoffrey Dawson | 2 |
| Cherie Lunghi | Lady Thelma Furness | 1 |
| John Abbott | Mouth Organist | 1 |
| Kika Markham | Freda Dudley Ward | 1 |
| Roger Hammond | Sir Harold Nicolson | 1 |
| John Horsley | Norman Birkett K.C. | 1 |
| Louis Mansi | Dante Busclia | 1 |
| Bessie Love | Lady Cunard | 1 |
| Terence Rigby | Stanley Bruce | 1 |
| Trevor Ray | Walter Frampton | 1 |
| Raymond Francis | Mr Justice Hawke | 1 |
| Robert Harris | Speaker of the House of Commons | 1 |
| Richard Kay | Godfrey Thomas | 1 |
| John Harvey | Sir John Reith | 1 |
| Julia McCarthy | Mrs Quinn | 1 |
| Jeremy Child | Piers Leigh | 1 |
| Peter Clapham | Archibald Travers | 1 |