It never ceases to annoy me when people try the "rehabilitate" a historical figure. They invariably allow the social mores of current society to "assess and judge" a situation.
Just observe those who seem determined to find the reason the QM loathed Wallis. Yes, she blamed them for the added stress on her husband and even though we all know now that smoking causes cancer, they most certainly did not then. In fact, soldiers rations included cigarettes!
However, we do know that many people smoked to ease stress and Bertie's stress levels escalated with his brother's dereliction of duty. He was pushed into a life he was totally unprepared for, filled with public duties and speeches, a lifestyle he had avoided as much as he "properly" could instead of enjoying a family lifestyle with his "we four".
The abdication changed everything and the QM mourned the loss of that loving and secure life, with every move her husband made scrutinised because there were those who thought he was mentally unfit, as were all people who stammered. There were even those in the government and civil service who explored the possibility of declaring Bertie unfit and crowning his younger brother.
Bertie was not the only one whose life was badly affected. Prince Henry, Duke of Glouster was a career military man and his career hit the ultimate speed bump. He could not leave the country when the king did and needed to be protected to ensure that should something happen to the King before Princess Elizabeth turned eighteen, he would be able to stand as Regent until she reached her majority.
Prince George also had to clean up is act as his lifestyle would have shocked the people of the UK, with lovers of both sexes and cocaine addiction. He too had to raise his profile once the war was certain because nobody could know who would live and die and one of the three brothers had to survive for the monarchy.
To say that Bertie's younger brothers were unimpressed by the way their bother's dereliction of duty affected their lives is an understatement. The entire house of Windsor was in turmoil and if the sentiment was "
but for Wallis", it was only to be expected. King George V's two youngest sons led a pretty happy life which also came to a screeching halt with the Abdication.
The King was the king and his Queen came to represent the house of Windsor's anger and disgust at David's betrayal, because that is what it was, a betrayal of everything they stood for.
No, I don't think the QM's teenage crush on the POW lasted past her social debut. He was the dashing hero of the age and WWI and the crush of half the teenage girls in the country. Meeting him as a grown woman and hearing about his debauchery probably didn't endear him to a well brought up aristocrat. Wallis pillorying her, her family and lifestyle would not have endeared her to either Elizabeth or Queen Mary, actions that would come back to haunt her.