Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick
David; later The Duke of Windsor; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was King of the
United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British
Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20
January to 11 December 1936.
Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay. As a young man,
he served in the British Armed
Forces during the First World War and
undertook several foreign tours on behalf of his father, George V. He was
associated with a succession of older, married women but remained unmarried
until after his abdication as king.
On 16 November 1936, Edward invited British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to Buckingham Palace and
expressed his desire to marry Wallis Simpson when she
became free to re-marry. Baldwin informed him that his subjects would deem the
marriage morally unacceptable, largely because remarriage after divorce was
opposed by the Church of
England, and the people would not tolerate Wallis as queen. As king,
Edward held the role of Supreme
Governor of the Church of England, and the clergy expected him to
support the Church's teachings.
Edward informed Baldwin that he would abdicate if he could
not marry Simpson. Baldwin then presented Edward with three choices: give up
the idea of marriage; marry against his ministers' wishes; or abdicate. It was
clear that Edward was not prepared to give up Simpson, and he knew that if he
married against the advice of his ministers, he would cause the government to
resign, prompting a constitutional crisis. He chose to abdicate.
Edward duly signed the instruments of abdication at Fort
Belvedere on 10 December 1936 in the presence of his younger brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York,
next in line for the throne; Prince Henry,
Duke of Gloucester; and Prince
George, Duke of Kent. The next day, the last act of his reign was
the royal assent to
His Majesty's
Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. As required by the Statute of
Westminster, all the Dominions consented to the abdication, though the Irish
Free State did not pass the External
Relations Act, which included the abdication in its schedule, until
12 December.
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