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April 30, 2022

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY

December 11

December



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Year
1936
Month Day
December 11


EDWARD VIII ABDICATES

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After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English
monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. He chose to abdicate after the
British government, public, and the Church of England condemned his decision to
marry the American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson. On the evening of December
11, he gave a radio address in which he explained, “I have found it impossible
to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of
king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.”
On December 12, his younger brother, the duke of York, was proclaimed King
George VI.



READ MORE: Why Edward VIII Abdicated the Throne to Marry Wallis Simpson

Edward, born in 1894, was the eldest son of King George V, who became the
British sovereign in 1910. Still unmarried as he approached his 40th birthday,
he socialized with the fashionable London society of the day. By 1934, he had
fallen deeply in love with American socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson, who was
married to Ernest Simpson, an English-American businessman who lived with Mrs.
Simpson near London. Wallis, who was born in Pennsylvania, had previously
married and divorced a U.S. Navy pilot. The royal family disapproved of Edward’s
married mistress, but by 1936 the prince was intent on marrying Mrs. Simpson.
Before he could discuss this intention with his father, George V died, in
January 1936, and Edward was proclaimed king.






The new king proved popular with his subjects, and his coronation was scheduled
for May 1937. His affair with Mrs. Simpson was reported in American and
continental European newspapers, but due to a gentlemen’s agreement between the
British press and the government, the affair was kept out of British newspapers.
On October 27, 1936, Mrs. Simpson obtained a preliminary decree of divorce,
presumably with the intent of marrying the king, which precipitated a major
scandal. To the Church of England and most British politicians, an American
woman twice divorced was unacceptable as a prospective British queen. Winston
Churchill, then a Conservative backbencher, was the only notable politician to
support Edward.



Listen to HISTORY This Week: The Crown Steps Down

Despite the seemingly united front against him, Edward could not be dissuaded.
He proposed a morganatic marriage, in which Wallis would be granted no rights of
rank or property, but on December 2, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin rejected the
suggestion as impractical. The next day, the scandal broke on the front pages of
British newspapers and was discussed openly in Parliament. With no resolution
possible, the king renounced the throne on December 10. The next day, Parliament
approved the abdication instrument, and Edward VIII’s reign came to an end. The
new king, George VI, made his older brother the duke of Windsor. On June 3,
1937, the duke of Windsor and Wallis Warfield married at the Château de Cande in
France’s Loire Valley.






For the next two years, the duke and duchess lived primarily in France but
visited other European countries, including Germany, where the duke was honored
by Nazi officials in October 1937 and met with Adolf Hitler. After the outbreak
of World War II, the duke accepted a position as liaison officer with the
French. In June 1940, France fell to the Nazis, and Edward and Wallis went to
Spain. During this period, the Nazis concocted a scheme to kidnap Edward with
the intention of returning him to the British throne as a puppet king. George
VI, like his prime minister, Winston Churchill, was adamantly opposed to any
peace with Nazi Germany. Unaware of the Nazi kidnapping plot but conscious of
Edward’s pre-war Nazi sympathies, Churchill hastily offered Edward the
governorship of the Bahamas in the West Indies. The duke and duchess set sail
from Lisbon on August 1, 1940, narrowly escaping a Nazi SS team sent to seize
them.

In 1945, the duke resigned his post, and the couple moved back to France. They
lived mainly in Paris, and Edward made a few visits to England, such as to
attend the funerals of King George VI in 1952 and his mother, Queen Mary, in
1953. It was not until 1967 that the duke and duchess were invited by the royal
family to attend an official public ceremony, the unveiling of a plaque
dedicated to Queen Mary. Edward died in Paris in 1972 but was buried at
Frogmore, on the grounds of Windsor Castle. In 1986, Wallis died and was buried
at his side.





CITATION INFORMATION


ARTICLE TITLE

Edward VIII abdicates


AUTHOR

HISTORY.COM EDITORS


WEBSITE NAME

HISTORY


URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/edward-viii-abdicates


ACCESS DATE

April 30, 2022


PUBLISHER

A&E Television Networks


LAST UPDATED

December 10, 2020


ORIGINAL PUBLISHED DATE

November 24, 2009

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By
History.com Editors
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