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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.12.15 17:01l 87 Lines 4449 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 77190_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Dec 11
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 151211/1500Z 77190@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1936
Edward VIII abdicates
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.
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.
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.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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