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Edward VIIIb. 23 Jun 1894, White Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey, England |
| Title: | By the Grace of God of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India (Dei Gratia Magnae Britanniae, Hiberniae et terrarum transmarinarum quae in ditione sunt Britannica Rex, Fidei Defensor, Indiae Imperator) |
| Term: | 20 Jan 1936 - 11 (or 12) Dec 1936 |
| Chronology: | 20 Jan 1936, succeeded to the thrones of Great Britain, Ireland, etc. |
| 10 Dec 1936, signed the Instrument of Abdication, Fort Belvedere, Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, UK | |
| 11 Dec 1936, Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland passed His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act (assented to 11 Dec 1936) [1] | |
| 11 Dec 1936, executive authority of the British king over the Irish Free State abolished according to the Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act passed by Dáil Éireann | |
| 12 Dec 1936, Dáil Éireann passed the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act giving effect to the Instrument of Abdication for the Irish Free State (see note) | |
| Names/titles: | Private name: Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David [to 17 Jul 1917], Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor [from 17 Jul 1917]; Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, Great Steward of Scotland [from 6 May 1910]; Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester [from 23 Jun 1910]; Duke of Windsor [from 8 Mar 1937]; family and dynastic name Windsor established by the Royal Proclamation of 17 Jul 1917 |
| Biography: | |
| The eldest child of George Duke of York (later King George V); became heir to the throne on the accession of his father and was created Prince of Wales (23 Jun 1910); was educated at the naval preparatory college at Osborne, the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and Magdalen College, Oxford; served with the Grenadier Guards in France, Italy, Flanders, and Egypt during World War I; succeeded to the thrones of Great Britain, Ireland, etc. after the death of George V (20 Jan 1936); being unmarried at the time of his accession, he continued the love affair with Mrs. Simpson (née Wallis Warfield), which started in 1930; was advised by the cabinet of Stanley Baldwin (20 Oct 1936) to break up relationship with Mrs. Simpson, but the king informed Baldwin that he intended to marry her even if it meant his abdication; a proposal for morganatic marriage was rejected by the Cabinet that caused the Abdication Crisis; signed an Instrument of Abdication (10 Dec 1936) at Fort Belvedere, Surrey, declaring his "irrevocable determination to renounce the throne"; the instrument was endorsed by Parliament on 11 Dec 1936 and the same day Edward discharged his last duty as king, when he gave Royal Assent to "His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act," by which he himself and any children he might have were excluded from succession to the throne; with the "demise of the Crown" announced in the act, Edward's brother, Albert, became King George VI; was created Duke of Windsor (8 Mar 1937) and married Wallis Simpson (3 Jun 1937); served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahama Islands (17 Aug 1940 - Apr 1945); lived abroad until the end of his life. Biography sources: [2] |
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| [1] | The London Gazette. Numb. 34350. Tuesday, 15 December, 1936, p. 8117. |
| [2] | Handbook of British Chronology (1986) |
| Image: photograph of King Edward VIII in his naval uniform, 1936. | |