Edward VIII, King of England
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With a birth name of "Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David", Edward was born [[Jun 23]], 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey County, England; the eldest son of [[George V, King of England|George of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]] and his wife Mary von Teck. George and Mary would later become King and Queen of Great Britian and Ireland in 1910 when George's father Edward VII died, and young Edward would then be heir to the throne. | With a birth name of "Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David", Edward was born [[Jun 23]], 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey County, England; the eldest son of [[George V, King of England|George of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]] and his wife Mary von Teck. George and Mary would later become King and Queen of Great Britian and Ireland in 1910 when George's father Edward VII died, and young Edward would then be heir to the throne. | ||
| − | Edward was known or rumoured to be a terrible flirt and led a profligate life up until he met [[Bessie Wallis Warfield]] probably about 1934. His | + | Edward was known or rumoured to be a terrible flirt and led a profligate life up until he met [[Bessie Wallis Warfield]] probably about 1934. His "shining gold hair and sad blue eyes" evidently made him gallant and charming. Kitty Kelley states that he was "one of hte most adored heirs ever to grace the British empire." Probably in 1934 or 1935, he and Wallis became lovers, which became widely enough known for his father George to despair of the thought that Wallis, once-divorced and currently married, would be Queen of England. George ordered his wife Mary to never acknowledge Wallis and she never did according to Kitty Kelley's book ''The Royals''. |
When George died [[Jan 20]], 1936, Edward became King. Now the situation was critical. Wallis divorced from her second husband on [[Oct 27]], 1936. Edward insisted that he would marry Wallis and the government and the a public-opinion poll insisted just as strongly that he must not. The situation came to a head, and Churchill wrote his abdication speech which he gave by radio on [[Dec 11]], 1936 stating that, "The throne means nothing to me without Wallis beside me." (''The Royals'', page 15) They were married on [[Jun 3]], 1937 in Chateau de Cande, Maine-et-Loire, France, and lived thereafter in semi-exile from Britain. | When George died [[Jan 20]], 1936, Edward became King. Now the situation was critical. Wallis divorced from her second husband on [[Oct 27]], 1936. Edward insisted that he would marry Wallis and the government and the a public-opinion poll insisted just as strongly that he must not. The situation came to a head, and Churchill wrote his abdication speech which he gave by radio on [[Dec 11]], 1936 stating that, "The throne means nothing to me without Wallis beside me." (''The Royals'', page 15) They were married on [[Jun 3]], 1937 in Chateau de Cande, Maine-et-Loire, France, and lived thereafter in semi-exile from Britain. | ||
