File 046 - King Edward VIII

Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor, was born on June 23, 1894, at White Lodge, Richmond, Surrey, England, the first son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, later King George V and Queen Mary.

Edward was King of the United Kingdom, from January 20, 1936, until December 11, 1936. As the future king, he was given the forenames Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David. Within the family, he was always known as David. Initially educated at home, he was sent to the naval college at Osborne in 1907 and, in 1909, he went to the Royal Naval College on HMS Britannia at Dartmouth. He began his naval career, serving as a midshipman in the Hindustan. Edward was officially invested as Prince of Wales in a ceremony at Caernarvon Castle on July 13, 1911. In 1912, he graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford. At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, he was keen to participate. He gained a pilot's licence and undertook a military flight in 1918. In the 1920s, Edward represented his father, King George V, at home and abroad. He disliked his royal duties, but his charisma made him popular with the British people. George V was disappointed by his son’s failure to settle down in life and was furious with his many affairs with married women. When King George V died on January 20, 1936, Edward became King Edward VIII. He was involved with a twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson (1896-1986) since 1934. Not serious about his work as a king, he spent August and September sailing around the Mediterranean on a luxury steam yacht with Wallis. In November 1936, he expressed his plans to marry Wallis Simpson to the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who informed him it was morally unacceptable because remarriage after divorce was opposed by the Church of England, of which Edward was the formal head. As a result, Edward chose to abdicate on December 11, 1936 and married Wallis in June 1937. His brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York, became King George VI. After his abdication, Edward was given the title Duke of Windsor. The Duke and Duchess visited Nazi Germany against the advice of the British government, and they met Adolf Hitler at his private retreat. After the war, they became celebrities, hosted parties and lived between Paris and New York.

He died on May 28, 1972, in Paris, France.