Edward VIII (1894-1972) became king of the United Kingdom on Jan. 20, 1936, and gave up the throne on December 11 that same year. He was the oldest son of King George V and Queen Mary of the British ruling family known as the House of Windsor (see George V). Edward succeeded his father as king.
Edward was born in London on June 23, 1894. He was made Prince of Wales in 1911 at Caernarfon Castle, Wales. He was the first Prince of Wales to deliver his address in Welsh. Edward was educated at the Royal Naval College and at Oxford University. He served in World War I (1914-1918) as aide-de-camp to Sir John French, who during part of the war was commander of the British Expeditionary Force in France.
The prince became a great traveler, and was often called the empire’s salesman. After World War I, Edward visited Canada, the United States, South America, Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand, promoting world peace, British trade, and the unity of the British Empire. His democratic spirit, charm, and diplomacy made him popular. In the United Kingdom, he took an interest in the living conditions of the underprivileged and working classes.
Edward fell in love with Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American divorcee. Because his government and many of his subjects were opposed to accepting her as queen, Edward abdicated his throne. He then left England in self-imposed exile. His brother, George VI, who succeeded him, gave him the title Duke of Windsor (see George VI). Edward married Mrs. Simpson in June 1937. After World War II began in 1939, Edward volunteered for a position in the British armed forces. In September of that year, he visited England briefly for the first time since his abdication and was assigned as a liaison officer in France. Shortly before France fell to the Germans in 1940, Edward and his wife escaped to Spain. Later that year, George VI made him governor of the Bahamas, then a British colony. He served there until 1945. After the war, Edward lived mostly in France. He died there on May 28, 1972.
