Duke of Windsor

History

King Edward VIII abdicated on 11 December 1936, so that he could marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. At the time of the abdication, there was controversy as to how the former King should be titled. The new monarch, King George VI, apparently brought up the idea of a title just after the abdication instrument was signed, and suggested using "the family name". Neither the Instrument of Abdication signed by Edward VIII on 10 December 1936 nor its enabling legislation, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, indicated whether the king was renouncing the privileges of royal birth as well as relinquishing the throne. On 12 December 1936, at the Accession Council of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, George VI announced he would make his brother the "Duke of Windsor" with the style of Royal Highness. That declaration is recorded in the London Gazette. The Dukedom was formalised by Letters Patent on 8 March 1937. Edward, as a royal duke, could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords. On 3 June 1937, Edward married Simpson, who upon their marriage became the Duchess of Windsor. Following his abdication, Edward and Wallis lived in exile in Paris, France, except while he was Governor of the Bahamas. When Germany invaded France in May 1940, the duke and duchess moved to Spain and then Portugal until August when they set sail for the Bahamas. After the war, they became members of café society often splitting their time between Paris and the United States, which they visited frequently. During their stays in New York, they were fond of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The Duke suffered from ill health in his later years and died of cancer on 28 May 1972 in Paris. As the Duke died without issue, the title became extinct upon his death. Queen Elizabeth II banned the title from being recreated during her reign.

| Prince Edward House of Windsor 1937–1972 | [[File:The Duke of Windsor (1945).jpg|100px|Prince Edward]] | 23 June 1894 White Lodge, Richmond son of King George V and Queen Mary | Wallis Simpson 3 June 1937

| 28 May 1972 Villa Windsor, Paris aged 77

Royal arms

As the royal arms go hand-in-hand with the crown, the undifferentiated royal arms passed to George VI. It was and is common heraldic practice for the eldest son to differentiate his arms in his father's lifetime, but the Duke of Windsor was left in the unusual position of the eldest son needing to difference his arms after his father's death. This was done by means of a label argent of three points, bearing on the middle point an imperial crown proper.{{Cite web |access-date = 2010-04-03 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100331022540/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-rooth.html |archive-date = 31 March 2010

Family tree

References

Further references

Lownie, Andrew 2021. The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Blink.

References

1. This version is recounted in the Duke's [[memoir]] ''A King's Story''
2. "His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936". Government of the United Kingdom.
3. (12 December 1936). "His Majesty's Declaration Of Abdication Bill". [[Hansard.
4. {{London Gazette. (12 December 1936)
5. {{London Gazette. (15 December 1936)
6. [[Clive Wigram, 1st Baron Wigram. Clive Wigram]]'s conversation with [[Claud Schuster. Sir Claud Schuster]], Clerk to the Crown and Permanent Secretary to the [[Lord Chancellor]], quoted in Bradford, p. 201
7. Mackinley, Catherine. (2022-09-14). "Who was the Duke of Windsor and why did nobody inherit the title?". Berkshire Live.