Edward VIII
Edward VIII (1894-1972). King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, George V, in January 1936. How-ever, his proposed marriage to a US divorcee, Mrs. Wallis Simpson, forced him to abdicate in December 1936 before being crowned, in order to avoid a constitutional crisis. He was subsequently created duke of Windsor and married Mrs. Simpson, spending most of the rest of his life in France with brief visits to Britain.
