Edward VIII Abdication Crisis - Abdication

Abdication

At Fort Belvedere, on 10 December, Edward VIII's written abdication notice was witnessed by his three younger brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York (who succeeded Edward as George VI); Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The following day, it was given legislative form by special Act of Parliament (His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936). Under changes introduced in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster, a single Crown for the entire empire had been replaced by multiple crowns, one for each Dominion, worn by a single monarch in an organisation then known as the British Commonwealth. Edward's abdication required the consent of each Commonwealth state, which was duly given; by the parliament of Australia, which was at the time in session, and by the governments of the other Dominions, whose parliaments were in recess. However, the government of the Irish Free State, taking the opportunity presented by the crisis and in a major step towards its eventual transition to a republic, passed an amendment to its constitution to remove references to the Crown. The King's abdication was recognised a day later in the External Relations Act of the Irish Free State and legislation eventually passed in South Africa declared that the abdication took effect there on 10 December. It was Edward's Royal Assent to these Acts, rather than his abdication notice, which gave legal effect to the abdication. As Edward VIII had not been crowned, his planned coronation date became that of his brother Albert, now styled George VI, instead.

Edward's supporters felt that he had "been hounded from the throne by that arch humbug Baldwin", but many members of the Establishment were relieved by Edward's departure. Mackenzie King wrote in his diary on 8 December 1936 he felt that, for Edward, "any sense of right or wrong has been largely obliterated by the jazz of life he has led for years", and later, upon receiving news of Edward's final decision to abdicate, wrote "if that is the kind of man he is it is better he should not be longer on the Throne." As Edward's own Assistant Private Secretary, Alan Lascelles, had told Baldwin as early as 1927: "I can't help thinking that the best thing that could happen to him, and to the country, would be for him to break his neck."

On the day his reign officially ended, 11 December 1936, Edward made a BBC radio broadcast from Windsor Castle; no longer King, he was introduced by Sir John Reith as "His Royal Highness Prince Edward". The official address had been polished by Churchill and was moderate in tone, speaking about Edward's inability to do his job "as I would have wished" without the support of "the woman I love". Edward's reign had lasted 327 days, the shortest of any British monarch since the disputed reign of Lady Jane Grey over 380 years earlier. The day following the broadcast he left Britain for Austria.