Edward VIII 1894-1972
King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The eldest son of George V, he was born at White Lodge in Richmond, Surrey, and educated at Osborne, Dartmouth, and Magdalen College, Oxford. Invested as Prince of Wales (1911), he was in the navy and (in World War I) the army, travelled much, and achieved considerable popularity. He was forthright in his comments on poverty, especially in South Wales. He succeeded his father (20 January 1936), but abdicated (11 December) on account of general disapprobation of his proposed marriage to Mrs Wallis Simpson. He was thereupon given the title of Duke of Windsor, and the marriage took place in June 1937. From 1940 to 1945 he was Governor of the Bahamas, as described in his A King's Story (1951). After 1945 he lived in Paris and was not invited back to England with his wife to an official public ceremony until 1967.

Bibliography: Frances Donaldson, Edward VIII: A Biography of the Duke of Windsor (1975)