80th anniversary of King Edward VIII’s abdication: what happened back then?

80 years today, King Edward VIII informed the government of his irrevocable decision to abdicate. The whole incident became what is known as an abdication crisis, all for falling in love with American Socialite and twice divorced, Wallis Simpson.

When the King first met Wallis in 1934, she did not leave much of an impression, but in the years to follow he would fall so madly in love with her that he would be willing to give up his throne to marry her.

When he brought her to a party in Buckingham palace he introduced her to his mother. His father, then King George V, was so outraged he refused to meet her.

Edward formally declared his abdication on BBC radio broadcast on the 10th December 1936, and his brother, who became King George the sixth, took the throne.

This came at a crucial point of modern history when tensions were rising that would eventually build up to the second world war. But it also changed the makeup of the British Royal Family, as our current monarch and her descendants are inherit the throne by consequence.

It has left its mark as a rather embarrassing stain on the Royal Family’s history, serialised in shows such as The Crown on Netflix and the Oscar award-winning film, The King’s speech.

Looking back now, we might consider the reason for Edward VII’s abdication to be rather archaic. The royal family has been embroiled in various scandals regarding the relations of members of the family and heirs to the throne.

The queen’s son, Charles, was denied marriage to Camilla for her being unsuitable. And while many of us think that Victoria and Alberts love was romantic, it’s easy to forget that they were cousins – a somewhat peculiar habit of royalty from previous ages.

But now times appeared to have changed. Camilla has become suitable and the two have been married since 2005.

And now it seems that the Royal Family may have moved on since the abdication crisis, as Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan Markle, who seems to fit the Wallis Simpson profile having been divorced and from the other side of the Atlantic, has only received criticism from the press but not the family.

This is a step in the right direction, but considering Harry is not in line to the throne you can hardly say that this is especially progressive. But it does show that as the times change the Royal Family may be prepared to chug along behind it in a bid to stay relevant to the society that they head.

But Edward hardly had a sour ending, he spent the remainder of his life living with Wallis Simpson until his death in 1972, choosing life long love, over life long rule.