Who would be present monarch if Edward VII had not abdicated?
A story written by Lydia Starbuck that examined who would be present as the monarch if Edward VII had not abdicated has become popular.
We all love a good royal “what if,” and one of the most fascinating in recent history concerns the monarch who abdicated his throne out of love. Edward VIII, 86 years ago, on December 11th, 1936, declared to the world that he was abdicating the throne in order to wed Wallis Simpson, the woman he loved. Imagine, though, that Edward VIII hadn’t abdicated.
There are two possible directions to take. First, Edward VIII did betray the woman he loved. The king was forced to stop his affair with Wallis in order to maintain his position as monarch, but he chose not to step down. He would not have been free to marry someone else after his marriage to Mrs. Simpson. Who is just a matter of speculation? But if there were offspring from a marriage, his straight line would have been in power. Possibly.
However, even before his affair with Mrs. Simpson became a constitutional problem, there was enough dissatisfaction about his style of rule among his closest advisors to have raised concerns. Reports of unread red boxes and behavior that fluctuated between dictatorial and uninterested have been made.
Consider his political opinions as well. It was well-known that Edward had expressed support for various Nazi regime figures, which caused lawmakers to express their worries once more. Later, it was said that Hitler discussed making Edward the king once more in the event that the UK fell to his soldiers. Will the monarchy and the country as we know it has lasted if Edward had been king?
Another historical scenario. The last remaining possibility, and the most likely of all the ideas, is that Edward had wed Mrs. Simpson notwithstanding his refusal to abdicate his crown. She would have been his wife, despite the fact that there may have been a proper royal argument regarding her title. We do know that they were both in their forties when they got married and that they never had children together. They probably wouldn’t have had any children together, even though there would have been more pressure to start a family if he had remained the king.
Edward’s brother Bertie, who is now known as George VI, was his heir because he didn’t have any children of his own. Given Bertie’s nervousness and stammer, there was substantial speculation at the time of the abdication about giving the kingdom to one of their siblings instead. However, that was deemed to be an excessive adjustment. Bertie would have remained first in line if Edward had remained on the throne. We also know that the younger of these two brothers passed away in 1952, 20 years before Edward, therefore Bertie’s daughter Elizabeth would have become the legal successor.
Therefore, even if Edward VIII hadn’t abdicated, Elizabeth II would have still succeeded to the throne. This is obviously not an exact science. One is reminded of The Butterfly Effect-Who knows what would have unfolded if Edward & Wallis’ situation had been different?
