Originally published in March 2023.

A crisis that did more good than harm.

The further it recedes into history, the more the abdication of Edward VIII seems like a fairly minor blip in the history of the modern British monarchy. Yet it was perhaps the decisive moment for the monarchy in the 20th century. For by replacing Edward VIII with George VI, and later his daughter Elizabeth II, the abdication ensured that the monarchy continued to develop along the lines established from the later years of Queen Victoria onwards – as an institution that was traditional, ceremonially splendid and politically powerless. Had Edward VIII remained king from 1936 until his death in 1972, it might have been a very different story.

Few heirs to the throne have been as popular in their youth as was Edward, Prince of Wales. His extended tours of the British Empire in the early 1920s, and his evident concern for the veterans of the Great War and the unemployed, helped to win him a huge following. There were many in the post-war generation who welcomed his modern, informal approach and admired his flair for public relations. By contrast, many within the Establishment tut-tutted, including the Prince’s own father, George V, who commented that, “The boy will ruin himself within 12 months”, and secretly hoped that “nothing will come between Bertie [the future George VI] and Lilibet [the present Queen] and the throne”.