On January 20, 1936 King George V died and was succeeded by Edward VIII who abdicated 325 days later because of his insistence in marrying American divorcee Wallis Simpson. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the grandson of Queen Victoria and the first cousin of Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. On the death of Victoria in 1901, George's father became King Edward VII, and George was made Prince of Wales. On his father's death in 1910, he succeeded as King of the British Empire. As a result of the First World War, other empires in Europe fell while his expanded to its greatest extent. In 1917, he became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, which he renamed from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as a result of anti-German public sentiment. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape. He was plagued by illness throughout much of his later reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII. His remains were interred within St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Great Britain’s Royal Tombs.
The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:
No comments:
Post a Comment