King Edward VIII Hits CTRL+Z
from CTRL+Z: Rewritten Hosted by Kevin Perez-Allen
In December of 1936, King Edward VIII signed a piece of paper that changed a thousand years of British monarchy. He gave up the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée his government refused to accept as queen. His brother Bertie became George VI. Bertie's daughter became Queen Elizabeth II. The House of Windsor you know exists because of what Edward signed that day. He almost didn't sign. This week we hit Control Z on one of the closest-run constitutional crises in British history, and follow what happens when a king who wants something more than the crown decides to keep both. The ripples reach further than you'd think.
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