Duke + Duchess of Windsor: Why these titles are no longer awarded

Royal expert claims
The titles “Duke and Duchess of Windsor” are no longer awarded

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, also known as Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII.

© Getty Images

Cambridge, Cornwall, Sussex and York are just a few of the 30 British duchies that give names to titles of nobility. There was also a Duke of Windsor once – but that will probably not happen again.

It is in the power of Queen Elizabeth to bestow titles on members of the royal family, especially on special occasions such as weddings. Prince William and then Kate Middleton were named Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011, and Prince Harry and then Meghan Markle were named Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2018. The Queen chooses the titles carefully. That’s why she is said to have banned one or two from her list forever: the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

King Edward VIII becomes Duke of Windsor

Review. It is 1936. In January, Prince Edward, commonly known as David, ascends the British throne as King Edward VIII. Eleven months later, the unbelievable happens: He abdicates out of love for the American Wallis Simpson. The church and government had previously refused to consent to a wedding. Edward’s resignation is a huge scandal that plunges the UK into crisis.

After Edward's abdication, the couple move to France.  On June 3, 1937, she married at the Chateau de Conde.  No member of the royal family is present.  Wallis is now the Duchess of Windsor.  Her predicate title becomes her life throughout her life "Your Royal Highness" denied.  A circumstance that Edward would struggle with until his death in May 1972.  Wallis dies in April 1986, also in Paris.  She is buried next to Edward in the Royal Tomb on the Frogmore Estate in Windsor.  In addition to Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Prince Charles, Queen Mum also takes part in the memorial service in St. George's Chapel.

Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor at their wedding in June 1937.

© Keystone / Getty Images / Getty Images

Prince Albert, the father of the current Queen, has to step in and becomes King George VI. Edward and all of his future descendants are removed from the line of succession. The ex-king becomes a prince again and in 1937 receives the title “Duke of Windsor”. When he married Wallis Simpson in the same year, she became the Duchess of Windsor. In contrast to her husband, she was denied the title of Royal Highness – a decision that Edward resented the palace until the end of his life in 1972.

The title is forever tainted with a negative image

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said in an interview with “The Mirror” that Edward VIII had sullied the title of Duke of Windsor “. That is why the term will be avoided by future generations.” “It is unlikely that the Duchy of Windsor will ever be used again as it will forever be identified with the Queen’s uncle, who abdicated in 1936 to marry the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson. His public reputation was for a while that of a king who gave up his throne out of love. But in the last few decades his reputation has become that of a king, to whom patriotism and duty meant nothing, as well as that of a fascist sympathizer. ”

Source used: mirror.co.uk

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