On this day in 1936, Britain was plunged into a constitutional crisis by King Edward VIII’s decision to abdicate. But the life of the then-Princess Elizabeth was equally shaken. Within just hours, she went from being the third-in-line to the throne, never expected to be the future head of state, to the heir apparent to the new monarch, the former Duke of York and then-King George VI.
Prince of Wales hailed ‘last King of England’ in damning speech
The consequences of the abdication struck with horror even Queen Mary, Edward VIII’s mother, according to late author James Pope-Hennessy.
The author recalled how Edward VIII showed him letters sent by the then Queen Mother in the run-up to the abdication, where she seemed to be begging him not go ahead with it.
He wrote: “He seized one of the two 1936 files and showed me various letters - until we reached one from Queen Mary, begging him not to broadcast (his abdication speech).
