How Queen Elizabeth’s Life Changed Forever as a Young Girl, 2 Weeks Before Christmas

Ninety years ago today, the course of future Queen Elizabeth’s life was forever altered when her uncle, King Edward VIII, chose to abdicate tthe throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson — casting the young princess on a path to one day reign.

On December 10, 1936, King Edward signed the Instrument of Abdication, officially beginning the process of stepping down from the throne and relinquishing its privileges. At 42, Edward had reigned for less than a year, having ascended to the throne in January following the death of his father, King George V, at age 71.

As the story goes, Edward met and fell in love with Wallis, a then-married American socialite and divorcee, in 1930. Their relationship alarmed government officials because Wallis’ marital status barred her as a suitable future Queen. Remarriage was also then forbidden for divorced people in the Church of England, of which Edward became ceremonial head upon his accession, but he refused to let go of the woman he loved.

“Concern about Edward’s private life grew in the Cabinet, opposition parties and the Dominions, when Mrs Simpson obtained a divorce [from her second husband] in 1936 and it was clear that Edward was determined to marry her,” the royal family’s ​​website states. “Eventually Edward realised he had to choose between the Crown and Mrs Simpson who, as a twice-divorced woman, would not have been acceptable as Queen.”

King Edward tried to wager another arrangement by making the case for a morganatic marriage (or a union between two people of differing social ranks) to Wallis, but the Cabinet Office was steadfast, the BBC reports. To avoid the possibility that government officials would resign if he married Wallis anyway, Edward chose to step down — and swerved a possible constitutional crisis. 

On Dec. 10, 1936, King Edward executed the Instrument of Abdication, made legally effective the following day when he gave it Royal Assent. It blocked Edward and any potential successors from the line of succession to the throne, but freed him to marry Wallis and live as he wished.

“I, Edward the Eighth, of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Emperor of India, do hereby declare My irrevocable determination to renounce the Throne for Myself and for My descendants, and My desire that effect should be to this Instrument of Abdication immediately,” the Instrument of Abdication read, according to The National Archives of the U.K.

He signed the document at Fort Belvedere in the presence of his younger brothers —  Queen Elizabeth’s father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The move made Prince Albert, affectionately known in the family as “Bertie,” the new sovereign just a few days before his 41st birthday, two weeks before Christmas.

The BBC said that Edward’s abdication sent shockwaves through the U.K., and “most of the British public had known nothing about it” — or that a crisis had been brewing — up until about a week before. On Dec. 11, 1936, Edward got on the radio on Dec. 11 to share his side of the story.

“I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of King, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love,” he said in part. Edward emphasized that the decision was his, and that the “other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.”

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Then-Princess Elizabeth’s father chose to take a new regnal name at the start of his reign, and opted for King George VI, creating continuity from his late father. His wife Elizabeth, Duchess of York, became Queen in the same sweep, and their daughters, Princess Elizabeth, then 10, and Princess Margaret, then 6, each moved up a spot in the line of succession to the throne, with Princess Elizabeth heir. 

King George and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (as she was later nicknamed) were crowned on May 12, 1937, another reassuring move for the monarchy as the date originally chosen for Edward’s coronation. Presented with the puzzle of what to call his elder brother, the former King, King George made his brother the Duke of Windsor, and Edward married Wallis in France in June 1937.

Queen Elizabeth rose to the throne at the young of 25 when her father died unexpectedly in 1952 and went on to reign for a record 70 years until her death in 2022. 

In her now-iconic speech on her 21st birthday, the future Queen famously pledged her lifelong devotion to upholding the Commonwealth and preserving the crown. 

“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,” then Princess Elizabeth said from the broadcast in Cape Town, South Africa. “But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.”