Wallis Simpson made Queen Elizabeth ruler of the British Empire for 7 decades

Do you know Wallis Simpson? She is the woman who made Queen Elizabeth ruler of the British Empire for 7 decades. Let us find out all you need to know about her.

The news that shook the foundation of the world Thursday 8th September 2022 has been the passing of the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II. In a tweet by the verified account of the Royal Family states “The queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The king and the queen consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

Tears are flowing and messages of condolences have come in from all parts of the world.

Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the second longest recorded of any sovereign country spanning from 1952. She was until her death head of state of the Unite Kingdom (UK) and the leader of 52 Commonwealth states from Africa, Asia Europe and the Pacific. The member states are home to a total of over 2.4 billion people.

Queen Elizabeth II, also known as Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, was born on 21st April 1926 to King George VI and Elizabeth Bowers-Lyon in Mayfair, London as the first child. She succeeded her father who was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11th December 1936 until his death in 1952 at the age of 56 years. King Edward was concurrently the last Emperor of India until August 1947, when the British Raj was dissolved.

Who is Wallis Simpson, and how did she contribute to making Queen Elizabeth the ruler of the United Kingdom?

Wallis Simpson was an American socialite and wife of the Duke of Windsor the former king Emperor Edward VIII. Wallis grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father died shortly after her birth, and she and her widowed mother were partly supported by their wealthier relatives. Her first marriage, to United States Navy officer Win Spencer, was punctuated by periods of separation and eventually ended in divorce. In 1931, during her second marriage, to Ernest Simpson, she met Edward, the then Prince of Wales. Five years later, after Edward’s accession as King of the United Kingdom, Wallis divorced her second husband to marry Edward.

READ: 10 facts about Queen Elizabeth II you didn’t know

Edward VIII became king of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20th January 1936 until his abdication in December of the same year.

It was a constitutional violation for a British monarch to marry a divorcee whilst the ex-spouse was still alive but King Edward decided to marry this woman, Wallis Simpson rather than carry on with being emperor of the British empire so he wrote an instrument of abdication stating “I, Edward the Eight, 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 given to this instrument of abdication immediately. In token whereof I have hereunto set My hand this tenth day of December, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, in the presence of the witnesses whose signatures are subscribed”

 

By this instrument of abdication, the power of ascension to the throne was then transferred from Edward VIII to Albert Frederick Arthur George (King George VI) his younger brother. Since Elizabeth had no brothers but only a younger sister by name princess Margaret, she became heir presumptive. If her (Queen Elizabeth II) parents had subsequently borne a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession which was determined by male-preference primogeniture at that time.

King George VI health declined during 1951 and Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip, her husband set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6th February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of George VI and Elizabeth consequent ascension to the throne with immediate effect. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She goes to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name; thus, she was called Elizabeth II, which offended many Scots, as she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland.

Technically, had it not been the “things we do for love” game that King Edward VIII played by choosing to marry a two times divorcee, as the woman had been divorced twice over being the King of the UK and its overseas territories, George wouldn’t have been king in the first place for Elizabeth to succeed him as ruler of the powerful British empire. May her soul rest in peace.

Would you have taken the path King Edward took if you were in his shoes or what is the craziest thing you have done or will do for love?