Canada and the entire British Empire were in collective shock on this date in 1936 with the announcement that King Edward VIII would be abdicating. The King, who had traveled across Canada while Prince of Wales in 1919, was to turn over the Throne to his brother Bertie, who became King George VI, two days later. When it became clear that the British government and Royal officials, joined by Dominion leaders like our own Mackenzie King, would not approve the King marrying American divorcee Wallis Simpson, Edward chose love over duty.
You can listen to his abdication radio broadcast at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqosQROqzFY
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.