Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

Chapter Four Accession and abdication of Edward VIII

On 20 January 1936, King George V died and Albert's brother, Edward, Prince of Wales, became King Edward VIII. George had expressed private reservations about his successor, saying, "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne."[42]

Just months into his reign, Edward forced a constitutional crisis by insisting on marrying the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Although legally Edward could have married Simpson, as King he was also head of the Church of England, which at that time did not allow divorced people to remarry. Edward's ministers believed that the people would never accept Simpson as Queen and advised against the marriage. As a constitutional monarch, Edward was obliged to accept ministerial advice.[43] Rather than abandon his plans to marry Simpson, he chose to abdicate in favour of Albert,[44] who reluctantly became King in his place on 11 December 1936 under the regnal name of George VI. George VI and Elizabeth were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor and Empress of India on 12 May 1937, the date already nominated for the coronation of Edward VIII. Elizabeth's crown was made of platinum and was set with the Koh-i-Noor diamond.[45]

Edward and Simpson married and became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, but while Edward was a Royal Highness, George VI withheld the style from the Duchess, a decision that Elizabeth supported.[46] Elizabeth was later quoted as referring to the Duchess as "that woman",[47] and the Duchess referred to Elizabeth as "Cookie", because of her supposed resemblance to a fat Scots cook.[6] Claims that Elizabeth remained embittered towards the Duchess were denied by her close friends; the Duke of Grafton wrote that she "never said anything nasty about the Duchess of Windsor, except to say she really hadn't got a clue what she was dealing with."[48]