Twenty-third (and final) episode of Siggie, presenting her take on the history of the monarchs of England in the context of her favorite topic….herself. King Edward VIII had one of the shortest, yet one of the most dramatic, reigns of any British monarch, as his desire to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson nearly led to a constitutional crisis. He abdicated, turning the crown over to his brother Albert, who became King George VI. Despite his speech impediment, George led England successfully through WWII. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, became one of the longest reigning monarchs in world history, dying in 2022 and leaving the crown to the current Charles III.

King Edward VIII of the House of Windsor. Edward VIII,

was the son of George V and Mary, his great grandmother was Queen Victoria. He

reigned from get this January 20th to December 11

1936. A mere 326 days. He abdicated the throne because of a Constitutional

crisis. He wanted to marry the object of his affection and obsession, Wallace

Simpson, an American double divorcee. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. She and

Edward visited Adolf Hitler and earned the reputation of being Nazi

sympathizers. Old letters written by Wallace Simpson seem to suggest that she

regretted divorcing her husband, Ernest Simpson, to marry the man-child Edward,

who was head over heels infatuated with Wallace and her spitfire personality.

Following his abdication, Edward was known as the Duke of Windsor. Early on,

Edward served in the British army during the first World War. He was actually

quite popular. He was quite the charmer and he dressed well. But later, after

World War I, people were starting to suspect that perhaps he

wasn’t really taking the whole royalty thing seriously. During his reign, he made

it clear that he was not a fan of court protocol and all of the things that were

expected of someone in his position. He and Simpson married in France, a lonely

wedding and I don’t think anybody really showed up from the family. After

World War II, when Edward and Simpson chose the wrong side of History by

visiting Hitler and kind of enjoying Hitler’s company, Edward spent the rest

of his days in France. He and Wallace stayed together.

Edward’s brother took the role of George VI and succeeded

Edward. Apparently, George VI’s wife, the Queen Mother Elizabeth, and Wallace

spent a good amount of their time despising one another. 

King George VI, the son of George V and his wife Mary. George

VI was catapulted onto the throne after his older brother Edward VIII abdicated

to choose the woman he loved, Wallace Simpson, over ruling a country. I don’t

get that but anyway. George VI’s original name was Albert or Bertie. He took the name

George for continuity in the monarchy. He ruled during World War II and was filmed

proudly waving with his family from a balcony at the end of the war to

celebrate the victory of the Allies, Great Britain, the U.S., France and the Soviet

Union over the Axis powers in Germany, Italy and Japan. During the reign of

George VI, the British Empire developed into the Commonwealth of Nations.

George had a stammer, possibly due to the verbal abuse from his daddy, George V, when George VI was a child.

Despite this he managed to speak at the United Nations First

Assembly in 1946 and he also did a lot of radio broadcasts. 

Then there was Queen Elizabeth II, the daughter of George VI.

She was the longest reigning monarch in the history of England as well as the

most traveled, speaking fluid French and doing a lot of charity work. During World

War II, she did a radio broadcast just like her daddy. She did this to the

nation only at the age of 14. Later, she trained as a mechanic and an expert

driver. Her successor is King Charles III, formerly Prince of Wales. First married

to Diana and now to Camilla. That about does it for me and the monarchs of

England. The last thing I will say is that I still want to have power. I still

want to have fame and glory. I’d give my eye teeth to be a royal, if I had eye

teeth. It’s hard to tell since my mouth is always pursed.

(Thanks for reading this brief but hopefully entertaining summary of the English and British Monarchs. And please check out our other blogs, including more history…)