Duke of Windsor

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Image:Edward-viii-sm.jpg The peerage title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for The Prince Edward, formerly King of the United Kingdom. Edward had abdicated the previous year so that he could marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, who became the Duchess of Windsor. At the time of the abdication there was much controversy as to what the ex-King should be referred to - other possibilities were the Dukedoms of Cambridge or Connaught (although neither was likely because the Marquessate of Cambridge and the Dukedom of Connaught were both extant at the time). One theory is that it was Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's idea to give him the title Duke of Windsor. Another is that it was the new King George VI who brought up the idea of a title just after the abdication instrument was signed, and suggested using "the family name" (recounted in the Duke's memoir "A King's Story"). The dukedom takes its name from the town where the famous Windsor Castle is situated - having been the residence of English monarchs for over a thousand years the name emulated stability, tradition and the very essence of being British (Windsor was also the Royal Family's surname for much the same reasons). On the death of the duke in 1972 this title became extinct.

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See also

• Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor