Duke of Windsor

{{For|the Duke of Windsor, only holder of the title|Edward VIII}}

{{Infobox nobility title

| name = Dukedom of Windsor

| image = 180px

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Arms of the Duke of Windsor

| creation_date = 8 March 1937

| creation = First

| monarch = George VI

| peerage = Peerage of the United Kingdom

| baronetage =

| first_holder = Prince Edward

| last_holder = Prince Edward

| present_holder =

| heir_apparent =

| heir_presumptive =

| remainder_to = the 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten

| subsidiary_titles = None

| status = Extinct

| extinction_date =

| motto =

| footnotes =

}}

Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his abdication on 11 December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the time of Henry I, following the Norman Conquest, is situated. Windsor has been the house name of the royal family since 1917.

History

King Edward VIII abdicated on 11 December 1936, so that he could marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. At the time of the abdication, there was controversy as to how the former King should be titled. The new monarch, King George VI, apparently brought up the idea of a title just after the abdication instrument was signed, and suggested using "the family name".This version is recounted in the Duke's memoir A King's Story Neither the Instrument of Abdication signed by Edward VIII on 10 December 1936 nor its enabling legislation, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, indicated whether the king was renouncing the privileges of royal birth as well as relinquishing the throne.{{cite web|title=His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw8and1Geo6/1/3/introduction|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|accessdate=31 March 2015}}{{cite web|title=His Majesty's Declaration Of Abdication Bill|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1936/dec/12/his-majestys-declaration-of-abdication|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|date=12 December 1936|access-date=31 March 2015}} On 12 December 1936, at the Accession Council of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, George VI announced he would make his brother the "Duke of Windsor" with the style of Royal Highness.{{London Gazette|issue=34349|page=8111|date=12 December 1936}} That declaration is recorded in the London Gazette.{{London Gazette|issue=34350|page=8115|date=15 December 1936}} The Dukedom was formalised by Letters Patent on 8 March 1937. Edward, as a royal duke, could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords.Clive Wigram's conversation with Sir Claud Schuster, Clerk to the Crown and Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor quoted in Bradford, p. 201 On 3 June 1937, Edward married Simpson, who upon their marriage became the Duchess of Windsor. Following his abdication, Edward and Wallis lived in exile in Paris, France, except while he was Governor of the Bahamas. When Germany invaded France in May 1940, the duke and duchess moved to Spain and then Portugal until August when they set sail for the Bahamas. After the war, they became members of café society often splitting their time between Paris and the United States, which they visited frequently. During their stays in New York, they were fond of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The Duke suffered from ill health in his later years and died of cancer on 28 May 1972 in Paris. As the Duke died without issue, the title became extinct upon his death. Queen Elizabeth II banned the title from being recreated during her reign.{{cite news |first=Catherine |last=Mackinley |url=https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/who-duke-windsor-nobody-inherit-25007757 |title=Who was the Duke of Windsor and why did nobody inherit the title? |work=Berkshire Live |date=2022-09-14 |accessdate=2022-10-11}}

| Prince Edward
House of Windsor
1937–1972

| File:The Duke of Windsor (1945).jpg

| 23 June 1894
White Lodge, Richmond
son of King George V and Queen Mary

| Wallis Simpson
3 June 1937

| 28 May 1972
Villa Windsor, Paris
aged 77

| colspan=5|Edward had no children and all his titles became extinct on his death.

Royal arms

As the royal arms go hand-in-hand with the crown, the undifferentiated royal arms passed to George VI. It was and is common heraldic practice for the eldest son to differentiate his arms in his father's lifetime, but the Duke of Windsor was left in the unusual position of the eldest son needing to difference his arms after his father's death. This was done by means of a label argent of three points, bearing on the middle point an imperial crown proper.{{Cite web

|last = Prothero

|first = David

|title = Flags of the Royal Family, United Kingdom

|date = 2002-09-24

|url = http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-rooth.html

|access-date = 2010-04-03

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100331022540/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-rooth.html

|archive-date = 31 March 2010

|df = dmy

}}