King Edwards of England: why they were not crowned – Entertainment – Culture

They say that the habit makes the monk… and the king, his crown. But in the history of British royalty not all monarchs had the opportunity to wear the quintessential emblem of their reign on their heads.

Since the year 1066, about 39 monarchs have been crowned Kings or Queens of England.all in the traditional and very picturesque Westminster Abbey.

In that year, William I, better known as William the Conqueror, was crowned, who started a tradition that will have its next (and highly anticipated) chapter on May 6, the date of the coronation ceremony of Carlos III after the death of Isabel II. last September 8.

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In general, it is tradition that some time elapses after the death of a king or queen to proceed with the coronation of a successor.

Which has led to the fact that not all the people who have been officially kings of England have had the privilege of seeing the crown on their heads.

One of the best known cases is that of Edward VIII, who after almost a year as British sovereign decided to abdicate in 1936 in favor of his younger brotherr -later known as Jorge VI-, basically for love.

History also knows another king who was never crowned: Edward V, who in 1483 and after spending three months on the British throne at just 12 years old, was deposed and later disappeared (it is presumed that he was assassinated).

His story caused a strong shock in the nation, which even it served as inspiration to William Shakespeare to write his famous work “Ricardo III”.

At BBC Mundo we tell you a little about the history of the two Eduardos who were never crowned.

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The princes in the tower

The fifteenth century saw the United Kingdom plunged into one of the bloodiest conflicts for royal power: the War of the Roses.

Within the innumerable chapters in the confrontation between the houses of Lancaster and York for the throne, a very particular and cruel event occurred almost towards the end: the disappearance of a king and his brother at the hands of their uncle.

The king was Edward V. According to BBC History, he was the eldest son of Edward IV, who had achieved one of the main victories in the War of the Roses and, therefore, had kept the British crown.

Edward IV died in June 1483 and his eldest son was immediately proclaimed king under the name of Edward V.with just 12 years.

England still had not achieved political stability after the long and costly internal conflict.

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Because he was a minor, the uncle of the new king and brother of the recently deceased, the Duke of Gloucester, was appointed as protector of the young sovereign until he came of age.

However, as the British historian Anthony James Pollard points out in his book “The Princes in the Tower”, andThe protector began to have conflicts with the nobles of the court and three months after the accession of Eduardo V decided to carry out a power coup: ordered the arrest of the nobles and took Edward V and his brother -and at that time heir to the throne- Ricardo and locked them up in the famous Tower of London.

Then a plot was hatched that was documented in a parliamentary act on June 26 of that year: the members of Parliament accepted the Duke of Gloucester’s complaint that both Eduardo V and his brother Ricardo were illegitimate children of Eduardo IV, so they had no right to inherit the crownto.

Both Edward V and his brother Richard, then the Duke of York, were never seen alive again and many historians accuse the Duke of Gloucester of having murdered them, although there has never been conclusive evidence or documents to prove it.

Therefore, Edward V could never be crowned. And so far the remains of him have not been identified.

In the same parliamentary act of June 26, 1483, the Duke of Gloucester was proclaimed the new King of England..

It would take the name of Ricardo III.

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Edward VIII, the king in love

Nearly 500 years and dozens of monarchs would have to pass before another king did not have his crown.

On January 20, 1936, at the age of 70, George V, King of England, who had been on the throne for 26 years, died at Sandringham House..

At the same time, his eldest son rose to the highest role in the British monarchy and took the name Edward VIII.

But there was a problem: during the years before his father’s death, the then Prince Edward had had different romances, some with married women.

Thus, was that he fell in love with the American Wallis Simpson, who at the time of making his courtship with the future king official was still legally married with her former husband, Ernest Simpson.

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However, in October 1936, nine months after Edward VIII’s accession to the throne, Wallis obtained a divorce.

The idea was that she could marry the monarch and become Queen of England.

Then the problems started. In his book “Prime Ministers from Balfour to Brown”, historian Robert Pearce indicates that both the prime minister at the time, Stephen Baldwin, and religious leaders recommended that he not marry a woman who had just divorced.

They argued that, as King of England, he was the head of the Anglican Church, whose adherents would not take kindly to their King marrying a recently divorced woman.

Eduardo proposed several alternativesbut none convinced their advisers and religious leaders.

After little more than a month of dialogue and attempts at negotiation, the Edward VIII decided that he would abdicate if he could not marry Simpson. This came to fruition on December 11, 1936.

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He was the first British king to voluntarily abdicate. His brother, Prince George – and father of the future Queen Elizabeth II – ascended the throne.

Edward VIII lost all his noble privilegesalthough he was made Duke of York, but he had to move to another country.

He would die in 1972 at his residence in the south of France, where he lived with his wife Wallis Simpson.

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