This Day In History

1937, June 3rd
Duke of Windsor weds

In France, the duke of Windsor–formerly King Edward VIII of Great Britain and Northern Ireland–marries Wallis Warfield, the American divorcee for whom he abdicated the British throne in December 1936.

Edward, born in 1896, was the eldest son of King George V, who became the British sovereign in 1910. He served as a staff officer during World War I and in the 1920s made extensive goodwill trips abroad as Prince of Wales, a title bestowed on male heirs to the British throne. During the Depression, he helped organize work programs for the nation’s unemployed and was highly regarded by the public in the years leading up to his father’s death.