"... that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love."
Abdication of a King After being proclaimed king in 1936, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland announced his intention to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American divorcee. Because the British and Commonwealth governments strongly opposed the marriage, Edward abdicated on December 11, 1936. He and Simpson were married in France on June 3, 1937.
