Claim: Edward VIII's reign began in 1936.

Edward VIII -LRB- Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David ; 23 June 1894 -- 28 May 1972 -RRB- was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire , and Emperor of India , from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December the same year .   Edward was the eldest son of George V and Mary of Teck . He was named Prince of Wales on his sixteenth birthday , nine weeks after his father succeeded as king . As a young man , he served in the British Army during the First World War and undertook several overseas tours on behalf of his father .   Edward became king on his father 's death in early 1936 . However , he showed impatience with court protocol , and caused concern among politicians by his apparent disregard for established constitutional conventions . Only months into his reign , he caused a constitutional crisis by proposing marriage to Wallis Simpson , an American who had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second . The prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions opposed the marriage , arguing that a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands was politically and socially unacceptable as a prospective queen consort . Additionally , such a marriage would have conflicted with Edward 's status as the titular head of the Church of England , which at the time disapproved of remarriage after divorce if a former spouse was still alive . Edward knew that the British government , led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin , would resign if the marriage went ahead , which could have forced a general election and would ruin his status as a politically neutral constitutional monarch . When it became apparent that he could not marry Wallis and remain on the throne , Edward abdicated . He was succeeded by his younger brother , George VI . With a reign of 326 days , Edward is one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British history .   After his abdication , he was created Duke of Windsor . He married Wallis in France on 3 June 1937 , after her second divorce became final . Later that year , the couple toured Germany . During the Second World War , he was at first stationed with the British Military Mission to France but , after private accusations that he held Nazi sympathies , he was appointed Governor of the Bahamas . After the war , Edward spent the rest of his life in retirement in France .