History hidden by splendour

And every now and again, the ceremonial of an event can provide a piece of history. We all know Edward VIII was king for just eleven months which didn't leave much time to do too many kingly things.  But he did open parliament, just the once, in November 1936.  But there was no carriage for this king.  The weather was too bad and he chose to go by car instead.  By then he was in the midst of the crisis that would cause his abdication just over a month later.  Wallis Simpson had just been granted a decree nisi from Ernest Simpson and only awaited the formal ending of her marriage.  Edward was in talks with the British Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, to find a way to marry Mrs Simpson and keep the throne.  It's believed that the suggestion of a morganatic marriage, allowing the couple to wed but stopping Mrs Simpson being queen, was still on the table but within weeks that would be rejected.  There is nothing to tell us in this photograph of Edward whether he realized that his dreams of marriage to Wallis were to lead to the end of his reign within weeks or whether this is a king who still believed he could keep his crown and the woman he loved.  At this moment in time, captured forever in sepia tones, we see a king and an emperor about to command his parliament.  But behind the splendor, was the turmoil of one of the most famous moments in British royal history.

 

King Edward VIII arriving at Westminster on the only occasion he opened parliament