The birth of a great royal hope

On this day, in 1894, the then Duchess of York gave birth to her first child - a son.  The baby was born at White Lodge in Richmond Park, cementing the line of succession - his great grandmother, Victoria, now saw three generations of princes lined up to take the crown she had worn for 57 years well into the 20th century.  Less than eighty years earlier, it had been all but bereft of heirs but the little girl who became the only option had seemingly now ensured that a king would sit on the throne of England for decades to come.  And yet that great hope faded to nothing and left the crown of Victoria wobbling precariously.  Today, June 23, is the anniversary of the birth of Edward VIII.

Edward VIII was born on June 23rd 1894, cementing the line of succession for generations to come

Quite how Edward VIII went from the hope to the despair of the British Monarchy has been analysed many times.  The great queen who held him in her arms for a famous photo just days after his birth would no doubt have understood on a personal level his passionate love for one person who he could not bear to leave.  But the lovestruck teenager who had married her cousin and settled into a blissfully happy marriage had become, in widowhood, an astute royal wedding planner who had matched up her children and grandchildren with titled cousins around Europe until her royal dynasty spread across the continent.  Perhaps the old queen had even started scouring the family trees of Europe for a potential consort - she had chosen his mother and grandmother, after all, as queens in waiting.  But the choice of a wife to help continue the dynasty would be Edward's downfall.

Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David was christened on July 16th 1894

In some ways, Victoria's determination to marry her relatives well and to secure her dynasty - perhaps born out of the uncertainty that surrounded it at the time of her own arrival - meant that love had been put even further off the regal marriage agenda than before.  Four decades later, it was still expected that Edward would marry a princess of the blood royal and secure the crown even further. His romance with divorcee Wallis Simpson is one of history's most fascinating stories - but it meant that the little boy born at White Lodge on June 23rd 1894 would lose the throne to which he was born.  And the hope that came with his arrival would turn to royal despair.