Royal baby mania in the 19th century

Royal baby obsession isn't a modern thing. On this day, in 1894, the then Duchess of York gave birth to her first child - a son.  The baby's arrival was highly anticipated and much talked about and his birth was broadcast around the world. For it was a major event in many countries. The birth of his baby cemented the line of succession for three generations, just like the arrival of George and Charlotte of Cambridge has in the 21st century. This baby was a great guarantee for 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

On this day in 1894 he had a glittering future lined up before him. The baby who was born at White Lodge, Richmond was instantly third in line to the British throne and titled His Highness Prince Edward of York. Although he wouldn't become His Royal Highness until 1898, his royal future was very much assured. This little boy was expected to grow up to be King of England, of Scotland, of Wales, of Ireland, Emperor of India and ruler of an empire that covered half the world and on which, it was said, the sun never set. It was a momentous, glittering, difficult legacy and described in words that inspired awe and showed power and prestige. And yet when this role came to him he famously gave it all away. By the time Victoria's legacy had passed to Edward he, like that great grandmother whose Empire he inherited, had fallen desperately in love. But his choice of consort, Wallis Simpson, was rejected and so he, in turn, rejected his destiny. He could not reign 'without the woman I love' - months after celebrating his 42nd birthday, Edward wrote his name forever in the history books by abdicating his crown.

Still a king, still a secret - Edward and Wallis in the summer of 1936 before he had decided to give up his throne to marry her

The name he left posterity was the Duke of Windsor - from 1937 until his death in 1972 that was his title. Of all those he held, it was the one he retained the longest. His life turned from royal pomp and ceremony into the glamour of another type of fame as he and his duchess became celebrities, seen at glittering parties and their tale told in glossy magazines. It was a far cry from the life mapped out for him on June 23rd 1894 and the days afterwards when he lay in the arms of Victoria for an historic photo of four royal generations together.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor with Richard Nixon in 1970

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.