History of Monarchy in Australia - Abdication of Edward VIII

Abdication of Edward VIII

On 10 December 1936 Edward VIII abdicated after it became clear that the British and Dominion governments would not accept his intended marriage to American divorcee and commoner, Wallis Simpson. The Statute of Westminster required the Dominion governments be consulted on matters relating to the succession. The Dominions Office in London proposed three solutions to the crisis to the governments of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Canada:

• marriage of the King to Simpson; Simpson would become Queen
• a morganatic marriage (Simpson would not have the title or honours of a queen, and any issue would have no rights of succession)
• abdication of the King.

Australia, South Africa and Canada chose abdication. India and New Zealand had no firm view. According to Harold Laski, writing in the New York Times,

This issue is independent of the personality of the King. It is independent of the personality of the Prime Minister. It does not touch on the wisdom or unwisdom of the marriage the King has proposed. It is not concerned with the pressure, whether of the churches or the aristocracy, that is hostile to this marriage. It is the principle that out of this issue no precedent must be created that makes the Royal authority once more a source of independent political power in the State.

According to this view, the constitutional independence of the Dominions was at stake. This event demonstrated the legal independence of the Dominion monarchies established by the Statute of Westminster.