On this day 89 years ago, on December 11, 1936 (October 28, 1936 lunar calendar), King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom announced his abdication. Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom gave a farewell radio speech on December 11, 1936, announcing his official abdication and becoming the Duke of Windsor. He was the first king in British history to voluntarily abdicate. On the 12th, Edward VIII's younger brother George VI succeeded to the throne. Mrs. Simpson, whose real name was Wallis Warfield, was born in Pennsylvania in June 1896. She lost her father five months later, and her mother later remarried. Little Wallis was raised by a wealthy uncle. At the age of 20, she married a lieutenant in the US Naval Air Corps. Unfortunately, the young officer loved the sea more than his wife. The strong and educated Wallis was unbearable and ended her first marriage in 1927. The following year, she married a wealthy American businessperson who became a British citizen, Simpson, and moved to London. In November 1930, she met the Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince of England, for the first time in London's high society. Wallis was now middle-aged and still as slender as a girl, but it was not accurate to call her "beauty". In terms of appearance, she was not as good as some of the beauties who chased the crown prince at that time, but she had experienced a cold world, was reasonable, cheerful and unrestrained, and her demeanor and conversation made the crown prince fall in love with Wallis. Influenced by the "modernist" trend of thought, the crown prince and Wallis were in love, and they met late, so they passed away. In February 1936, George V died and the crown prince succeeded Edward VIII. Edward VIII's advisors had urged him to put the kingship first and end his dealings with Mrs. Simpson, but his answer was: "The highest duty I know now is to consider whether I am worthy of being Wallis's husband, and the happiness I aspire to is to be with her forever." After the court agreed to the Simpsons' divorce, the king officially informed Prime Minister Baldwin in November that he was going to marry Wallis. The prime minister said it was "ridiculous" to make a twice divorced American commoner queen, and the king suggested another trial. The king stepped back and proposed a "noble marriage", only to marry Wallis as a spouse and not to make her a queen, without children. Baldwin said: "The law of England does not know what a'marriage of noble relatives' is." Edward VIII, who was very much in love with Wallis, said that he would rather abdicate if the marriage did not happen. On December 3, the king's affair finally broke out in England, and public opinion was in an uproar. The royal family, the cabinet and the parliament condemned in unison. Prime Minister Baldwin announced that the king would either break up with Mrs. Simpson or marry her and abdicate, or the cabinet would resign. Attlee, the leader of the Labour Party as the leader of the parliamentary opposition party, also supported the government's position. At this juncture of political turmoil, Wallis quietly left, from abroad to believe in Edward VIII, expressing her willingness to make self-sacrifice and persuading the king to cut off his love. The king, however, put fidelity and love above all else, saying that "even if I were alone with you, it would please me more than a crown, a scepter, and a throne". On December 11, Edward VIII, who had made up his mind, gave a farewell broadcast to the nation, saying: "My friends, I feel it impossible to carry on the heavy burden I bear without the help and support of the woman I love." The next day, he lost his place to his brother George and left sadly. In this way, the former king of England, who had only reigned for 10 months and had not yet had time to hold the coronation, lived in France as the Duke of Windsor. On June 3, 1937, the lovers finally got married and lived together, living a secluded life that was emotionally satisfied, materially wealthy, but never relieved of mental pressure.