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Pre Queen Elizabeth II
Our present Queen, Elizabeth II, is still quite healthy and has no intentions of abdicating. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2007; their marriage is the longest of any British monarch. The Queen's reign is longer than those of her four immediate predecessors combined (Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, and George VI). She is the longest-lived and third-longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, and the second-longest-serving current head of state (after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand). She does not intend to abdicate, though the proportion of public duties performed by Prince Charles may increase as Elizabeth reduces her commitments. Today in 2011 she is still going strong as the images of her, as seen by millions , at the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton testify.
This page shows the Royalty memorabilia we have available from the period before Queen Elizabeth II became the reigning monarch of Britain.
These items are from the Victorian era and the short reigns of the Kings,
Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, and George VI.
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KING GEORGE VI and EDWARD VIII
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George) ; 1895 – 1952 was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India (until 14 August 1947) and the first Head of the Commonwealth.
As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He served in the Royal Navy during World War I, and after the war took on the usual round of public engagements. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth (who succeeded him as Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret.
George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII on the death of their father in 1936. However, less than a year later, Edward revealed his desire to marry the American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that, for political and religious reasons, he would not be able to remain king if he married Simpson, who was divorced from her first husband and divorcing her second. Therefore Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George VI ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.
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