Queen Mother ‘Prayed’ For Edward VIII To ‘See Reason,’ Not ‘Abandon’ His People

The Queen Mother previously prayed to God nonstop for Edward VIII to not abdicate because she didn’t want her husband, King George VI, to become king.

In 1936, the mom of two wrote a letter to her mother-in-law, Queen Mary, sharing her thoughts about Edward VIII’s impending abdication. At that time, Edward VIII considered giving up his place in the monarchy to be with the woman that he loved.

“Every day I pray to God that he will see reason and not abandon his people,” the Queen Mother wrote.

However, her prayers seemingly fell on deaf ears because Edward VIII eventually decided to give up the throne. In the documentary “The Royal House of Windsor,” royal historian Alastair Bruce said that King George VI also became aware of his fate even before his older brother abdicated.

“And it must have dawned on Bertie, with the most inexorable sense of horror that the buck was going to stop with him. And we couldn’t persuade his older brother to stay on and do the duty which, after all, his generation had all been expected to do in World War I for King and country… They had laid aside everything,” he said.

Meanwhile, Edward VIII served as the King of the United Kingdom for a few months. And while he was the head of the monarchy, he vacationed in the Mediterranean with Simpson.

Photos of the couple made headlines since Simpson was a divorcee. Since then, Edward VIII’s rating among royal fans toppled down. Shortly after the incident, Edward VIII submitted his abdication letter in Windsor.

The Queen Mother’s husband didn’t want the responsibility of taking over the monarchy. After news broke that his older brother abdicated, King George VI went to Marlborough House to be with his mother and that is where he broke down.

As such, Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t really supposed to be the head of the monarchy today if Edward VIII didn’t abdicate.