View source for Duke of Windsor

{{Short description|Title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}
{{For|the Duke of Windsor, only holder of the title|Edward VIII}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox nobility title
| name              = Dukedom of Windsor
| image             = [[File:Coat of Arms of Edward, Duke of Windsor.svg|180px]]
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = [[Edward VIII#Arms|Arms of the Duke of Windsor]]
| creation_date     = 8 March 1937
| creation          = First
| monarch           = [[George VI]]
| peerage           = [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
| baronetage        = 
| first_holder      = [[Edward VIII|Prince Edward]]
| last_holder       =  [[Edward VIII|Prince Edward]]
| present_holder    =
| heir_apparent     = 
| heir_presumptive  = 
| remainder_to      = the 1st Duke's [[heirs male]] [[heirs of the body|of the body]] lawfully begotten
| subsidiary_titles = None
| status            = Extinct
| extinction_date   =
| motto             = 
| footnotes         = 
}}

'''Duke of Windsor''' was a title in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch [[Edward VIII]], following his [[Abdication of Edward VIII|abdication]] on 11 December 1936. The [[Duchy|dukedom]] takes its name from [[Windsor, Berkshire|the town]] where [[Windsor Castle]], a residence of [[List of English monarchs|English monarchs]] since the time of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], following the [[Norman Conquest]], is situated. [[House of Windsor|Windsor]] has been the house name of the [[British royal family|royal family]] since 1917.

==History==
King Edward VIII abdicated on 11 December 1936, so that he could marry the American [[Divorce|divorcée]] [[Wallis Simpson]]. At the time of the abdication, there was controversy as to how the former King should be titled. The new monarch, [[George VI|King George VI]], apparently brought up the idea of a title just after the abdication instrument was signed, and suggested using "the [[Surname|family name]]".<ref>This version is recounted in the Duke's [[memoir]] ''A King's Story''</ref> Neither the Instrument of Abdication signed by Edward VIII on 10 December 1936 nor its enabling legislation, [[His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936]], indicated whether the king was renouncing the privileges of [[Royal family|royal birth]] as well as relinquishing the throne.<ref>{{cite web|title=His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw8and1Geo6/1/3/introduction|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|accessdate=31 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=His Majesty's Declaration Of Abdication Bill|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1936/dec/12/his-majestys-declaration-of-abdication|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=12 December 1936|access-date=31 March 2015}}</ref> On 12 December 1936, at the Accession Council of the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council of the United Kingdom]], George VI announced he would make his brother the "Duke of Windsor" with the style of ''[[Royal Highness]]''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34349|page=8111|date=12 December 1936}}</ref> That declaration is recorded in the ''[[The London Gazette|London Gazette]]''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34350|page=8115|date=15 December 1936}}</ref> The Dukedom was formalised by Letters Patent on 8 March 1937. Edward, as a [[Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom|royal duke]], could neither stand for election to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] nor speak on political subjects in the [[House of Lords]].<ref>[[Clive Wigram, 1st Baron Wigram|Clive Wigram]]'s conversation with Sir [[Claud Schuster]], Clerk to the Crown and Permanent Secretary to the [[Lord Chancellor]] quoted in Bradford, p. 201</ref> On 3 June 1937, Edward married Simpson, who upon their marriage became the Duchess of Windsor. Following his abdication, Edward and Wallis lived in exile in Paris, France, except while he was [[List of governors of the Bahamas|Governor of the Bahamas]]. When Germany invaded France in May 1940, the duke and duchess moved to Spain and then Portugal until August when they set sail for the Bahamas. After the war, they became members of [[café society]] often splitting their time between Paris and the United States, which they visited frequently. During their stays in New York, they were fond of the [[Waldorf Astoria New York|Waldorf Astoria Hotel]]. The Duke suffered from ill health in his later years and died of cancer on 28 May 1972 in Paris. As the Duke died without issue, the title became extinct upon his death. [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] banned the title from being recreated during her reign.<ref>{{cite news |first=Catherine |last=Mackinley |url=https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/who-duke-windsor-nobody-inherit-25007757 |title=Who was the Duke of Windsor and why did nobody inherit the title? |work=Berkshire Live |date=2022-09-14 |accessdate=2022-10-11}}</ref>

{{Nobility table header|name=Duke}}
| '''[[Edward VIII|Prince Edward]]'''<br />[[House of Windsor]]<br />1937–1972
| [[File:The Duke of Windsor (1945).jpg|100px|Prince Edward]]
| 23 June 1894<br />[[White Lodge, Richmond Park|White Lodge]], [[London Borough of Richmond upon Thames|Richmond]]<br />son of [[George V|King George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]]
| [[Wallis Simpson]]<br />3 June 1937<br />
| 28 May 1972<br />[[Villa Windsor]], [[Paris]]<br />aged 77
|-
|-
| colspan=5|''Edward had no children and all his titles became extinct on his death.''
|}

==Royal arms==
As the [[Coat of arms of the United Kingdom|royal arms]] go hand-in-hand with the crown, the undifferentiated royal arms passed to George VI. It was and is common [[Heraldry|heraldic]] practice for the eldest son to differentiate his [[Coat of arms|arms]] in his father's lifetime, but the Duke of Windsor was left in the unusual position of the eldest son needing to [[Cadency|difference]] his arms after his father's death. This was done by means of a label argent of three points, bearing on the middle point an [[imperial crown]] proper.<ref>{{Cite web
 |last        = Prothero
 |first       = David
 |title       = Flags of the Royal Family, United Kingdom
 |date        = 2002-09-24
 |url         = http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-rooth.html
 |access-date  = 2010-04-03
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100331022540/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-rooth.html
 |archive-date = 31 March 2010
 |df          = dmy
}}</ref>

==Family tree==
{{Royal dukes family tree}}

==See also==
* [[Earl of Plymouth|Baron Windsor]]
* [[Marquess of Bute|Earl of Windsor]]
* [[Viscount Windsor]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further references==
Lownie, Andrew 2021. ''The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor''. Blink.

{{British royal titles}}
{{Extinct British dukedoms}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor}}
[[Category:Extinct dukedoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1937|Duke of Windsor]]
[[Category:Edward VIII]]
[[Category:Abdication of Edward VIII]]
[[Category:1937 establishments in the United Kingdom|Duke of Windsor]]
[[Category:1972 disestablishments in the United Kingdom|Duke of Windsor]]