Edward VIII was born during the last few years of Queen Victoria’s reign in England. His father, George V, succeeded the throne in 1910 when Edward was sixteen years old and was titled Prince of Wales. During his time as Duke, he toured in different countries to advertise the monarch to the people. It was easy for him to maintain good connections with different regions because he was seen as a casual and indulgent person. But his character became an issue with his father including the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, as he began entering into numerous relationships in addition to moving towards a more relaxed lifestyle over his duties and responsibilities as the principal successor to the throne. The controversy began when Edward met Wallis who at the time was in her second marriage to Ernest Simpson. It was not until five years later after meeting Edward, that Wallis filed for divorce and became final about nine months into his accession in 1936. The affair between King Edward and Wallis began before such divorce was final. His dedication to her began to interfere with his royal duties which troubled his family as well as the government.
When King Edward communicated to Prime Minister Baldwin about his intentions to marry Wallis, it was immediately opposed because she had been married twice already and this was not acceptable to the Church of England. As King, he is also head of the church which means he has a responsibility to uphold the doctrine. There was also the issue that she would not hold the title of queen because of her past marriages. There were a few options presented towards Edward for example, they would have allowed them through legislation to marry but she would not get a queen title, nor would their children have a line to the throne, or he should abdicate. Ultimately, it was absolute that marrying Wallis would pose a problem to his profile as King and ties to parliament because going against their advice meant, at the time, he was excessively using his powers as King. While love was mainly the driving force to Kind Edward’s abdication on December 10th, 1936, there was another factor at play like friendly connections to the Nazi Party. So, in less than a year of succeeding the throne, Edward has abdicated and moved to France with Wallis. He is later titled Duke of Windsor and Wallis becomes Duchess of Windsor after marrying him.
The abdication crisis brings to light the continuing influence of the Church of England towards the ruling empire and the modern shift resulting from this crisis into evolving religious views for the monarchy. While Edward was not able to marry Wallis and hold his title, Prince Charles was able to marry Camila and ascend to the throne only there are still debates on whether Camila will receive the title as queen consort.
Sources: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/King-Edward-VIII/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII#Prince_of_Wales
https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1119&context=pell_theses
http://ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1898839