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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Rebecca Koncienzcy

Why Charles can be crowned king even though he is divorced

There is no law in the UK that prohibits a person from being crowned king or queen if they have been divorced.

This may surprise some who know their history (or have watched The Crown) as people will point to Edward VIII who was forced to abdicate to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. But this was largely due to societal and political pressure of the time.

In November of 1936, Edward VIII told the then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin of his plans to marry Wallis Simpson once she was divorced from her shipbroker husband Ernest Simpson - she had already divorced US Navy pilot Earl Spencer Jr. in 1927 alleging that he was an abusive alcoholic.

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The Prime Minister told Edward VIII the public would find the marriage to Simpson morally unacceptable, a reflection of societal attitudes to divorce at the time because remarriage after divorce was prohibited by the Church of England. There was some talk of Edward taking on the role of king without Wallis becoming Queen Consort and her children would not inherit the throne, which was said to be supported by Winston Churchill.

But it was rejected by the British Cabinet, with threats to resign if he did go ahead with the marriage, and the Commonwealth Prime Ministers made it clear they also rejected the prospect of a King being married to a divorcée. Faced with three options; not marry, marry regardless against the wishes of politicians, or abdicate.

Edward chose his bride over the crown and abdicated in December 1936. The couple were married the following year and remained together till his death in 1972 at the age of 77. Wallis died in 1986 aged 89.

Not only is Charles married to a divorcée, Camilla Parker Bowles, but he is also a divorcee himself, having been married to Diana Spencer from 1981 to 1996. Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997 at the age of 36.

Attitudes around divorce have changed massively since the 1930s and it is no longer seen as taboo. Since there is no law against a divorcee taking the throne, the right to divorce is included in the Human Rights Act 1998, and the relaxation of the Church of England's stance on divorce in 2002, Charles can be crowned king and Camila as Queen.

Charles and Camila married in a civil ceremony, not a religious one, in 2005.

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