1936 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1936 in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Events

January 20- King George V dies at Sandringham House, Norfolk. His eldest son, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales succeeds as King Edward VIII.
January 21- King Edward VIII breaks royal protocol by watching the proclamation of his own accession to the throne from a window of St. James's Palace, in the company of the still-married Wallis Simpson
May 27 - The RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York
July 16 – George McMahon tries to shoot King Edward VIII during the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
November 2 - BBC launch world's first regular (then) high definition television service.
November 30 - The Crystal Palace is destroyed in a fire

The Instrument of Abdication

December 10- Abdication crisis- The King signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere in the presence of his three brothers, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.
December 11-
- Parliament passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, providing the legislative authority for the King to abdicate
- The King performs his last act as sovereign by giving royal assent to the Act
- Prince Albert, Duke of York becomes King, ruling as King George VI
- The abdicated King Edward VIII, now HRH The Prince Edward, makes a broadcast to the nation explaining his decision to abdicate. He leaves the country for Austria