Duke of Windsor

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This article is about peerage title. For the rock group, see Dukes of Windsor .

The peerage title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for The Prince Edward, formerly King of the United Kingdom, as well as each of the other Commonwealth realms. Edward had abdicated on 11 December 1936 so that he could marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, who became the Duchess of Windsor. At the time of the abdication there was much controversy as to what the ex-King should be referred to - other possibilities were the Dukedoms of Cambridge or Connaught (although neither was likely because the Marquessate of Cambridge and the Dukedom of Connaught were both extant at the time). One theory is that it was Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's idea to give him the title Duke of Windsor. Another is that it was the new King George VI who brought up the idea of a title just after the abdication instrument was signed, and suggested using "the family name" (recounted in the Duke's memoir A King's Story).

At his Accession Council, King George VI announced, in the allocution usually given by the monarch just before taking the oath relating to the security of the Church of Scotland, that he would create his brother Duke of Windsor, and that he wished him to be known as His Royal Highness the Duke of Windsor. That declaration is recorded in the Royal Gazette. Nevertheless, several months passed before Letters Patent formally granting the title were issued.

As the royal arms go hand-in-hand with the crown, the undifferenced arms passed to George VI and the Duke of Windsor was left in the unusual position of an eldest son needing to difference his arms, which was done by means of a label argent of three points, bearing on the middle point a royal crown or.

The dukedom takes its name from the town where the famous Windsor Castle is situated - having been the residence of English monarchs for over a thousand years the name emulated stability, tradition and the very essence of being British (Windsor was also the Royal Family's surname for much the same reasons). On the death of the duke in 1972 this title became extinct.