Edward VII (r.1901-1910)

Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on May 6, 1910, Edward VII, King of England (ruled 1901-10), died at the age of 68.

British History Documentaries - The Real Edward VII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qev_DfeupoM


Biographies
1. thoughtco.com/king-edward-vii-biography-4173865
2. spartacus-educational.com/MOedwardVII.htm

Images:
1. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra - Wedding -1863
2. King Edward VII; Queen Victoria; Alexandra of Denmark
3. Edward VII and Queen Alexandra coronation portraits, 1901
4. The Prince of Wales (Edward VII) by John Jabez Edwin Mayall (English, 1813 - 1901) about 1856

1. Background from {[https://www.thoughtco.com/king-edward-vii-biography-4173865]}
Biography of Edward VII, Britain's Peaceful Playboy King
Long-serving heir apparent and successor to Queen Victoria
Edward VII, born Prince Albert Edward (November 9, 1841–May 6, 1910), ruled as king of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India as the successor to his mother, Queen Victoria. Because of his mother’s long reign, he spent most of his life performing only ceremonial duties and living a life of leisure.
As king, Edward presided over an era of great change and progress while attempting to balance tradition and modernity. His knack for diplomacy and quasi-progressive views allowed his era to be one of international calm and some domestic reforms.
Did You Know?
In reference to the famously long reign of his mother, Queen Victoria, Edward joked, “I don't mind praying to the Eternal Father, but I must be the only man in the country afflicted with an eternal mother.”

Early Life: A Royal Childhood
Edward’s parents were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was the second child and first son of the royal couple (preceded by his sister Victoria, born almost a year to the day earlier). Named for his father, Albert, and his mother’s father, Prince Edward, he was known informally as “Bertie” throughout his life.
As the eldest son of the sovereign, Edward was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, as well as receiving the royal titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony from his father. He was created Prince of Wales, the title traditionally bestowed on the eldest son of the monarch, a month after his birth.
Edward was raised from birth to be a monarch. Prince Albert devised his course of study, implemented by a team of tutors. Despite rigorous attention, Edward was a mediocre student at best. He did, however, attain better academic results while in college.

Playboy Prince
From an early age, observers noted Edward’s gift for charming people. As he grew into adulthood, that talent manifested in several ways, most notably in his reputation as quite a playboy. Much to the dismay of his parents, he openly had an affair with an actress during his time in the military – and this was just the first of many.
It wasn’t for lack of legitimate romantic prospects. In 1861, Victoria and Albert sent Edward abroad in order to set up a meeting between him and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, with whom they wanted to arrange a marriage. Edward and Alexandra got along fairly well, and they married in March 1863. Their first child, Albert Victor, was born ten months later, followed by five more siblings, including the future George V.
Edward and Alexandra established themselves as socialites, and Edward openly carried on affairs throughout his life. His mistresses included actresses, singers, and aristocrats – famously including the mother of Winston Churchill. For the most part, Alexandra knew and looked the other way, and Edward tried to be relatively discreet and private. In 1869, however, a member of Parliament threatened to name him as a co-respondent in a divorce.

The Active Heir Apparent
Because of his mother’s famously long reign, Edward spent most of his life as an heir, not a monarch (modern commentators often compare him to Prince Charles in this regard). He was, however, very active nonetheless. Although his mother kept him from having an active role until the late 1890s, he was the first heir to perform the public functions of a modern royal: ceremonies, openings, and other formal public appearances. In a less formal capacity, he was the style icon for men’s fashion at the time.
His trips abroad were often ceremonial, but occasionally had significant results. In 1875 and 1876, he toured India, and his success there was so great that Parliament decided to add the title Empress of India to Victoria’s titles. His role as a public face of the monarchy did make him an occasional target: in 1900, while in Belgium, he was the target of a failed assassination attempt, apparently in anger over the Second Boer War.
After nearly 64 years on the throne, Queen Victoria died in 1901, and Edward succeeded to the throne at the age of sixty. His eldest son Albert had died a decade earlier, so his son George became the heir apparent upon his father’s accession.

Legacy as King
Edward chose his middle name as his regnal name, despite still being informally known as “Bertie,” in deference to his late father Prince Albert. As king, he remained a great patron of the arts and worked to restore some of the traditional ceremonies that had lapsed during his mother’s reign.
He held a great interest in international affairs and diplomacy, not least of which because most of the royal houses of Europe were intertwined with his family through blood or marriage. Domestically, he opposed Irish home rule and women’s suffrage, although his public comments on race were progressive compared to his contemporaries. He was, however, stuck in a constitutional crisis in 1909, when the House of Lords refused to pass the Liberal-led budget from the House of Commons. The deadlock eventually led to legislation – which the king supported obliquely – to remove the power of the Lords to veto and reduce parliamentary terms.
Edward, a lifelong smoker, suffered from severe bronchitis, and in May 1910, his health worsened further with a series of heart attacks. He died on May 6, and his state funeral, two weeks later, was possibly the largest assembly of royalty ever seen. Although his reign was a short one, it was one marked by an affable knack for collaboration in governing and diplomacy, if not a deep understanding, and his training showed clearly in the reign of his son and successor, George V.
Sources
• BBC. “Edward VII.”
• “Edward VII Biography.” Biography, Sep 10, 2015.
• Wilson, A N. Victoria: A Life. New York: Penguin Books, 2015."

2. Background from {[https://spartacus-educational.com/MOedwardVII.htm]}
Edward, eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was born in Buckingham Palace in 1841. He was educated privately and at Edinburgh University, Oxford University and Cambridge University.
In 1860 Edward became the first member of the royal family to tour the USA. When he returned to England he was involved in a scandal with a Irish actress. Prince Albert died a few weeks later and Queen Victoria blamed her son for her husband's death. Victoria later declared that was never able to look at the boy without a shudder.
After the death of Prince Albert Edward took his seat in the House of Lords as the Duke of Cornwall. Edward, who spoke French, German, Spanish and Italian, toured the world on behalf of the royal family. This included trips to Italy, Spain, Canada, India, Egypt, Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium and Russia.
In 1863 Edward married Alexandra, eldest daughter of King Kristian IXof Denmark. Alexandra had six children, Albert, Duke of Clarence (1864-1892), George (1865-1936), Louise (1867-1931), Victoria (1868-1935), Maud (1869-1938) and Alexander, who died soon after being born.
Edward had a regular annual routine. He spent Christmas at Sandringham, three of four weeks at Buckingham Palace, Biarritz in February and March, Easter at Windsor Castle, summer in London with regular visits to the racecourse, an official tour of a foreign country, country-house visits for grouse-shooting, three weeks at a foreign spa, October at Balmoral and November and December at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Edward had a great appetite eating five large meals a day. These meals often consisted of ten or more courses. By the time he was middle-aged he had a waist of forty-eight inches. Edward also smoked twelve large cigars and twenty cigarettes a day.
Queen Victoria disapproved of Edward's interest in horse-racing, theatre-going and yachting. Edward had several mistresses including Lily Langtry, Alice Kepple, Lady Brooke, Princess de Mouchy and Princess de Sagan. Edward was involved in several scandals. On one occasion it was discovered that he had been playing in an illegal card-game and in 1870 he was accused in court of having an affair with Lady Mordaunt. Victoria was horrified by her son's behaviour and warned that evidence of a pleasure-loving and immoral aristocracy might provoke the working class into adopting radical political ideas.
Edward attempted to gain the support of the working-class by inviting their representatives, such as Joseph Arch and Henry Broadhurst to stay at his country house at Sandringham. When Broadhurst visited Sandringham he did not take with him the right evening dress, and so he had to eat his meals in his bedroom.
Edward VII became king on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Although he was 59 when he became king, he restored some vitality to the monarchy. He made several royal visits and helped to prepare the way for international treaties with France and Russia. The king took a particular interest in military matters. He opposed attempts to reduce public spending on the armed forces and was a strong advocate of the Dreadnought building campaign.
Politically, the king favoured the Conservatives. He was totally opposed to the campaign by the NUWSS and the WSPU to achieve the vote for women. He disliked the Liberals, especially those such as Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Dave Lloyd George who had opposed the Boer War.
Edward VII was disappointed when the 1906 General Election brought the Liberals to power. Attempts to redistribute wealth resulted in Herbert Asquith and his government coming into conflict with the House of Lords.
After the Lords had rejected the People's Budget in 1909, Herbert Asquith and his chancellor, David Lloyd George, asked the king to create a large number of new Liberal peers to give the government a majority in the House of Lords. The king refused, insisted that the issue should be put to the electorate in a General Election to make sure that the public supported reform of the House of Lords.
In the middle of this dispute, the king became very ill. Edward VII died at Buckingham Palace on 6th May, 1910, leaving the constitutional crisis to be solved by his son, King George V.

Primary Sources
(1) Henry Hamilton Fyfe was a journalist who worked for the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail. He met the king several times during the 1909 constitutional crisis.
The King was popular. He owed his popularity to his really charming smile. In private and in public that was his most valuable gift. He had a certain shrewdness too, and a kindly disposition, which made him declare that he would never give his consent to the taxation of the necessaries of life and that "he did not care who knows I have said so." "Tax motors," he said, "tax the rich, but never the poor. Never tax the poor man's food." This was spoken in private and in all sincerity. Had his intelligence been equal to his goodwill, he might have been a leader of the people."

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Thank you for the great history share brother David

Excellent history share