12 royals who abdicated their thrones for love

Oct 18 , 2019

Queen Elizabeth, second from left, and King George VI, second from right, are seen on the balcony of London’s Buckingham Palace on May 12, 1937 following the coronation of King George VI. King George VI came to the throne in 1936 because his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated to marry American Wallis Simpson. Photo: Associated Press

They were in line to lead a nation, but these men and women left their thrones to marry commoners and live outside the royal family

Love is the most powerful of all elixirs. It makes us weak, it makes us strong. It can be the reason we need to sacrifice it all. And several royals throughout history have done exactly that: given up the most powerful seat in a nation of millions simply for the love of another.

King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson

The Duke of Windsor arrived with the Duchess at Victoria Station, London, from Paris, on November 13, 1956. The Duke, who was the eldest son of King George V, ascended the throne as King Edward VIII in January 1936 and abdicated in December 1936. Six month later he married Mrs Wallis Warfield (formerly Simpson). Photo: Reuters

“I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love,” King Edward VIII said in a radio broadcast less than a year after taking the British throne.

It would mar the face of the royal family for decades, a scandal that rocked the world and changed the course of history. In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne so that he could marry a woman he fell madly for – Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.

Prince Albert, Edward’s younger brother, ascended the next day to become King George VI. In June 1937, Simpson and Edward married. They spent a lifetime together in their own exile until Edward’s death in 1972.

Four Japanese princesses willingly gave up the throne for love

Atsuko and Takamasa Ikeda on October 10, 1952. Photo: Shuji Furukawa/Asahi Press/Wikipedia

Princess Atsuko, the 21-year-old daughter of Japanese Emperor Hirohito, in October 1952 married a dairy farmer named Takamas Ikda who was four years her senior. Many members of the royal family attended their wedding, but not her father. But, it wasn’t his disapproval that kept him away; he was “in bed with a cold”.

The bride and groom, Mrs Sayako Kuroda (right) and Yoshiyuki Kuroda, attend a news conference following their wedding ceremony at a Tokyo hotel on November 15, 2005. The youngest daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko married the Tokyo government official in a private ceremony. Photo: Issei Kato/Reuters

The only daughter of Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, Princess Sayako, in November 2005 gave up her title for the love of an urban planner, Yoshiki Kuroda.