who abdicated the throne to marry a divorced woman
Edward VIII abdication crisis
Following Simpson 's divorce hearing on 27 October 1936 , her solicitor , John Theodore Goddard , became concerned that there would be a `` patriotic '' citizen 's intervention ( a legal device to block the divorce ) , and that such an intervention would be successful . The courts could not grant a collaborative divorce ( a dissolution of marriage consented to by both parties ) , and so the case was being handled as if it were an undefended at - fault divorce brought against Ernest Simpson , with Wallis Simpson as the innocent , injured party . The divorce action would fail if the citizen 's intervention showed that the Simpsons had colluded by , for example , conniving in or staging the appearance of his adultery so that she could marry someone else . On Monday 7 December 1936 , the King heard that Goddard planned to fly to the south of France to see Wallis Simpson . The King summoned him and expressly forbade him to make the journey , fearing that the visit might put doubts in Simpson 's mind . Goddard went straight to Downing Street to see Baldwin , as a result of which he was provided with an aeroplane to take him directly to Cannes .
Following Simpson 's divorce hearing on 27 October 1936 , her solicitor , John Theodore Goddard , became concerned that there would be a `` patriotic '' citizen 's intervention ( a legal device to block the divorce ) , and that such an intervention would be successful . The courts could not grant a collaborative divorce ( a dissolution of marriage consented to by both parties ) , and so the case was being handled as if it were an undefended at - fault divorce brought against Ernest Simpson , with Wallis Simpson as the innocent , injured party . The divorce action would fail if the citizen 's intervention showed that the Simpsons had colluded by , for example , conniving in or staging the appearance of his adultery so that she could marry someone else . On Monday 7 December 1936 , the King heard that Goddard planned to fly to the south of France to see Wallis Simpson . The King summoned him and expressly forbade him to make the journey , fearing that the visit might put doubts in Simpson 's mind . Goddard went straight to Downing Street to see Baldwin , as a result of which he was provided with an aeroplane to take him directly to Cannes .