From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward VII
(9 November 1841 ? 6 May 1910) was the
king
of the
United Kingdom
from 1901 to 1910, which is called the
Edwardian period
. He was the first British monarch whose
royal house
was called the House of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
. (King Edward's son,
George V
, changed the name to
Windsor
in 1917 and this name is in use today.)
Edward was born
Albert Edward
and was the oldest son of
Queen Victoria
and her husband,
Prince Albert
. He was
Prince of Wales
and
heir apparent
for longer than any other person up until that time. His mother was queen for 63 years and Edward was 59 years old when he became king. In his younger years as Prince of Wales, he was known as a
playboy
and popularized many trends in fashion. He
married
Alexandra of Denmark
, but he had many
mistresses
.
Edward VII was the father of
George V
and grandfather of
Edward VIII
and
George VI
. He is also the great-grandfather of the late queen,
Elizabeth II
and great great grandfather to
Charles III
. There are a number of statues of Edward VII around the
British Isles
and
Commonwealth realms
.
Edward was given a grand
state funeral
with the largest gathering of royalty taken place anywhere in the 20th century. It included
Wilhelm II
, the
Kaiser
of the
German Empire
(who would later be at war with Britain) and
Nicholas II
, the
Tsar
of the
Russian Empire
, as well as many others. For the first time in royal history, Edward
lay in state
for the people to pay their last respects, a reflection of his immense popularity.
Edward was king for only nine years but made a lasting impression. He became increasingly popular with his people and was credited as a
peacemaker
for his work in maintaining world stability at a time when war seemed to be looming. He died at the age of 68 in 1910. Four years later, the peace he worked so hard to keep was broken with the start of
World War I
(1914–1918).
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Academics
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|