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Edward VII
Studio photograph of King Edward VII
Photograph by W. & D. Downey, 1900s
King of the United Kingdom
and the British Dominions,
Emperor of India
Reign    22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910
Coronation    9 August 1902
Imperial Durbar    1 January 1903
Predecessor    Victoria
Successor    George V
Born    9 November 1841
Buckingham Palace, London, England
Died    6 May 1910 (aged 68)
Buckingham Palace
Burial    20 May 1910
Royal Vault, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
28 November 1925
Albert Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel
22 April 1927
South Aisle, St George's Chapel
Spouse    Alexandra of Denmark
​
​
(m. 1863)​
Issue
more...   

    Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale
    George V
    Louise, Princess Royal
    Princess Victoria
    Maud, Queen of Norway
    Prince Alexander John of Wales

Names
Albert Edward
House    Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father    Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Mother    Queen Victoria
Religion    Protestant
Signature    Signature of Edward VII

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.

The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed "Bertie", Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

As king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised. He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called "Peacemaker", but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism. He died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was succeeded by his only surviving son, George V.
Early life and education
Portrait of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, by Winterhalter, 1846

Edward was born at 10:48 a.m. on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace.[1] He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 25 January 1842.[a] He was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the royal family throughout his life.[3]

As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850,[4][5][b] a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867.[4] In 1863, he renounced his succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother Prince Alfred.[7]

The Queen and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a model constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on a rigorous educational programme devised by Albert, and supervised by several tutors. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, he did not excel in his studies.[8] He tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent and of sweet manner.[9] After the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce.

After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, Edward spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, the chemist Lyon Playfair. In October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford.[10] Now released from the educational strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time and performed satisfactorily in examinations.[11] In 1861, he transferred to Trinity College, Cambridge,[12] where he was tutored in history by Charles Kingsley, Regius Professor of Modern History.[13] Kingsley's efforts brought forth the best academic performances of Edward's life, and Edward actually looked forward to his lectures.[14]
Early adulthood
Edward at Niagara Falls, 1860

In 1860, Edward undertook the first tour of North America by a Prince of Wales. His genial good humour and confident bonhomie made the tour a great success.[15] He inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, across the St Lawrence River, and laid the cornerstone of Parliament Hill, Ottawa. He watched Charles Blondin traverse Niagara Falls by highwire, and stayed for three days with President James Buchanan at the White House. Buchanan accompanied the Prince to Mount Vernon, to pay his respects at the tomb of George Washington. Vast crowds greeted him everywhere. He met Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Prayers for the royal family were said in Trinity Church, New York, for the first time since 1776.[15] The four-month tour throughout Canada and the United States considerably boosted Edward's confidence and self-esteem, and had many diplomatic benefits for Great Britain.[16]

Edward had hoped to pursue a career in the British Army, but his mother vetoed an active military career.[17] He had been gazetted colonel on 9 November 1858[18]—to his disappointment, as he had wanted to earn his commission by examination.[11] In September 1861, Edward was sent to Germany, supposedly to watch military manoeuvres, but actually in order to engineer a meeting between him and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Denmark and his wife Louise. The Queen and Prince Albert had already decided that Edward and Alexandra should marry. They met at Speyer on 24 September under the auspices of his elder sister, Victoria, who had married the Crown Prince of Prussia in 1858.[19] Edward's sister, acting upon instructions from their mother, had met Alexandra at Strelitz in June; the young Danish princess made a very favourable impression. Edward and Alexandra were friendly from the start; the meeting went well for both sides, and marriage plans advanced.[20]

Edward gained a reputation as a playboy. Determined to get some army experience, he attended manoeuvres in Ireland, during which he spent three nights with an actress, Nellie Clifden, who was hidden in the camp by his fellow officers.[21] Prince Albert, though ill, was appalled and visited Edward at Cambridge to issue a reprimand. Albert died in December 1861 just two weeks after the visit. Queen Victoria was inconsolable, wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life and blamed Edward for his father's death.[22] At first, she regarded her son with distaste as frivolous, indiscreet and irresponsible. She wrote to her eldest daughter, "I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder."[23]
Marriage
Main article: Wedding of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra of Denmark
The marriage of the Prince of Wales with Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Windsor, 10 March 1863

Once widowed, Queen Victoria effectively withdrew from public life. Shortly after Prince Albert's death, she arranged for Edward to embark on an extensive tour of the Middle East, visiting Egypt, Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut and Istanbul.[24] The British Government wanted Edward to secure the friendship of Egypt's ruler, Said Pasha, to prevent French control of the Suez Canal if the Ottoman Empire collapsed. It was the first royal tour on which an official photographer, Francis Bedford, was in attendance. As soon as Edward returned to Britain, preparations were made for his engagement, which was sealed at Laeken in Belgium on 9 September 1862.[25] Edward married Alexandra of Denmark at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 10 March 1863. He was 21; she was 18.
Edward and Alexandra on their wedding day, 1863

The couple established Marlborough House as their London residence and Sandringham House in Norfolk as their country retreat. They entertained on a lavish scale. Their marriage met with disapproval in certain circles because most of Queen Victoria's relations were German, and Denmark was at loggerheads with Germany over the territories of Schleswig and Holstein. When Alexandra's father inherited the throne of Denmark in November 1863, the German Confederation took the opportunity to invade and annex Schleswig-Holstein. The Queen was of two minds as to whether it was a suitable match, given the political climate.[26] After the marriage, she expressed anxiety about their socialite lifestyle and attempted to dictate to them on various matters, including the names of their children.[27]
London Bridge on the Night of the Marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, by William Holman Hunt (1864)

Edward had mistresses throughout his married life. He socialised with actress Lillie Langtry; Lady Randolph Churchill;[c] Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; actress Sarah Bernhardt; noblewoman Lady Susan Vane-Tempest; singer Hortense Schneider; prostitute Giulia Beneni (known as "La Barucci"); wealthy humanitarian Agnes Keyser; and Alice Keppel. At least fifty-five liaisons are conjectured.[29][30] How far these relationships went is not always clear. Edward always strove to be discreet, but this did not prevent society gossip or press speculation.[31] Keppel's great-granddaughter, Camilla Parker Bowles, became the mistress and subsequent wife of King Charles III, Edward's great-great-grandson. It was rumoured that Camilla's grandmother, Sonia Keppel, was fathered by Edward, but she was "almost certainly" the daughter of George Keppel, whom she resembled.[32] Edward never acknowledged any illegitimate children.[33] Alexandra was aware of his affairs, and seems to have accepted them.[34]

In 1869, Sir Charles Mordaunt, a British Member of Parliament, threatened to name Edward as co-respondent in his divorce suit. Ultimately, he did not do so but Edward was called as a witness in the case in early 1870. It was shown that Edward had visited the Mordaunts' house while Sir Charles was away sitting in the House of Commons. Although nothing further was proven and Edward denied he had committed adultery, the suggestion of impropriety was damaging.[11][35]
Heir apparent

During Queen Victoria's widowhood, Edward pioneered the idea of royal public appearances as they are understood today—for example, opening the Thames Embankment in 1871, the Mersey Tunnel in 1886, and Tower Bridge in 1894[36]—but his mother did not allow him an active role in the running of the country until 1898.[37][38] He was sent summaries of important government documents, but she refused to give him access to the originals.[11] Edward annoyed his mother, who favoured the Germans, by siding with Denmark on the Schleswig-Holstein Question in 1864 and in the same year annoyed her again by making a special effort to meet Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian general, patriot, and republican, who was a leader in the movement for Italian unification.[39] Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone sent him papers secretly.[11] From 1886, Foreign Secretary Lord Rosebery sent him Foreign Office despatches, and from 1892 some Cabinet papers were opened to him.[11]

In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain was given a boost when the French emperor, Napoleon III, was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War and the French Third Republic was declared.[40] However, in the winter of 1871, a brush with death led to an improvement in both Edward's popularity with the public and his relationship with his mother. While staying at Londesborough Lodge, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Edward contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father. There was great national concern, and one of his fellow guests (Lord Chesterfield) died. Edward's recovery was greeted with almost universal relief.[11] Public celebrations included the composition of Arthur Sullivan's Festival Te Deum. Edward cultivated politicians from all parties, including republicans, as his friends, and thereby largely dissipated any residual feelings against him.[41]
Edward (front left) in India, 1875–76

On 26 September 1875, Edward set off for India on an extensive eight-month tour; on the way, he visited Malta, Brindisi and Greece. His advisors remarked on his habit of treating all people the same, regardless of their social station or colour. In letters home, he complained of the treatment of the native Indians by the British officials: "Because a man has a black face and a different religion from our own, there is no reason why he should be treated as a brute."[42] Consequently, Lord Salisbury, the Secretary of State for India, issued new guidance and at least one resident was removed from office.[11] He returned to England on 11 May 1876, after stopping off at Portugal.[43] At the end of the tour, Queen Victoria was given the title Empress of India by Parliament, in part as a result of the tour's success.[44]

Edward was regarded worldwide as an arbiter of men's fashions.[45][46] He made wearing tweed, Homburg hats and Norfolk jackets fashionable, and popularised the wearing of black ties with dinner jackets, instead of white tie and tails.[47] He pioneered the pressing of trouser legs from side to side in preference to the now normal front and back creases,[48] and was thought to have introduced the stand-up turn-down shirt collar, created for him by Charvet.[49] A stickler for proper dress, he is said to have admonished Lord Salisbury for wearing the trousers of an Elder Brother of Trinity House with a Privy Councillor's coat. Deep in an international crisis, Salisbury informed the Prince that it had been a dark morning, and that "my mind must have been occupied by some subject of less importance."[50] The tradition of men not buttoning the bottom button of waistcoats is said to be linked to Edward, who supposedly left his undone because of his large girth.[11][51] His waist measured 48 inches (122 cm) shortly before his coronation.[52] He introduced the practice of eating roast beef and potatoes with horseradish sauce and yorkshire pudding on Sundays, a meal that remains a staple British favourite for Sunday lunch.[53] He was a lifelong heavy smoker, but not a heavy drinker, though he did drink champagne and, occasionally, port.[54]

Edward was a patron of the arts and sciences and helped found the Royal College of Music. He opened the college in 1883 with the words, "Class can no longer stand apart from class ... I claim for music that it produces that union of feeling which I much desire to promote."[44] At the same time, he enjoyed gambling and country sports and was an enthusiastic hunter. He ordered all the clocks at Sandringham to run half an hour ahead to provide more daylight time for shooting. This tradition of so-called Sandringham Time continued until 1936, when it was abolished by Edward VIII.[55] He also laid out a golf course at Windsor. By the 1870s the future king had taken a keen interest in horseracing and steeplechasing. In 1896, his horse Persimmon won both the Derby Stakes and the St Leger Stakes. In 1900, Persimmon's brother, Diamond Jubilee, won five races (Derby, St Leger, 2,000 Guineas Stakes, Newmarket Stakes and Eclipse Stakes)[56] and another of Edward's horses, Ambush II, won the Grand National.[57]
Edward (right) with his mother (centre) and Russian relations: Tsar Nicholas II (left), Empress Alexandra and baby Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, 1896

In 1891 Edward was embroiled in the royal baccarat scandal, when it was revealed he had played an illegal card game for money the previous year. The Prince was forced to appear as a witness in court for a second time when one of the participants unsuccessfully sued his fellow players for slander after being accused of cheating.[58] In the same year Edward was involved in a personal conflict, when Lord Charles Beresford threatened to reveal details of Edward's private life to the press, as a protest against Edward interfering with Beresford's affair with Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick. The friendship between the two men was irreversibly damaged, and their bitterness would last for the remainder of their lives.[59] Usually, Edward's outbursts of temper were short-lived, and "after he had let himself go ... [he would] smooth matters by being especially nice".[60]

In late 1891, Edward's eldest son, Albert Victor, was engaged to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. Just a few weeks later, in early 1892, Albert Victor died of pneumonia. Edward was grief-stricken. "To lose our eldest son", he wrote, "is one of those calamities one can never really get over". Edward told Queen Victoria, "[I would] have given my life for him, as I put no value on mine".[61] Albert Victor was the second of Edward's children to die. In 1871, his youngest son, Alexander John, had died just 24 hours after being born. Edward had insisted on placing Alexander John in a coffin personally with "the tears rolling down his cheeks".[62]

On his way to Denmark through Belgium on 4 April 1900, Edward was the victim of an attempted assassination when fifteen-year-old Jean-Baptiste Sipido shot at him in protest over the Second Boer War. Sipido, though obviously guilty, was acquitted by a Belgian court because he was underage.[63] The perceived laxity of the Belgian authorities, combined with British disgust at Belgian atrocities in the Congo, worsened the already poor relations between the United Kingdom and the Continent. However, in the next ten years, Edward's affability and popularity, as well as his use of family connections, assisted Britain in building European alliances.[64]
Reign
Accession
Edward in coronation robes holding a sceptre. A crown and orb are on the table to his right.
Portrait by Sir Luke Fildes, 1901

When Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions.[65] He chose to reign under the name of Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use[d]—declaring that he did not wish to "undervalue the name of Albert" and diminish the status of his father with whom the "name should stand alone".[66] The numeral VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle".[11] J. B. Priestley recalled, "I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s."[67]
Caricature in Puck magazine, 1901

Edward donated his parents' house, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, to the state and continued to live at Sandringham.[68] He could afford to be magnanimous; his private secretary, Sir Francis Knollys, claimed that he was the first heir to succeed to the throne in credit.[69] Edward's finances had been ably managed by Sir Dighton Probyn, Comptroller of the Household, and had benefited from advice from Edward's financier friends, some of whom were Jewish, such as Ernest Cassel, Maurice de Hirsch and the Rothschild family.[70] At a time of widespread anti-Semitism, Edward attracted criticism for openly socialising with Jews.[71][72]

Edward's coronation had originally been scheduled for 26 June 1902. However, two days before, he was diagnosed with appendicitis.[73] The disease was generally not treated operatively. It carried a high mortality rate, but developments in anaesthesia and antisepsis in the preceding 50 years made life-saving surgery possible.[74] Sir Frederick Treves, with the support of Lord Lister, performed a then-radical operation of draining a pint of pus from the infected abscess through a small incision (through 4+1⁄2-inch thickness of belly fat and abdomen wall); this outcome showed that the cause was not cancer.[75] The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar.[76] Two weeks later, it was announced that he was out of danger. Treves was honoured with a baronetcy (which the King had arranged before the operation)[77] and appendix surgery entered the medical mainstream.[74] Edward was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 9 August 1902 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple.[73]

Edward refurbished the royal palaces, reintroduced the traditional ceremonies, such as the State Opening of Parliament, that his mother had foregone, and founded new honours, such as the Order of Merit, to recognise contributions to the arts and sciences.[78] In 1902, the Shah of Persia, Mozzafar-al-Din, visited England expecting to receive the Order of the Garter. The King refused to bestow the honour on the Shah because the order was meant to be in his personal gift and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, had promised it without his consent. He also objected to inducting a Muslim into a Christian order of chivalry. His refusal threatened to damage British attempts to gain influence in Persia,[79] but Edward resented his ministers' attempts to reduce his traditional powers.[80] Eventually, he relented and Britain sent a special embassy to the Shah with a full Order of the Garter the following year.[81]
"Uncle of Europe"
Edward VII relaxing at Balmoral Castle, photographed by his wife, Alexandra

As king, Edward's main interests lay in the fields of foreign affairs and naval and military matters. Fluent in French and German, he reinvented royal diplomacy by numerous state visits across Europe.[82] He took annual holidays in Biarritz and Marienbad.[55] One of his most important foreign trips was an official visit to France in May 1903 as the guest of President Émile Loubet. Following a visit to Pope Leo XIII in Rome, this trip helped create the atmosphere for the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale, an agreement delineating British and French colonies in North Africa, and ruling out any future war between the two countries. The Entente was negotiated in 1904 between the French foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé, and the British foreign secretary, Lord Lansdowne. It marked the end of centuries of Anglo-French rivalry and Britain's splendid isolation from Continental affairs, and attempted to counterbalance the growing dominance of the German Empire and its ally, Austria-Hungary.[83]

Edward was related to nearly every other European monarch, and came to be known as the "uncle of Europe".[37] German Emperor Wilhelm II and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia were his nephews; Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Crown Princess Marie of Romania, Crown Princess Sophia of Greece, and Empress Alexandra of Russia were his nieces; King Haakon VII of Norway was both his nephew and his son-in-law; kings Frederick VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece were his brothers-in-law; kings Albert I of Belgium, Ferdinand of Bulgaria, and Charles I and Manuel II of Portugal were his second cousins. Edward doted on his grandchildren, and indulged them, to the consternation of their governesses.[84] However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like: Wilhelm II. His difficult relationship with his nephew exacerbated the tensions between Germany and Britain.[85]

In April 1908, during Edward's annual stay at Biarritz, he accepted the resignation of British Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In a break with precedent, Edward asked Campbell-Bannerman's successor, H. H. Asquith, to travel to Biarritz to kiss hands. Asquith complied, but the press criticised the action of the King in appointing a prime minister on foreign soil instead of returning to Britain.[86] In June 1908, Edward became the first reigning British monarch to visit the Russian Empire, despite refusing to visit in 1906, when Anglo-Russian relations were strained in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, the Dogger Bank incident, and the Tsar's dissolution of the Duma.[87] The previous month, he visited the Scandinavian countries, becoming the first British monarch to visit Sweden.[88]
Political opinions
Edward depicted in naval uniform by Vanity Fair magazine, 1902

While Prince of Wales, Edward had to be dissuaded from breaking with constitutional precedent by openly voting for W. E. Gladstone's Representation of the People Bill (1884) in the House of Lords.[11][89] On other matters, he was more conservative; for example, he did not favour giving votes to women,[11][90] although he did suggest that the social reformer Octavia Hill serve on the Commission for Working Class Housing.[91] He was also opposed to Irish Home Rule, instead preferring a form of dual monarchy.[11]

As Prince of Wales, Edward had come to enjoy warm and mutually respectful relations with Gladstone, whom his mother detested.[92] But the statesman's son, Home Secretary Herbert Gladstone, angered the King by planning to permit Roman Catholic priests in vestments to carry the Host through the streets of London, and by appointing two ladies, Lady Frances Balfour and May Tennant, wife of H. J. Tennant, to serve on a Royal Commission on reforming divorce law—Edward thought divorce could not be discussed with "delicacy or even decency" before ladies. Edward's biographer Philip Magnus-Allcroft suggests that Gladstone may have become a whipping-boy for the King's general irritation with the Liberal government. Gladstone was sacked in the reshuffle the following year and the King agreed, with some reluctance, to appoint him Governor-General of South Africa.[93]

Edward involved himself heavily in discussions over army reform, the need for which had become apparent with the failings of the Second Boer War.[94] He supported the redesign of army command, the creation of the Territorial Force, and the decision to provide an Expeditionary Force supporting France in the event of war with Germany.[95] Reform of the Royal Navy was also suggested, partly due to the ever-increasing Naval Estimates, and because of the emergence of the Imperial German Navy as a new strategic threat.[96] Ultimately a dispute arose between Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, who favoured increased spending and a broad deployment, and the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John Fisher, who favoured efficiency savings, scrapping obsolete vessels, and a strategic realignment of the Royal Navy relying on torpedo craft for home defence backed by the new dreadnoughts.[97][98]

The King lent support to Fisher, in part because he disliked Beresford, and eventually Beresford was dismissed. Beresford continued his campaign outside of the navy and Fisher ultimately announced his resignation in late 1909, although the bulk of his policies were retained.[99] The King was intimately involved in the appointment of Fisher's successor as the Fisher-Beresford feud had split the service, and the only truly qualified figure known to be outside of both camps was Sir Arthur Wilson, who had retired in 1907.[100] Wilson was reluctant to return to active duty, but Edward persuaded him to do so, and Wilson became First Sea Lord on 25 January 1910.[101]

Edward was rarely interested in politics, although his views on some issues were notably progressive for the time. During his reign, he said use of the word "nigger" was "disgraceful", despite it then being in common parlance.[102] In 1904, during an Anglo-German summit in Kiel between Wilhelm II and Edward, Wilhelm with the Russo-Japanese War in mind started to go on about the "Yellow Peril", which he called "the greatest peril menacing ... Christendom and European civilisation. If the Russians went on giving ground, the yellow race would, in twenty years time, be in Moscow and Posen".[103] Wilhelm went on to attack his British guests for supporting Japan against Russia, suggesting that the British were committing "race treason". In response, Edward stated that he "could not see it. The Japanese were an intelligent, brave and chivalrous nation, quite as civilised as the Europeans, from whom they only differed by the pigmentation of their skin".[103] Although Edward lived a life of luxury often far removed from that of the majority of his subjects, they expected it, and his personal charm with all levels of society and his strong condemnation of prejudice went some way to assuage republican and racial tensions building during his lifetime.[11]
Constitutional crisis
Bust by Francis Derwent Wood
Profile of Edward VII on a halfpenny, 1902

In the last year of his life, Edward became embroiled in a constitutional crisis when the Conservative majority in the House of Lords refused to pass the "People's Budget" proposed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Asquith. The crisis eventually led—after Edward's death—to the removal of the Lords' right to veto legislation.

The King was displeased at Liberal attacks on the peers, which included a polemical speech by David Lloyd George at Limehouse.[104] Cabinet minister Winston Churchill publicly demanded a general election, for which Asquith apologised to the King's adviser Lord Knollys and rebuked Churchill at a Cabinet meeting. Edward was so dispirited at the tone of class warfare—although Asquith told him that party rancour had been just as bad over the First Home Rule Bill in 1886—that he introduced his son to Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane as "the last King of England".[105] After the King's horse Minoru won the Derby on 26 July 1909, he returned to the racetrack the following day, and laughed when a man shouted: "Now, King. You've won the Derby. Go back home and dissolve this bloody Parliament!"[106]

In vain, the King urged Conservative leaders Arthur Balfour and Lord Lansdowne to pass the Budget, which Lord Esher had advised him was not unusual, as Queen Victoria had helped to broker agreements between the two Houses over Irish disestablishment in 1869 and the Third Reform Act in 1884.[107] On Asquith's advice, however, he did not offer them an election (at which, to judge from recent by-elections, they were likely to gain seats) as a reward for doing so.[108]

The Finance Bill passed the Commons on 5 November 1909, but was rejected by the Lords on 30 November; they instead passed a resolution of Lord Lansdowne's stating that they were entitled to oppose the bill as it lacked an electoral mandate. The King was annoyed that his efforts to urge passage of the budget had become public knowledge[109] and had forbidden Knollys, who was an active Liberal peer, from voting for the budget, although Knollys had suggested that this would be a suitable gesture to indicate royal desire to see the Budget pass.[110] In December 1909, a proposal to create peers (to give the Liberals a majority in the Lords) or give the prime minister the right to do so was considered "outrageous" by Knollys, who thought the King should abdicate rather than agree to it.[111]

The January 1910 election was dominated by talk of removing the Lords' veto. During the election campaign Lloyd George talked of "guarantees" and Asquith of "safeguards" that would be necessary before forming another Liberal government, but the King informed Asquith that he would not be willing to contemplate creating peers until after a second general election.[11][112] Balfour refused to be drawn on whether or not he would be willing to form a Conservative government, but advised the King not to promise to create peers until he had seen the terms of any proposed constitutional change.[113] During the campaign the leading Conservative Walter Long had asked Knollys for permission to state that the King did not favour Irish Home Rule, but Knollys refused on the grounds that it was not appropriate for the monarch's views to be known in public.[114]

The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Liberal government dependent on the support of the third largest party, the nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party. The King suggested a compromise whereby only 50 peers from each side would be allowed to vote, which would also obviate the large Conservative majority in the Lords, but Lord Crewe, Liberal leader in the Lords, advised that this would reduce the Lords' independence, as only peers who were loyal party supporters would be picked.[114] Pressure to remove the Lords' veto now came from the Irish nationalist MPs, who wanted to remove the Lords' ability to block the introduction of Home Rule. They threatened to vote against the Budget unless they had their way (an attempt by Lloyd George to win their support by amending whiskey duties was abandoned as the Cabinet felt this would recast the Budget too much). Asquith now revealed that there were no "guarantees" for the creation of peers. The Cabinet considered resigning and leaving it up to Balfour to try to form a Conservative government.[115]

The King's Speech from the Throne on 21 February made reference to introducing measures restricting the Lords' power of veto to one of delay, but Asquith inserted a phrase "in the opinion of my advisers" so the King could be seen to be distancing himself from the planned legislation.[116] The Commons passed resolutions on 14 April that would form the basis for the 1911 Parliament Act: to remove the power of the Lords to veto money bills, to replace their veto of other bills with a power to delay, and to reduce the term of Parliament from seven years to five (the King would have preferred four[113]). But in that debate Asquith hinted—to ensure the support of the nationalist MPs—that he would ask the King to break the deadlock "in that Parliament" (i.e. contrary to Edward's earlier stipulation that there be a second election). The Budget was passed by both Commons and Lords in April.[117]

By April the Palace was having secret talks with Balfour and Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, who both advised that the Liberals did not have sufficient mandate to demand the creation of peers. The King thought the whole proposal "simply disgusting" and that the government was "in the hands of Redmond & Co". Lord Crewe announced publicly that the government's wish to create peers should be treated as formal "ministerial advice" (which, by convention, the monarch must accept) although Lord Esher argued that the monarch was entitled in extremis to dismiss the government rather than take their "advice".[118] Esher's view has been called "obsolete and unhelpful".[119]
Death
Main article: Death and state funeral of Edward VII
The body of the King in his deathbed, May 1910
3:51
Funeral procession of Edward VII, London, 1910

Edward habitually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. In 1907, a rodent ulcer, a type of cancer affecting the skin next to his nose, was cured with radium.[120] Towards the end of his life he increasingly suffered from bronchitis.[11] He suffered a momentary loss of consciousness during a state visit to Berlin in February 1909.[121] In March 1910, he was staying at Biarritz when he collapsed. He remained there to convalesce, while in London Asquith tried to get the Finance Bill passed. The King's continued ill health was unreported, and he attracted criticism for staying in France while political tensions were so high.[11] On 27 April he returned to Buckingham Palace, still suffering from severe bronchitis. Alexandra returned from visiting her brother, George I of Greece, in Corfu a week later on 5 May.

On 6 May, Edward suffered several heart attacks, but refused to go to bed, saying, "No, I shall not give in; I shall go on; I shall work to the end."[122] Between moments of faintness, his son the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The King replied, "Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad": his final words.[11] At 11:30 p.m. he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed. He died 15 minutes later.[122]

Alexandra refused to allow Edward's body to be moved for eight days afterwards, though she allowed small groups of visitors to enter his room.[123] On 11 May, the late king was dressed in his uniform and placed in a massive oak coffin, which was moved on 14 May to the throne room, where it was sealed and lay in state, with a guardsman standing at each corner of the bier. Despite the time that had elapsed since his death, Alexandra noted the King's body remained "wonderfully preserved".[124] On the morning of 17 May, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and drawn by black horses to Westminster Hall, with the new king, his family and Edward's favourite dog, Caesar, walking behind. Following a brief service, the royal family left, and the hall was opened to the public; over 400,000 people filed past the coffin over the next two days.[125] As Barbara Tuchman noted in The Guns of August, his funeral, held on 20 May 1910, marked "the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last." A royal train conveyed the King's coffin from London to Windsor Castle, where Edward was buried at St George's Chapel.[126]
Legacy
Further information: Cultural depictions of Edward VII and Royal eponyms in Canada
Statue in Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne
Statue outside Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh
Statue of Edward VII, Bangalore, India
Statues of Edward can be found throughout the former empire.

Before his accession to the throne, Edward was the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He was surpassed by his great-great-grandson Charles III on 20 April 2011.[127] The title Prince of Wales is not automatically held by the heir apparent; it is bestowed by the reigning monarch at a time of his or her choosing.[128] Edward was the longest-serving holder of that title until surpassed by Charles on 9 September 2017.[129] Edward was Prince of Wales between 8 December 1841 and 22 January 1901 (59 years, 45 days); Charles held the title between 26 July 1958 and 8 September 2022 (64 years, 44 days).[128][130][131]

As king, Edward VII proved a greater success than anyone had expected,[132] but he was already past the average life expectancy and had little time left to fulfil the role. In his short reign, he ensured that his second son and heir, George V, was better prepared to take the throne. Contemporaries described their relationship as more like affectionate brothers than father and son,[133] and on Edward's death George wrote in his diary that he had lost his "best friend and the best of fathers ... I never had a [cross] word with him in my life. I am heart-broken and overwhelmed with grief".[134]

Edward has been recognised as the first truly constitutional British sovereign and the last sovereign to wield effective political power.[135] Though lauded as "Peacemaker",[136] he had been afraid that German Emperor Wilhelm II, who was one of his nephews, would tip Europe into war.[137] Four years after Edward's death, the First World War broke out. The naval reforms he had supported and his part in securing the Triple Entente between Britain, France, and Russia, as well as his relationships with his extended family, fed the paranoia of the German Emperor, who blamed Edward for the war.[138] Publication of the official biography of Edward was delayed until 1927 by its author, Sidney Lee, who feared German propagandists would select material to portray Edward as an anti-German warmonger.[139] Lee was also hampered by the extensive destruction of Edward's personal papers; Edward had left orders that all his letters should be burned on his death.[140] Subsequent biographers have been able to construct a more rounded picture of Edward by using material and sources that were unavailable to Lee.[141]

Historian R. C. K. Ensor, writing in 1936, praised the King's political personality:

    ...he had in many respects great natural ability. He knew how to be both dignified and charming; he had an excellent memory; and his tact in handling people was quite exceptional. He had a store of varied, though unsystematized, knowledge gathered at first-hand through talking to all sorts of eminent men. His tastes were not particularly elevated, but they were thoroughly English; and he showed much (though not unfailing) comprehension for the common instincts of the people over whom he reigned. This was not the less remarkable because, though a good linguist in French and German, he never learned to speak English without a German accent.[142]

Ensor rejects the widespread notion that the King exerted an important influence on British foreign policy, believing he gained that reputation by making frequent trips abroad, with many highly publicized visits to foreign courts. Ensor thought surviving documents showed "how comparatively crude his views on foreign policy were, how little he read, and of what naïve indiscretions he was capable."[143] Edward received criticism for his apparent pursuit of self-indulgent pleasure, but he received great praise for his affable manners and diplomatic tact. As his grandson Edward VIII wrote, "his lighter side ... obscured the fact that he had both insight and influence."[144] "He had a tremendous zest for pleasure but he also had a real sense of duty", wrote J. B. Priestley.[145] Lord Esher wrote that Edward VII was "kind and debonair and not undignified—but too human".[146]
Honours

British honours[5]

    KG: Royal Knight of the Garter, 9 November 1858[147]
    GCSI: Extra Knight Companion of the Star of India, 25 June 1861;[148] Extra Knight Grand Commander, 24 May 1866[149]
    FRS: Fellow of the Royal Society, 12 February 1863
    PC: Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, 8 December 1863
    GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Bath (military), 10 February 1865;[150] Great Master, 22 June 1897[151]
    KT: Extra Knight of the Thistle, 24 May 1867[152]
    KP: Extra Knight of St. Patrick, 18 March 1868[153]
    PC(I): Member of the Privy Council of Ireland, 21 April 1868
    GCStJ: Knight of Justice of St. John, 1876;[154] Grand Prior, 1888[155]
    GCMG: Extra Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George, 31 May 1877[156]
    GCIE: Extra Knight Grand Commander of the Indian Empire, 21 June 1887[157]
    GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 6 May 1896[158]
    Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1901[159]
    Founder and Sovereign of the Order of Merit, 26 June 1902[160]
    Founder and Sovereign of the Imperial Service Order, 8 August 1902[161]
    Founder of the Royal Victorian Chain, 1902[162]

Foreign honours

Armorial achievement of the Spanish Army 62nd Regiment of Infantry "Arapiles".
King Edward's cypher and the name of the British Army unit that played a prominent role in the Battle of Salamanca were added at the beginning of the Peninsular War Centenary (1908).[163]

    Saxony: Knight of the Rue Crown, 1844[164]
    Russia:[165]
        Knight of St. Andrew, with Collar, 1844
        Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, 1844
        Knight of the White Eagle, 1844
        Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, 1844
        Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, 1844
        Knight of St. Vladimir, 3rd Class, 1881
    Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion, 1849[165]
    Spain:
        Knight of the Golden Fleece, 7 May 1852[166]
        Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, with Collar, 6 May 1876[167]
    Portugal:[168]
        Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 25 November 1858
        Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders, 7 June 1865; Three Orders, 8 February 1901
    Prussia:[169]
        Knight of the Black Eagle, 22 December 1858; with Collar, 1869
        Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, 2 March 1874
        Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, 11 March 1878
        Knight of the Royal Crown Order, 3rd Class with Red Cross on White Field on Commemorative Band, 4 April 1881
        Knight of Honour of the Johanniter Order, 19 May 1884
    Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil), 11 January 1859[170]
    Sardinia: Knight of the Annunciation, 20 February 1859[171]
    Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, December 1859[172]
    Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 17 April 1860[173]
    Baden:[174]
        Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1861
        Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion, 1861
    Ottoman Empire:
        Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class, 25 May 1862[175]
        Hanedan-i-Ali-Osman, June 1902[176]
    Greece: Grand Cross of the Redeemer, 29 May 1862[177]
    Hesse and by Rhine:[178]
        Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 8 October 1862
        Grand Cross of the Merit Order of Philip the Magnanimous, with Swords, 18 February 1878
        Knight of the Golden Lion, 18 June 1882
    France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 15 March 1863[179]
    Denmark:[180]
        Knight of the Elephant, 16 November 1863
        Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog, 14 October 1864
        Commemorative Medal for the Golden Wedding of King Christian IX and Queen Louise, 1892
        Grand Commander of the Dannebrog, 9 September 1901
    Sweden:
        Knight of the Seraphim, with Collar, 27 September 1864[181]
        Knight of the Order of Charles XIII, 21 December 1868[182]
        Commander Grand Cross of the Order of Vasa, with Collar, 26 April 1908[183]
    Hanover:[184]
        Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, 1864
        Knight of St. George, 1865
    Mecklenburg: Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore, 13 August 1865[185]
    Nassau: Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau, August 1865[186]
    Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 13 June 1867[187]
    Brazil: Grand Cross of the Southern Cross, 11 July 1871[187]
    Ethiopia:
        Grand Cross of the Seal of Solomon, 1874[188]
        Grand Cross of the Star of Ethiopia, 9 October 1901[189]
    Norway: Grand Cross of St. Olav, with Collar, 3 October 1874[190]
    Oldenburg: Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, 24 February 1878[191]
    Siam:
        Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 1880[165]
        Grand Cross of the White Elephant, 1887[187]
    Military Order of Malta: Knight, 14 June 1881;[187] Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion[192]
    Hawaii: Grand Cross of the Order of Kalākaua, with Collar, July 1881[193]
    Romania:
        Grand Cross of the Star of Romania, 1882[165]
        Collar of the Order of Carol I, 1906[194]
    Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1883[195]
    Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 20 September 1886; Collar, 13 April 1902[196]
    Bavaria: Knight of St. Hubert, 19 March 1901[187]
    Monaco: Grand Cross of St. Charles, 25 June 1902[197]
    San Marino: Grand Cross of the Order of San Marino, August 1902[198]
    Montenegro: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I, 1902[199]
    Persia: Order of the Aqdas, 1st Class, 1904[200]

Honorary foreign military appointments

    1870: Honorary Colonel of the Guard Hussar Regiment (Denmark)[201]
    1883: Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) of the German Army[202]
    5 February 1901: Honorary Colonel of the 27th (King Edward's) Regiment of Dragoons of Kiev[203]
    26 June 1902: Admiral of the Fleet (Großadmiral) à la suite of the Imperial German Navy[202]
    Honorary Captain General of the Spanish Army[204]
    Honorary Admiral of the Spanish Navy[204]
    Colonel-in-Chief of the German regiment 5th (Pomeranian) Hussars "Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt"[202]
    Colonel-in-Chief 1st Guards Dragoons "Queen of Great Britain and Ireland"[202]
    Honorary Colonel of the Infantry Regiment "Zamora" No. 8 (Spain)[204]
    1905: Honorary Admiral of the Swedish Navy[205]
    1908: Honorary General of the Swedish Army[206]
    Honorary Admiral of the Greek Navy[192]
    Honorary General of the Norwegian Army[192]

Arms
Shortly after Edward's accession, he proposed an alternate version of the Royal Standard for use by the Sovereign, defaced in the centre with a purple oval containing the cypher and crown of the reigning monarch. However, he was persuaded that such a proposal was impractical.[207]

Edward's coat of arms as the Prince of Wales was the royal arms differenced by a label of three points argent, and an inescutcheon of the Duchy of Saxony, representing his paternal arms. When he acceded as King, he gained the royal arms undifferenced.[208]
Coat of Arms of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1841-1901).svg
    
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
    
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom in Scotland (1837-1952).svg
    
Cypher of Edward VII.svg
Coat of arms as Prince of Wales, 1841–1901     Royal coat of arms outside Scotland     Royal coat of arms in Scotland     Royal cypher
Issue
Name     Birth     Death     Marriage/notes
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale     8 January 1864     14 January 1892 (aged 28)     engaged 1891, to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck
George V     3 June 1865     20 January 1936 (aged 70)     1893, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck; had issue including Edward VIII and George VI
Louise, Princess Royal     20 February 1867     4 January 1931 (aged 63)     1889, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; had issue
Princess Victoria     6 July 1868     3 December 1935 (aged 67)     never married and without issue
Princess Maud     26 November 1869     20 November 1938 (aged 68)     1896, Prince Carl of Denmark (King of Norway as Haakon VII from 1905); had issue including Prince Alexander (later Olav V)
Prince Alexander John of Wales     6 April 1871     7 April 1871     born and died at Sandringham House
Ancestry
Ancestors of Edward VII[209][210][211]
See also

    Love chair
    Household of Edward VII and Alexandra
    Edward the Seventh, a 1975 television miniseries.

Notes

His godparents were the King of Prussia, his paternal step-grandmother the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (for whom the Duchess of Kent, his maternal grandmother, stood proxy), his great-uncle the Duke of Cambridge, his step-great-grandmother the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg (for whom the Duchess of Cambridge, his great-aunt, stood proxy), his great-aunt Princess Sophia (for whom Princess Augusta of Cambridge, his first cousin once-removed, stood proxy) and his great-uncle Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.[2]
Gazetted on 10 September 1849.[6]
Letters written by Edward to Lady Randolph may have "signified no more than a flirtation" but were "[w]ritten in a strain of undue familiarity".[28]

    No English or British sovereign has ever reigned under a double name.

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Ridley, pp. 349, 473, 476
Bentley-Cranch, p. 155
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Ridley, p. 576
Bentley-Cranch, p. 157; Lee, p. 738
Lee, pp. 358, 650, 664; Middlemas, pp. 176, 179; Ridley, p. 474
Ridley, p. 474
Ridley, p. 487
Ridley, pp. 482–483
Ridley, pp. 494–495
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Shaw, p. 308
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"Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro", Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish), Madrid, 1887, p. 146, archived from the original on 22 December 2019, retrieved 21 March 2019
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"Königlich Preussische Ordensliste", Preussische Ordens-Liste (in German), Berlin: Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei, 1: 5, 23, 632, 935, 1048, 1886, archived from the original on 18 August 2021, retrieved 18 August 2021
"Liste des Membres de l'Ordre de Léopold", Almanach Royal Officiel (in French), 1860, p. 50, archived from the original on 25 November 2021, retrieved 13 March 2021 – via Archives de Bruxelles
Cibrario, Luigi (1869). Notizia storica del nobilissimo ordine supremo della santissima Annunziata. Sunto degli statuti, catalogo dei cavalieri (in Italian). Eredi Botta. p. 116. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
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Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1862), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 33 Archived 24 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine, 45 Archived 24 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine
"Star of the Order of Osmanieh". Royal Collection. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
"Court Circular" (26 June 1902) The Times Issue 36804, p. 9
"Star of the Order of the Redeemer". Royal Collection. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1909, pp. 3, 6, 28 – via hathitrust.org
M. & B. Wattel (2009). Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers. Paris: Archives & Culture. p. 460. ISBN 978-2-35077-135-9.
Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1910) [1st pub.:1801]. Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1910 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1910] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. pp. 3, 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020 – via da:DIS Danmark.
Sveriges och Norges Statskalender (in Swedish), 1865, p. 428, archived from the original on 7 December 2019, retrieved 20 February 2019 – via runeberg.org
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Kungl. Hovstaterna: Kungl. Maj:ts Ordens arkiv, Matriklar (D 1), vol. 7 (1900–1909), p. 298, digital avbildning Archived 10 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
Staat Hannover (1865). Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1865. Berenberg. pp. 38, 81.
"Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen". Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Mecklenburg-Strelitz: 1878 (in German). Neustrelitz: Druck und Debit der Buchdruckerei von G. F. Spalding und Sohn. 1878. p. 11.
"Herzogliche Orden", Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau, Wiesbaden: Druck der A. Stein'schen Buchdruckerei, 1866, p. 9, archived from the original on 21 December 2019, retrieved 1 December 2019.
Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1910, p. 12
"The Imperial Orders and Decorations of Ethiopia Archived 26 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine", The Crown Council of Ethiopia. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
"Court Circular" (10 October 1901) The Times Issue 36582, p. 7
Norway (1908), "Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender (in Norwegian), pp. 869–870, archived from the original on 17 September 2021, retrieved 17 September 2021
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Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha (1910) p. 37
Kalakaua to his sister, 24 July 1881, quoted in Greer, Richard A. (editor, 1967) "The Royal Tourist – Kalakaua's Letters Home from Tokio to London", Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 5, p. 100. Archived 19 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine
"Ordinul Carol I" [Order of Carol I]. Familia Regală a României (in Romanian). Bucharest. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg (1896), "Königliche Orden" p. 28
刑部芳則 (2017). 明治時代の勲章外交儀礼 (PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. pp. 144, 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
"Partie officielle" (PDF). Journal de Monaco (2297): 1. 15 July 1902. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2022.
"Court News" (6 September 1902) The Times Issue 36866, p. 7
"The Order of Sovereign Prince Danilo I", orderofdanilo.org. Archived 9 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
Mulder, C. P. (1990). Persian Orders 1808–1925. Copenhagen: Orders and Medals Society of Denmark. p. 14. ISBN 87-88513-08-4.
Galla Uniform (in Danish), archived from the original on 4 June 2016, retrieved 30 January 2016
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"The Coronation" (3 June 1902) The Times Issue 36784, p. 10
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Svensk rikskalender (in Swedish), 1908, p. 229, archived from the original on 9 July 2019, retrieved 20 February 2019 – via runeberg.org
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David Prothero (12 April 2007). "British Royal Flags, Reign of Edward VII: Proposal for a Personal Royal Standard of King Edward VII". Flags of the World. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
Velde, François (19 April 2008), Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family, Heraldica, archived from the original on 17 March 2018, retrieved 2 May 2010
Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed.) (1977). Burke's Royal Families of the World, 1st edition. London: Burke's Peerage
Huberty, M., Giraud, A., Magdelaine, F. & B. (1976–1994). L'Allemagne Dynastique, Vols I–VII. Le Perreux, France: Alain Giraud

    Louda, Jiří; Maclagan, Michael (1999), Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, London: Little, Brown, p. 34, ISBN 978-1-85605-469-0

Bibliography

    Bentley-Cranch, Dana (1992), Edward VII: Image of an Era 1841–1910, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, ISBN 978-0-11-290508-0
    Ensor, R. C. K. (1936), England, 1870–1914, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    Hattersley, Roy (2004), The Edwardians, London: Little, Brown, ISBN 978-0-316-72537-8
    Heffer, Simon (1998), Power and Place: The Political Consequences of King Edward VII, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 978-0-297-84220-0
    Hough, Richard (1992), Edward & Alexandra: Their Private and Public Lives, London: Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 978-0-340-55825-6
    Lee, Sidney (1927), King Edward VII: A Biography, vol. II, London: Macmillan
    Magnus, Philip (1964), King Edward The Seventh, London: John Murray
    Middlemas, Keith (1972), Antonia Fraser (ed.), The Life and Times of Edward VII, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, ISBN 978-0-297-83189-1
    Priestley, J. B. (1970), The Edwardians, London: Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-60332-9
    Ridley, Jane (2012), Bertie: A Life of Edward VII, London: Chatto & Windus, ISBN 978-0-7011-7614-3
    Shaw, William Arthur; Burtchaell, George Dames (1906), The knights of England; a complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, London: Central chancery of the orders of knighthood, Sherratt and Hughes
    Windsor, HRH The Duke of (1951), A King's Story, London: Cassell and Co

Further reading

    Andrews, Allen (1975), The Follies of King Edward VII, Lexington, ISBN 978-0-904312-15-7
    Aubyn, Giles St (1979), Edward VII, Prince and King, Atheneum, ISBN 978-0-689-10937-9
    Beer, Peter (2016), Playboy Princes: The Apprentice Years of Edward VII and VIII, Peter Owen
    Buckner, Phillip (2003), "Casting daylight upon magic: Deconstructing the royal tour of 1901 to Canada", Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 31 (2): 158–189, doi:10.1080/03086530310001705656, S2CID 162347515
    Butler, David (1975), Edward VII, Prince of Hearts, Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, ISBN 978-0-297-76897-5
    Cornwallis, Kinahan (2009) [1860], Royalty in the New World: Or, the Prince of Wales in America, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-108-00298-1
    Cowles, Virginia (1956), Edward VII and his Circle, H. Hamilton
    Farrer, James Anson (1912), England Under Edward VII, Allen & Unwin
    Glencross, Matthew (2016), The State Visits of Edward VII: Reinventing Royal Diplomacy for the Twentieth Century, Palgrave Macmillan
    Hibbert, Christopher (2007), Edward VII: The Last Victorian King, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-4039-8377-0
    Neilson, Francis (1957), "Edward VII and the Entente Cordiale, I.", American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 16 (4): 353–368, doi:10.1111/j.1536-7150.1957.tb00197.x, JSTOR 3484884
    Plumptre, George (1997), Edward VII, Trafalgar Square Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85793-846-3
    Ponsonby, Frederick (1951), Recollections of Three Reigns, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode
    Ridley, Jane (2013), "'The Sport of Kings': Shooting and The Court of Edward VII", The Court Historian, 18 (2): 189–205, doi:10.1179/cou.2013.18.2.004, S2CID 159750104
    Ridley, Jane (2016), "Bertie Prince of Wales: Prince Hal and the Widow of Windsor", Royal Heirs and the Uses of Soft Power in Nineteenth-Century Europe, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 123–138
    Roby, Kinley E. (1975), The King, the Press and the People: A Study of Edward VII, Barrie and Jenkins, ISBN 978-0-214-20098-4
    Ryan, A. P. (1953), "The Diplomacy of Edward VII", History Today, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 352–360
    Tuchman, Barbara (1964), The Guns of August, New York: Macmillan
    Walker, Richard (1988), The Savile Row Story: An Illustrated History, London: Prion, ISBN 978-1-85375-000-7
    Watson, Alfred Edward Thomas (1911), King Edward VII. as a sportsman, Longmans, Green and Company
    Weintraub, Stanley (2001), Edward the Caresser: The Playboy Prince Who Became Edward VII, Free Press, ISBN 978-0-684-85318-5

External links
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Edward VII
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    Edward VII at the official website of the British monarchy
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    Edward VII at BBC History
    Works by Edward VII at Project Gutenberg
    Works by or about Edward VII at Internet Archive
        Macaulay, James (editor) (1889). Speeches and addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863–1888 London: Murray.
    Portraits of King Edward VII at the National Portrait Gallery, London Edit this at Wikidata

Edward VII
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 9 November 1841 Died: 6 May 1910
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Victoria
    King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions
Emperor of India
22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910     Succeeded by
George V
British royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
George (IV)     Prince of Wales
Duke of Cornwall
Duke of Rothesay
1841–1901     Succeeded by
George (V)
Military offices
Preceded by
The Earl Beauchamp
    Colonel of the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars
1863–1901     Succeeded by
Lord Ralph Drury Kerr
Masonic offices
Preceded by
The Marquess of Ripon
    Grand Master of the United
Grand Lodge of England
1874–1901     Succeeded by
The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Honorary titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Albert, Prince Consort     Great Master of the Bath
1897–1901     Succeeded by
The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

    vte

Edward VII
King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India (1901–1910)
Family   

    Alexandra of Denmark (wife) Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (son) George V (son) Louise, Princess Royal (daughter) Princess Victoria (daughter) Maud, Queen of Norway (daughter) Queen Victoria (mother) Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (father) Victoria, German Empress (sister) Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (sister) Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (brother) Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (sister) Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (sister) Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (brother) Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (brother) Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg (sister)

Events   

    Wedding Royal baccarat scandal Coronation
        Honours Medal Police Medal Coronation cases Death and state funeral

Reign   

    Edwardian era Edwardian architecture Prime ministers Household

Namesakes   

    King Edward VII Land King Edward VII-class battleship HMS King Edward VII Hospitals
        London Falkland Islands Sheffield Schools
        King Edward VII Academy King Edward VII and Queen Mary School
            King Edward VII School, Lytham King Edward VII School, Sheffield King Edward VII School, Melton Mowbray King Edward VII School, Johannesburg King Edward VII School, Taiping Higher Education
        King Edward Medical University Eduardo VII Park Prince Albert King Edward VII Stakes

Depictions   
Film and television   

    The Coronation of Edward VII (1902) "Guest of Honour" (1972) Fall of Eagles (1974) Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974) Edward the Seventh (1975) The Duchess of Duke Street (1976) Lillie (1978) Mrs Brown (1997) The Lost Prince (2003) Victoria & Abdul (2017)

Statues and
memorials   

    King Edward VII Memorial Edward VII Monument Bangalore statue Bootle statue

Books   

    The Edwardians (1930) And Having Writ... (1978) Flashman and the Tiger (1999)

Stamps   

    Edward VII 2d Tyrian plum

Mistresses   

    Agnes Keyser Alice Keppel Daisy Greville Hortense Schneider Lady Susan Vane-Tempest Lillie Langtry Nellie Clifden Patsy Cornwallis-West

Honours   

    Royal Family Order Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Related   

    Arthur Sassoon Olga de Meyer Lady Randolph Churchill Sarah Bernhardt Homburg hat Caesar (dog) King Edward VII's Town Coach Marlborough House set Love chair

    ← Victoria George V →

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English, Scottish and British monarchs
Monarchs of England until 1603    Monarchs of Scotland until 1603

    Æthelstan (from 927) Edmund I Eadred Eadwig Edgar the Peaceful Edward the Martyr Æthelred the Unready Sweyn Edmund Ironside Cnut Harold I Harthacnut Edward the Confessor Harold Godwinson Edgar Ætheling William I William II Henry I Stephen Matilda Henry II Henry the Young King Richard I John Louis Henry III Edward I Edward II Edward III Richard II Henry IV Henry V Henry VI Edward IV Edward V Richard III Henry VII Henry VIII Edward VI Jane Mary I and Philip Elizabeth I

    

    Kenneth I MacAlpin Donald I Constantine I Áed Giric Eochaid Donald II Constantine II Malcolm I Indulf Dub Cuilén Amlaíb Kenneth II Constantine III Kenneth III Malcolm II Duncan I Macbeth Lulach Malcolm III Donald III Duncan II Edgar Alexander I David I Malcolm IV William I Alexander II Alexander III Margaret John Robert I David II Edward Balliol Robert II Robert III James I James II James III James IV James V Mary I James VI

    Monarchs of England and Scotland after the Union of the Crowns from 1603

    James I and VI Charles I The Protectorate
        Oliver Cromwell Richard Cromwell Charles II James II and VII William III and II and Mary II Anne

    British monarchs after the Acts of Union 1707

    Anne George I George II George III George IV William IV Victoria Edward VII George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II Charles III

    Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.

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British princes
The generations indicate descent from George I, who formalised the use of the titles prince and princess for members of the British royal family.
1st generation   

    King George II

2nd generation   

    Frederick, Prince of Wales Prince George William Prince William, Duke of Cumberland

3rd generation   

    King George III Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn Prince Frederick

4th generation   

    King George IV Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany King William IV Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn King Ernest Augustus of Hanover Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Octavius Prince Alfred Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

5th generation   

    Prince Albert1 King George V of Hanover Prince George, Duke of Cambridge

6th generation   

    King Edward VII Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany Prince Ernest Augustus

7th generation   

    Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale King George V Prince Alexander John of Wales Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Arthur of Connaught Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince George William of Hanover Prince Christian of Hanover Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick

8th generation   

    King Edward VIII King George VI Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince John Alastair, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover Prince George William of Hanover

9th generation   

    Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh2 Prince William of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Michael of Kent

10th generation   

    King Charles III Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

11th generation   

    William, Prince of Wales Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex James, Earl of Wessex

12th generation   

    Prince George of Wales Prince Louis of Wales Prince Archie of Sussex

1 Not a British prince by birth, but created Prince Consort. 2 Not a British prince by birth, but created a Prince of the United Kingdom.
Princes whose titles were removed and eligible people who do not use the title are shown in italics.

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Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Forefather   
Duke Francis I*
1st generation   

    Duke Ernest I* Prince Ferdinand* King Leopold I of the Belgians*

2nd generation   
Ducal   

    Duke Ernest II* Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom*

Koháry   

    King Ferdinand II of Portugal and the Algarves* Prince August* Prince Leopold*

Belgium   

    Crown Prince Louis Philippe King Leopold II Prince Philippe

3rd generation   
United Kingdom   

    King Edward VII Duke Alfred I Prince Arthur Prince Leopold

Portugal   

    King Pedro V King Luís I Infante João Infante Fernando Infante Augusto

Koháry   

    Prince Philipp Prince Ludwig August Tsar Ferdinand I of the Bulgarians

Belgium   

    Prince Leopold Prince Baudouin King Albert I

4th generation   
United Kingdom   

    Prince Albert Victor King George V Hereditary Prince Alfred Prince Arthur Duke Charles Edward I

Portugal   

    King Carlos I Infante Afonso

Koháry   

    Prince Leopold Clement Prince Pedro Augusto Prince August Leopold Prince Joseph Ferdinand Prince Ludwig Gaston

Bulgaria   

    Tsar Boris III Prince Kiril

Belgium   

    King Leopold III Prince Charles

5th generation   
United Kingdom   

    King Edward VIII King George VI Prince Henry Prince George Prince John Prince Alastair

Ducal   

    Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold Prince Hubertus Prince Friedrich Josias

Portugal   

    Prince Luís Filipe King Manuel II

Koháry   

    Prince Rainer Prince Philipp

Bulgaria   

    Tsar Simeon II

Belgium   

    King Baudouin I King Albert II Prince Alexandre

6th generation   
Ducal   

    Prince Andreas

Koháry   

    Prince Johannes Heinrich

Bulgaria   

    Prince Kardam Prince Kyril

Belgium   

    King Philippe I Prince Laurent

7th generation   
Bulgaria   

    Prince Boris

Belgium   

    Prince Gabriel Prince Emmanuel

*Titled as Princes of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld before 11 February 1826

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Princes of Wales

    Edward (1301–1307) Edward (1343–1376) Richard (1376–1377) Henry (1399–1413) Edward (1454–1471) Richard (1460; disputed) Edward (1471–1483) Edward (1483–1484) Arthur (1489–1502) Henry (1504–1509) Edward (1537–1547) Henry (1610–1612) Charles (1616–1625) Charles (1641–1649) James (1688) George (1714–1727) Frederick (1728–1751) George (1751–1760) George (1762–1820) Albert Edward (1841–1901) George (1901–1910) Edward (1910–1936) Charles (1958–2022) William (2022–present)

    
See also: Principality of Wales

    vte

Dukes of Cornwall

    Edward (1337–1376) Richard (1376–1377) Henry (1399–1413) Henry (1421–1422) Edward (1453–1471) Richard (1460; disputed) Edward (1470–1483) Edward (1483–1484) Arthur (1486–1502) Henry (1502–1509) Henry (1511) Edward (1537–1547) Henry Frederick (1603–1612) Charles (1612–1625) Charles (1630–1649) James (1688–1701/2) George (1714–1727) Frederick (1727–1751) George (1762–1820) Albert Edward (1841–1901) George (1901–1910) Edward (1910–1936) Charles (1952–2022) William (2022–present)

    
Cornwall Portal

    vte

Dukes of Rothesay

    David (1398–1402) James (1402–1406) Alexander (1430) James (1430–1437) James (1452–1460) James (1473–1488) James (1507–1508) Arthur (1509–1510) James (1512–1513) James (1540–1541) James (1566–1567) Henry Frederick (1594–1612) Charles (1612–1625) Charles James (1629) Charles (1630–1649) James (1688–1689) George (1714–1727) Frederick (1727–1751) George (1762–1820) Albert Edward (1841–1901) George (1901–1910) Edward (1910–1936) Charles (1952–2022) William (2022–present)

    

    vte

Great Masters of the Order of the Bath

    John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Albert, Prince Consort Albert Edward, Prince of Wales Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Charles, Prince of Wales

    
CivilKnightsGrandCrossoftheBath.JPG

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United Grand Lodge of England
Grand Masters   
19th century   

    The Duke of Sussex (1813–1843) The Earl of Zetland (1844–1870) The Marquess of Ripon (1870–1874) The Prince of Wales (1874–1901)

20th century   

    The Duke of Connaught (1901–1939) The 1st Duke of Kent (1939–1942) The Earl of Harewood (1942–1947) The Duke of Devonshire (1947–1950) The Earl of Scarbrough (1951–1967) The 2nd Duke of Kent (1967–present)

Related articles   

    History of Freemasonry Premier Grand Lodge of England Antient Grand Lodge of England Freemasons' Hall, London Mark Masons' Hall, London Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution Provincial Grand Lodges (UGLE) Lectures of the Three Degrees in Craft Masonry Emulation Lodge of Improvement Quatuor Coronati Lodge

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1900 to 1909 Important News, Significant Events, Key Technolog

1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1909 History
List of Major News Events From 1900 to 1909

    1900 25% of all cars that were sold in 1900 were electric cars
    1901 Marconi Sends First Wireless Transmission
    1902 Triple AAA Started
    1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight
    1904 Long Acre Square in Manhattan, New York, was renamed Times Square
    1905 The world's first nickelodeon opened showing a silent film called The Great Train Robbery
    1906 International Morse code distress signal or SOS Adopted
    1907 Immigrant Workers in Canada
    1908 Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company introduces the Ford Model T costing $850.00
    1909 The Queensboro Bridge Opens

Find More Detailed Information Below
1900

Work On New York Subway Begins , Work on the New York subway begins on the first section from City Hall to the Bronx in the year 1900. It was financed by the issue of rapid transit bonds by the City of New York and because no company was willing to take the risk of such a large project. The city decided to build the subways itself by subcontracting with the IRT who ran the elevated railways in the city to equip and operate the subways, sharing the profits with the City and guaranteeing a fixed five-cent fare.

The Boxer Rebellion , The Boxer Rebellion was a supposed peasant uprising that was supported by the Empress Dowager's Court. The European residents of Peking had started to call the rebels Boxers from their boxing rituals and calisthenics beliefs. Their society can be translated into English as 'the righteous and harmonious hands,' and was encouraged in their anti-Western actions by the more conservative elements of the Ch'ing Dynasty's Court. The Boxer's influence around Peking had made the Western powers send a relief force to their legations' aid from the coastline of Tientsin. The Empress Dowager had ordered the Imperial Forces to stop the approaching foreign troops, but the Europeans and Japanese had captured the coastline's strategic forts in order to keep the road to Peking open. The Dowager Empress had ordered all foreigners killed, and the ones in Peking were besieged in their legations or in the city's Roman Catholic church. The regional governors did not support the Boxers, and on August 14 the foreign troops entered Peking. Peace was signed, but the Empress Dowager had fled the city.

Galveston Island Hurricane , A Category 4 Hurricane with estimated winds of 135 miles per hour makes landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas. The hurricane caused the loss of between 6,000 and 12,000 lives about 20% of the island’s population, the reason for so much loss of life was that Galveston was a low, flat island, little more than a large sandbar along the Gulf Coast and the hurricane had brought with it a storm surge of over 15 feet, which washed over the entire island.

Electric Cars , 25% of all cars that were sold in 1900 were electric cars. It will be interesting to see how many years it takes for 25% of all cars sold to be fully electric or Hybrid.

Irish Party Formed , In Dublin, Ireland, Irish delegates convened to create what they called the “Irish Party” and denounced British atrocities in the Boer War. An applauded John Dillon proposed a resolution passed that “the South African war was entered upon in pursuance of a conspiracy to deprive two free nations of their liberty in the interests of capitalists and mine owners.”

Small Pox Epidemic , In Kentucky a small pox epidemic was raging with hundreds of people stricken. The mortality rate was 20% and health authorities demanded that every person in the state be vaccinated.

2nd Modern Olympic Games , The Summer Olympic Games of the II Olympiad are held in Paris, France. This is the first Olympics where women are allowed to compete

1901

Marconi Sends First Wireless Transmission , Marconi sends first wireless transmission over 2000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Poldhu in Cornwall, England to Newfoundland, Canada. The transmission consisted of the Morse-code signal for the letter "s" which consists of three dots ( ... ).

First Speed Limits , Connecticut passes new laws limiting the speeds of Automobiles to 10 MPH in cities 15 MPH in villages and 20 MPH in rural areas.

President William McKinley Shot , William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States is assassinated by Leon Czolgosz when he is shot at point blank range. He died on September 14th , 1901, eight days after he was shot, from gangrene surrounding his wounds. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States on September 14th, 1901.

Queen Victoria Dies , Queen Victoria dies at the age of eighty one. She had nine children, and left Edward as her heir. Her reign has been used to designate the era, and was the longest serving of any English monarch. She presided over the change of government from monarchy to almost pure democracy. Her Prime Ministers had included Robert Peel, William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, Henry Temple and John Russell. Queen Victoria passed away in the Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She had become queen when she was 18 and had ruled for nearly 64 years of her life.

First Nobel Prizes , The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The Nobel Prizes are funded by a fund created after the death of Alfred Nobel the Swedish inventor of dynamite and other high explosives. In his will, Nobel directed that the bulk of his vast fortune be placed in a fund in which the interest would be "annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

Afghanistan Claims By England and Russia , Both England and Russia have laid claim to parts of Afghanistan and have been in constant conflict over it. However, a new ruler in Afghanistan may bring stability to the region. Unlike his unpopular father who created hardships for his people, his son, the new leader, planned to pay the military more and to reduce taxes.

Commonwealth Of Australia Created , On January 1st 1901 The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed

Safety Razor , King C. Gillette and William Emerson Nickerson found the American Safety Razor Company to begin mass producing Safety Razors.

Vacuum Cleaner , Hubert Cecil Booth makes the worlds first Vacuum Cleaner that was designed to suck up dirt. It was to large for a normal home but in 1902 after it was used at Westminster Abbey for King Edward VII coronation it gained in popularity and over the years became smaller and more efficient to what we have today.

Socialist Revolutionary Party , The Socialist Revolutionary Party is founded in Russia.
1902

Triple AAA Started , A very useful company called AAA (American Automobile Association) was founded on this day. Before this time, other companies dealing with automobile concerns had existed. However, none of them seemed to last and to this date AAA is one of the largest automobile organizations in the world.

Shackleton and Scott Get Further South , Ernest Shackleton is part of Robert Scott's British National Antarctic Expedition and joins Scott and Edward Wilson on their sledge journey across the Ross Ice Shelf. They were to reach the most southerly point that anyone had got to by getting to Latitude 82º 16' 33" South on December 30th 1902. This was the record until Scott had got to Latitude 77º 59' South the following year.
1903

Work On The Queensboro Bridge Begins , The Queensboro Bridge also known as the 59th Street Bridge, linking the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened in 1909. The bridge which is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City was started in 1903.

The First Use of Guantánamo Bay , A large naval base is established in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The U.S. Marines had landed there in 1898 , and it had been recognized for its proximity to the Winward Passage and to Panama.

First Baseball World Series , The first modern World Series to be played in Major League Baseball matched the Boston American League club (Boston Red Sox) against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a best-of-nine series, with Boston prevailing five games to three, winning the last four.

First Country To Issue Driving Licenses , Prussia become the first country to issue driving licenses on September 29th , 1903. It was the Dampfkesselüberwachungsverein that was required to pass the tests, which were largely conducted on the drivers' mechanical skills.

First UK Number Plate , The first car number plate (A1) is issued to Earl Russell who camped outside the London County Council issuing office overnight to be sure he got it. He was the brother of the philosopher Bertrand Russell.

Orville and Wilbur Wright , Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight near on December 17th at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The plane weighed 750 pounds and was powered by a 12 horsepower gasoline engine. The craft is referred to as an airship and Orville and Wright were looking for buyers for their machine which was capable of speeds up to 10 mph.

Ford Motor Company , Henry Ford (A Machinist and Engineer) forms the Ford Motor Company to manufacture Automobiles.

Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago , The Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago, Illinois claims 602 lives. The theater had only been open for just over a month. This is still the worst single-building fire in U.S. history for the number of lives lost.

First Crayola Crayons , Edward Binney and C. Harold Smith introduce the world to Crayola Crayons for school kids. The first boxes consisted of 8 different colors and the boxes were the same trademark color of yellow and green they are today.
1904

The General Slocum , An excursion steamer The General Slocum, carrying more than 1,300 people from St. Mark's German Lutheran Church for their 17th annual Sunday school picnic burst into flames on New York's East River with the loss of over 1000 lives. on June 15th

The Entente Cordiale , The Anglo-French agreement whereby they agreed to an ongoing friendly diplomacy, the settling of earlier differences, and to cooperate against Germany's increasingly prominent role in European affairs. It was not an alliance, but an agreement for international cooperation. Edward VII's favoring of France was said to have given it some support. It ceded freedom of policy to England in Egypt and Burma and to France in Morocco and and Indochina. It had heralded the arrival of a new kind of international polity.

Olympic Games , The Summer Olympic Games of the III Olympiad are held in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States.

Times Square , Long Acre Square in Manhattan, New York, was renamed Times Square.
1920's Fashion

Ladies Hats From The Decade

Examples of Ladies Hats From The 20's
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Examples of Ladies Dresses From The 1920's

Part of our Collection of Childrens Clothes From the Decade
Children's Clothing Examples From The 1920s

Childrens Toys From The 1920's

Part of our Collection of Toys from The 1920's

Kids Toy Examples From The 1920s
1920s Music

From our 20's Music Page

Twenties Music
1905

The Nickelodeon , The world's first nickelodeon opened showing a silent film called The Great Train Robbery the name was used as it cost 5 cents or a nickel to watch the movie or live vaudeville acts.

The Trans-Siberian Railway , The Trans-Siberian Railroad went from Moscow to Vladivostok (some six thousand miles). It was to be important in the development of Russian industry, military control of its provinces, and external Imperial influence. It had been built from 1891, from both its eastern and western termini, and required a Chinese agreement as to its use of its Manchurian territories. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had meant that a more northerly route would have to be used.

Illiteracy in the US , In 1905, illiteracy in the U.S. was 106.6 per 1,000 persons. Statistics showed that 6,180,063 persons were illiterate in America. The Arizona Republican observed, “Illiteracy is more common in the country than in the city. This is due to the superior schools in the towns and the more general attendance of children."
1906

Underground Fire France , An underground fire sparks a massive explosion that spreads through a series of mines killing over 1000 men in Courrieres, France.

Morse Code SOS Adopted , International Morse code distress signal or SOS (· · · — — — · · ·) (three dots, three dashes, three dots) became the worldwide standard when it was included in the second International Radiotelegraphic Convention, in Berlin.

Mount Vesuvius Erupted , Vesuvius erupted on April 4th , 1906, and its southern slope vented to about 1,200 meters. Its lava flow had stopped by the 5th, when a new effusion started on the Casa Fiorenza. This one went up to about 800 meters when a third one had occurred on the shoreline. The volcano's eruptions had become stronger throughout April 7th and the crater rim cracked and lava flowed. The 8th of April had started a number of explosive ruptures and the cone started to effuse a large amount of fume. The eruptions lasted until April 21st.

Earthquake San Francisco , An earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, shook the town of San Francisco, California and thirty thousand homes were either partially or wholly destroyed and an estimated 3,000 were reported dead. The earthquake caused large parts of the city to burn and it had taken 2 days of constant fire fighting to stop the spread and bring the fires under control.
1907

Immigrant Workers in Canada , Toronto faced a throng of immigrant workers who faced poverty and starvation unless employment could be found for them. The worst off were 300 people from Bulgaria who were in danger of perishing in a matter of days. Advertisements had brought a large group of immigrants over from Europe to work on railways and in construction, but they were laid off until spring.

Romanian Peasants Revolt , The Romanian Peasants Revolt of 1907 takes place in Moldavia. The peasants were unhappy with their lot. They had complained about how badly exploited they were by the merchants and the bourgeoisie, as well as their inability to own their own land. More than ten thousand were killed by the Romanian Army (of which the later Marshal Antonescu was a member). The Greek and Jewish merchants had acted as middle men for the aristocracy and as landlords for the peasants.

The Zulu Tribe , The British were very concerned about the Ethiopian movement in South Africa. This movement had as its slogan “South Africa for the blacks” and its aim was to abolish British rule. The most radical group of rebels was the Zulu tribe.
1908

Messina Earthquake , The Messina Earthquake, a category 7.5 according to today's Richter scale, strikes the Straits of Messina in southern Italy, destroying the cities of Messina in Sicily and Reggio di Calabria on the Italian mainland. The earthquake and tsunami it caused killed between 50,000 and 150,000.

Ford Model T , Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company introduces the Ford Model T costing $850.00, this was nearly 1/3 of the price of any other car on the market but still not cheap enough for the masses. Over the next few years he perfected assembly line production bringing the cost down to $368.00 in 1916 making it much more affordable consequently selling hundreds of thousands more cars than any other company.

Baden Powell Starts the Boy Scouts , Robert Baden-Powell had been an Army officer in the defense of Mafeking, but had gone on to create the Boy Scout movement. He had started a camp for boys in Dorset in 1907, and gone on to produce his Scouting for Boys Booklet in 1908. The movement's promotion of both self-reliance and teamsmanship were instantly popular.

Olympic Games , The Summer Olympic Games of the IV Olympiad are held in London, England.

New Year , Ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight on January 1st New Year Begins.
1909

A Naval Base at Pearl Harbor , To prevent a Japanese expansion in the Pacific Congress had passed a act in 1908 to build a naval yard in Pearl Harbor, and President Taft had announced this in 1909. It was said at the time to be the world's largest naval base, and its construction was budgeted for around $3 million.

First Fingerprint Evidence Used in Murder Case , For the first time fingerprint evidence is used to solve a murder case in 1909. The worlds first official Fingerprint Bureau was founded in Scotland Yard in 1901. It should also be noted that the World's first Fingerprint Bureau opened in Calcutta, India in 1897.

NAACP , The NAACP was formed partly in response to the continuing practice of lynching and the 1908 race riot in Springfield, the capital of Illinois. Appalled at the violence that was committed against blacks, a group of white liberals that included Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard, issued a call for a meeting to discuss racial justice. Some 60 people, seven of whom were African American (including W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Mary Church Terrell) attended the meeting.

Taiwan Earthquake , A powerful earthquake and aftershocks rock Taiwan, killing over 1,200 people.

Automobile Hearse , For the first time ever an automobile hearse was used in a funeral procession. Before this time, horse-drawn carriages had always been used to carry the honored body of a person who has passed away.

The Queensboro Bridge Opens , The Queensboro Bridge also known as the 59th Street Bridge, linking the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened in 1909. The bridge which is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City was started in 1903.

First Men to Reach The North Pole , Explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson claim to became the first men to reach the North Pole. On April 6, they established "Camp Jesup" allegedly within five miles of the pole. There is a large amount of controversy over this claim for a number of reasons including no independent verification and discrepancies in his journal, and even looking at those Societies who accepted or did not accept his claim makes it difficult to know for certain. The National Geographic Society certified his claim. The Royal Geographical Society of London accepted Claim. The American Geographical Society did not accept his claim. Societies of semi-Arctic Scandinavia did not accept his claim.