A coronation postponed at two days' notice when the sovereign is operated on for appendicitis (1902)
Set for 26 June 1902, it took place on 9 August; Elgar's Coronation Ode was delayed with it
Monarchs · Saxe-Coburg & Windsor
Edward VII
1841–1910
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha — the Edwardian era
In office: 1901–1910
Kept from public business by his mother for most of his adult life, Edward VII waited nearly sixty years as Prince of Wales and then made a considerable king. A fluent French and German speaker related to half the courts of Europe, he lent his weight to the diplomatic realignment that produced the Entente Cordiale, and he presided over a decade of naval revolution and constitutional crisis before dying with the fight over the People's Budget unresolved.
How to spot them
- ▸Bertie; the Uncle of Europe; the Peacemaker
- ▸The last sovereign of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- ▸Racehorses, shooting parties, cigars and Alice Keppel; the Tranby Croft baccarat scandal
- ▸Married Alexandra of Denmark; his son George V succeeded him in 1910
In the reign
An agreement settling colonial quarrels over Egypt and Morocco turns an old enemy into a partner (1904)
The Entente Cordiale with France, signed 8 April 1904
A convention over Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet completes a three-cornered alliance against Germany (1907)
The Anglo-Russian Entente, completing the Triple Entente
A battleship with ten twelve-inch guns and turbine engines makes every other capital ship obsolete overnight (1906)
HMS Dreadnought, Admiral Fisher's ship, built at Portsmouth in a year and a day
A durbar at Delhi proclaims a new emperor who is not himself present (1903)
Curzon's Delhi Durbar; the King-Emperor was represented by his brother the Duke of Connaught
The Lords reject a finance bill with land taxes and old-age pensions, and a constitutional crisis begins (1909)
Lloyd George's People's Budget; the King died before it was resolved
Haldane's army reforms create a General Staff, an Expeditionary Force and a part-time home army (1908)
The Territorial Force, formed 1 April 1908
A reigning monarch's horse wins the Derby at Epsom (1909)
Minoru; he had already won in 1896 with Persimmon and in 1900 with Diamond Jubilee
Quick-fire facts
- •Eldest son of Victoria and Albert; created Prince of Wales in 1841, he held the title for 59 years
- •Married Alexandra of Denmark in 1863; their eldest son Albert Victor died in 1892, so the second son became George V
- •He was called as a witness in the Mordaunt divorce case in 1870 and in the Tranby Croft baccarat scandal of 1891
- •His mistresses included Lillie Langtry, Daisy Greville and Alice Keppel, great-grandmother of Queen Camilla
- •His 1903 state visit to Paris is traditionally credited with preparing opinion for the Entente Cordiale
- •He was a keen yachtsman and the first British monarch to travel by motor car and to make a gramophone recording
- •He died at Buckingham Palace on 6 May 1910; his funeral was attended by nine reigning sovereigns
- •He is buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor; his fox terrier Caesar walked behind the coffin
Drill it — 8 cards
1 / 8new card
Sources
- The Royal Household — Edward VII (r. 1901-1910)
- Christopher Hibbert — Edward VII: The Last Victorian King