Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth imperialism to the Empire. The coronation was an important event in the history of television, being the country's first major outside broadcast, although television cameras were not allowed inside the abbey. It was also the first coronation to be filmed, as well as the first to be broadcast on radio. In January 1936, King George V died and his eldest son, Edward VIII, succeeded him as king-emperor of the British Empire. He was unmarried at that time, but the American socialite, Wallis Simpson, had accompanied him on numerous social occasions in years leading up to 1936; she was married to
Godfrey Huggins up their brother Africans a bit; and then we can perhaps consider it. Huggins' successor, Welensky, spent his time in office trying to prevent an inevitable break-up of the Federation. Having served 23 years as Prime Minister, Huggins became the longest serving Prime Minister in British Commonwealth history, beating the records of Mackenzie King of Canada and Sir Robert Walpole of Great Britain and Ireland. He is the only Prime Minister in British Commonwealth history to serve under four monarchs (George V, Edward VIII, George VI, and Elizabeth II). He lived out the remainder of his life in Southern Rhodesia,