Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( , ; 1003 – 5 January 1066), also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, was among the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. The son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, Edward succeeded Cnut the Great's son – and his own half brother – Harthacnut, restoring the rule of the House of Wessex after the period of Danish rule since Cnut (better known as Canute) conquered England in 1016. When Edward died in 1066, he was
His Majesty King Edward the Eighth's Abdication Act, 1937 Abdication, rather than 11 December when the Abdication Act had come into force in the UK. It also declared that actions taken in the name of Edward VIII after the abdication but before the passage of the South African act were deemed to be valid. The act was repealed by the South African Constitution of 1961 when South Africa became a republic. His Majesty King Edward the Eighth's Abdication Act, 1937 His Majesty King Edward the Eighth's Abdication Act, 1937 (Act No. 2 of 1937) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that ratified the abdication of King