Coronation of the British monarch of their accession. Edward I was fighting in the Ninth Crusade when he acceded to the throne in 1272; he was crowned soon after his return in 1274. Edward II's coronation, similarly, was delayed by a campaign in Scotland in 1307. Henry VI was only a few months old when he acceded in 1422; he was crowned in 1429, but did not officially assume the reins of government until he was deemed of sufficient age, in 1437. Pre-modern coronations were usually either on a Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, or on a Christian holiday. Edgar's coronation was at Pentecost, William I's
Succession to the British throne made provision for a change in the line of succession had a child been born to William IV after his death, but this event did not come about. In 1936 Edward VIII abdicated 11 months after he succeeded to the throne immediately on his father's death. Edward was proclaimed King in January 1936, and opened (for the only time) Parliament in November 1936. Edward VIII had desired to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcee, but the Church of England, of which the British Sovereign is Supreme Governor, would not authorize the marriage of divorcees. Consequently, Parliament passed His Majesty's Declaration of