(1841–1910). A hugely popular monarch, Edward VII reigned as king of the United Kingdom from 1901 to 1910. He was nearly 60 years old when he took the throne from his mother, Queen Victoria. Edward VII was the first monarch from the house of Windsor. During his reign the dynasty was called the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, for the family name of Victoria’s German-born husband, Albert, the prince consort.
Edward was born in London, England, on November 9, 1841. He was Victoria and Albert’s oldest son. When he was one month old, his mother made him prince of Wales and earl of Chester. He attended the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and briefly served in the army. While stationed in Ireland he had a scandalous affair with an actress that greatly disturbed his father. When Prince Albert died soon after, in December 1861, Victoria held Edward partly responsible. Thereafter the queen excluded Edward from any role in the British government. Until he was more than 50 years old he was forbidden to read the reports of cabinet meetings.
During the decades before he became king, Edward traveled widely and negotiated contacts with the other royal houses of Europe. Most of the royals were relatives of him or his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, whom he married in 1863. Edward was also a familiar figure in the worlds of racing, yachting, and grouse shooting.
The man who succeeded to the throne upon Victoria’s death in 1901 was an individual of unusual social gifts and worldly experience, and as king his course was marked by tact and judgment. Edward VII enjoyed great popularity both at home and abroad. He set out first to restore to the British crown some of the traditional splendor that had lapsed during his mother’s long seclusion after Albert’s death. In 1902 he set out to revisit European capitals to strengthen the British position on the Continent.
Already aware of the war clouds that were looming over Europe, Edward strove to avoid armed conflict. (By the time World War I erupted in 1914, Edward was dead.) He had played an influential part in bringing the United Kingdom, France, and Russia together in 1907 to form a European alliance called the Triple Entente. Unfortunately, his nephew William II, the German emperor, regarded Edward’s diplomatic triumphs as an attempt to encircle Germany with a ring of enemies.
At home Edward strongly supported the military reforms of the secretary of state for war, Richard Burdon Haldane. Finding himself in declining health and concerned about the likelihood of war, Edward considered abdicating before he became ill and died on May 6, 1910. He was succeeded by his second son, who ruled as George V.
