Editing Edward VII (section)

==Reign==
===Accession===
[[File:Edward VII in coronation robes.jpg|alt=Edward in coronation robes holding a sceptre. A crown and orb are on the table to his right.|thumb|Portrait by Sir [[Luke Fildes]], 1901]]
When [[Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria|his mother died]] on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British [[Dominion]]s.<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], p. 7; [[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], p. 104</ref> He chose to reign under the name of Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use{{efn|No English or British sovereign has ever reigned under a double name.}}—declaring that he did not wish to "undervalue the name of Albert" and diminish the status of his father with whom the "name should stand alone".<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27270|date=23 January 1901|page=547|supp=y}}</ref> The numeral VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the [[Church of Scotland|national church]], in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle".<ref name="dnb" /> [[J. B. Priestley]] recalled, "I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s."<ref>[[#Priestley|Priestley]], p. 9</ref>
[[File:Edward VII (Puck magazine).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Caricature in ''[[Puck (magazine)|Puck]]'' magazine, 1901]]
Edward donated his parents' house, [[Osborne House|Osborne]] on the [[Isle of Wight]], to the state and continued to live at Sandringham.<ref>[[#Windsor|Windsor]], p. 14</ref> He could afford to be magnanimous; his private secretary, Sir [[Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys|Francis Knollys]], claimed that he was the first heir to succeed to the throne in credit.<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], p. 26</ref> Edward's finances had been ably managed by Sir [[Dighton Probyn]], [[Comptroller of the Household]], and had benefited from advice from Edward's financier friends, some of whom were Jewish, such as [[Ernest Cassel]], [[Maurice de Hirsch]] and the [[Rothschild family]].<ref>[[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 38, 84, 96; [[#Priestley|Priestley]], p. 32</ref> At a time of widespread [[antisemitism]], Edward attracted criticism for openly socialising with Jews.<ref>{{Citation |last=Allfrey |first=Anthony |title=King Edward VII and His Jewish Court |date=1991 |place=London |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=978-0-297-81125-1}}</ref><ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], pp. 63–64; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 271</ref>

[[Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra|Edward's coronation]] had originally been scheduled for 26 June 1902. However, two days before, he was diagnosed with [[appendicitis]].<ref name="Lee102">[[#Lee|Lee]], pp. 102–109</ref> The disease was generally not treated operatively. It carried a high mortality rate, but developments in [[anaesthesia]] and [[antisepsis]] in the preceding 50 years made life-saving surgery possible.<ref name="app">{{Citation |last1=Mirilas |first1=P. |title=Not just an appendix: Sir Frederick Treves |journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood |volume=88 |issue=6 |pages=549–552 |date=2003 |doi=10.1136/adc.88.6.549 |pmc=1763108 |pmid=12765932 |last2=Skandalakis, J. E.}}</ref> [[Sir Frederick Treves]], with the support of [[Lord Lister]], performed a then-radical operation of draining a pint of pus from the infected [[abscess]] through an incision in the king's abdomen; this outcome showed that the cause was not cancer.<ref>[[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 365</ref> The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar.<ref>[[#Windsor|Windsor]], p. 20</ref> Two weeks later, it was announced that he was out of danger. Treves was honoured with a baronetcy (which the King had arranged before the operation)<ref>[[#Bentley-Cranch|Bentley-Cranch]], p. 127</ref> and appendix surgery entered the medical mainstream.<ref name="app" /> Edward was crowned at [[Westminster Abbey]] on 9 August 1902 by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Frederick Temple]].<ref name="Lee102" />

Edward refurbished the royal palaces, reintroduced the traditional ceremonies, such as the [[State Opening of Parliament]], that his mother had foregone, and founded new [[Order (honour)|honours]], such as the [[Order of Merit]], to recognise contributions to the arts and sciences.<ref>[[#Bentley-Cranch|Bentley-Cranch]], pp. 122–139; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], pp. 351–352, 361, 372</ref> In 1902, the Shah of Persia, [[Mozzafar-al-Din]], visited England expecting to receive the [[Order of the Garter]]. The King refused to bestow the honour on the Shah because the order was meant to be in his personal gift and the Foreign Secretary, [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Lord Lansdowne]], had promised it without his consent. He also objected to inducting a Muslim into a Christian [[order of chivalry]]. His refusal threatened to damage British attempts to gain influence in Persia,<ref>[[#Hattersley|Hattersley]], pp. 39–40</ref> but Edward resented his ministers' attempts to reduce his traditional powers.<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], p. 182</ref> Eventually, he relented and Britain sent a special embassy to the Shah with a full Order of the Garter the following year.<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], p. 157; [[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 125–126</ref>

==="Uncle of Europe"===
[[File:EdwardVII at Balmoral.jpg|thumb|Relaxing at [[Balmoral Castle]], photograph by Queen Alexandra]]
As King, Edward's main interests lay in the fields of foreign affairs and naval and military matters. Fluent in French and German, he reinvented royal diplomacy by numerous state visits across Europe.<ref>{{Citation |last=Glencross |first=Matthew |title=The State Visits of Edward VII: Reinventing Royal Diplomacy for the Twentieth Century |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-54898-6}}</ref> He took annual holidays in [[Biarritz]] and [[Marienbad]].<ref name="duke" /> One of his most important foreign trips was an official visit to France in May 1903 as the guest of President [[Émile Loubet]]. Following a visit to [[Pope Leo XIII]] in Rome, this trip helped create the atmosphere for the Anglo-French [[Entente Cordiale]], an agreement delineating British and French colonies in North Africa, and ruling out any future war between the two countries. The Entente was negotiated in 1904 between the French foreign minister, [[Théophile Delcassé]], and the British foreign secretary, Lord Lansdowne. It marked the end of centuries of Anglo-French rivalry and Britain's [[splendid isolation]] from Continental affairs, and attempted to counterbalance the growing dominance of the [[German Empire]] and its ally, [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Nicolson |first=Harold |title=The Origins and Development of the Anglo-French Entente |date=October 1954 |work=International Affairs |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=407–416 |doi=10.2307/2608720 |jstor=2608720 |author-link=Harold Nicolson}}</ref>

Edward was related to nearly every other European monarch, and came to be known as the "uncle of Europe".<ref name="royal" /> German Emperor [[Wilhelm II]] and Emperor [[Nicholas II]] of Russia were his nephews; [[Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain]], [[Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden]], [[Crown Princess Marie of Romania]], [[Crown Princess Sophia of Greece]], and [[Empress Alexandra of Russia]] were his nieces; King [[Haakon VII]] of Norway was both his nephew and his son-in-law; kings [[Frederick VIII of Denmark]] and [[George I of Greece]] were his brothers-in-law; kings [[Albert I of Belgium]], [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]], and [[Carlos I of Portugal|Carlos I]] and [[Manuel II of Portugal]] were his second cousins. Edward doted on his grandchildren, and indulged them, to the consternation of their governesses.<ref>[[#Windsor|Windsor]], p. 15</ref> However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like: Wilhelm II. His difficult relationship with his nephew exacerbated the tensions between Germany and Britain.<ref>[[#Hattersley|Hattersley]], pp. 460–464; [[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 60–61, 172–175; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], pp. 382–384, 433</ref>

In April 1908, during Edward's annual stay at Biarritz, he accepted the resignation of British Prime Minister Sir [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]]. In a break with precedent, Edward asked Campbell-Bannerman's successor, [[H. H. Asquith]], to travel to Biarritz to [[kiss hands]]. Asquith complied, but the press criticised the action of the King in appointing a prime minister on foreign soil instead of returning to Britain.<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], pp. 581–582; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], pp. 417–418</ref> In June 1908, Edward became the first reigning British monarch to visit the [[Russian Empire]], despite refusing to visit in 1906, when Anglo-Russian relations were strained in the aftermath of the [[Russo-Japanese War]], the [[Dogger Bank incident]], and the Tsar's dissolution of the [[State Duma (Russian Empire)|Duma]].<ref>[[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 167, 169</ref> The previous month, he visited the Scandinavian countries, becoming the first British monarch to visit Sweden.<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], pp. 583–584</ref>

===Political opinions===
[[File:King Edward VII Vanity Fair 19 June 1902.jpg|thumb|Portrait in naval uniform by ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' magazine, 1902]]
[[File:Stamp UK 1902 1p.jpg|thumb|upright|Edward VII on British 1-penny stamp of 1902]]
While Prince of Wales, Edward had to be dissuaded from breaking with constitutional precedent by openly voting for [[W. E. Gladstone]]'s [[Representation of the People Act 1884|Representation of the People Bill (1884)]] in the [[House of Lords]].<ref name="dnb" /><ref>[[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 241</ref> On other matters, he was more conservative; for example, he did not favour giving [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom|votes to women]],<ref name="dnb" /><ref>[[#Hattersley|Hattersley]], pp. 215–216; [[#Lee|Lee]], p. 468; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 403</ref> although he did suggest that the social reformer [[Octavia Hill]] serve on the [[Commission for Working Class Housing]].<ref>[[#Bentley-Cranch|Bentley-Cranch]], p. 98</ref> He was also opposed to [[Irish Home Rule]], instead preferring a form of [[dual monarchy]].<ref name="dnb" />

As Prince of Wales, Edward had come to enjoy warm and mutually respectful relations with Gladstone, whom his mother detested,<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 212</ref> but the statesman's son, [[Home Secretary]] [[Herbert Gladstone]], angered the King by planning to permit Roman Catholic priests in vestments to carry the [[Sacramental bread|Host]] through the streets of London, and by appointing two ladies, [[Lady Frances Balfour]] and [[May Tennant]] (wife of [[Harold Tennant|H. J. Tennant]]), to serve on a Royal Commission on reforming divorce law—Edward thought divorce could not be discussed with "delicacy or even decency" before ladies. Edward's biographer [[Philip Magnus-Allcroft]] suggests that Gladstone may have become a [[whipping boy]] for the King's general irritation with the Liberal government. Gladstone was sacked in the reshuffle the following year and the King agreed, with some reluctance, to appoint him [[Governor-General of South Africa]].<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 541</ref>

Edward involved himself heavily in discussions over army reform, the need for which had become apparent with the failings of the [[Second Boer War]].<ref>[[#Lee|Lee]], pp. 91–93; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 389</ref> He supported the redesign of army command, the creation of the [[Territorial Force]], and the decision to provide an [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|Expeditionary Force]] supporting France in the event of war with Germany.<ref>[[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 130–134</ref> Reform of the Royal Navy was also suggested, partly due to the ever-increasing Naval Estimates, and because of the emergence of the [[Imperial German Navy]] as a new strategic threat.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kennedy |first=Paul M. |title=The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery |pages=215–216 |date=2004 |place=London |publisher=Penguin Books |author-link=Paul Kennedy}}</ref> Ultimately a dispute arose between Admiral [[Lord Charles Beresford]], who favoured increased spending and a broad deployment, and the [[First Sea Lord]] Admiral Sir [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|John Fisher]], who favoured efficiency savings, scrapping obsolete vessels, and a strategic realignment of the Royal Navy relying on torpedo craft for home defence backed by the new [[dreadnought]]s.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lambert |first=Nicholas A. |title=Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution |date=2002 |place=Columbia, South Carolina |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-57003-492-3}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Grove |first=Eric J. |author-link=Eric Grove |title=The Royal Navy since 1815 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-333-72126-1 |pages=88–100}}</ref>

The King lent support to Fisher, in part because he disliked Beresford, and eventually Beresford was dismissed. Beresford continued his campaign outside of the navy and Fisher ultimately announced his resignation in late 1909, although the bulk of his policies were retained.<ref>[[#Middlemas|Middlemas]], pp. 134–139</ref> The King was intimately involved in the appointment of Fisher's successor as the Fisher-Beresford feud had split the service, and the only truly qualified figure known to be outside of both camps was [[Arthur Wilson (Royal Navy officer)|Sir Arthur Wilson]], who had retired in 1907.<ref>Lambert, pp. 200–201.</ref> Wilson was reluctant to return to active duty, but Edward persuaded him to do so, and Wilson became First Sea Lord on 25 January 1910.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bradford |first=Admiral Sir Edward E. |title=Life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson |pages=223–225 |date=1923 |place=London |publisher=John Murray |author-link=Edward Eden Bradford}}</ref>
[[File:Edward VII and Willhelm II.jpg|thumb|upright|Edward VII (left) and Kaiser Wilhelm II (right)]]
Edward was rarely interested in politics, although his views on some issues were notably progressive for the time. During his reign, he said use of the word ''[[nigger]]'' was "disgraceful", despite it then being in common parlance.<ref>{{Citation |last=Rose |first=Kenneth |title=King George V |page=65 |date=1983 |place=London |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |author-link=Kenneth Rose |isbn=9780297782452}}</ref> In 1904, Wilhelm II and Edward met during an Anglo-German summit in [[Kiel]]. Wilhelm, with the Russo-Japanese War in mind, started to go on about the "[[Yellow Peril]]", which he called "the greatest peril menacing&nbsp;... [[Christendom]] and [[Western culture|European civilisation]]. If the Russians went on giving ground, the yellow race would, in twenty years time, be in Moscow and [[Poznań|Posen]]".<ref name="macdonogh">{{Citation |last=MacDonogh |first=Giles |author-link=George MacDonogh |title=The Last Kaiser |isbn=0312305575 |page=277 |date=2003 |place=New York |publisher=St Martin's Press}}</ref> Wilhelm went on to attack his British guests for supporting Japan against Russia, suggesting that the British were committing "race treason". In response, Edward stated that he "could not see it. The Japanese were an intelligent, brave and chivalrous nation, quite as civilised as the Europeans, from whom they only differed by the pigmentation of their skin".<ref name="macdonogh" /> Although Edward lived a life of luxury often far removed from that of the majority of his subjects, they expected it, and his personal charm with all levels of society and his strong condemnation of prejudice went some way to assuage republican and racial tensions building during his lifetime.<ref name="dnb" />

===Constitutional crisis===
In the last year of his life, Edward became embroiled in a constitutional crisis when the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] majority in the [[House of Lords]] refused to pass the "[[People's Budget]]" proposed by the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] government of Prime Minister Asquith. The crisis eventually led—after Edward's death—to the removal of the Lords' right to veto legislation. The King was displeased at Liberal attacks on the peers, which included a polemical speech by [[David Lloyd George]] at [[Limehouse]].<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], pp. 276–277; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 437</ref> Cabinet minister [[Winston Churchill]] publicly demanded a general election, for which Asquith apologised to the King's adviser [[Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys|Lord Knollys]] and rebuked Churchill at a Cabinet meeting. Edward was so dispirited at the tone of class warfare—although Asquith told him that party rancour had been just as bad over the [[First Home Rule Bill]] in 1886—that he introduced his son to [[Secretary of State for War]] [[Richard Haldane]] as "the last King of England".<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], pp. 282–283</ref> After the King's horse [[Minoru (horse)|Minoru]] won the Derby on 26 July 1909, he returned to the racetrack the following day and laughed when a man shouted: "Now, King. You've won the Derby. Go back home and dissolve this bloody Parliament!"<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 526</ref>

In vain, the King urged Conservative leaders [[Arthur Balfour]] and Lord Lansdowne to pass the budget, which [[Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher|Lord Esher]] had advised him was not unusual, as Queen Victoria had helped to broker agreements between the two Houses over [[Irish disestablishment]] in 1869 and the [[Third Reform Act]] in 1884.<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 534; [[#Ridley|Ridley]], pp. 440–441</ref> On Asquith's advice, however, he did not offer them an election (at which, to judge from recent by-elections, they were likely to gain seats) as a reward for doing so.<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], pp. 281–282</ref>
[[File:Francis Derwent Wood - Edouard VII.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bust by [[Francis Derwent Wood]]]]
[[File:Edward VII Halfpenny.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Profile of Edward VII on a [[Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin)|halfpenny]], 1902]]
The Finance Bill passed the Commons on 5 November 1909, but was rejected by the Lords on 30 November; they instead passed a resolution of Lord Lansdowne's stating that they were entitled to oppose the bill as it lacked an electoral mandate. The King was annoyed that his efforts to urge passage of the budget had become public knowledge<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 536</ref> and had forbidden Knollys, who was an active Liberal peer, from voting for the budget, although Knollys had suggested that this would be a suitable gesture to indicate royal desire to see the budget pass.<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], pp. 283–284</ref> In December 1909, a proposal to create peers (to give the Liberals a majority in the Lords) or give the prime minister the right to do so was considered "outrageous" by Knollys, who thought the King should abdicate rather than agree to it.<ref>[[#Ridley|Ridley]], p. 443</ref>

Talk of removing the Lords' veto played a major role in the [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|January 1910 election]]. Early in the election campaign, Lloyd George talked of "guarantees" and Asquith of "safeguards" that would be necessary before forming another Liberal government, but such talk ceased after the King informed Asquith that he would not be willing to contemplate creating peers until after a second general election.<ref name="dnb" /><ref>[[#Hattersley|Hattersley]], p. 168</ref> Balfour refused to say whether or not he would be willing to form a Conservative government, but advised the King not to promise to create peers until he had seen the terms of any proposed constitutional change.<ref name="Heffer, pp. 286–288">[[#Heffer|Heffer]], pp. 286–288</ref> During the campaign, the leading Conservative [[Walter Long, 1st Viscount Long|Walter Long]] asked Knollys for permission to state that the King did not favour Irish Home Rule, but Knollys refused on the grounds that it was not appropriate for the monarch's views to be known in public.<ref name="Magnus, p. 547">[[#Magnus|Magnus]], p. 547</ref>

The election resulted in a [[hung parliament]], with the Liberal government dependent on the support of the third-largest party, the [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] [[Irish Parliamentary Party]]. The King suggested a compromise whereby only 50 peers from each side would be allowed to vote, which would also obviate the large Conservative majority in the Lords, but [[Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe|Lord Crewe]], Liberal leader in the Lords, advised that this would reduce the Lords' independence, as only peers who were loyal party supporters would be picked.<ref name="Magnus, p. 547" /> Pressure to remove the Lords' veto now came from the Irish nationalist MPs, who wanted to remove the Lords' ability to block the introduction of Home Rule. They threatened to vote against the budget unless they had their way (an attempt by Lloyd George to win their support by amending whiskey duties was abandoned as the Cabinet felt this would recast the budget too much). Asquith now revealed that there were no "guarantees" for the creation of peers. The Cabinet considered resigning and leaving it up to Balfour to try to form a Conservative government.<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], pp. 290–293</ref>

The King's [[speech from the throne]] on 21 February made reference to introducing measures restricting the Lords' power of veto to one of delay, but Asquith inserted a phrase "in the opinion of my advisers" so the King could be seen to be distancing himself from the planned legislation.<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], p. 291</ref> The Commons passed resolutions on 14 April that would form the basis for the [[Parliament Act 1911]]: to remove the power of the Lords to veto money bills, to replace their veto of other bills with a power to delay, and to reduce the term of Parliament from seven years to five (the King would have preferred four<ref name="Heffer, pp. 286–288" />). However, in that debate Asquith hinted—to ensure the support of the nationalist MPs—that he would ask the King to break the deadlock "in that Parliament" (i.e. contrary to Edward's earlier stipulation that there be a second election). The budget was passed by both Commons and Lords in April.<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], p. 293</ref>

By April, the Palace was having secret talks with Balfour and [[Randall Davidson]], Archbishop of Canterbury, who both advised that the Liberals did not have sufficient mandate to demand the creation of peers. The King thought the whole proposal "simply disgusting" and that the government was "in the hands of [[John Redmond|Redmond]] & Co". [[Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe|Lord Crewe]] announced publicly that the government's wish to create peers should be treated as formal "[[advice (constitutional law)|ministerial advice]]" (which, by convention, the monarch must accept), although Lord Esher argued that the monarch was entitled ''in extremis'' to dismiss the government rather than take their "advice".<ref>[[#Heffer|Heffer]], pp. 294–296</ref> Esher's view has been called "obsolete and unhelpful".<ref>[[#Magnus|Magnus]], pp. 555–556</ref>