A strong-willed activist prince who married a divorcee... King Charles III might not like it, but he has much in common with his wayward uncle Edward VIII - whose brief reign started on this day in 19

Determined to marry Wallis, Edward VIII abdicated in December the same year On 29 January 1949 over dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at their home on the Cap d’Antibes, Lt Colonel John ‘Jack’ Aird, Edward’s former equerry commented wistfully to the gathered group. A portrait of the Duke And Duchess of Windsor taken shortly after their marriage The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall outside St George's Chapel, Windsor after the blessing of their civil wedding in 2004 Charles III would, no doubt, balk at the suggestion that his life or royal career bore any similarities to his uncle’s but the parallels are there and they are striking He spent the remaining thirty-six years of his life in exile in France. The first painting of King Edward after his accession John St Holier Lander The accession of King Edward VIII as King of Great Britain was proclaimed on January 22nd 1936 King Edward VIII at the microphone as he makes his Accession broadcast to the Empire in 1936 The Duke and Duchess of Windsor are pictured at their villa in 1951 Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall sit by the statue of John Lennon in Havana in 2019 The Duke and Duchess at Government House in Nassau, the Bahamas Edward hoped, as he expressed it, ‘to bring to the tasks of kingship a fresh and original mind’ – to revitalise the role – to become, as he called it ‘a modern king’ – but above all to maintain ‘a life outside the office’. Charles has also managed, so far, to remain comfortably ensconced at Clarence House fulfilling Edward’s belief that Buckingham Palace should be a royal office rather than royal residence.