My Connection to Royalty - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli
Dr. Ed Iannuccilli, Contributor
My Connection to Royalty - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli
“After King Edward, the same man who abdicated the British throne?”
“Yes, that guy.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“But he abdicated.”
“Oh, get off,” a favorite quip of Mom’s when she wanted to dismiss someone.
“Mom, something else. He met with Hitler. Bad form.” Edward had pre-war Nazi sympathies and was once honored by Nazi officials. “And, Mom, he was having an affair with Wallis Simpson, a married woman once divorced.” Another ‘get-off’ followed.
The royal family disapproved of Edward’s married mistress, but by 1936 the prince was intent on marrying Mrs. Simpson. Before Edward could discuss this plan with his father, George V died in January 1936, and Edward was proclaimed king.
The new king proved popular with his subjects. His coronation was scheduled for May 1937. His affair with Mrs. Simpson was reported in American and continental European newspapers, but a gentlemen’s agreement between the British press and the government kept the affair out of British newspapers. On October 27, 1936, Mrs. Simpson’s preliminary decree of divorce with the intent of marrying the king precipitated a major scandal. To The Church of England and most British politicians, an American woman twice divorced was unacceptable as a prospective British queen.
Edward could not be dissuaded. The scandal broke on the front pages of British newspapers and was discussed openly in Parliament. With no resolution possible, the king renounced the throne. The next day, Parliament approved, and Edward VIII’s reign came to an end. The new king, George VI, made his older brother the Duke of Windsor, and on June 3, 1937, the Duke and Wallis Warfield married.
“So what. He was a good guy. I loved the way he dressed; I named you after him. Get off.” Mom was a fashion buff, so I suspect another reason was that the prince socialized with the fashionable London society of the day.
I presume the first name I sported was Baby Boy Iannuccilli which became Edward Anthony on my birth certificate. The adults in our three-tenement home called me Edward as in, “Edward, put on your rubbers. Edward, come home when the streetlights go on.” In the neighborhood, it was Eddie. When I outraced my friends, I was Fast Eddie. In later years, they called me Ed. I liked that.
A college professor once called me Yankanelli, so thereon after, I was Ed Yank to my college buddies. In my years of medical practice, I was Dr. Ed. I liked that.
In many families, it is not uncommon for the first male child to be named after his father or even his paternal grandfather. My mother, like the king, defied convention and connected me to royalty. “Get off.”