Fort Belvedere, Windsor: Home of King Edward VIII Before Abdication

Fort Belvedere, 1936: The Scene of King Edward VIII's Abdication

Fort Belvedere is set within 59 acres of Windsor Great Park, close to Windsor Castle and the village of Sunningdale. It is a Grade II listed building, which means that it has a protected status. It is best known as the country residence of King Edward VIII (1894-1972) prior to his abdication.

The fort was where he signed the Instrument of Abdication on the evening of 10th December 1936 so that he could marry Wallis Simpson. On the 11th of December, he addressed the nation by radio from Windsor Castle, and at 13:52 that day, he officially ceased to rule. His reign lasted for 325 days.

This remains the property's strongest claim to fame in royal and British history. It is referred to today as the forgotten royal residence. In 2022, William and Catherine, now Prince and Princess of Wales, selected their new Windsor home. There were rumours that Fort Belvedere was a contender, but they chose Adelaide Cottage, built for and named after Adelaide, the wife and consort of King William IV (1765-1837). It's rather more substantial than a quaint English cottage.

Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park

William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland's Summer House

Windsor Castle is in the county of Berkshire, but Fort Belvedere sits just over the county boundary in Surrey. From Fort Belvedere's flagstaff tower, seven English counties can be seen on a clear day.

Situated at the south end of Windsor Great Park, the original and smaller property that became known as Fort Belvedere was constructed between 1750 and 1755 for King George II's (1683-1760) youngest son William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765). Designed by eminent architect Henry Flitcroft and shielded from onlookers by a cluster of trees, it was called Shrubs Hill Tower.

William Augustus used the triangular construction for pleasure; it was his summer house and folly. He commissioned a manmade lake, Virginia Water, to enhance his view. This work was completed by Thomas and Paul Sandby.

Fort Belvedere as a Hunting Lodge, Tea House and Tourist Attraction

In 1828 the summer house was converted into a gothic-style hunting lodge by Sir James Wyattville, who had previously worked on Windsor Castle's renovations for King George IV (1762-1830). The tower was made taller, and extensions included an octagonal dining room. The total cost of the project was approximately £4000.

Between 1840 and 1907, Queen Victoria ordered that all gun salutes at Windsor marking royal births, deaths and any official events were to be fired from an 18th-century gun parked at Fort Belvedere. The man charged with the task of firing the salutes lived in the three-storey Bombardiers Cottage adjacent to the fort. The queen frequently used Fort Belvedere as a tea house, and from the 1860s, she opened the property to the public.

Grace and Favour Home and The Prince of Wales

In 1910, the beginning of King George V's (1865-1936) reign the property was again renovated and repurposed as a seven-bedroom "grace and favour" residence for Arthur, Duke of Connaught's (1850-1942) Comptroller of the Household Sir Malcolm Murray and his family. The Duke, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, resided at nearby Bagshot Park. (Today, this is the Earl and Countess of Wessex's residence).

In 1929 George V's eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales, known as David to the family, was given Fort Belvedere as his official Windsor residence. Edward remodelled the property to his tastes. A central heating system and a steam room were installed, and extensive stables were built.

Edward hosted lavish and hedonistic parties with enviable (or inadvisable) guest lists and entertainment. He courted the disapproval of his father by stubbornly refusing to behave as George V believed that an heir to the throne should. Edward stated that he spent some of his happiest days at Fort Belvedere.

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It was at the fort that Edward's brother George, Duke of Kent (1902-1942), was weaned off drugs (cocaine and morphine) by his worried and guilt-ridden big brother.

A Bitter Duke of Windsor Loses Fort Belvedere

George V died on 20th January 1936. During his final years, he had become convinced that his son and heir would fail as a king. It was a position with a workload that the trendsetting, golf-playing, partying, Wallis Simpson-infatuated prince had no appetite for.

As a king, Edward used the fort as his home because he preferred it to the official royal residences. Wallis Simpson moved in with him in 1936 after she received death threats.

It was at the fort that the Instrument of Abdication was signed and witnessed by his three brothers, including the new king George VI previously Albert, Duke of York. Edward and Wallis married in France in 1937, and they were titled the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. (She was never permitted the style of Her Royal Highness).

The Duke of Windsor hoped to return to England when the proverbial dust settled, so he continued to pay the insurance and maintenance costs for Fort Belvedere for four more years. In 1940 he was informed that his abdication had effectively ended his right to reside on the property. It was a possession of the crown. It is still in the Crown Estate's portfolio today.

Crown Estate Leases to Royal and Private Tenants

During World War II, Fort Belvedere was requisitioned for office space. Virginia Water Lake, the Duke of Cumberland's water feature, was drained because it could be identified by enemy aircrews easily.

The property lay empty for almost a decade after the war.

George V and Queen Mary's only daughter Mary, Princess Royal, Viscountess Lascelles, had two sons, and the younger one The Honourable Gerald Lascelles, and his wife Angela leased the property on a 99-year agreement in 1953. They lived there between 1956 and 1976, and they carried out extensive renovations. Their divorce in 1976 necessitated the sale of the remainder of the lease.

The next resident was a son of the Emir of Dubai. In the early 1980s, a friend of the royal family, Canadian billionaire Galen Weston and his wife Hilary, the 26th Lieutenant-General of Ontario, took over the lease, and they used Fort Belvedere as their U.K. base. When he died in Toronto in April 2021, the property lease was returned to Crown Estates.

Sources

• Fort Belvedere, Surrey
  Fort Belvedere, Surrey: places to see and visit in Fort Belvedere, Surrey. All you need to know about Fort Belvedere, Surrey
• Fort Belvedere: The forgotten royal residence of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson | Express.co.uk
  FORT BELVEDERE is a sprawling royal residence that was once the home of a scandalous royal, King Edward VIII.
• Fort Belvedere, Windsor Great Park | Unofficial Royalty
  

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2023 Joanne Hayle