Why did Edward VIII have to give up the throne to marry a divorcee but Prince Charles is still in line to throne?
Royals who are divorced or marry divorcees do not lose their position in the line of succession. Edward VIII had a number of affairs with married women including Wallis Simpson who was already divorced and still married to her second husband. His parents King George V and Queen Mary did not approve and refused to meet her. When George V died Prime Minister Baldwin made it clear that the Government, popular opinion in the country and the oversees Dominions (now the Commonwealth nations) did not approve of his plans to marry Wallis. Social attitudes towards divorce and a women looking for a third marriage were considered scandalous at the time, and if Edward married against the advice of his Ministers it would have caused the Government to resign and a constitutional crisis. Edward chose to abdicate.
