The sitting during which this photograph was taken took place on 15 December 1936. Only five days earlier, King Edward VIII had signed his Instrument of Abdication. As a result his younger brother, the Duke of York, became King George VI, and Princess Elizabeth became the heir presumptive to the British throne. The first act of the new King was to confer the title of HRH The Duke of Windsor upon his brother. The photographer has dated the print ‘1937’ because the photographs were not released until the following year.