How Edward VIII could have been shot dead four months before 1936 abdication: 'MI5 informant' aimed loaded revolver at monarch when he was on horseback near Buckingham Palace - before bystanders intervened George McMahon aimed revolver at King near Constitution Hill in July 1936 READ MORE: Edward VIII told Nazis to keep bombing England in WWII By Harry Howard, History Correspondent Published: 14:24, 18 August 2024 | Updated: 14:50, 18 August 2024 e-mail View comments If things had worked out differently one summer's day in July 1936, King Edward VIII's abdication would have been nothing more than one of history's mysterious 'what ifs'. Because if a club-footed assassin had been more ruthless, the King might have been shot dead four months before he gave up the crown. The would-be killer, George McMahon, had stood among the cheering crowds on Constitution Hill, waiting for the moment that Edward would ride past on horseback.
Edward had been returning to Buckingham Palace with this brother the Duke of York - the future King George VI - after reviewing a regimental Colours ceremony in Hyde Park . He had no idea of McMahon's presence, or the fact that he had a loaded gun in his hand. Confusingly - perhaps justifying his later claim that he never intended to do any harm - McMahon had removed the bullet from the first chamber of his weapon, which lay hidden beneath a newspaper.
The club-footed George McMahon was arrested on a hot summer's day in July 1936 after raising a revolver a.