Of course parliament and the British people pounced on the fact that she was a divorcee, and that being the reason he couldn't marry her. But was that really the reason? The Anglican church was literally founded on the pretense of the king wanting a divorce and to remarry. I just don't understand how the leader of that church all of a sudden is prohibited from this. Or, was this just an excuse parliament and media used because they didn't want him to marry a non-royal?
The Anglican church was literally founded on the pretense of the king wanting a divorce and to remarry. I just don't understand how the leader of that church all of a sudden is prohibited from this.
It's not like the Church of England was founded on the idea that "divorce is okay". As head of the church, Henry VIII had the authority to annul his marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves for reasons that the pope could have also affirmed if not for the complicated situation at the time - Catherine having been married to his brother (a big no-no in Christianity) and Anne not consummating the marriage with him (or rather, the other way around). He did not found a church where anyone could get divorced or indeed where he could get divorced. In addition, in a patriarchal society, yes, you are going to see a big difference between a man having multiple successive wives and a woman having multiple successive husbands ...
I have several past answers on this that you may be interested in:
Did Edward VIII really believe he could have married Wallis Simpson and kept the throne?