What if the battleship lost with Repulse had been named King Edward VIII rather than Prince of Wales?
Short answerThe Royal Navy would probably assign a differently named sister ship, such as Duke of York or Anson, because a ship bearing the king's name was unlikely to receive that exposed deployment.
NotesA battleship bearing a reigning king's name would be unlikely to receive the isolated Force Z deployment that historically sent Prince of Wales with Repulse. The ship would probably retain a less politically sensitive name such as Duke of York or Anson, both connected with the class's naming history. The counterfactual changes the assignment as well as the label because loss of a king-named ship would carry greater symbolic risk. Naming practices could therefore influence which hull represented Britain in a distant and exposed command.