Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor is pictured with his
wife, former Mrs Wallis Simpson, for whom he gave
up the crown.
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On the evening of
December 11, he gave a radio
address in which he explained,
"I have found it impossible to carry on the
heavy burden of responsibility
and to discharge the duties of
king, as I would wish to do, without the help and
support of the woman I love."
The Bill of Abdication
Edward VIII abdicates
After ruling for less than one year, He becomes the first English monarch to
voluntarily abdicate the
throne. He chose to
abdicate after the British
government, public, and the
Church of England condemned his
decision to marry the American
divorcée Wallis Warfield
Simpson.
Wallis and Edward with best man Edward "Fruity" Metcalfe at their royal wedding, June 3, 1937, at the Chateau de Candé,
Mont, France
In January of 1936, Edward was crowned the British Monarch upon
the death of King George V. He, however, had no interest in being king. Edward’s focus was solely on marrying Wallis Simpson– the
rags-to-riches American commoner who had somehow
seduced the now King of England.
Many wondered aloud,
what could he possibly see in her? Give up the throne for–
what? Apparently it wasn’t the sex. She’s credited with icily
stating, “No man is allowed to touch me below the Mason-Dixon
line.”
There were also ugly and persistent rumors challenging her own physical
endowments as a lady.
Shady, unsubstantiated stories surfaced that Wallis Simpson was
born a man, and suffered from Androgen Insensitivity
Syndrome– a hormonal irregularity that causes a genetic male’s body to
develop as a woman, but without fully developed, err, privates. Just
the kind of story any gal would love to be the subject of.
And then there were the stories of her affairs, Nazi
sympathizing, and shopping.
Many influential members the English upper class suspected that
while Wallis Simpson was carrying on an affair with Prince Edward, that
she also cavorting with other men– the most damning being a Nazi
Officer close to Hitler, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Reich Minister
Ambassador-Plenipotentiary at Large. It was reported that the Nazi’s
were using Simpson for her connection to The King, and she was happy to provide them with all the
British insider information they wanted,
as long as she was paid. The FBI investigated the matter, and reported to President Roosevelt with
their findings. He was quoted as saying that Wallis Simpson “played around…with the Ribbentrop set.”
After marrying Edward in 1937, the two met The Fuhrer, Adolph
Hitler– whispered sweet pro-German sentiments, and were becoming full-blown Nazi
sympathizers. It’s now well known
that if all had gone as planned, the
Nazis would defeat Great Britain– and Hitler had every intention of then restoring Edward to the throne. All that was enough
to make the British take
immediate action.
The Duke and Duchess of
Windsor with Adolf Hitler
The couple was quickly rounded-up, and shipped off
where they could do no harm. He became the Governor of the
Bahamas, and together they were appointed the Duke and
Duchess of Windsor. The Duchess hated it there, and spent a good amount of time power shopping in New
York– much to the shock of the British who were tightening their belts under imposed
wartime rationing.
Getting the picture that there was no love lost between her
and the British?
1941, Nassau, Bahamas – Governor of the Bahama Islands, the Duke of Windsor, dressed in a dapper plaid suit and two-tone wing tip shoes, smiling up at the Duchess of Windsor, as he sits
at her feet ; and playing a card game in their home in the Government House. — Photograph by David E. Scherman for LIFE
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor
(AKA Wallis Simpson)– arguably
one of the most controversial, talked about couples of the 20th century. Their affair started while
she was still married to her 2nd husband Ernest Simpson– a
wealthy Englishman, through whom she gained access to
British high society. The two were introduced at a
London social event, and soon she was a frequent guest at Prince Edward’s
country getaway, Fort Belvedere.
France, 1955 — The Duke of Windsor’s garden and summer home
in the South of France. — Photograph by Frank Scherschel for
LIFE
Wallis Simpson photographed by Cecil Beaton. “Beaton later attempted to soften
her brittle image in a series of photographs taken at the Chateau de
Candé during the eve of the subdued and even makeshift arrangements for her
wedding to the Duke of Windsor, who had romantically given up his throne for her.
Beaton was not entirely successful. Dressed in Schiaparelli’s organza evening
dress printed with a giant lobster, and brandishing a sheaf of pussy willow, or
stroking a whippet that was clearly not her own, Wallis makes an unlikely romantic
heroine. “Since I can’t be pretty,” she told Vogue in 1943, “I try to look
sophisticated,” and no detail of that sophisticated style escaped the
magazine’s scrutiny as Vogue celebrated her fashion and style choices into the
1960s.” — Hamish Bowles
*____ Caption for image on previous slide ____*
June 1937, Chateau de Cande, France — Marriage of the Duke and Duchess of
Windsor — Image by © Bettmann/Corbis.
Wallis Simpson, who would marry Edward and become the Duchess of Windsor was
known as the ultimate fashion trendsetter– for her impeccable manner of dress, her
extensive and precious jewelry collection, and her taste in interior design. He was
known as the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Windsor, and the Master of Style. Men’s
fashion owes him a giant debt of gratitude to this day. Widely considered one of the
best dressed men in all of history, his personal style was impeccable, at times
quirky, and always legendary. ”Did he have style?” Diana Vreeland once asked
rhetorically. ”The Duke of Windsor had style in every buckle on his kilt, every check of
his country suits.”
*____ Caption for image on previous slide ____*
Paris, France, 1939 — A view showing the exterior of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s new home. – Photograph by William
Vandivert for LIFE
A glamorous social set of fashion designers,
Nazi sympathizers,
American heiresses,
British ex-pats, and assorted other idle rich
people welcomed the
Windsors and became a sort of parallel court for
the displaced royals.
This French upper-crust group was dubbed ”the Windsor Set.” The press buzzed
about them like bees around a hive.
All their comings and goings,
designer clothes, fancy homes, and
elegant soirees were
endlessly photographe
d and reported
in the society columns of
the day.
At the center of this new social whirl
was the Duchess of Windsor.
She had never got over being
snubbed by the
British Royal Family and
being barred from getting the attention she felt she
and the Duke deserved.
An earlier set of love letters exchanged by Edward VIII and Wallis
Simpson are laid out prior to their auction by Christie's a few years
ago.
On 28 May 1972, the Duke died at his home in Paris, less than a month before his 78th birthday. His body was returned
to Britain, lying in state at St George's Chapel,
Windsor Castle. The funeral service was held in the chapel on 5 June in the presence of
the Queen, the Royal Family,
and the Duchess of Windsor,
and the coffin was buried in the Royal
Burial Ground behind the Royal Mausoleum of
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at
Frogmore.
The Duchess stayed at
Buckingham Palace during
her visit. No love lost:
The Queen Mother and Wallis
Simpson at the Duke’s funeral
Wallis, Duchess of WindsorWallis, Duchess of
Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer,
then Simpson; 19 June 1896– 24 April 1986)
was an American socialite who
married, as her third husband, Prince Edward, Duke of
Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII
of the British Empire.
Wallis was named Woman of
the Year by Time magazine in
1936.
It was the first time the magazine
had a Woman rather than a Man
of the Year.
She knew she wasn’t a great
beauty, having once s
aid,
” Nobody ever called me
beautiful, or even pretty.”
Somehow she thought that the Establishment could be
overcome once [Edward] was king, and she confessed
frankly to Aunt Bessie about her "insatiable ambitions" ...
Trapped by his flight from responsibility into exactly the
role she had sought, suddenly she warned him, in a letter, "You and I can only create disaster together" ...
…she predicted to society hostess
Sybil Colefax, "two people will suffer" because of "the workings of a system" ...
Denied dignity, and without anything useful to do, the new Duke of Windsor and
his Duchess would be international society's most
notorious parasites for a generation, while they thoroughly bored each
other ...
She had thought of him as emotionally a Peter Pan, and of herself an Alice in Wonderland.
The book they had written together, however, was
a Paradise Lost.The Duchess herself is reported
to have summed up her life in a sentence:
"You have no idea how hard it is to live
out a great romance."
The Duchess, increasingly frail and suffering from dementia, lived the remainder of her life
as a recluse, supported by both her husband's estate and an allowance from the Queen.
In 1980, the Duchess lost the power of speech. Toward the
end, she was bedridden and did not receive any visitors, apart from her doctor and nurses.
The Duchess of Windsor died on 24 April 1986 at her home in the Bois
de Boulogne, Paris. Her funeral was held at St. George's
Chapel, Windsor Castle.
She was buried next to Edward in the Royal Burial Ground near
Windsor Castle, as "Wallis, Duchess of Windsor".
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