Wallis Simpson
(born
Bessie Wallis Warfield
; 19 June 1896 - 24 April 1986), who later became the
Duchess of Windsor
, caused a serious crisis in the mid-1930s when the
heir
to the throne of the
United Kingdom
,
Prince Edward
, fell in love with her. However, she was married to another man, and she had already gotten a
divorce
from her first husband to marry him. In 1936, she divorced her second husband.
[2]
On 20 January 1936, King
George V
died, and Edward became king. Edward VIII and Wallis had already started an affair. He wanted to marry her after she had divorced.
The
monarch
is the head of the
Church of England
, which was strongly against the idea of divorce. Their affair was regarded as a
sin
.
In November, King Edward consulted with
British Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin
on a way to both marry Wallis and keep the throne. Edward suggested a
morganatic marriage
in which he would remain king but Wallis would not be queen, and their children could not become the monarch. The idea was rejected by Baldwin and the
prime ministers
of
Australia
and
South Africa
.
[3]
If Edward married Wallis against Baldwin's advice, the government had decided to resign, which would cause a constitutional crisis.
[4]
The King decided he had no choice but to abdicate so that he could marry Wallis.
[5]
On 11 December 1936, Edward said in a radio broadcast, "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love".
[6]
After his abdication, Edward became the Duke of Windsor, and Wallis became the Duchess of Windsor. While Edward retained his style of "Royal Highness",
King George VI
declared Wallis would not be allowed to do the same but would be instead styled
Her Grace The Duchess of Windsor
, the same style given to a non-royal duchess. The couple lived abroad, mainly in
France
, for most of their lives.
During the
Second World War
, they moved from France to
Portugal
and later to the
Bahamas
. They were widely suspected of being sympathetic to the German
Nazis
. Edward himself wrote in the New York
Daily News
of 13 December 1966: "it was in Britain's interest and in Europe's too, that Germany be encouraged to strike east and smash Communism forever ... I thought the rest of us could be fence-sitters while the Nazis and the Reds slogged it out".
[7]
After her husband's death from cancer in 1972, Wallis travelled to the United Kingdom to attend his funeral. She stayed at
Buckingham Palace
during her visit. The Duchess of Windsor died on 24 April 1986 at her home in the
Bois de Boulogne
,
Paris
, at the age of 89. She was buried alongside her husband in the
Royal Burial Ground
. She wrote about her life in 1956.
[8]
Wikisource
has original writing related to this article:
- ↑
According to 1900 census returns, she was born in June 1895, which author
Charles Higham
asserted was before her parents' marriage (Higham, p. 4). Author
Greg King
, wrote that, though Higham's "scandalous assertion of illegitimacy enlivens the telling of the Duchess's life", "the evidence to support it is slim indeed", and that it "strains credulity" (King, p. 11).
- ↑
Wallis filed for divorce from her second husband on the grounds that he had committed adultery with her childhood friend Mary Kirk. The divorce was granted on 27 October 1936. Bloch, Michael 1996.
The Duchess of Windsor
. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pp. 82, 92.
ISBN
0-297-83590-4
- ↑
The monarch was also the king of the dominions, as they were called.
- ↑
Beaverbrook, Lord (ed A.J.P. Taylor) 1966.
The Abdication of King Edward VIII
. London: Hamish Hamilton, p. 57.
- ↑
Norton-Taylor, Richard; Evans, Rob (2 March 2000),
"Edward and Mrs Simpson cast in new light"
,
The Guardian
, retrieved
2 May
2010
- ↑
Windsor, HRH The Duke of, 1951.
A King's story
. London: Cassellp413.
- ↑
Higham, Charles 2005.
Mrs Simpson
. London: Pan Books, p 259?260.
ISBN
0-330-42678-8
; King, Greg 1999.
The Duchess of Windsor
. New York: Citadel Press, p 294?296.
ISBN
1-55972-471-4
- ↑
Windsor, The Duchess of 1956.
The heart has its reasons: the memoirs of the Duchess of Windsor
. London: Michael Joseph.
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1927?1950
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1951?1975
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1976?2000
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2001?present
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