Wallis Simpson - Wikipedia

Wallis Simpson - Wikipedia
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Wallis, The Duchess of Windsor
Wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (1896–1986)
"Duchess of Windsor" redirects here. For the ducal title, see
Duke of Windsor
Wallis Simpson
Duchess of Windsor
more
Simpson,
c.
1934
Born
Bessie Wallis Warfield
1896-06-19
June 19, 1896
Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania
, U.S.
Died
April 24, 1986
(1986-04-24)
(aged 89)
4 route du Champ d'Entraînement
, Paris, France
Burial
April 29, 1986
Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore
, Berkshire, England
Spouses
Earl Winfield Spencer Jr.
m.
1916
div.
1927
Ernest Simpson
m.
1928
div.
1937
Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor
(former King Edward VIII)
m.
1937
; died
1972
House
Windsor
(by marriage)
Father
Teackle Wallis Warfield
Mother
Alice Montague
Occupation
Socialite
Signature
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor
(born
Bessie Wallis Warfield
, later
Spencer
and then
Simpson
; June 19, 1896
– April 24, 1986), was an American
socialite
and the wife of
Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor
(former King Edward VIII). Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a
constitutional crisis
that led to
Edward's abdication
Wallis grew up in
Baltimore
, Maryland. Her father died shortly after her birth, and she and her widowed mother were partly supported by their wealthier relatives. Her first marriage, to
United States Navy
officer
Win Spencer
, was punctuated by periods of separation and eventually ended in divorce. In 1931, while married to her second husband
Ernest Simpson
, she met Edward, the heir apparent to the British throne. Five years later, after Edward's accession as
King of the United Kingdom
, Wallis divorced Ernest to marry Edward.
The King's desire to marry a woman who had two living ex-husbands threatened to cause a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom and the
Dominions
, ultimately leading to his abdication in December 1936 to marry "the woman I love".
After abdicating, Edward was made
Duke of Windsor
by his brother and successor,
George VI
. Wallis
married Edward
six months later, after which she was formally known as the Duchess of Windsor, but was not allowed to share her husband's
style
of "
Royal Highness
".
Before, during, and after the
Second World War
, Wallis and Edward were suspected by many in government and society of being
Nazi sympathizers
. In 1937, without government approval, they
visited Germany
and met
Adolf Hitler
. In 1940, Edward was appointed
governor of the Bahamas
, and the couple moved to the islands until he relinquished the office in 1945. In the 1950s and 1960s, they shuttled between Europe and the United States, living a life of leisure as society celebrities. After
Edward's death
in 1972, Wallis lived in seclusion and was rarely seen in public. Her private life has been a source of much speculation, and she remains a controversial figure in British history.
Early life and education
edit
A six-month-old Wallis with her mother, Alice Warfield
An only child, Bessie Wallis (sometimes written "Bessiewallis") Warfield was born on June 19, 1896, in Square Cottage at Monterey Inn, a hotel directly across the road from the
Monterey Country Club
in
Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania
A summer resort close to the border with
Maryland
, Blue Ridge Summit was popular with Baltimoreans escaping the season's heat, and Monterey Inn, which had a central building, as well as individual wooden cottages, was the town's largest hotel.
Wallis's father was Teackle Wallis Warfield (named after
Severn Teackle Wallis
),
the fifth and youngest son of Henry Mactier Warfield, a prominent merchant, described as "one of the best known and personally one of the most popular citizens of Baltimore", who ran for
mayor
in 1875.
Her mother was Alice Montague, a daughter of stockbroker William Latane Montague. Wallis was named in honor of her father (who was known as Wallis) and her mother's elder sister, Bessie (Mrs. D. Buchanan Merryman), and was called Bessie Wallis until, at some time in her youth, the name Bessie was dropped.
According to a wedding announcement published in
The Baltimore Sun
on November 20, 1895, Wallis's parents were married by C. Ernest Smith at Baltimore's Saint Michael and All Angels'
Protestant Episcopal Church
on November 19, 1895,
which suggests she was conceived out of wedlock. Wallis said that her parents were married in June 1895.
10
Her father died of
tuberculosis
on November 15, 1896.
11
For her first few years, Wallis and her mother were dependent upon the charity of her father's wealthy bachelor brother
Solomon Davies Warfield
postmaster
of Baltimore and later president of the
Continental Trust Company
and the
Seaboard Air Line Railway
. Initially, they lived with him at the four-story row house, 34 East Preston Street, that he shared with his mother.
12
Wallis as a ten-year-old schoolgirl
In 1901, Wallis's aunt Bessie Merryman was widowed, and the following year Alice and Wallis moved into her four-bedroom house on West Chase Street, Baltimore, where they lived for at least a year until they settled in an apartment, and then a house, of their own. In 1908, Wallis's mother married her second husband, John Freeman Rasin, son of prominent
Democratic Party
boss
Isaac Freeman Rasin
13
On April 17, 1910, Wallis was confirmed at Christ Episcopal Church, Baltimore, and between 1912 and 1914 her uncle paid for her to attend
Oldfields School
, the most expensive girls' school in Maryland.
14
There she became a friend of heiress Renée du Pont, a daughter of Senator
T. Coleman du Pont
of the
du Pont family
, and Mary Kirk, whose family founded
Kirk Silverware
15
A fellow pupil at one of Wallis's schools recalled, "She was bright, brighter than all of us. She made up her mind to go to the head of the class, and she
did
."
16
Wallis was always immaculately dressed and pushed herself hard to do well.
17
A later biographer wrote of her, "Though Wallis's jaw was too heavy for her to be counted beautiful, her fine violet-blue eyes and petite figure, quick wits, vitality, and capacity for total concentration on her interlocutor ensured that she had many admirers."
18
First marriage
edit
Wallis and her first husband, Earl W. Spencer, 1918
In April 1916, Wallis met
Earl Winfield Spencer Jr.
, a
US Navy
aviator, in
Pensacola, Florida
, while visiting her cousin Corinne Mustin, spouse of
Henry C. Mustin
19
It was at this time that Wallis witnessed two airplane crashes about two weeks apart, resulting in a lifelong fear of flying.
20
The couple married on November 8, 1916, at Christ Episcopal Church in
Baltimore
, which had been Wallis's parish. Win, as her husband was known, was a heavy drinker. He drank even before flying and once crashed into the sea, but escaped almost unharmed.
21
After the United States entered the
First World War
in 1917, Spencer was posted to
San Diego
as the first commanding officer of a training base in
Coronado
, known as
Naval Air Station North Island
; they remained there until 1921.
22
In 1920,
Edward, Prince of Wales
, visited San Diego, but he and Wallis did not meet.
23
Later that year, Spencer left his wife for a period of four months, but in the spring of 1921 they were reunited in Washington, D.C., where Spencer had been posted. They soon separated again, and in 1922, when Spencer was posted to the Far East as commander of the
USS
Pampanga
, Wallis remained behind, continuing an affair with an Argentine diplomat, Felipe de Espil.
18
In January 1924, she visited Paris with her recently widowed cousin Corinne Mustin,
24
before sailing to the Far East aboard a troop carrier,
USS
Chaumont
. The Spencers were briefly reunited until she fell ill, after which she returned to Hong Kong.
25
Wallis toured China, and while in Beijing stayed with Katherine and Herman Rogers, who were to remain her longterm friends.
26
According to the wife of one of Win's fellow officers, Mrs.
Milton E. Miles
27
in Beijing Wallis met Count
Galeazzo Ciano
, later
Mussolini
's son-in-law and
foreign minister
, had an affair with him, and became pregnant, leading to a botched abortion that left her infertile.
28
The rumor was later widespread but never substantiated and Ciano's wife,
Edda Mussolini
, denied it.
29
The existence of an official "China dossier" (detailing the supposed sexual and criminal exploits of Wallis in China) is denied by historians and biographers.
30
Wallis spent over a year in China, during which time—according to the socialite
Madame Wellington Koo
—she managed to master only one Chinese phrase: "Boy, pass me the champagne".
31
32
By September 1925, she and her husband were back in the United States, though living apart.
33
Their divorce was finalized on December 10, 1927.
34
Second marriage
edit
By the time her marriage to Spencer was dissolved, Wallis had become involved with
Ernest Aldrich Simpson
, an Anglo-American shipping executive and former officer in the
Coldstream Guards
35
He divorced his first wife, Dorothea (by whom he had a daughter, Audrey), to marry Wallis on July 21, 1928, at the
Register Office
in
Chelsea, London
36
Wallis had telegraphed her acceptance of his proposal from
Cannes
, where she was staying with her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers.
37
The Simpsons temporarily set up home in a furnished house with four servants in
Mayfair
38
In 1929, Wallis sailed back to the United States to visit her sick mother, who had married legal clerk Charles Gordon Allen after the death of Rasin. During the trip, Wallis's investments were wiped out in the
Wall Street Crash
, and her mother died penniless on November 2, 1929. Wallis returned to England and with the shipping business still buoyant, the Simpsons moved into a large flat with a staff of servants.
39
Through a friend, Consuelo Thaw, Wallis met Consuelo's sister
Thelma, Viscountess Furness
, at the time the mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales.
40
On January 10, 1931, Lady Furness introduced Wallis to Edward at
Burrough Court
, near
Melton Mowbray
41
Edward was the eldest son of
King George V
and
Queen Mary
, and
heir apparent
to the British throne. Between 1931 and 1934, he met the Simpsons at various house parties, and Wallis was presented at court. Ernest was beginning to encounter financial difficulties, as the Simpsons were living beyond their means, and they had to fire a succession of staff.
42
Relationship with Edward, Prince of Wales
edit
The Prince of Wales and Wallis in
Kitzbühel
, Austria, February 1935
In January 1934, while Lady Furness was away in New York City, Wallis allegedly became Edward's mistress.
43
Edward denied this to his father, despite his staff seeing them in bed together as well as "evidence of a physical sexual act".
44
Wallis soon ousted Furness, and Edward distanced himself from a former lover and confidante, the Anglo-American textile heiress
Freda Dudley Ward
45
By the end of 1934, Edward was irretrievably besotted with Wallis, finding her domineering manner and abrasive irreverence toward his position appealing; in the words of his official biographer, he became "slavishly dependent" on her.
18
According to Wallis, it was during a cruise on
Lord Moyne
's private yacht
Rosaura
in August 1934 that she fell in love with Edward.
46
At an evening party in
Buckingham Palace
, he introduced her to his mother; his father was outraged,
47
primarily on account of her marital history, as divorced people were generally excluded from court.
48
Edward showered Wallis with money and jewels,
49
and in February 1935, and again later in the year, he holidayed with her in Europe.
50
His courtiers became increasingly alarmed as the affair began to interfere with his official duties.
51
In 1935, the head of the
Metropolitan Police Special Branch
told the
Metropolitan Police Commissioner
that Wallis was also having an affair with Guy Marcus Trundle, who was "said to be employed by the
Ford Motor Company
".
52
Rumors of an affair were doubted, however, by Captain Val Bailey, who knew Trundle well and whose mother had an affair with Trundle for nearly two decades,
53
and by
historian Susan Williams
54
Abdication crisis
edit
Main article:
Abdication of Edward VIII
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson on holiday in Yugoslavia, 1936
On January 20, 1936,
George V died
at
Sandringham
and Edward ascended the throne as Edward
VIII. The next day, he broke royal protocol by watching the proclamation of his accession from a window of
St James's Palace
, in the company of the still-married Wallis.
55
It was becoming apparent to court and government circles that the new
king
meant to marry her.
56
Edward's behaviour and his relationship with Wallis made him unpopular with the
Conservative
-led
British government
, as well as distressing his mother and his brother the
Duke of York
57
The British media remained deferential to the monarchy, and no stories of the affair were reported in the domestic press, but foreign media widely reported their relationship.
58
After the death of George
V, before her divorce from her second husband, Wallis reportedly said, "Soon I shall be Queen of England."
59
The monarch of the United Kingdom is
Supreme Governor of the Church of England
. At the time of the proposed marriage (and until 2002), the
Church of England
disapproved of, and would not perform, the remarriage of divorced people if their former spouse was still alive.
60
Constitutionally, the King was required to be in communion with the Church of England, but his proposed marriage conflicted with the Church's teachings.
61
Additionally, at the time both the Church and English law only recognized adultery as a legitimate ground for divorce. Since she had divorced her first husband on grounds of "mutual incompatibility", there was a possibility that her second marriage, as well as her prospective marriage to Edward, would be considered
bigamous
if her first divorce had been challenged in court.
62
The British and Dominion governments believed that a twice-divorced woman was politically, socially, and morally unsuitable as a prospective consort.
63
Wallis was perceived by many in the
British Empire
as a woman of "limitless ambition"
64
who was pursuing the King because of his wealth and position.
65
Wallis had already filed for divorce from her second husband on the grounds that he had committed adultery with her childhood friend Mary Kirk and the
decree nisi
was granted on October 27, 1936.
66
In November, the King consulted with the
British prime minister
Stanley Baldwin
, on a way to marry Wallis and keep the throne. Edward suggested a
morganatic marriage
, where he would remain king but Wallis would not be queen, but this was rejected by Baldwin and the prime ministers of Australia, Canada, and the
Union of South Africa
63
If Edward were to marry Wallis against Baldwin's advice, the government would be required to resign, causing a
constitutional crisis
67
Herman and Katherine Rogers (left) with Wallis and Lord Brownlow in France, 1936
Wallis's relationship with Edward had become public knowledge in the United Kingdom by early December. She decided to flee the country as the scandal broke, and was driven to the south of France in a dramatic race to outrun the press.
68
For the next three months, she was under siege by the media at the Villa Lou Viei, near Cannes, the home of her close friends Herman and Katherine Rogers,
69
whom she later thanked effusively in her ghost-written memoirs. According to
Andrew Morton
, who relied on an interview with the stepdaughter-in-law of Herman Rogers conducted 80 years later,
70
Simpson confessed during the writing of her memoirs that Rogers was the love of her life. However, at her instruction, the ghostwriter omitted this revelation from the final memoirs.
71
At her hideaway, Wallis was pressured by
Lord Brownlow
, the King's
lord-in-waiting
, to renounce Edward. On December 7, 1936, Brownlow read to the press Wallis's statement, which he had helped her draft, indicating her readiness to give up Edward.
72
However, Edward was determined to marry Wallis.
John Theodore Goddard
, Wallis's solicitor, stated:
"[his]
client was ready to do anything to ease the situation but the other end of the wicket [Edward VIII] was determined." This seemingly indicated that Edward had decided he had no option but to abdicate if he wished to marry Wallis.
73
Wikisource
has original text related to this article:
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom's Abdication
Edward signed the
Instrument of Abdication
on December 10, 1936, in the presence of his three surviving brothers, the Dukes of York,
Gloucester
and
Kent
. Special laws passed by the Parliaments of the
Dominions
finalized Edward's abdication the following day, or in Ireland's case one day later. The Duke of York then became King George
VI. On December 11, 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."
Edward left Britain for Austria, where he stayed at
Schloss Enzesfeld
, the home of Baron
Eugène
and Baroness Kitty de
Rothschild
. Edward had to remain apart from Wallis until there was no danger of compromising the granting of a decree absolute in her divorce proceedings.
74
Upon her divorce being made final in May 1937, she changed her name by
deed poll
to Wallis Warfield, resuming her maiden name.
75
The couple were reunited at the
Château de Candé
, Monts, France, on May 4, 1937.
74
Third marriage: Duchess of Windsor
edit
See also:
Wedding of Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson
Château de Candé
, Monts, France
Wallis and Edward married one month later on June 3, 1937, at the Château de Candé, lent to them by French millionaire
Charles Bedaux
76
The date would have been King George V's 72nd birthday; Queen Mary thought the wedding had been scheduled for then as a deliberate slight.
77
No member of Edward's family attended. Wallis wore a
"Wallis blue" wedding dress
78
Edward presented her with an engagement ring that consisted of an
emerald
mount in yellow gold set with diamonds, and the sentence "We are ours now" was engraved on it.
79
While the Church of England refused to sanction the wedding,
Robert Anderson Jardine
, Vicar of St Paul's, Darlington, offered to perform the service, an offer that was accepted by the couple.
80
Guests included
Randolph Churchill
, Baron
Eugène Daniel von Rothschild
, and the best man, Major
Edward Dudley "Fruity" Metcalfe
80
The marriage produced no children. In November, Ernest Simpson married Mary Kirk.
81
Edward was created
Duke of Windsor
by his brother King George
VI prior to the marriage. However,
letters patent
, issued by the new king and unanimously supported by the Dominion governments,
82
prevented Wallis, now Duchess of Windsor, from sharing her husband's
style
of "
Royal Highness
". George
VI's firm view that the Duchess should not be given a royal title was shared by his mother, Queen Mary, and his wife,
Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother)
83
At first, the
British royal family
did not accept Wallis and would not receive her formally, although the former king sometimes met his mother and siblings after his abdication. Some biographers have suggested that Wallis's sister-in-law Queen Elizabeth remained bitter towards her for her role in bringing George
VI to the throne (which she may have seen as a factor in his early death)
84
and for prematurely behaving as Edward's consort when she was his mistress.
85
These claims were denied by Elizabeth's close friends, such as the
Duke of Grafton
, who wrote that she "never said anything nasty about the Duchess of Windsor, except to say she really hadn't got a clue what she was dealing with."
86
Elizabeth was said to have referred to Wallis as "that woman",
87
while Wallis and Edward referred to Queen Elizabeth as "Mrs. Temple" and "Cookie", alluding to her solid figure and fondness for food, and to her daughter Princess Elizabeth (later
Queen Elizabeth II
) as "Shirley", as in
Shirley Temple
88
Wallis bitterly resented the denial of the royal title and the refusal of Edward's relatives to accept her as part of the family.
18
89
Within the household of the Duke and Duchess, the style "Her Royal Highness" was used by those who were close to the couple.
90
According to
Diana Mosley
, who knew both Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of Windsor but was only friendly with the latter, Elizabeth's antipathy toward Wallis may have resulted from jealousy. Lady Mosley wrote to her sister, the
Duchess of Devonshire
, after the death of the Duke of Windsor, "probably the theory of their [the Windsors'] contemporaries that Cake [a Mitford nickname for the Queen Mother] was rather in love with him [the Duke] (as a girl) & took second best, may account for much."
91
Wallis and Edward with
Adolf Hitler
, 1937
Wallis and Edward lived in France in the pre-war years. In 1937, they made a
high-profile visit to Germany
and met
Adolf Hitler
at the
Berghof
, his
Berchtesgaden
retreat. After the visit, Hitler said of Wallis, "she would have made a good queen".
92
The visit tended to corroborate the strong suspicions of many in government and society that Wallis was a German agent,
18
a claim that she ridiculed in her letters to Edward.
93
US
FBI
files compiled in the 1930s also portray her as a possible
Nazi
sympathizer.
Duke Carl Alexander of Württemberg
told the FBI that Wallis and leading Nazi
Joachim von Ribbentrop
, who served as
Ambassador of Germany to the United Kingdom
during the 1930s, had been lovers in London.
94
There were even rather improbable reports during the Second World War that she kept a signed photograph of Ribbentrop on her bedside table.
95
Edward wrote in the New York
Daily News
of December 13, 1966: "In a roundabout way [Hitler] encouraged me to infer that Red Russia was the only enemy and that it was in Britain's interest and in Europe's too, that Germany be encouraged to strike east and smash Communism forever ... I confess frankly that he took me in. ... I thought the rest of us could be fence-sitters while the Nazis and the Reds slogged it out."
96
Second World War
edit
As the German troops advanced into France in 1940, the Windsors fled south from their Paris home, first to
Biarritz
then to Spain in June. Wallis told United States ambassador to Spain
Alexander W. Weddell
that France had lost because it was "internally diseased".
97
The couple moved to Portugal in July. They stayed in
Cascais
, at Casa de Santa Maria, the home of
Ricardo do Espírito Santo e Silva
, a banker who was suspected of being a German agent.
98
99
In August 1940, the Duke and Duchess traveled by commercial liner to
the Bahamas
, where Edward was installed as governor.
100
Wallis performed her role as the governor's consort competently for five years; she worked actively for the
Red Cross
and in the improvement of infant welfare,
101
as well as overseeing
renovations of Government House
. However, she hated
Nassau
, calling it "our
St Helena
" in a reference to
Napoleon
's final place of exile,
102
and sarcastically commenting on the government surveillance.
103
She was heavily criticized in the British press for her extravagant shopping in the United States, undertaken when Britain was enduring privations such as rationing and blackout.
18
104
She referred to the local population as "lazy, thriving niggers" in letters to her aunt, which reflected her upbringing in
Jim Crow
Baltimore.
105
Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
strenuously objected in 1941 when she and her husband planned to tour the Caribbean aboard a yacht belonging to Swedish magnate
Axel Wenner-Gren
, who Churchill said was "pro-German", and Churchill complained again when the Duke gave a "
defeatist
" interview.
106
Another of their acquaintances,
Charles Bedaux
, who had hosted their wedding, was arrested on charges of treason in 1943 but committed suicide in jail in Miami before the case was brought to trial.
107
The British establishment distrusted Wallis;
Sir Alexander Hardinge
wrote that her suspected anti-British activities were motivated by a desire for revenge against a country that rejected her as its queen.
108
The couple returned to France and retirement after the defeat of Nazi Germany.
18
Later life
edit
Wallis and Edward at
The Sherry-Netherland
in New York City, at a party with
Peter II of Yugoslavia
and
his wife
, New Year's Day, 1951
Wallis and Edward at the White House for dinner with President
Richard Nixon
, 1970
In 1946, when Wallis was staying at Ednam Lodge, the home of the
Earl of Dudley
, some of her jewels were stolen. The stolen pieces were only a small portion of the Windsor jewels, which were either bought privately, inherited by the Duke, or given to him when he was Prince of Wales. There were rumors that the theft had been masterminded by the royal family as an attempt to regain jewels taken from the
Royal Collection
by Edward, or by the Windsors themselves as part of an insurance fraud (they made a large deposit of loose stones at
Cartier
the following year). However, in 1960, career criminal Richard Dunphie confessed to the crime.
109
In 1952, the Windsors were offered the use of a house by the Paris municipal authorities. The couple lived at
4 route du Champ d'Entraînement
in the
Bois de Boulogne
, near
Neuilly-sur-Seine
, for most of the remainder of their lives, essentially living a life of easy retirement.
110
They traveled frequently between Europe and America aboard
ocean liners
. They bought a second house in a far suburb of Paris,
Moulin de la Tuilerie
or "The Mill" in
Gif-sur-Yvette
, where they soon became close friends with their neighbors,
Oswald
and
Diana Mosley
111
Years later, Diana Mosley said that Wallis and Edward shared her and her husband's views that Hitler should have been given a free hand to destroy Communism.
112
In 1965, the Duke and Duchess visited London as Edward required eye surgery for a
detached retina
; Edward's niece Queen Elizabeth
II and sister-in-law
Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
, visited them. Edward's sister, the
Princess Royal
, also visited them just 10 days before her death. Wallis and Edward attended her memorial service in
Westminster Abbey
113
Later, in 1967, they joined the royal family in London for the unveiling of a plaque by Elizabeth
II to commemorate the centenary of Queen Mary's birth.
114
The couple spoke to
Kenneth Harris
for an extensive
BBC television interview in 1970
115
Both Queen Elizabeth II and her son
Charles, Prince of Wales
, visited the Windsors in Paris in Edward's later years, the Queen's visit being shortly before Edward's death.
116
For much of their later lives, Wallis and Edward were served by their valet and footman
Sydney Johnson
117
Widowhood
edit
Upon Edward's death from throat cancer in 1972, Wallis traveled to the United Kingdom to attend
his funeral
118
staying at Buckingham Palace during her visit.
119
She became increasingly frail and eventually succumbed to
dementia
, living the final years of her life as a recluse, supported by both her husband's estate and an allowance from Elizabeth II.
120
She suffered several falls and broke her hip twice.
121
After Edward's death, Wallis's French lawyer,
Suzanne Blum
, assumed
power of attorney
122
Blum sold items belonging to the Duchess to her own friends at lower than market value
123
and was accused of exploiting her client in
Caroline Blackwood
's
The Last of the Duchess
, written in 1980 but not published until 1995, after Blum's death.
124
Later, royal biographer
Hugo Vickers
called Blum a "Satanic figure ... wearing the mantle of good intention to disguise her inner malevolence".
125
In 1980, Wallis lost her ability to speak.
126
Towards the end of her life, she was bedridden and did not receive any visitors, apart from her doctor and nurses.
127
Death
edit
Main article:
Death and funeral of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor
Wallis died on April 24, 1986, at her home at 4 route du Champ d'Entraînement in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, at the age of 89 from
bronchial pneumonia
128
Her funeral was held on April 29 at
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
, attended by her two surviving sisters-in-law – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
– and other members of the royal family.
129
Queen
Elizabeth II
and her husband,
Prince Philip
, attended both the funeral ceremony and the burial, as did their son Charles and daughter-in-law
Diana
130
Diana said afterwards that it was the only time she had seen the Queen weep.
131
Wallis was buried next to Edward in the
Royal Burial Ground
near Windsor Castle, as "Wallis, Duchess of Windsor".
130
Prior to an agreement with Elizabeth
II in the 1960s, Wallis and Edward had previously planned for a burial in a purchased cemetery plot at
Green Mount Cemetery
in Baltimore, where Wallis's father was interred.
132
In recognition of the help France gave to the Windsors in providing them with a home, and in lieu of death duties, Wallis's collection of
Louis XVI style
furniture, some
porcelain
, and paintings were made over to the French state.
133
The British royal family received no major bequests. Most of her estate went to the
Pasteur Institute
medical research foundation, on the instructions of Suzanne Blum. The decision took the royal family and Wallis's friends by surprise, as she had shown little interest in charity during her life.
134
A bequest to the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
(RNLI), (amount unknown), helped to fund a new
Trent-class
all-weather
lifeboat
. The lifeboat, built in 1996 at a cost of £1,580,000, was named 14-22
Edward Duke of Windsor
(ON 1226). The boat was assigned to the Relief fleet in 1997, and supported RNLI operations for 28 years, until being withdrawn from service in 2025.
135
136
137
In a
Sotheby's
auction in Geneva, in April 1987, Wallis's jewelry collection raised $45 million for the institute, approximately seven times its pre-sale estimate.
138
Blum later said that Egyptian entrepreneur
Mohamed Al-Fayed
tried to purchase the jewels for a "rock bottom price".
139
Al-Fayed bought much of the non-financial estate, including the lease of the Paris mansion. An auction of his collection was announced in July 1997 for later that year in New York.
140
Delayed by
his son
's death in
the car crash
that also claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, the sale raised more than £14 million for charity in 1998.
130
Legacy
edit
Wax figures of Wallis and Edward at the Royal London Wax Museum,
Victoria, British Columbia
, Canada
Wallis was plagued by rumors of other lovers. The gay American
Jimmy Donahue
, an heir to the
Woolworth
fortune, said he had a liaison with her in the 1950s, but Donahue was notorious for his inventive pranks and rumor-mongering.
141
Wallis's memoir
The Heart Has Its Reasons
was published in 1956, and biographer
Charles Higham
said that "facts were remorselessly rearranged in what amounted to a self-performed face-lift". He describes Wallis as "charismatic, electric and compulsively ambitious".
143
Fictional depictions of the Duchess
include the novel
Famous Last Words
(1981) by Canadian author
Timothy Findley
, which portrays her as a manipulative conspirator,
144
and
Rose Tremain
's short story "The Darkness of Wallis Simpson" (2006), which depicts her more sympathetically in her final years of ill health.
145
Hearsay and conjecture have clouded assessment of Wallis's life, not helped by her own manipulation of the truth. But, in the opinion of her biographers, there is no document that proves directly that she was anything other than a victim of her own ambition, who lived out a great romance that became a great tragedy.
146
In the words of one, "she experienced the ultimate fairy tale, becoming the adored favorite of the most glamorous bachelor of his time. The idyll went wrong when, ignoring her pleas, he threw up his position to spend the rest of his life with her."
146
Wallis 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."
147
Titles and styles
edit
Cypher
of Wallis and Edward
Wallis resumed her maiden name Wallis Warfield by
deed poll
on May 7, 1937,
148
but continued to use the title "Mrs".
75
The Duchess of Windsor was unofficially styled
Her Royal Highness
within her own household.
90
Works
edit
The Duchess of Windsor (1949).
"The Duchess of Windsor's Tongue-In-Cheek Guide to Entertaining"
Vogue
(UK ed.).
The Duchess of Windsor (1956).
The Heart Has Its Reasons: The Memoirs of the Duchess of Windsor
Notes
edit
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).
When telling a story of how Wallis complained about blacks being allowed on
Park Avenue (Manhattan)
, Joanne Cummings, the wife of
Nathan Cummings
, said of Wallis, "She grew up in the South, at a certain time, with certain prejudices." Source: Menkes, p. 88
Lady Pamela Hicks
remembered the Duke being "in tears" with her father
Earl Mountbatten of Burma
because Wallis was with Donahue.
142
References
edit
Duke of Windsor, p. 413
Weir, p. 328
"Baltimore in Her Centennial Year",
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly
, Volume 43 (Frank Leslie Publishing House, 1897), p. 702
Blue Ridge Summit referred to as "a fashionable summer resort ... then greatly patronized by Baltimoreans" in Francis F. Bierne (1984),
The Amiable Baltimoreans
, Johns Hopkins University Press, p. 118
Corner, Thomas Cromwell (1896).
"Severn Teackle Wallis – Oil on canvas"
Maryland Center for History and Culture
. Retrieved
June 29,
2024
Carroll, David H. (1911),
Men of Mark in Maryland, Volume 3
, B. F. Johnson Inc., p. 28
"Death of Henry M Warfield"
The Baltimore Sun
. January 19, 1885. p. 1.
King, p. 13
"Montague–Warfield",
The Baltimore Sun
, November 20, 1895
Duchess of Windsor, p. 17; Sebba, p. 6
Tombstone in
Green Mount Cemetery
, Baltimore; King p. 13; Sebba, p. 9
Carroll, vol. 3, pp. 24–43; King, pp. 14–15; Duchess of Windsor, p. 20
King, p. 24; Vickers, p. 252
Higham, p. 4
King, p. 28
Higham, p. 7
King, pp. 21–22
Ziegler, Philip
(2004)
"Windsor, (Bessie) Wallis, duchess of Windsor (1896–1986)"
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Oxford University Press
doi
10.1093/ref:odnb/38277
, retrieved May 2, 2010 (subscription required)
King, p. 38; Sebba, pp. 20–21; Vickers, p. 257; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 59–60
Higham, p. 20
Duchess of Windsor, pp. 76–77
King, pp. 47–52; Vickers, pp. 258, 261; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 79–85
King, pp. 51–52; Sebba, p. 36; Vickers, p. 260; Duchess of Windsor, p. 85
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 22; King, p. 57; Sebba, pp. 41–43; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 100–101
King, p. 60; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 104–106
King, pp. 62–64; Sebba, pp. 45–53; Vickers, p. 263; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 112–113
Higham, p. 50
Higham, p. 50; King, p. 66; Sebba, pp. 55–56
Moseley, Ray (1999),
Mussolini's Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano
, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp.
9–10
ISBN
978-0-300-07917-3
Higham, p. 119; King, p. 61; Vickers, p. 263; Ziegler, p. 224
Koo, Madame Wellington (1943),
Hui-Lan Koo: An Autobiography as told to Mary van Rensselaer Thayer
, New York: Dial Press
Maher, Catherine (October 31, 1943), "Madame Wellington Koo's Life Story",
The New York Times
: BR7
King, p. 66
Sebba, p. 60; Weir, p. 328
King, pp. 68–70; Sebba, pp. 62–64; Vickers, pp. 267–269; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 125, 131
Sebba, pp. 62–67; Weir, p. 328
Higham, p. 58
Duchess of Windsor, p. 140
Higham, p. 67
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 33; Sebba, p. 84; Vickers, p. 272
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 37; King, p. 98; Vickers, p. 272
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, pp. 37–41
Edward sued one author, Geoffrey Dennis, who said that Wallis and Edward were lovers before their marriage, and won (King, p. 119).
Diary of
Clive Wigram, 1st Baron Wigram
quoted in Bradford, pp. 145–147
Sebba, p. 98; Vickers, p. 287; Ziegler, pp. 227–228
King, p. 113; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 195–197, 200
Ziegler, p. 231
Beaverbrook, Lord
(1966),
A. J. P. Taylor
(ed.),
The Abdication of King Edward VIII
, London: Hamish Hamilton, p. 111
King, pp. 126, 155; Sebba, pp. 103–104; Ziegler, p. 238
King, pp. 117, 134
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, pp. 58 and 71
Report from Superintendent A. Canning to Sir
Philip Game
, July 3, 1935,
National Archives
, PRO MEPO 10/35, quoted in Williams, p. 75
Fox, James (September 1, 2003), "The Oddest Couple",
Vanity Fair
(517):
276–
291,
ISSN
0733-8899
Williams, p. 75
Sebba, p. 119; Duke of Windsor, p. 265
Ziegler, pp. 277–278
Ziegler, pp. 289–292
King, p. 173; Sebba, pp. 136, 141; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 237, 242
Moore, Lucy (March 31, 2002),
"A wicked twinkle and a streak of steel"
The Guardian
, retrieved
January 3,
2019
Marriage in Church After a Divorce
, Church of England, archived from
the original
(doc)
on September 15, 2012
, retrieved
March 9,
2013
Beaverbrook, pp. 39–44, 122
Bradford, p. 241.
Ziegler, pp. 305–307
Sir Horace Wilson
writing to
Neville Chamberlain
, December 10, 1936, National Archives PREM 1/453, quoted in Sebba, p. 250
Ziegler, pp. 234, 312
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, pp. 82, 92
Beaverbrook, p. 57
King, pp. 213–218; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 255–269
Duke of Windsor, p. 359
Sexton, David (February 22, 2018),
"Wallis in Love by Andrew Morton – review: Did she ever love the Duke of Windsor?"
Evening Standard
, retrieved
January 5,
2020
Morton, Andrew (2018),
Wallis in Love
, Michael O'Mara Books, p. 247,
ISBN
978-1-78243-722-2
Tinniswood, Adrian
(1992),
Belton House
The National Trust
, p.
34
ISBN
978-0-7078-0113-1
Norton-Taylor, Richard; Evans, Rob (March 2, 2000),
"Edward and Mrs Simpson cast in new light"
The Guardian
, retrieved
May 2,
2010
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, pp. 106–118; King, pp. 253–254, 260
McMillan, Richard D. (May 11, 1937),
"Duke Awaiting His Wedding Day"
Waycross Journal-Herald
: 1
, retrieved
September 6,
2011
Howarth, p. 73; Sebba, pp. 198, 205–209
Letter from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth, May 21, 1937, Royal Archives, QEQM/PRIV/RF, quoted in
Shawcross, William
(2009),
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography
, Macmillan, p. 422,
ISBN
978-1-4050-4859-0
Sebba, p. 207
Cartier engagement ring for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
, Cartier
, retrieved
November 15,
2018
Hallemann, Caroline (June 2, 2017),
"Inside Wallis Simpson's Wedding to the Duke of Windsor"
Town & Country
, retrieved
November 30,
2017
Sebba, p. 213
Diary of
Neville Chamberlain
quoted in Bradford, p. 243
Home Office memo on the Duke and Duchess's title
, National Archives, archived from
the original
on December 7, 2016
, retrieved
May 2,
2020
King, p. 399
Bradford, p. 172; King, pp. 171–172
Hogg, James; Mortimer, Michael (2002),
The Queen Mother Remembered
, BBC Books, pp.
84–
85,
ISBN
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Lawless, Jill (March 17, 2011),
"Move over, Kate: Wallis Simpson back as style icon"
The Washington Post
, retrieved
January 3,
2019
Bloch,
The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor
, p. 259
See also, Bloch,
Wallis and Edward: Letters 1931–1937
, pp. 231, 233 cited in Bradford, p. 232
Sebba, p. 208
Letter from Lady Mosley to the
Duchess of Devonshire
, June 5, 1972, in Mosley, Charlotte (ed.) (2007).
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
. London: Fourth Estate, p. 582
Memoirs of Hitler's interpreter
Paul Schmidt
, quoted in King, p. 295
Higham, p. 203
Evans, Rob; Hencke, David (June 29, 2002),
"Wallis Simpson, the Nazi minister, the telltale monk and an FBI plot"
The Guardian
, retrieved
May 2,
2010
Bloch,
The Duke of Windsor's War
, p. 355
King, pp. 294–296
Telegram from Weddell to Secretary of State
Cordell Hull
, FRUS 740.0011 1939/4357 European War, National Archives, Washington, D.C., quoted in Higham, p. 323 and King, p. 343
Bloch,
The Duke of Windsor's War
, p. 102
Damas, Carlos Alberto (2002).
"Duke of Windsor and Ricardo Espírito Santo"
British Historical Society of Portugal Annual Report
29
. Retrieved
July 26,
2020
King, pp. 350–352; Duchess of Windsor, pp. 344–345
King, pp. 368–376; Vickers, p. 331
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, pp. 153, 159
Aldrich, Richard J.; Cormac, Rory (2023).
Crown, cloak, and dagger: the British monarchy and secret intelligence from Victoria to Elizabeth II
. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. pp.
166–
170.
ISBN
978-1647123710
Sebba, p. 244
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 165
Howarth, p. 130; King, pp. 377–378
King, p. 378
Howarth, p. 113
Menkes, pp. 192–193
Menkes, pp. 11–48
Ziegler, p. 545
Higham, p. 450
Vickers, p. 360
King, pp. 455–459; Vickers, p. 362
Wilsworth, David (January 14, 1970),
'Clash with the Establishment was inevitable'
The Times
, no. 57767, p. 10
, retrieved
January 27,
2021
Bloch,
The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor
, p. 299; Vickers; pp. 15–16, 367
Anna, Pasternak (2020).
The American Duchess. The Real Wallis Simpson
. Atria Books. p. 246.
ISBN
9781501198458
Conducted by
Launcelot Fleming
Dean of Windsor
The Times
, Monday, June 5, 1972; p. 2; Issue 58496; col. E)
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 216; Sebba, p. 272; Vickers, p. 26
Sebba, pp. 274–277; Vickers, pp. 99–120; Ziegler, p. 555
King, pp. 492–493
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 221; King, p. 505; Menkes, p. 199; Vickers, pp. 137–138
Vickers, pp. 124–127, 165
Vickers, pp. 178–179
Vickers, p. 370
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 222
Vickers, pp. 158–168
"The Duchess Of Windsor Dies at 89"
The Washington Post
Archived
from the original on June 27, 2022.
Vickers, pp. 191–198
Simple funeral rites for Duchess
, BBC, April 29, 1998
, retrieved
May 2,
2010
Ingrid Seward (2016),
The Queen's Speech: An Intimate Portrat of the Queen in Her Own Words
, Simon & Schuster, Limited, p. 98,
ISBN
9781471150982
Rasmussen, Frederick (April 29, 1986), "Windsors had a plot at Green Mount",
The Baltimore Sun
; Vickers, p. 245
King, p. 506; Menkes, pp. 198, 206 and 207
Menkes, p. 200
"The Duke visits HQ"
The Lifeboat
55
(541): 2. Autumn 1997
. Retrieved
February 21,
2026
Morris, Jeff (2008).
List of British Life-boats Part 3
(Third ed.). Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society. p. 83.
Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2026).
Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2026
. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society. pp.
52–
53.
Culme, p. 7
Wadler, Joyce; Hauptfuhrer, Fred (January 8, 1990),
"Egypt's Al Fayed Restores the House Fit for a Former King"
People
, vol. 33, no. 1
Vickers, pp. 234–235
Wilson, Christopher (2001).
Dancing With the Devil: the Windsors and Jimmy Donahue
. London: HarperCollins.
ISBN
978-0-00-653159-3
; King, p. 442
Reginato, James (September 5, 2013).
"Royal In-Law: Princess Diana Favored 'Disco-ing' to Married Life; Charles Has 'Blossomed Again' with Camilla"
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
April 19,
2023
Higham, pp. 452–453
Sebba, pp. 280–281
Sebba, p. 282
Bloch,
The Duchess of Windsor
, p. 231; See also
Weintraub, Stanley
(June 8, 1986). "The Love Letters of the Duchess of Windsor".
The Washington Post
. p. X05.
for a similar view.
King, p. 388; Wilson, p. 179
Ashley, Mike (1998),
The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens
, London: Robinson, p. 701,
ISBN
978-1-84119-096-9
Sources
edit
Bloch, Michael
(1996).
The Duchess of Windsor
. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
ISBN
978-0-297-83590-5
Bloch, Michael (1982).
The Duke of Windsor's War
. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
ISBN
978-0-297-77947-6
Bloch, Michael (1988).
The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor
. London: Bantam Books.
ISBN
978-0-593-01667-1
Bloch, Michael, ed. (1986).
Wallis and Edward: Letters 1931–1937
. Summit Books.
ISBN
978-0-671-61209-2
Bradford, Sarah (1989).
George VI
. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
ISBN
978-0-297-79667-1
Culme, John (1987).
The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor
. New York: Vendome Press.
ISBN
978-0-86565-089-3
Higham, Charles
(2005).
Mrs Simpson
. London: Pan Books.
ISBN
978-0-330-42678-7
Howarth, Patrick (1987).
George VI
. London: Hutchinson.
ISBN
978-0-09-171000-2
King, Greg
(1999).
The Duchess of Windsor
. New York: Citadel Press.
ISBN
978-1-55972-471-5
Menkes, Suzy
(1987).
The Windsor Style
. London: Grafton Books.
ISBN
978-0-246-13212-3
Sebba, Anne
(2011).
That Woman: the Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor
. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
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978-0-297-85896-6
Vickers, Hugo (2011).
Behind Closed Doors: The Tragic, Untold, Story of the Duchess of Windsor
. London: Hutchinson.
ISBN
978-0-09-193155-1
Weir, Alison
(1995).
Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy Revised edition
. London: Random House.
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Williams, Susan
(2004).
The People's King: The True Story of the Abdication
. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
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978-1-4039-6363-5
Wilson, Christopher (2001).
Dancing With the Devil: the Windsors and Jimmy Donahue
. London: HarperCollins.
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Windsor, HRH The Duke of (1951).
A King's Story
. London: Cassell & Co.
Windsor, The Duchess of (1956).
The Heart Has Its Reasons: The Memoirs of the Duchess of Windsor
. London: Michael Joseph.
Ziegler, Philip
(1991).
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ISBN
978-0-394-57730-2
Ziegler, Philip (2004).
"Windsor, (Bessie) Wallis, duchess of Windsor (1896–1986)"
(subscription required)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Oxford University Press
doi
10.1093/ref:odnb/38277
, retrieved May 2, 2010.
Further reading
edit
Birmingham, Stephen
(1981).
Duchess: The Story of Wallis Warfield Windsor
. Boston: Little, Brown.
ISBN
978-0-316-09643-0
Blackwood, Lady Caroline
(1995).
The Last of the Duchess
. New York: Pantheon.
ISBN
978-0-679-43970-7
French, Paul
(2024).
Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson
. New York: St. Martin's Press.
ISBN
978-1250287472
Morton, Andrew
(2018).
Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy
. New York:
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN
978-1-455-56697-6
Mosley, Diana
(1980).
The Duchess of Windsor
. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
ISBN
978-0-283-98628-4
Silvin, Richard René
(2010).
Noblesse Oblige: The Duchess of Windsor As I Knew Her
. Nike Publishing.
ISBN
978-0-615-50578-7
Windsor, The Duchess of, "Foreword", in:
Some Favorite Southern Recipes of the Duchess of Windsor
. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1942.
Wallis Simpson
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September 28, 2022, at the
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Wallis Simpson
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Wallis Simpson
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