Edward & Mrs Simpson
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It was a scandal that could have brought down the monarchy. The British king gave up his throne for an American divorcee. What was it that Mrs Simpson had?
Wallis Simpson
born: 19-06-1896
birth place: Maryland, USA
died: 00-00-1986
Wallis was born Wallis Warfield, to a distinguished American family.
In 1916 she married Lieutenant Earl Winfield Spencer, a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Spencer was to develop a drinking problem and the marriage soon became abusive. Wallis eventually left him and the couple divorced in 1927.
Only six months after her divorce, Wallis married Ernest Simpson and they settled in London. Soon settling into London social life, Wallis met Prince Edward at a fashionable party and the pair sparked up an instant attraction.
While many blame Wallis for seducing the Prince, it seems likely that she was herself seduced by the glamour and power of being close to the heir of Britain's throne. On a cruise, Wallis recalled, she and the Prince "crossed the line that marks the indefinable boundary between friendship and love".
On January 20 1936, King George V, Edward's father, died, and Edward became King Edward VIII. The government and the people of Great Britain had high hopes for Edward, but he alienated palace courtiers and began to be late and disorganised, his infatuation with Wallis distracting him from his State duties.
Some claimed she might be a German spy, handing State papers over to the German government. Some historians still consider that she might have had connections to the regime, given Edward's sympathies towards the Nazi regime in the late 1930s.
Marriage to a divorcee was a constitutional impossibilty, so King Edward was faced with three options: give up Wallis, keep Wallis and face the resignation of the entire government, or abdicate. He chose the last option.
His brother Albert, second in line to the throne, became King George VI, but bestowed upon Edward the the title of Duke of Windsor.
Mrs. Wallis Simpson sued for a divorce from Ernest Simpson and Wallis and Edward married in a small ceremony on 3rd June 1937. Shunned and exiled from Britain, they lived most of their lives in France.
Edward died in 1972 and Wallis was to remain alone until her death in 1986.
born: 19-06-1896
birth place: Maryland, USA
died: 00-00-1986
Wallis was born Wallis Warfield, to a distinguished American family.
In 1916 she married Lieutenant Earl Winfield Spencer, a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Spencer was to develop a drinking problem and the marriage soon became abusive. Wallis eventually left him and the couple divorced in 1927.
Only six months after her divorce, Wallis married Ernest Simpson and they settled in London. Soon settling into London social life, Wallis met Prince Edward at a fashionable party and the pair sparked up an instant attraction.
While many blame Wallis for seducing the Prince, it seems likely that she was herself seduced by the glamour and power of being close to the heir of Britain's throne. On a cruise, Wallis recalled, she and the Prince "crossed the line that marks the indefinable boundary between friendship and love".
On January 20 1936, King George V, Edward's father, died, and Edward became King Edward VIII. The government and the people of Great Britain had high hopes for Edward, but he alienated palace courtiers and began to be late and disorganised, his infatuation with Wallis distracting him from his State duties.
Some claimed she might be a German spy, handing State papers over to the German government. Some historians still consider that she might have had connections to the regime, given Edward's sympathies towards the Nazi regime in the late 1930s.
Marriage to a divorcee was a constitutional impossibilty, so King Edward was faced with three options: give up Wallis, keep Wallis and face the resignation of the entire government, or abdicate. He chose the last option.
His brother Albert, second in line to the throne, became King George VI, but bestowed upon Edward the the title of Duke of Windsor.
Mrs. Wallis Simpson sued for a divorce from Ernest Simpson and Wallis and Edward married in a small ceremony on 3rd June 1937. Shunned and exiled from Britain, they lived most of their lives in France.
Edward died in 1972 and Wallis was to remain alone until her death in 1986.
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