Wallis Simpson
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer and then Simpson; June 19, 1896[a] – April 24, 1986) was an American socialite and wife of former king Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a constitutional crisis that led to Edward's abdication.
"Duchess of Windsor" redirects here. For the ducal title, see Duke of Windsor.Wallis Simpson
Bessie Wallis Warfield
June 19, 1896[a]
Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, U.S.
April 24, 1986 (aged 89)
Paris, France
April 29, 1986
Windsor (by marriage)
Teackle Wallis Warfield
Alice Montague
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, during her second marriage, to Ernest Simpson, she met Edward, then Prince of Wales. 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".[1] 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.
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.[33] 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.[34] Wallis had telegraphed her acceptance of his proposal from Cannes, where she was staying with her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers.[35]
The Simpsons temporarily set up home in a furnished house with four servants in Mayfair.[36] 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.[37]
Through a friend, Consuelo Thaw, Wallis met Consuelo's sister Thelma, Viscountess Furness, at the time the mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales.[38] On January 10, 1931, Lady Furness introduced Wallis to Edward at Burrough Court, near Melton Mowbray.[39] 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.[40]
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".[95] 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.[96][97]
In August 1940, the Duke and Duchess traveled by commercial liner to the Bahamas, where Edward was installed as governor.[98] 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,[99] 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,[100] and sarcastically commenting on the government surveillance.[101] 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.[16][102] She referred to the local population as "lazy, thriving niggers" in letters to her aunt, which reflected her upbringing in Jim Crow Baltimore.[103][b] 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.[104] 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.[105] 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.[106] The couple returned to France and retirement after the defeat of Nazi Germany.[16]
Widowhood[edit]
Upon Edward's death from throat cancer in 1972, Wallis traveled to the United Kingdom to attend his funeral,[116] staying at Buckingham Palace during her visit.[117] 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 the Queen.[118] She suffered several falls and broke her hip twice.[119]
After Edward's death, Wallis's French lawyer, Suzanne Blum, assumed power of attorney.[120] Blum sold items belonging to the Duchess to her own friends at lower than market value[121] 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.[122] Later, royal biographer Hugo Vickers called Blum a "Satanic figure ... wearing the mantle of good intention to disguise her inner malevolence".[123]
In 1980, Wallis lost her ability to speak.[124] Towards the end, she was bedridden and did not receive any visitors, apart from her doctor and nurses.[125]