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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The House of Windsor

Love or Duty: King Edward in

1936

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

'Tragedy': The Daily Mail

announces

Edward's

decision to

renounce the throne

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

Jolly plain': Critics

described Wallis,

pictured with

Edward, as 'not even

pretty'

The Duke of Windsor

and Wallis

Simpson together

in France in 1937

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.

1940, Lisbon, Portugal — The Duke & Duchess of

Windsor, aka Wallis Simpson.

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.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor

are pictured at their villa in Biarritz,

France, 1951

U.S. President Richard Nixon and the Duke

and Duchess of Windsor in 1970

 You can't abdicate and eat it

Duchess of Windsor

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.

Wallis had always been

obsessed with her appearanc

e.

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" ...

Duchess of

Windsor’s Exquisite Jewelry

Collection 

…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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