Why was wallis simpson famous

And following his death in , Queen Elizabeth II became queen. Edward was awarded the title Duke of Windsor by his brother, and after marrying Wallis in moved to France where the two lived for the next two years. It was not until that the duke and duchess were invited to attend an official public ceremony, the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Queen Mary. Edward died in Paris in but was buried at Frogmore, on the grounds of Windsor Castle. In , Wallis died and was buried at his side.

Toggle navigation. Subscribe here to receive British Heritage Travel's print magazine! Sign up to British Heritage Travel's daily newsletter here! Read more. BHT newsletter Subscribe to our Newsletter. You May Also Like. Most Read Most Recent. Are these the prettiest streets Are these the prettiest streets in Britain, get the cameras ready b Or was she simply a victim of circumstance, thrown into a situation she could not control — and forced to live with the very real consequences?

Following the death of her father a few months after her birth, Wallis and her mother were supported by wealthier relatives, who paid for her expensive school fees. Contemporaries spoke of her eloquence, determination and charm.

Wallis spent over a year in China during their marriage: some have suggested that a botched abortion in this period left her infertile, although there is no hard evidence for this. Shortly after her return, their divorce was finalised. The two settled in Mayfair, although Wallis frequently returned home to America. Through friends, Wallis met Edward, Prince of Wales in and the two saw each other semi-regularly at social occasions. Wallis was attractive, charismatic and worldly: by , the two had become lovers.

Edward was besotted nonetheless, writing passionate love letters and showering Wallis with jewels and money. He appeared with her in public, and it increasingly appeared that he was keen to marry Wallis, rather than to merely keep her as his mistress. The Conservative-led government disliked the relationship, as did the rest of his family.

Wallis was painted as a schemer, a morally unsuitable divorcee — and an American to boot — and many saw her as a greedy social climber who had infatuated the King rather than a woman in love. Baldwin was horrified: there was no way that Edward as King, and therefore head of the Church of England, could marry a divorced woman, when the same church only permitted remarriage following an annulment or death of a partner.

Young Wallis was anxious about money from her early years. Her father died when she was five months old, leaving her mother dependent on family handouts. An uncle paid for Wallis to attend a prestigious private school but sometimes left it till the last minute to pay the rent, and the fear of destitution stayed with her for life. She was also insecure about her appearance: her hands were too big and her jaw too masculine. At the age of twenty Wallis made a catastrophic mistake when she wed a glamorous pilot, Earl Winfield Spencer.

Eventually she had to confront the huge social taboo of getting divorced in the s. In the years after her marriage ended, Wallis fell head over heels for a suave Argentinian diplomat named Felipe de Espil, but he broke her heart when he chose a younger, wealthier bride.

It must have been a bitter blow on many levels. Wallis was still struggling for money, so when a friend introduced her to the half-English Ernest Simpson, whose family part-owned a shipping company, she decided he represented exactly the kind of security she desired.

Only problem: he was already married. Within weeks of meeting Ernest, Wallis was having clandestine lunches with him, and less than two years later, having seen off the first wife, she married him in London. She launched herself into English society, and enjoyed zipping over to Paris each season to pick frocks from the designer collections. Alarm bells must have rung for Wallis. The solution was at hand: her friend Thelma Furness was having an affair with the Prince of Wales, the blonde pinup boy for their generation.

Wallis piqued his interest by refusing to show the deference he was used to as a royal. I had hoped for something more original from the Prince of Wales.

A lot better. Needless to say, he was happy to subsidise her taste in designer clothes and fancy jewellery.