What You Didn't Know About Wallis Simpson

after king edward viii of england abdicated his new wife wallace simpson was investigated by the fbi for allegedly conspiring with the nazis and having an affair with their ambassador keep watching to learn the shocking truth while prince charles's divorce and subsequent marriage to the also divorced camilla parker bowles wouldn't stand in the way of the prince of wales eventual upgrade to king charles that was not the case during the brief reign of king edward viii in 1936 divorce at that time was a big no-no for royals in fact the church of england forbade the king from marrying a previously married woman whose former husband was still alive this made his insistence on marrying wallace simpson a deal breaker not only was she american but she had also been previously married not once but twice in 1916 bessie wallace warfield as she was known then married navy pilot earl winfield spencer jr their marriage ended in divorce in 1927 but the following year she married ernest simpson a british-american business executive the couple took up residence in london where she became romantically involved with the heir to the throne of england she filed for divorce from simpson in 1936 after edward had become king rather than give up simpson edward viii abdicated the throne on december 11th 1936 during this time wallace simpson was arguably the least popular person in england with graffiti at the time reading quote down with the american harlot simpson was depicted in the press as a temptress who lured the country's monarch to reluctantly renounce his throne a portrayal that is now seen to be both misogynist and one-dimensional although simpson didn't exactly go out of her way to counteract her image writer tanya gold told npr she was a very sexually threatening dominant rather vulgar and ambitious woman and this is everything that the value system of the time despised in fact the true reason edward was forced to abdicate may have been somewhat murkier according to gold the duke of windsor was thoroughly unsuited to be king which exposed a glaring flaw in a constitutional monarchy in which sex and the order of birth not ability determines who will be monarch gold said and so rather than accept that this is a weakness of the system it threw up a man who was essentially a mistake an anomaly a man who couldn't fulfill his duty far better to say that he was stolen away by this evil woman it's not every american divorcee who finds herself at the center of the first royal abdication in british history a fact that led time magazine to put wallace simpson on the cover of its annual person of the year issue not only did she hold the distinction of being the magazine's most newsworthy person of 1936 but she was also the first woman to hold that particular honor as time's entry about simpson pointed out she beat out a pretty impressive field of candidates with the top four male contenders revealed to be british prime minister stanley baldwin u.s president franklin d roosevelt italian dictator benito mussolini and chinese leader shang kai-shek while the notion of giving up the throne for love may have seemed romantic the reality wasn't quite the fairy tale some may have imagined after their wedding the former king and the american divorcee were given new titles the duke and duchess of windsor and banished from england the couple first lived in france then spent the duration of world war ii in the bahamas where the duke was made governor after the war they returned to france where they lived for the rest of their lives funded by a hefty royal allowance according to ansebba's 2011 biography that woman the life of wallace simpson duchess of windsor the later lives of the duke and duchess of windsor were characterized by aimlessness and heavy drinking more than 60 years after wallace simpson married the duke of windsor the couple made headlines when a slice of cake from their wedding sold at auction in 1998 for a whopping 29 900 the sale set a guinness world record as the most expensive slice of wedding cake of all time later that same year the famed wedding cake turned up in season 9 episode 18 of seinfeld in which elaine eats a slice not knowing its provenance until too late when her boss mr peterman who bought the cake at auction bus her via security camera footage he explains that he's not going to reprimand her because digesting 60 year old cake will probably teach her a lesson i have a feeling what you are about to go through is punishment enough during world war ii allegations of a pre-war dalliance led to lingering rumors that wallace simpson's sympathies lay not with britain but with a third reich according to a bbc profile on simpson the fbi investigated simpson over her alleged relationship with nazi foreign minister joachim von ribentrop when he was ambassador to britain in 1936 during the investigation the fbi accused simpson of passing him information according to the guardian a benedictine monk with deep royal connections told the fbi that while von riben trop was stationed in england the foreign minister sent simpson 17 carnations each day symbolizing the 17 times they had allegedly been intimate in july 1940 the duke publicly remarked that he didn't think england could win a war with germany and should instead sue for peace according to an fbi memo fears that the duke and duchess of windsor could become nazi pawns led to them being sent away to the bahamas a month later the memo said in part the british were and always are fearful that the duchess will do or say something which will indicate her nazi sympathies and support and consequently it was considered absolutely essential that the windsors be removed to a point where they would do absolutely no harm as for a motive an informant told the feds that simpson had quote an intense hate for the english since they had kicked them out of england madonna is one celebrity who has held a long fascination with wallace simpson back in 2009 the guardian reported that the entertainer was passionate about portraying simpson in a film project she was shepherding into production as news grew clearer about the film titled w.e it emerged that madonna wasn't planning to star a simpson but would instead be directing writing and producing with andrea riceborough playing simpson instead marie claire reported that madonna had written the queen requesting permission to make a story about simpson's marriage to her uncle while the guardian claimed madonna had sought out details from an actual royal princess michael of kent madonna told the london evening standard that she wasn't the only one still obsessed with simpson i've found that if you bring up king edward viii and wallace simpson at a dinner party or a social gathering it's like throwing a molotov cocktail into the room everyone erupts into an argument about who they were i mean they were very controversial and continue to be so of course i'm very attracted to that i felt very strongly about writing the i the wrongs i felt had been done to her with a reported budget of 15 million dollars we was released in 2011. the film bombed at the box office with worldwide revenue of just 2 million dollars as simpson's private letters made clear it didn't take long before she began second guessing her decision to divorce her second husband and marry the duke of windsor according to the independent simpson wrote none of this messes of my own making it is the new peter pan plan peter pan it turns out was her derisive nickname for her husband the boy who never grew up biographer ann seba explained that simpson spent the next 30 plus years living in luxurious exile trapped in a relationship she ultimately didn't want to be in seba wrote nothing else in his life gave him any sense of achievement other than his marriage to wallace for her the slavish devotion was at times claustrophobic and she was not afraid to show it few who knew them well described what they shared as love andrew morton author of wallace in love the untold life of the duchess of windsor the woman who changed the monarchy told ctv news that simpson had a cruel streak in private and would torment her husband morton said he would often say to her am i going to go to bed in tears again tonight and wallace's acquaintance lady gladwin said she became rude odious and strange she spent all her time with a feminine young man staying in nightclubs until dawn and sending the duke home early buzz off mosquito as simpson's friend constance coolidge once said can you imagine a more terrible fate than to have to live up publicly to the legend of a love you don't feel according to biographer andrew morton one of the sticking points in their relationship was the simple and sad fact that simpson wasn't really in love with edward instead according to morton wallace's heart actually belonged to another man named herman rogers who actually attended wallace and edward's wedding morton told ctv news their relationship i think was very very intimate when he remarried after his first wife died wallace said he's the only man i've ever loved her enduring love for roger as morton explained contributed to the sense of bitterness and resentment that simpson felt about her marriage it's kind of a postmodern fairy tale there is no happy ending for longtime observers of the royal family the bombshell 2021 interview between prince harry and meghan markle with oprah winfrey had eerie parallels to a similar shocking interview that took place a half a century earlier in 1969 wallace simpson and her husband sat down with british journalist kenneth harris for an interview sitting among utter opulence within their posh paris apartment the duke and duchess of windsor the former now going by the name david appeared awkward and uncomfortable as they aired old grievances the duke claimed to have quote collided with the establishment while simpson recalled all the hate mail she'd received when asked if she regretted the path they'd taken simpson offered a diplomatic but telling response saying i wish it could have been different but i mean i'm extremely happy as the daily mail recalled 12 million viewers watched the interview in britain alone and while the utterances of the couple may seem banal and tame by modern standards the interview caused quite the stir when it aired as author anna posternak wrote in the daily telegraph the scandalous interview made international headlines for exposing the monarchy's dirty laundry just like harry and meghan while wallace simpson was accused of many things during her life by all accounts intellectual curiosity was not among them according to usa today she rarely thought seriously about anything except her next party her next purchase of couture clothes or statement jewelry her next cocktail she was however aware of people's perception of her so she came up with a party trick to appear better red than she actually was according to andrew morton simpson would read the first and last few pages of whatever the hottest book of the time was she would also memorize a quote that she would drop as a conversational opener before expressing her views on the book she had never actually read that wasn't her only party trick though in 1949 simpson wrote an article for an issue of vogue where she gave humorous tips for hosting the perfect get-together for example she suggests 10 people is a good number for a dinner party and gives advice on how to rescue a dinner guest who is being excluded from conversation simpson concludes her missive by observing that quote planning a party can be more fun than the party itself advice that seemingly apply to royal marriages as well check out one of our newest videos right here plus even more list videos about your favorite celebrities are coming soon subscribe to our youtube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one [Music]

Channel: The List

Views: 30,231

Keywords: the list, wallis simpson, history, royal family, romance

Id: -GJacy9J3JQ

Length: 11min 55sec (715 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 15 2022