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American socialite Wallis Simpson, the woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne in 1936, is variously portrayed as a greedy snob, a sexual predator or part of the romance of the century. Channel 4's Wallis Simpson: The Demonised Duchess weighs the Wallis myth against the evidence of observers and Wallis's own writings. A complex figure emerges: a strong-willed woman, hungry for independence, but caught up in a situation she could not control. Two weddings and a divorce Bessie Wallis Warfield – named after her aunt and her father – was born in 1896. Her father died before she was a year old. At 20, Wallis married a US Navy airman called Earl Spencer. But Spencer was a violent alcoholic, and she left him in 1921. The Warfields, a large and respectable Maryland dynasty, saw this behaviour as scandalous. After a three-year separation, Wallis married a banker named Ernest Simpson in July 1928. They moved to London, where Wallis established herself as a hostess. Through contacts at the US Embassy she became friendly with Thelma Furness, who was married to an elderly shipping magnate and involved with Prince Edward – the future Edward VIII. Meeting a prince Prince Edward was 36 and single. Ten years earlier, he had met Freda Dudley Ward, his first great love. 'Fredie' inspired in him a dependence that was abject and intense. Although her passion had cooled rapidly, she remained Edward's friend and confidante for many years. 'What he liked was being 'mothered',' his equerry Bruce Ogilvy said. In January 1934, Thelma Furness left England to visit her sister, Gloria Vanderbilt. When she returned three months later, Wallis had taken her place as Edward's closest friend. There were two main differences, however. One was the enmity aroused by Wallis, regarded by high society and the British public as a grasping commoner, and American to boot. The other was the overpowering intensity of Edward's devotion: '[He] has lost all confidence in himself and follows W around like a dog,' noted equerry John Aird. Unpopular liaison In November, Edward invited the Simpsons to a Palace function and presented Wallis to the Queen. The King was furious ('That woman in my own house!') and told Edward that his mistress was not welcome at Court. Edward replied that Wallis was not his mistress. While this was disbelieved at the time, it may be that Wallis had kept their relationship platonic: 'No man is ever allowed to touch me below the Mason-Dixon line,' she confided to a friend. Edward became king in January 1936 and Wallis's relationship with the new king became a scandal – although it was kept out of the papers by a gentleman's agreement with press barons Beaverbrook and Rothermere. Wallis suggested that she should 'steal quietly away', but Edward was adamant. In October, the Simpsons began divorce proceedings. However, neither the court nor the government would countenance a twice-divorced American as Queen, and Edward abdicated in December after less than a year on the throne. Royal wedding Wallis's divorce became absolute the following May, whereupon she changed her name to Wallis Warfield. In June, she married Edward, now HRH the Duke of Windsor; she became Duchess of Windsor but was denied 'extra chic' of the title of Her Royal Highness by the Palace. Always strong-willed, Wallis now dominated Edward completely: on one occasion, in front of guests, she thumped the table and forbade him to give instructions to the servants 'in my house'. If anything, this made Edward love her all the more. Political divisions She does not appear to have influenced him politically, however. As early as 1934 he was speaking positively of the British Union of Fascists. While Wallis was suspected of fraternising with Ribbentrop, the German ambassador, this was an indiscretion rather than a serious security risk. Certainly she was not responsible for Edward's visit to Germany in 1937; she complained afterwards of being excluded from his meeting with Hitler. When war broke out, Edward was given a minor Army position and posted to France. When France fell, he and Wallis fled to Spain. Unaware of German plans to kidnap him, but conscious of his right wing views and personal bitterness, the British government hastily offered Edward the governorship of the Bahamas. He and Wallis remained there until 1945; thereafter, with an income from the British government but no official status, they drifted between Paris, Florida, the south of France and New York. Edward died in 1972. Wallis, who had attended several royal occasions at his side in the previous decade, flew to England for the funeral and stayed at Buckingham Palace. Afterwards she lived alone in their Paris villa, increasingly confused and finally bedridden, her daily life controlled by the formidable lawyer Maître Blum. She died in 1986, aged 89, and was buried alongside Edward in the royal burial ground at Windsor.
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