Wallis Simpson 'never forgave' the Queen Mother says expert

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Wallis Simpson and her desire to marry the King, Edward VIII, left Britain and the Commonwealth facing one of the biggest constitutional crises in its history. October 27 marks the date Ms Simpson received notification that her divorce to Ernest Simpson had been finalised and she was ready to wed the then-monarch. It emerged, though, that Wallis’ controversial divorce, which was her second after the marriage to her first husband. Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. broke down in 1927, was actually originally defeated in court, in what was described as a “judicial farce”.

Robert Egerton, a solicitor who worked on the case, provided an account of the divorce proceedings which helped move forward Edward’s abdication later in the year, but noted that the hotel involved in the proceedings was “too exclusive” for Mr Wallis to have committed adultery in.

This, documents show, meant Wallis’ first attempting at proving adultery was the reason behind her decision to divorce Mr Wallis was not considered enough of a reason, and thus it was ditched.

However, in time, the divorce was finalised, Edward abdicated a year later, in 1937, the pair wed, before seeing out the rest of their days as a couple into the Seventies as a happily married couple.

Edward’s time as monarch, and subsequent demise and relationship with Wallis, has been poured over by critics, including author of Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Andrew Lownie.

The relationship between Edward and Wallis has in the past been compared to that of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, with the latter similar in terms of being a divorced American.

Mr Lownie is among those who have drawn parallells between the couples, telling Express.co.uk: “They were enormously similar, the same trope — a divorced American woman who is ambitious […] they get into debates about security, about what they’re allowed to do, about recognition of whether they’re going to be a Royal Highness.

“We have family tensions, breakdown of relationships with parents and with siblings, and we have them suing the press […] the parallels are enormous.”

Moving on from their similarities with Harry and Meghan, Mr Lownie went on to talk about King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort’s tumultuous relationship in the early Noughties, describing it as “the complete opposite” of the historic royal saga. 

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tumultuous

He said: “She (Camilla) doesn’t take him (Charles) away from his family, she tries to support him and work within the institution of the monarchy.

“She is completely loyal to the institution. She doesn’t want to change them. So she is, in a sense, the polar opposite of Meghan and Wallis.”

Comparisons have been made elsewhere too, like in the History Press, which noted how Edward was formally known as “charming and informal” and showed a warmth much like Harry.

In an obituary, The New York Times described him as a “romantic and carefree Prince Charming blessed with the common touch” during his younger years.

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And writing for The Times, Robert Alden said Edward had been “a king of great popularity” despite only being head of the most famous family in the world for barely a year. He added: “The abdication that caused a worldwide sensation visibly distressed his subjects.”

This popularity was matched by Harry, who in 2019 was voted as the second most popular royal, behind only his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The previous year, when Harry wedded Meghan, the Duke of Sussex even topped a YouGov poll of people’s favourite Windsor, with 77 percent of respondents giving him a positive rating. This was followed by the Queen in second spot, and Harry’s brother, William, in third.

Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor was published by Blink Publishing and is available here.

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