by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

 

Bessie Wallis Warfield was born on June 19, 1896, in Square Cottage at the Monterey Inn in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the only child of  Teackle Wallis Warfield and Alice Montague and was named after her mother’s older sister Bessie Montague Merryman and her father. Teackle’s family had money, but it was “new money,” and the family was looked down upon by the older, established families.  Solomon Warfield, Teackle’s brother, was a self-made millionaire, but Teackle was the least eligible catch of the family.  He was sickly, had been ill with tuberculosis since he was 18-years-old, and had a poor-paying job as a county auctioneer. Wallis’ mother was Alice Montague from a Southern “Old Family”.

The Montague family could not fathom Alice’s decision to marry Teackle.  Only three people attended their wedding: Alice’s sister Bessie and two of Teackle’s friends.  Five months after Wallis’ birth, her father died at the age of 27.  Wallis and her mother were dependent upon the charity of relatives until her mother remarried.  Her uncle Solomon paid for her to attend the most expensive girls’ school in Maryland and she made friends with a number of girls from wealthy families.

When Wallis was 20, she married Earl Winfield Spencer, a U.S. Navy pilot.  Allegedly, Spencer was abusive and an alcoholic. After several separations, the Spencers divorced in December 1927.  Before her marriage was officially ended, Wallis became involved with Ernest Simpson, a shipping executive, who had been born in the United States but became a British citizen during World War I.  Wallis and Ernest married in 1928.

Through a friend, Consuelo Thaw, Wallis met Consuelo’s sister Thelma, Viscountess Furness, who was the mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King George V.  In early 1931, Thelma introduced Wallis to the Prince of Wales.  Over the next several years, the Prince of Wales and the Simpsons attended various house parties and other social events, and Wallis was presented at court.  In January 1934, Wallis became the mistress of the Prince of Wales, known as David in the family.  Wallis eventually divorced her second husband in October 1936.  On May 7, 1937, Wallis legally resumed her maiden name but continued to use the title “Mrs.” so she was Mrs. Wallis Warfield.

On January 20, 1936, King George V died and David became King Edward VIII.  He showed impatience with court protocol and caused concern with his disregard for established constitutional conventions. He was also completely enthralled by Wallis and was naively convinced that once she was free from her marriage, he would be able to marry her and she would be queen.  At that time, it was unthinkable that the Supreme Governor of the Church of England could marry a person who had been divorced not just once, but twice.  David’s insistence on proceeding with these plans, despite much advice to the contrary, provoked a government crisis.

David informed Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin that he would abdicate if he could not marry Wallis. Baldwin then presented the king with three choices:  (1) give up the idea of marriage  (2) marry against his ministers’ wishes  (3) abdicate. It was evident that David was not prepared to give up Wallis and he knew that if he married against the advice of his ministers, he would cause the government to resign, prompting a constitutional crisis. He chose to abdicate.

King Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication on December 10, 1936, in the presence of his brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York, the heir to the throne; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The next day, the last act of his reign was the royal assent to His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, necessary because only Parliament can change the succession to the throne. On the evening of December 11, 1936, once again His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the former king gave his famous radio speech in which he said, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

On December 12, 1936, at the accession meeting of the Privy Council, the new King George VI announced he was going to give his brother the title Duke of Windsor with the style of Royal Highness. Letters Patent dated May 27, 1937 re-conferred the “title, style, or attribute of Royal Highness” upon the Duke of Windsor, but specifically stated that “his wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute”.

On June 3, 1937, David married Wallis Simpson at the Château de Candé, near Tours, France. The legality of King George VI’s Letters Patent stating that David’s style Royal Highness could not be extended to his wife or children is doubtful.  As the son of a British monarch, David was entitled to that style which should have automatically reverted to him upon his abdication and automatically extended to his legal wife and any legitimate children.  David considered holding back the style Her Royal Highness from his wife unjust, but out of respect for his brother, he never made a public issue.  In their household, the Duchess of Windsor was always addressed as Royal Highness.

• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson

During World War II, David was at first stationed with the British Military Mission to France but after accusations that he held Nazi sympathies, he was appointed Governor of the Bahamas to remove him from Europe during World War II. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived the latter part of their lives in Paris, France in a mansion they called Villa Windsor located at 4 Route du Champ d’Entraînement in the Bois de Boulogne, a large park. The house is owned by the city of Paris and was leased to the Windsors at a nominal rent from 1952 to 1986.  During the 1950s and 1960s, the Duke and Duchess were treated as celebrities and were the toast of parties they hosted and attended as guests.  The couple visited Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon at the White House and were popular guests among society around the world.

The Duchess was never fully accepted by the Royal Family. Her mother-in-law Queen Mary refused to formally receive her. Occasionally, the Duke did visit his mother and brother King George VI and he did attend his brother’s funeral in 1952 and his mother’s funeral in 1953. He did not attend the coronation of his niece Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. In 1965, the Duke and Duchess visited London and were visited by the Duke’s niece Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke’s sister-in-law Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, and the Duke’s sister Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood. During their visit to London, the Duke’s sister Mary suddenly died and the couple attended her funeral. The funeral of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent in 1968 was the last royal event the Duke attended. He was invited to the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969 but declined the invitation.

The Duke’s health started to decline during the 1960s when he was treated for an aneurysm and detached retina. He was a heavy smoker and in late 1971 was diagnosed with throat cancer. Early in 1972, the Duke underwent surgery for a hernia. On May 18, 1972, Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prince of Wales, visited the Duke at his Paris home while on a state visit to France. The Duke was too ill to come downstairs to tea, but the Queen spent 15 minutes talking alone with her Uncle David in his sitting room after the Duchess of Windsor hosted tea in the downstairs drawing room.

Ten days later, a statement from Buckingham Palace said: “It is announced with deep regret that His Royal Highness, the Duke of Windsor, has died at his home in Paris at 2:25 A.M., Sunday, May 28, 1972.” The Duke of Windsor died a month before his 78th birthday. The Duke’s body lay in state at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and an unexpectedly large number of people filed by the casket. At the Duke’s request, a private royal funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel. Excepting the Duke’s only surviving brother, The Duke of Gloucester who was very ill, all other adult members of the Royal Family attended the funeral along with King Olav V of Norway who was the Duke’s first cousin.  The Duke of Windsor was buried near his brother The Duke of Kent at the Royal Burial Ground behind the Royal Mausoleum of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Frogmore near Windsor Castle. The Duchess of Windsor attended her husband’s funeral.

The Duchess of Windsor survived her husband by fourteen years. Increasingly frail and suffering from dementia, she lived the remainder of her life as a recluse, supported by her husband’s estate and an allowance from Queen Elizabeth II.  She suffered several falls and broke her hip twice. After the Duke of Windsor’s death, the Duchess’s French lawyer, Suzanne Blum, assumed power of attorney. Blum sold items belonging to the Duchess to her own friends at lower than market value and was accused of exploiting the Duchess.  In 1980, the Duchess lost her ability to speak. She became bedridden and did not receive any visitors except her doctor and nurses.

The Duchess of Windsor in 1975

The Duchess of Windsor died on April 24, 1986, at the age of 89 at her home in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France.  Her funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and was attended by her two surviving sisters-in-law: The Queen Mother and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and also Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Anne, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prince and Princess of Wales also attended the burial. Wallis was buried next to her husband in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore near Windsor Castle.

• BBC: On This Day – April 29, 1986: Simple Funeral Rites for Duchess

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Works Cited

• Birmingham, Stephen. Duchess: The Story Of Wallis Warfield Windsor. 1st ed. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1981. Print.
• Higham, Charles. The Duchess Of Windsor. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2005. Print.
• “King Edward VIII, The Duke Of Windsor”. Unofficial Royalty. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.
• “Wallis Simpson”. En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.
• Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.