Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Wallis Simpsonis the woman whom history has largely vilified and painted as the cause of the downfall of a king. When popularKing Edward VIIIgave up the throne in 1936 to marry the American divorcee she faced opprobrium that has continued to this day.
But Wallis was “a convenient scapegoat and took the rap for the abdication,“The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpsonauthor Anna Pasternak tells PEOPLE for itsRoyals' special fall edition.
The bold move “was the last thing she wanted,” and the man who reigned for just 326 days harbored “this kind of ferocious, obsessive love for her — he was never going to let her go.”
The author writes inThe American Duchess: “As far as he was concerned, he could not live without her and could not see that she might not be able to live with the consequences of his single-mindedness. Being blamed in perpetuity for stealing a beloved, popular king from his throne and almost destroying the British monarchy would prove to be a lifelong annihilating burden that Wallis was forced to bear.”
Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII.Keystone-FranceGamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Edward signed abdication papers on December 10, 1936, and made the announcement via radio broadcast to his subjects the next day, saying, “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.'
The couple became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, living out their lives in exile largely in France.
According to Pasternak, the 1971 note — in which the former king underlined his name for emphasis — is “concrete proof that it was a genuine love story right to the very end.”
The Duke and Duchess of Winsdor.AP/REX/Shutterstock
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After Edward gave up the throne, his shy brother, Albert (a.k.a. Bertie) was thrust into the limelight and took over, titling himself King George VI.
A little more than 15 years after George’s coronation, his eldest daughter, 25-year-oldPrincess Elizabeth, was elevated to the throne when the king died unexpectedly of a coronary thrombosis in 1952. Now, 95, the Queen has gone on to become thelongest-reigning monarch in British historyand will hit a remarkable 70 years on the throne in February, with aPlatinum Jubileecelebration scheduled to follow in June.
And the infamous moment that will forever have Elizabeth’s uncle and his wife etched in the history books was not something the Duke of Windsor ever lamented.
Says Pasternak, “The duke always said that not once did he regret the abdication, because he was so happy.”
source: people.com
