Wallis Simpson: The American Socialite Who Led King Edward VIII To Abdicate

Sep 20, 2019 by apost team

When American socialite Wallis Simpson married Kind Edward VIII in 1937, she would change the British Monarchy forever. 

Their marriage leads to the abdication of King Edward, with his brother King George VI, Queen Elizabeth’s father, replacing him thus paving the way for Queen Elizabeth II to take the throne. 

Wallis Simpson, birthname Bessie Wallis, was born on June 19, 1886 in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of wealthy flour merchant Teackle Wallis Warfield, who died when she was still a baby. The socialite eventually moved with her mother to her aunt’s residence in Baltimore and lived there until Wallis got married. 

apost.com

Wallis was educated in what was described as the most expensive school in Maryland, the Oldfields School which was paid for by her uncle. According to the Sun, one pupil said she was a particularly bright student.

"She was bright, brighter than all of us. She made up her mind to go to the head of the class, and she did."

Wallis married her first husband, Earl Winfield Spencer Jr, in 1916. He was a US Navy Aviator who was posted in San Diego when the country entered WWI. 

The couple was reportedly separated for months at a time and Spencer was struggling with alcohol abuse, which eventually lead to Wallis traveling alone to China and the marriage dissolving in 1927. That same year, Wallis became involved with Ernest Aldrich Simpson, who was a shipping executive. They married the following year in London, around the same time she met Thelma Furness, mistress to Edward VIII who was still known as the Prince Of Wales back then.

According to the Sun, Wallis and Edward’s affair began in 1934, although the then-Prince denied it at the time. In 1935, however, the Prince oficially introduced Wallis as his love interest to the Royal family, much to their dismay. In 1936, then King George V, Edward’s father, died which put Edward II on the throne. That same year, Wallis divorced Simpson on the grounds of adultery.

As King, Edward was also the head of the Anglican Protestant Church, which meant it was extremely frowned upon for him to marry a twice-divorced woman with both ex-husbands still alive.

Additionally, the British public was weary to accept an American individual as Queen. 

This all lead to the eventual forced abdication of Kind Edward VIII, with George VI taking his place on the British Throne. Wallis and Edward married in 1937, with none of his Royal relatives attending.

In a BBC broadcast at the time, Edward reportedly said he was not willing to take the throne "without the help and support of the woman I love". With Edward no longer King, the two became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

If Kind Edward II was never abdicated, the world might have looked a lot different from what it does today. Did you know who Wallis Simpson was? What do you think about Edward rejecting the throne for love? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!