RESEARCH INTO THE WALLIS
SIMPSON AND EDWARD VIII
RELATIONSHIP
Casey Watts
Year 1- Digital Media Journalism
Life in the late 1930’s Britain




Life in Britain was afflicted with mass unemployment.
The great age of cinema with the majority of people going
once or twice a week.
With the second world, many of the children was evacuated to
the countryside.
Sales of ice cream boomed in the 1930s and many new kinds
of sweets were introduced. These included, Milky Way (1923
in the USA 1935 in Britain), Crunchie (1929), Snickers and
Freddo (1930), Mars Bar (1932), Whole Nut (1933), Aero
and Kit Kat (1935), Maltesers and Blue Riband (1936) and
Smarties, Rolo and Milky Bar (1937).
Fashion in the 1930’s
The war had much effect on fashion as
clothes were in short supply and rationed.
The government encouraged people to
'Make do and mend'. Older clothes were
transformed into modern styles. Many women
wore short skirts and sensible 'flat heeled'
shoes. It was very unusual to see women
wearing trousers.
Who are they??
It was a scandal that could
have brought down the
monarchy. The British king
gave up his throne for an
American divorcee. What was
it that Mrs Simpson had?
How did they meet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0JW2FBdaUM&feature=player_embedded
Wallis Simpson
1. Born Wallis Warfield, to a distinguished American family.
2. In 1916 she married Lieutenant Earl Winfield Spencer. He
was to develop a drinking problem and the marriage soon
became abusive. Wallis eventually left him and the couple
divorced in 1927.
3. Six months after her divorce, Wallis married Ernest Simpson
and they moved to London.
4. Wallis met Prince Edward at a fashionable party and there
was an instant attraction.
5. While many blame Wallis for seducing the Prince, it seems
likely that she was herself seduced by the glamour and power
of being close to the heir of Britain's throne.
6. On 20 January 1936, King George V, Edward's father, died,
and Edward became King Edward VIII. His infatuation with
Wallis distracted him from his state duties.
7. Some claimed Wallis was a German spy.
8. Edward abdicated the throne to marry Simpson and was later
succeeded by his brother Albert.
King Edward VIII
Name: King Edward VIII
Full Name: Edward Albert Christian George Andrew
Patrick David
Born: June 23, 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond, Surrey
Parents: George V and Mary of Teck
Relation to Elizabeth II: uncle
House of: Windsor
Ascended to the throne: Jan 20, 1936 aged 41 years
Crowned: Uncrowned
Married: Ms Wallis Simpson
Children: None
Died: May 28, 1972 at Paris, aged 77 years, 11 months,
and 3 days
Buried at: Frogmore
Reigned for: 10 months, and 21 days, Abdicated:
December 11, 1936
Succeeded by: his brother George VI
King Edward VIII- 1936
Edward VIII-In a reign of only nine months- sparked the most
serious crisis to overtake the British throne in the 20th Century.
(The Times, A history of the British Kings and Queens, 2002)
King Edward VIII
Born: June 23, 1894
Died: May 28, 1972
Accended: January 20 1936; abdicated
December 11 1936.
Edward VIII- abdication
In 1931, Edward met Wallis. Elegant and sophisticated she epitomised the world fast
life the prince craved. She had been married twice before, but that didn't rule her out
as a consort for a man who would one day be the King of the United Kingdom.
Edwards accession in January 1936 was greeted with enthusiasm for the public, yet
from the start he dismayed his courtiers. With his enthusiasm for Hitler and his poor
attention to business of state, pleasure took first place.
The kings determination to marry Mrs Simpson was decisive and after informing the
prime minister, he later abdicated the throne just four weeks later.
Edward VIII- written abdication speech
(part 1)
A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been
succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my
allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart.
You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you
to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire, which,
as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.
But you must believe me when I tell you that 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.
And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone.
This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned
has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.
I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of
what would, in the end, be best for all.
This decision has been made less difficult to me by the sure knowledge that my brother,
with his long training in the public affairs of this country and with his fine qualities, will
be able to take my place forthwith without interruption or injury to the life and progress of
the empire. And he has one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you, and not
bestowed on me - a happy home with his wife and children.
Written abdication speech (part 2)
During these hard days I have been comforted by her majesty my mother and by my family.
The ministers of the crown, and in particular, Mr. Baldwin, the Prime Minister, have always
treated me with full consideration. There has never been any constitutional difference
between me and them, and between me and Parliament.
Bred in the constitutional tradition by my father, I should never have allowed any such
issue to arise.
Ever since I was Prince of Wales, and later on when I occupied the throne, I have been
treated with the greatest kindness by all classes of the people wherever I have lived or
journeyed throughout the empire. For that I am very grateful.
I now quit altogether public affairs and I lay down my burden. It may be some time before
I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British race and
empire with profound interest, and if at any time in the future I can be found of service to
his majesty in a private station, I shall not fail.
And now, we all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and
prosperity with all my heart.
God bless you all!
God save the King !
Abdication
http://www.awesomestories.com/assets/edward-viii-abdication
Abdication
“I, Edward the eighth, of Great Britain, Ireland, and
the British Dominions beyond the seas, King, Emperor
of India, do herby declare my irrevocable
determination to renounce the throne for myself and
for my descendents, and my desire that effect should
be given to this instrument of abdication immediately.
In token thereof I have hereunto set my hand this tenth
day of December, nineteen hundred and thirty six, in
the presence of the witnesses whose signatures are
subscribed.
Life after abdication
After Edwards abdication, his brother Albert succeeded to the throne as George
VI.
He lived the rest of his life in exile with Wallis Simpson.
He was created the Duke of Windsor by His brother King George.
He died of cancer at age 78 on January 28, 1972, at Bois de Boulogne, Paris; he
was buried at the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor.
Print screens of online Biography's
Wallis Simpson the style icon
Style icon
http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/celebrity-photos/2011/09/08/wallis-simpson--style-file
Style icon




Her clothes were as challenging as her approach to royal etiquette. When Coco
Chanel's boyish Breton tops and trimmed box jackets were de riguer, Simpson was
trumping the nipped-in waists and corsetry of American couture designer Main
Rousseau Bocher.
Her sharp wit led to a collaboration with Salvadore Dalí, who designed a lobsterprint for the Elsa Schiaparelli gown that Simpson wore in Vogue in 1937.
Photographer Cecil Beaton may have captured a demure Simpson sitting in the
grass for the issue - but she can't have been blind to the connotations; Dalí was well
known for using lobsters as an expression of frank and ardent sexuality.
However, Simpson was a realist as well as an exhibitionist and said, with a touch of
vulnerability: "I'm not a beautiful woman. I'm nothing to look at, so the only thing I
can do is dress better than anyone else." And so the Duchess wore fashion like a
kind of armour - with her sense of style becoming more sophisticated the more
notorious she became.
She is said to have worn a Paco Rabanne spacesuit to one party and at the funeral
of the Duke in 1972 - an event when she would have known all the eyes of the
world would be on her as she walked next to the Queen Mother - she had
Hubert Givenchy stay up all night to perfect the length of her chiffon veil.
King Edward VIII
1. The first monarch to be a qualified pilot,
Edward created The King's Flight in 1936
to provide air transport for the Royal
family's official duties.
2. Met and fallen in love with the then
married Mrs Wallis Simpson. When Mrs
Simpson obtained a divorce in 1936 and it
was clear that Edward was determined to
marry her.
3. On 10 December 1936, Edward VIII
abdicated the throne.
4. In 1937, Edward was created Duke of
Windsor and married Wallis Simpson in a
ceremony in France.
5. He lived abroad until the end of his life,
dying in 1972 in Paris (he is buried at
Windsor).
Timeline for King Edward VIII










Edward VIII succeeds his father, George V, as King on 20 January, 1936.
Outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
Germany, under Adolf Hitler, reoccupies the demilitarized left bank of the Rhine.
Britain begins to rearm as political tension increases in Europe and the prospect of
military conflict in the region becomes more evident.
Fire destroys Crystal Palace, once the home of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park but
now located in Sydenham, south London.
J.M. Keynes publishes his book General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money an
internationally influential study of modern economics.
Maiden voyage of luxury ocean liner the Queen Mary takes place.
Jarrow crusade of unemployed marches to London
The BBC inaugurates the world’s first television service at Alexandra Palace in
London.
On 10 December Edward signs the Instrument of Abdication over his wish to marry
Mrs Wallis Simpson. Witnessed by all his brothers, it is a simple declaration of his
intent to renounce the throne for himself and all his descendants. He is subsequently
created Duke of Windsor.
Quotes

‘I wanted to be an up-to-date king. But I didn't have
much time.’ - Edward VIII
‘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 of the
woman I love.’ - Edward VIII (abdication speech)
W.E Film
Plot
W.E. tells the story of two fragile but
determined women – Wally Winthrop and
Wallis Simpson – separated for more than six
decades. In 1998, lonely New Yorker
Winthrop is obsessed with what she perceives
as the ultimate love story: King Edward VIIIs
abdication of the British throne for the woman
he loved, American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
But Winthrop's research, reveals that the
couple's life together was not as perfect as
she thought. Weaving back and forth in time,
the film intertwines Wally's journey of
discovery in New York with the story of Wallis
and Edward, from the glamorous early days
of their romance to the slow unravelling of
their lives in the decades that followed
W.E trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KguM_BGlf8c