Wallis Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor, was infamously referred to by the Queen Mother as “That woman.”
This biography of Wallis is engrossing, superbly written and a mine of information about the much vilified Duchess of Windsor, for whom King Edward VIII abdicated. It is a joy to read, and even though you might think you know the essential facts of this well-known story of love and politics and duty, there is so much nuance and texture in Ms Sebba’s excellent writing, that you find your opinions oftentimes changing.
Ms Sebba paints an honest, balanced portrait of a woman who lived by her wits and ended up at the eye of a storm that still reverberates today.
Just think – how many times has Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, been compared to the Duchess of Windsor?
Two divorced Americans marrying into the royal family, and then their royal husbands leaving the regal fold?
How many times have we seen side by side photos of the two women, implying Ms Markle deliberately cosplays her (in)famous predecessor, copying her outfits and poses?
But yes, back to Wallis Simpson.
The author states the facts plainly:
“Every biographer of Wallis, as well as courtiers who knew her, in trying to explain the inexplicable – how could a middle-aged, not especially beautiful, rather masculine-looking woman have exerted such a powerful effect on a king that he gave up his throne in order to possess her? – produces a different theory. What most agree on is that Wallis was the bad girl, the wicked temptress, the femme fatale who, in teaching a repressed prince satisfying techniques in bed, nearly destroyed the monarchy. Just as Eve was responsible for man’s original sin, these ideas tap into some deep and ancient fears of women’s carnality.”
Ms Sebba investigates the possibility that Wallis Simpson “may have been born with what is currently labelled a Disorder of Sexual Development (DSD) or intersexuality” and posits that if indeed this were the case, although “there is no medical proof that this is an accurate assessment of her case” it would explain much of her attitude towards men and her way of behaving.
You cannot, of course, discuss Wallis Simpson without discussing her eventual 3rd husband, the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII.
For let’s be honest – the Duke of Windsor is the only reason history still remembers Wallis Simpson. And from this biography, the Duke does not come across as a particularly likeable or admirable man.
“What the old guard objected to was not so much the new King’s awkwardness or obstinacy – a monarch was entitled to that and after all George V had often not been easy. What they minded was the obstinacy devoid of any sense of duty or service.“
This lack of a sense of duty is one of the powerful themes running through this excellent book – namely that the ex-King was at heart a selfish, unthinking man, whose only priority was his own happiness. Mrs Simpson made him happy. Therefore he would marry her. But since that was impossible according to the tenets of the church, he simply turned his back on duty and service.
“The King had often in his life revealed a lack of intellectual curiosity but, now with the petulance of a child who does not want to be told no, was going dangerously further by putting himself beyond the reach of anyone who might disagree with his chosen lifestyle.”
There is so much to absorb from this book – the pre-war attitudes, the Windsors’ flirting with Nazi-ism, the extraordinary jewellery the Duke showered on his lover and then his wife.
For a woman like Wallis, without a fortune and without any skill or profession to earn her own livelihood, a man was essential to pay her bills and provide her with a home.
Since she was married at the time of her affair with the King “…she certainly did not want to risk losing Ernest, who not only offered her the best chance of the secure lifestyle she craved above all else but with whom she had a ‘congenial’ easy-going relationship.“
We learn, fascinatingly, that Wallis was appalled when she heard the King’s abdication speech, finally realising that she was now – as it were – trapped. All her life she worried about money and being provided for, a fear that never left her, despite all the jewellery later lavished on her. Her desire for money and the expensive creature comforts she so enjoyed, had brought her to this situation. She had no choice but to marry the man who had given up so much for her.
The life of the Duke and Duchess after the abdication is portrayed as one of aimless wandering, the Duke perpetually obsessed with the refusal of his brother the King to grant Wallis the title of HRH title, and equally obsessed with buying her ever more jewellery.
There was not much enthusiasm for duty, especially during their time in the Bahamas, where the Duke was appointed Governor. When Government House was being refurbished, very soon after their arrival, the Duke suggested they go live in Canada for a few months. “…the proposal that they take temporary leave of absence was met with horror. Both the royal family and the government professed shock and outrage that no sooner had they arrived than, once again, they were abandoning their post.“
The Duke perpetually frets about his furniture and their mountainous luggage and furniture and trappings that trundle (expensively) around the world in their wake.
He frets about what he perceives as a lack of respect to his wife with the refusal to grant her the HRH title he wants for her (I am really trying not draw too many comparisons with the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle situation).
They have ill-behaved dogs, which they treat like spoiled children.
They seem to be an aimless, increasingly inconsequential couple who had, nevertheless, a very high opinion of themselves and their perceived position in society. Throughout it all Wallis, despite the abrasive and often humiliating way she treats the Duke, comes across as more resolute and definitely less petty and whingey than her husband. She definitely sees palace manoeuvres behind their treatment, but by and large gets on with the life she carved out for herself.
She did little to endear herself to the British establishment, with her perceived friendship towards figures in the Nazi hierarchy.
Wallis Simpson is credited with having said “You can’t be too rich or too thin” and she obsessed about her weight:
“According to a journalist who knew her well, she weighed ninety-seven pounds as she left the Bahamas and looked thinner than when she had arrived. But such weight loss resulted in “her jaw becoming squarer…her smile more downward and her eyebrows more satirical in their upward rise.“
Her appearance was of the utmost importance to her – designer clothes, fabulous jewels which she wore in copious quantities – but “…stories of how her multiple facelifts had left her with an immobile face and eyes that could never close even when she was asleep did the rounds.“
A superbly researched biography, and one that is even-handed throughout, but in the end, sadly, this reader has little love or affection for That Woman.
As the writer says in her closing paragraphs, reflecting on the continued fascination with Wallis:
“Wallis in her lifetime defied her critics and yielded few secrets abut what it was about her that forced a man to renounce everything he had been born to enjoy…we cannot, by any rational means, explain why a middle-aged, married woman with large hands and a mole on her chin convinced a troubled, boyish prince to believe that his life could have no meaning unless lived alongside her…”
A wonderful book.
100% recommended.