A woman’s life can really be a succession of lives, each revolving around some emotionally compelling situation or challenge, and each marked off by some intense experience. It was the love story of the century–the king and the commoner. In December 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry “the woman I love,” Wallis Warfield Simpson, a twice-divorced American who quickly became … quickly became one of the twentieth century’s most famous personalities, a figure of intrigue and mystery, both admired and reviled.
“Never explain, never complain.”
Wrongly blamed for the abdication crisis, Wallis suffered hostility from the Royal Family and much of the world. Yet interest in her story has remained constant, resulting in a small library of biographies that convey a thinly veiled animosity toward their subject. The truth, however, is infinitely more fascinating than the shallow, pathetic portrait that has often been painted.
“For a gallant spirit, there can never be defeat.”
Using previously untapped sources, acclaimed biographer Greg King presents a complete and, for the first time, sympathetic portrait of the Duchess that sifts the decades of rumor and accusation to reveal the woman behind the legend. From her birth in Pennsylvania during the Gilded Age to her death in Paris in 1986, King takes the reader through a world of privilege, palaces, high society, and love with the accompaniment of hatreds, feuds, conspiracies, and lies. The cast of characters is vast: politicians and presidents, dictators and socialites. Twenty-four pages of photographs reveal the life of the Duchess in all its incomparable glamour and romance.
Greg King’s biographies The Last Empress, The Man Who Killed Rasputin, and The Mad King have been universally acclaimed and internationally published. He lives in Everett, Washington.
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This is a true story about historical characters and for me, helps to explain the British monarchy’s actions even up to today. Some families are well-known for holding grudges (Hatfields and McCoys come to mind), but the British seem to do it best. You decide.
Love can sure be a problem. Insight and motivation made the woman more acceptable than the gossip I’ve known
I found this book very interesting. I knew a little about this story and era but the book filled in much of the details for me. It was an enjoyable read.
While watching the Netflix series The Crown, I became intrigued with the scene which features a conversation between Queen Elizabeth II and her Uncle David, the Duke of Windsor, previously King George VIII. The premise of the conversation revolves around the Duke’s motives for abdicating the throne which resulted in the Abdication Crisis of 1936. After watching the episode, I wanted to dig deeper into this topic. All sorts of questions went around in my head: Who was Wallis Simpson? What events were put into motion to bring the country of Great Britain to a constitutional crisis? What kind of woman would cause a king to renounce the throne and his kingdom for all time?
As I perused the online library catalog, I decided to check out every book on Wallis Simpson I could locate. After perusing through a stack of biographies, I finally decided on one: The Duchess of Windsor: The Uncommon Life of Wallis Simpson by Greg King.
Greg King’s biography gives the reader a complete scope/sequence of the life of Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor: Romeo and Juliet in Baltimore, Childhood, Youth, Win, Marriage, China, Ernest, The Prince of Wales, A Fateful Weekend, Wallis in Wonderland, The Relationship Deepens, The Passing of the King, The New Reign, The King’s Mistress, The Nahlin Cruise, The Divorce, Growing Troubles, A Pretty Kettle of Fish, The Morganatic Marriage Proposal, Flight to France, The Struggle for the Throne, Abdication, Rat Week, The Whole Word is Against Us and Our Love, At War with the Royal Family, The King’s Wedding Present, The Wedding, The Visit to Germany, Exile in Paris, Two Houses, War, The Plot to Kidnap the Windsors, The Bahamas, The Visit to America, The Duchess’s War Work, Shady Friendships, Murder and Treachery, Postwar Wanderings, The Death of the King, The Last Two Houses, A Woman of Style, Life in Paris, American Adventures, The Windsors and the Royal Family, Declining Years, The Duke’s Death, Wallis Alone, Last Years and Epilogue.
By the time I finished King’s biography, all of the questions I had asked myself prior to reading had been answered. Through King’s narrative tone, I felt I had come to know Wallis, Duchess of Windsor as a human being who faced adversity and persevered. Her life can be summed up in her own words: For a gallant spirit there can never be defeat.
Interesting to read another viewpoint.
Interesting. Wish I’d known her.
I remember my mother telling me about the abdication of the King of England so that he could marry a divorced woman. Through the years I would read about his support of Hitler and other bits and pieces about the two of them, but this book tells all. I found the early part of the book, describing the growing-up years of Wallis Simpson, to be the most interesting because I knew little of her background. As the author goes on to describe her later life, he uses a lot of detail. For instance, in one chapter he describes almost every room in the house where she and Edward are living, down to each piece of furniture. Later on, he does the same detailed description of her choices in clothing. The author has a definite bias against the Royal Family and is quite sympathetic to Edward and Wallis. As I have mentioned, the book is very detailed and anyone who wants to know about her “uncommon life” may enjoy this book.
This book satisfied my curiosity about Wallace Simpson and the man who gave up his throne as the King of the British Commonwealth to marry her. It was interesting, if at times a little boring, but I was happy to know the truth as the author saw it.
Different perspective about them. She was not the selfish conniving person she was portrayed.
I’m still reading this book but it is changing my opinion on the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as well as the Queens Elizabeth.
Very good read.
I loved the book. The queen mother was a jealous, petty, unpleasant women who made life miserable and difficult for the duke and duchess of Windsor. She influenced her husband and the royals to exclude the duke and success from the rest of the family. They basically lived in exile all because he married his soulmate. Very sad how some people can be so unkind and hateful
Too much detail. Very biased opinions of Wallis, the Duke, and the royal family. Author starts by saying she has been unfairly portrayed by other authors and wants to show another view. In his view, she is nearly perfect. Way too much detail of every aspect of her attire, her decor, her acquaintances. Could have used a lot of editing.
Well written , the homework was done
Very interesting to read a different point of very