1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowie and Katie and 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 1: I have had so much fun talking about royal scandals 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: recently that we're going to talk about at least one more. 6 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: This one is from the twentieth century, though, so in 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty six, Britain's King Edward the eight renounced his 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: throne in order to marry an American divorcee named Wallace Simpson. 9 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: And he was the only British sovereign ever to voluntarily 10 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: resign the crown. So this is a big deal. Yeah. 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: It forces his shy younger brother to become king, which 12 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: ends up putting his eldest daughter in the line of 13 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: succession that becomes Elizabeth the Second Um and Edward and 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: Wallace are shunned by the injured royal family. They travel 15 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: the world, they hobb nobbed with Nazis and they've become 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 1: style icons. But there's a big question about their relationship, 17 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: and that's what is it a great love story? Did 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: he give up his throne um to marry the woman 19 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: he loved or is there something more tragic. So let's 20 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: meet our major players. Bessie Wallace Warfield was born June 21 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: nineteenth to eighteen ninety six in Pennsylvania, but she grew 22 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: up in Baltimore and her birth was a bit of 23 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: a scandal because she was born only seven months after 24 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: her parents marriage. So do the math. Yeah, And they 25 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: were from a fairly elite family and um society definitely 26 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 1: cared about that kind of thing. Her father died when 27 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: she was only five months old, though, and her mother 28 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: had to rely on handouts from a wealthy relative. Um. 29 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: She grew up in Maryland and attended the Old Field 30 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: School and dumped her first name, and I kind of 31 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: loved this quote. She said that so many cows are 32 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: called Bessie, so she goes by Wallace instead. So she's 33 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: part of high society it because she's born into it, 34 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: but she's not because she doesn't have the money. And 35 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: this really bugs her. So she needs to find a 36 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: way in, and she decides the way in is marriage, 37 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: and she marries Earl W. Spencer, a Navy pilot, in 38 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen. But it's a complete disaster from the start. 39 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: Her husband was an alcoholic and he was very Moody 40 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: and she ends up leaving him. She has a short 41 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: affair after that and lives in Virginia for a time. 42 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: But after her divorce, she has another longer lasting affair 43 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: with the then married Ernest Simpson, who was a US 44 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: born brit and she writes to her mother, I really 45 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: feel so tired of fighting the world all alone and 46 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: with no money. So it sounds like she kind of 47 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: settles for him well, and I have sympathy for that sentiment. 48 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: But they end up getting married in nineteen eight and 49 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: they live near London. But later she meets a more 50 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: illustrious personage that's Edward, Prince of Wales, and she meets 51 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: him at a house party given by his missed rest 52 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: at the time, lady Thelma Furnace. So she's thirty five 53 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: years old and married, but Wallace has something seductive about her, 54 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 1: something that draws this prince to her. And who is he? Well, 55 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: this is the story of Edward. He was born June 56 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: and he has pretty much the longest name ever, Edward 57 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, so his friends called 58 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: him David, and he becomes Prince of Wales in nineteen eleven, 59 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,239 Speaker 1: he's really not suited to his position. It exhausts him. 60 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: He feels isolated, and he's a frivolous young man. He's 61 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: into drinking and womanizing and clothes, and he likes clothes. Yeah, 62 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: he he one point writes to his longtime mistress and 63 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: friend before his his mistress before he meets Wallace. If 64 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: only the British public really knew what a weak, powerless 65 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: misery their press made national hero was, they would have 66 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: a nasty shock and be not only disa pointed, but 67 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: damned angry too. And he was a national hero. He 68 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: was incredibly popular, and partly that's because in the nineteen 69 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: twenties he undertook extensive foreign tours in the Empire to 70 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: represent his father because he wasn't allowed to serve in 71 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: the army as crowned prince. He's they don't want to 72 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: put him into the direct line of danger. But yeah, 73 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,359 Speaker 1: he becomes very popular with his people, and he's a 74 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: you know, they're bright, young prince. He's also during the 75 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: twenties having a lot of affairs with married women. Um 76 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,599 Speaker 1: and kind of a weird side note that is really 77 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: not related to anything here. He's somewhat of an authority 78 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: and horticulture, especially roses. His father gave him a refuge 79 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: for at Belvedere, and he entertained his friends there, and 80 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 1: he had a He had an unconventional set of friends. 81 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: They weren't drawn from just the same aristocracy that generations 82 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: of monarchs have been hanging out with. They were more 83 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: like the society. Right, So we've got this picture, you know, 84 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: champagne and roses and clothes and lots of women. But 85 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: soon there's only one woman. So after Wallace and Edward meet, 86 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: they're just friendly for a while. But by nineteen thirty four, 87 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: Edward is a regular visitor to the Simpson home and 88 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: the relationship is probably consummated around this time, not to 89 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: be too detailed. Yeah, and she tells her aunt it 90 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: requires great tact to manage both men. I shall try 91 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,799 Speaker 1: to keep them both. So she's got her husband having 92 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: your cake into eating and it's not a discreet affair 93 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: at all. They really flaunt it. And you know, it 94 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: was accepted that the king or um the prince would 95 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: have a mistress, but it would be somebody who he 96 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: would visit from time to time and certainly not paraded 97 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: about in public and at public events. Well and not 98 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: a married woman who also has another ex husband. Yeah. Um. 99 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: But Edward becomes obsessed with Wallace and she's kind of 100 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: got a bullying personality and he likes it. She makes 101 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: him put on her shoes for her. Yeah, he's into that. 102 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: So the affair was kept out of most of the 103 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: British papers until the very end of Edward's kingship. It 104 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: was just a suppressed story. But it is a scandal 105 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 1: in America and a lot of the continent where in 106 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: every paper. Yeah, it's it's kind of the original British 107 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: royal tabloid scandal. And Edward is proclaimed king at the 108 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: beginning of nineteen thirty six when his father dies, and 109 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: around the same time, Wallace sues for divorce in July 110 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:43,280 Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty six. So upon her divorce, of course 111 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: comes the next question will they marry? Edward wants to 112 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: marry Wallace, and he tries to get his family's acceptance, 113 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: and they're not going forward at all. Also against him 114 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: as the Church of England of which he's head, and 115 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: most of the politicians in Britain in the Commonwealth. His 116 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: only notable allies Churchill, who's out of power at the time. 117 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: And another sort of side note, Churchill has a reputation 118 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: as being a yeah, but his bowerfer said, probably the 119 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: only occasion when he addressed the House of Commons under 120 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: the influence of alcohol, not drunk, but kind of tipsy 121 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: was during the abdication crisis, when he's actually howled down. 122 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: And there are discussions of a morganatic marriage pursued, which 123 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: is something we talked a little bit about in the 124 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: Madame de Mentonal podcast, a marriage of social inequals right 125 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: where she wouldn't become queen, but they would be together 126 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: and their children wouldn't inherit right. But Prime Minister Stanley 127 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: Baldwin tells Edward that is absolutely not happening. It's not 128 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: an option. And Edward wants to also address his people 129 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: through the radio pleading for their support, and the that's 130 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: not going to happen either. It's not allowed, simply not done. 131 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: He did write a speech though, and in it he wrote, 132 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: it has taken me a long time to find the 133 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: woman I want to make my wife yeah for real 134 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: life Without her, I have been a very lonely man. 135 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: So this is from his band speech, but the whole 136 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: thing really explodes in the press in Parliament on December three, 137 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: and on the following day the word abdication starts appearing 138 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: in the papers. And before you start to get too 139 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: sympathetic towards the prince for his you know, romantic fairy 140 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: tale love, we should talk a little bit about some 141 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: of the people who were suffering during this whole thing. Yeah, 142 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: his brother, known as Bertie to his family, the future 143 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: George the sixth is really shy, and he's fought with 144 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: a stammer. He's been forced to write with his right 145 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: hand even though he's a lefty. And he's also really 146 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: happy where he is in life. He's married, he has 147 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: two young daughters, and he's terrified by the prospect of 148 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: the m and king and his wife Elizabeth told her 149 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: mother in law, Queen Mary, that she prayed every day 150 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: for the king to see reason and not abandon his people. 151 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,679 Speaker 1: But as much as George didn't want to become king, 152 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: a lot of people thought he would be much better 153 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,959 Speaker 1: at it than Edward was. Even his own father had 154 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: once said, I pray God that my eldest son will 155 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: never marry, and that nothing will come between Bertie and 156 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: Lilabet and the throne and Lilabet is of course now 157 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: Elizabeth the second Um, but still George isn't happy with 158 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,679 Speaker 1: the prospect of the coming king, and he later records 159 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 1: that when he learned his brother would abdicate, I broke 160 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: down and sobbed like a child. So this is a 161 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: tremendous strain on him, and he's he's horrified by the 162 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: duty who's about to have to assume. But the king 163 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: makes his final decision December tenth, nineteen thirty six, and 164 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: he submits his abdication. I, Edward, do hereby declare my 165 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: irrevocable determination to renounce the throne for myself and my descendant. 166 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: And the instrument of abdication was endorsed by Parliament on 167 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: December eleven, and that evening Edward finally did get to 168 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: have his radio broadcast he had wanted pre abdication, and 169 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: he tells us people, I've found it impossible to carry 170 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties 171 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: as king as I wished to do, without the help 172 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: and support of the woman I love. A plea for sympathy, 173 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: I've ever heard one, and uh that night he disappears 174 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: to the wind. He goes to the continent and lives 175 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: with friends in Austria discreetly apart from Wallace while her 176 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: divorce is finalized. And Wallace herself does not have a 177 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: great reputation, and at the time she was perceived as 178 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: a schemer. But was she because a document that was 179 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: kept in the private papers of Stanley Baldwin for years 180 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: includes a declaration that's signed by her before the abdication 181 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: that said she'd abandoned any interest in marrying his majesty 182 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,079 Speaker 1: wasn't even what she was trying to get, or she 183 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: signed a paper saying that was what she was trying 184 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:06,839 Speaker 1: to get. And even in Edward's abdication speech, he mentions 185 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: that the the other person who is as closely involved 186 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 1: in this as I am, has urged me to the 187 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: last to not go through with it. So it seems 188 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,200 Speaker 1: as though she was trying to talk him down from 189 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: actually giving up his throne. Well, and she had some 190 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: qualms about him. She was disturbed by how cleany he was. 191 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: And the quote that really struck us was when she 192 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: wrote to an uncle and said, how can a woman 193 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: be a whole empire to a man? And I think 194 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:41,080 Speaker 1: that's the quote that really haunts their married life together, 195 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: which after this whirlwind courtship and abdication, goes on for 196 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: a long time decades. So what's next. Edward is named 197 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: the Duke of Windsor by his brother, who's now George 198 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: the sixth and Wallace's divorced as finalized. They're married June 199 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: three seven by a Church of England clergyman at the 200 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: Chateau de Conde in France, and even though Wallace is 201 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: now Duchess of Windsor, the title of Royal Highness is 202 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: not extended to her. It's a big deal. It is 203 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: a big deal. It's something that really bothers Edward for 204 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: the rest of his life. Um. They live in France 205 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,559 Speaker 1: for the next two years and visit other countries, most 206 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 1: famously visiting Germanist yes, infamitly. Um. They're actually honored by 207 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: Nazi officials in October of nineteen thirty seven and have 208 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: an interview with Hitler. Um. The pro German sympathies of 209 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: the couple end up becoming the subject of an FBI 210 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: investigation in nineteen one, and also the subject of a 211 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: later podcast. So we're gonna sort of skip over this 212 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: Nazi period, so we'll jump ahead to nineteen forty, when 213 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: their pro Nazi sympathies have become so obvious, the Churchill 214 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: has basically exiled them to the Bahamas. The Duke is 215 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 1: now the governor there, so they stay in the Bahamas 216 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: pretty much for the duration of the war, returning to 217 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: France in n and they took up a life as 218 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: members of the international set, a very flashy celebrity kind 219 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: of life that was reported in every single paper. Time 220 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: magazine even named Wallace Simpson their first Woman of the Year. 221 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: They'd only had Man of the Year since then because 222 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: she was so talked about. Yeah, and pugs and platinum 223 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: or how I think Katie and I liked to define them. 224 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: Had eleven pugs at some point, and they had really 225 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: cool names, Imp and Disraeli. Yeah. She'd give them homemade 226 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: dog biscuits and let them cuddle up on her bed 227 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: with her um. She was also really into clothing and 228 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: jewelry and wore flashy stuff, big jewels and lots of 229 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: yellow gold. But interestingly, she banned anything but platinum from 230 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 1: her dinner parties. I guess it seemed fancier to her. 231 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: And while they were very rich, Edward in his later 232 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: years became very concerned at out their finances. He argued 233 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: with his brother about his annual allowance and refused to 234 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: live in the United States as a private citizen because 235 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: he didn't want to deal with the taxes. Yeah. I 236 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,439 Speaker 1: think that's to be expected for someone who was born 237 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: to be a king and who was king and living 238 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: like a cast to settle for, you know, living like 239 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: a very wealthy man instead of a king. And Edward's personality, 240 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: not just his fortune, has also changed since the abdication. 241 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: He becomes, as his biographer Philip Ziggler says, reactionary to 242 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: the point of caricature, even though before the war he 243 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: had had many of the same values as conservatives. Yeah, 244 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: he's kind of embittered by his situation, and he's very 245 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: dependent on Wallace too. He's a very dependent husband, and 246 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: as we said earlier, still outraged over the fact that 247 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: she can't style herself as royal highness, right, and she's 248 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: not received as as she would be usually. So because 249 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: of some of this, he only makes short visits to England. 250 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: He goes back for the funeral of his brother George 251 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: the sixth, and he goes back for the funeral of 252 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: his mother, Queen Mary, and he even writes, upon Queen 253 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: Mary's death to Wallace, what a smug, stinking lot my 254 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: relations are, and you've never seen such a seedy, worn 255 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: out bunch of old hags. Most of them have the 256 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: calm so bitter bitter words, very bitter. He's never gotten 257 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: over his family's unwillingness to accept Wallace as one of 258 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: their own. The Queen Mom always hated her, but her daughter, 259 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: Elizabeth the Second, eventually attempted a reconciliation with Edward near 260 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: the end of his life, and he was very ill. 261 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: He was in bed dying and his doctors had taken 262 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: care to cover up some of the tubing and machinery 263 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: that he was using to live. Yes, and he was 264 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: told not to get up because he was so ill. 265 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: But when she came in the room, he rose and 266 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: he bowed to her, and she was very touched by 267 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: that display of respect. So Edward dies of his throat 268 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: cancer on the twenty eight of May nineteen seventy two 269 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: in Paris and is buried near Windsor, and the Duchess 270 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: spent her remaining time in isolation and inconfusingly poor health. 271 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: She's kind of lost without the Duke it seems, and 272 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: she dies in nineteen eighty six and is buried behind 273 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,359 Speaker 1: her husband at his request in the Royal Cemetery at Frogmore, 274 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: also near Windsor Castle. But that's not the end of 275 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: our story because several years ago, right after the Queen 276 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:36,119 Speaker 1: Mother died, there's some new information came out. The documents 277 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: were really night that said maybe Wallace was two timing 278 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: Edward during their courtship. Actually there's no maybe about it. 279 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,479 Speaker 1: She was so government papers from the time of abdication 280 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: were subject to a thirty year rule of secrecy, you know, 281 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: protecting people who are involved, and then some were considered 282 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: so sensitive that it was decided they wouldn't be released 283 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: for a hundred years. But after the Queen Mother died Um, 284 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: she was sort of the only living UM person who 285 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: was very much involved in the in the documents. After 286 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: she died, was decided the papers could come out, and 287 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:18,360 Speaker 1: they It turns out that both Simpson and Edward were 288 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: under surveillance by a special branch of the Metropolitan Police, 289 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,679 Speaker 1: and while she was married pursuing her affair with Edward, 290 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: she also had a third lover named Guy Trundle, a 291 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: married car salesman who lived in Nayfair and he was 292 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 1: a kept man. She gave him payments and also expensive presence, 293 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: and Edward had absolutely no idea. Wallace went to great 294 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: lengths to conceal his existence. There was a lot on 295 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 1: the line, I understand. So this puts a little bit 296 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: of a damper, i'd say, on the on the fairytale romance. 297 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: And it also shows just how complex their relationship was. 298 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: Biographies of Wallace seemed to either go the way of 299 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: being really silacious and gossipy or whitewashing the entire thing. 300 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,360 Speaker 1: So so it's just a grand romance, right, and it's 301 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: and it's hard to find that that middle bit definitely. 302 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: So today we're starting a new feature in our podcast, 303 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: Listener Mail, to to start it off right, We're going 304 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: to start with an actual, real piece of mail, came 305 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,640 Speaker 1: with a stamp on it and arrived at our desks 306 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: from Stormy in Scotland. She sent us a postcard of 307 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: St Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, which is where um Mary, 308 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: Queen of Scott's, gave birth to her son. So Stormy 309 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: has officially raised the bar where if you'd like to 310 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: send us listener mail, you love real mail. And if 311 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: you'd like to learn more about the royals and their 312 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 1: various scandals, please come to our homepage and search for 313 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:58,399 Speaker 1: how Royalty Works at www dot house stuff works dot com. 314 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other or topics, 315 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:02,920 Speaker 1: is it how stuff works dot com and be sure 316 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: to check out this stuff you missed in History Class 317 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: blog on the how stuff works dot com home page.