She was King Edward VIII’s great love who inspired him to abdicate the throne in 1936 so he could marry the controversial American divorcee. On the outside, it appeared as if Wallis Simpson and the former king lived happily ever after in the United States after they were shunned from the rest of the Royal Family.
In reality, Simpson spurned her husband after his abdication and fell in love with another man. That’s according to a new book called “Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor” by famed royal biographer Andrew Morton, which provides fresh insight into the life and loves of the woman who changed the history of the monarchy.
Fans of the popular Netflix television series “The Crown” may already be familiar with Simpson’s story. The show portrays her as the loving partner to the former king as they lived together as outsiders to the Royal Family in the United States.
In the new book published by Grand Central Publishing however, Morton reveals the story of a very different woman. Simpson grew weary of King Edward VIII and even loved another man during her marriage to the former king, according to Morton, who is currently on tour to promote the book.
“The book concerns his infatuation and passion for her and her indifference to him and her love for someone else,” Morton told CTVNews.ca on Thursday. “It’s kind of a post-modern fairytale. There is no happy ending.”
“The only man I’ve ever loved”
The biographer said he delved into unearthed letters, diaries, photos, and witness accounts that painted a different picture of the relationship between Simpson and King Edward VIII than that of the public record.
“From his side, he was always besotted with her,” Morton said. “From her side, she treated him with due deference and respect, always referred to him as the Duke and called him “Sir” in public, but once those lights were out, or those doors were closed, she was very different. He would often say to her, ‘Am I going to go to bed in tears again tonight?’”
According to Morton’s research, a man named Herman Rogers was the real love of Simpson’s life. He was a married businessman and former First World War officer whom she met as she was divorcing her first husband. Rogers used to sleep with a pistol under his pillow in the room next to Simpson’s in order to protect her while she was living in China during the king’s abdication, according to the book.
“Their relationship, I think, was very, very intimate,” Morton said. “When he remarried after his first wife died, Wallis said, ‘He’s the only man I’ve ever loved.’”
As her relationship with King Edward VIII deteriorated, Morton discovered that the American socialite was often cold and dismissive of her husband. Indeed, during his final moments on earth in 1972, Morton wrote that King Edward VIII died in the arms of a nurse instead of Wallis who was nowhere to be found.
“As he was breathing his last few breaths on this earth, he whispered, ‘Wallis, Wallis and Wallis,’” Morton quoted the nurse who shared the story with him.
A change in attitudes
A renewed interest in the Royal Family thanks to the shows “The Crown” and “Downton Abbey” as well as the romance between Prince Harry and American actor Meghan Markle has thrust Simpson’s story back into the limelight. Some royal watchers have made comparisons between Simpson and Markle because they’re both American, divorcees, and climbed their way up the social ladder into the Royal Family.
Morton, on the other hand, said that’s where the similarities between the two women end.
“I think the big difference is that Meghan seems to want to give back to the community whereas Wallis seemed to just take,” he said.
The author is currently working on another biography about Markle and said he suspects she will do well in the Royal Family because of her interest in charitable work. He said a lot has changed since Simpson was rejected by the Royals all those years ago.
“She [Meghan] symbolizes something about modern Britain and the world today. Here we have a biracial divorcee walking down the aisle. Compare that to Wallis, twice divorced with two husbands, she wasn’t allowed near Windsor Castle or any of the castles,” Morton said.
“It shows you the dramatic social change that’s been in the last 80 years in Britain.”
With his biographies on Diana, Princess of Wales and Simpson already released and a book about Markle in the works, Morton said he’s attracted to these women’s stories because they tell the history of the Royal Family.
“The history of the Royal Family is a history of women. The story of the Royal Family comes alive when you start to write the stories of women, be it Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, Princess Diana, the present Queen, Princess Margaret, Meghan Markle,” he said. “The feminization of the monarchy has been the trend of the last 200 years.”
Morton’s “Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor” is available in bookstores now.
