He was the king of one of the most important world powers. He had everything:power, influence, position in the world of the cream of Europe. But he decided to give up the crown and marry the woman he was crazy about. No wonder no one wanted to come to his wedding ...
When, in the early 1930s, Prince of Wales Edward met a certain Mrs. Simpson, an acquaintance of his then-mistress, nothing foreshadowed trouble. However, over time, her elegance, insolence and sharp tongue captivated him, and then everything happened in no time. He fell in love to death, not wanting to hear about any other woman.
Everything would be fine if it weren't for the fact that Wallis Simpson was divorced and married. In a word, such a woman who could not be accepted in any way by the distinguished monarch's family, rigidly pushed into the frame of etiquette.
Initially, no one bothered the heir to the throne's intimacy with another married woman (he had a weakness for them), in addition to a dubious past (apart from the fact that she had already divorced once, she was accused of numerous sexual excesses). Meanwhile, out of spite, it turned out to be something permanent. Ba! Edward just couldn't live without her.
The calm and measured George VI, who took the throne of England after Edward VIII, was absolutely adamant on one point:Wallis Simpson.
His "addiction" had become so deep that when he was to sit on the British throne after his father's death, he could not imagine the moment without his beloved Wallis by his side. He did not even want to hear about an offer from one politician to simply make her his lover. He replied that it was out of the question, because Mrs. Simpson is a lady after all (Quote from:Anne Sebba, "That woman. Wallis Simpson").
In the end, Edward, after less than a year's reign, abdicated only to marry his sweetheart who had meanwhile divorced again. It was an absolutely unprecedented event. The royal family couldn't leave it that way.
Since Edward's abdication, he and Wallis have suffered nothing but hardships and affronts from the royal family, the dominion and British rule, and from former friends. But the Duke of Windsor (that was his new title) still didn't sense the worst. So far he went with his fiancée to France, where their wedding was to take place in one of the romantic castles.
A perfect wedding and… horrible
How should such a wedding with a leading representative of the ruling dynasty look like? For comparison, consider the wedding celebrations of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which were followed by the whole world in 2011.
This recent wedding was reported by 7,000 journalists from several dozen countries around the world. There were 1,900 guests on the guest list, including 40 foreign monarchs (not to mention all Windsors), 200 government and administration officials, and 60 governors and prime ministers, and when the newly married couple showed up at the Buckingham Palace window, hundreds of thousands of Brits gathered in her honor.
Edward still got his way and married his beloved woman. In the ossified circles of the aristocracy, this was rare ...
Prince William's great-great-great-grandfather was not so lucky. When he and Wallis started sending out invitations, it quickly turned out that there would not be many of them. The bride and groom counted on the presence of a handful of seemingly tested friends, and Edward himself counted on the appearance of one of the brothers whom he wanted to make his best man.
As it turned out, the former king expected far too much! People who received invitations felt as if someone had sent them not even an ampoule, but a whole cup of poison . They didn't know how to get out of the situation, but the presence of a pariah who had renounced the crown was out of the question.
Those in high office were afraid of the reaction of the new court of King George VI (the one from "How to Be King") and chose to retreat.
It has to be with a pump… anyway
Almost everyone declined the invitations by pronouncing yourself in different ways. Prince Hugh's friend Lloyd Thomas was one of the few to announce his arrival, no matter what (even if he had been banned from the king!). Edward (until recently the Eighth King of England by this name) stoically endured these humiliating evasions and refusals.
In addition to the group of distinguished guests, he wanted a beautiful religious ceremony for his future wife, although he himself was not a special believer. He believed that after having suffered so many sacrifices, an ordinary civil marriage in a French office was definitely not enough.
For a beloved woman, Edward faced the world and family. Pictured is Edward and Wallis in Kitzbühel, Austria, in February 1935.
The freshly baked Duke of Windsor even demanded that the ceremony be led by a royal chaplain . It was simply unrealistic, because the General Synod of the Anglican Church had just condemned the vows of divorcees. Moreover, any priest who would dare to go to France to marry Wallis and Edward was faced with serious repercussions.
Reverend R. Anderson Jardine turned out to be defiant, who left for France, but after the ceremony he had nothing to look for in England.
A wedding that nobody wanted to come to
Perhaps the most painful thing about the prince was that there would be absolutely no one of his family at the wedding . Neither the brothers nor the mother, who did not even want to meet her future daughter-in-law face to face.
King George VI, or Bertie - Edward's younger brother -, despite insistent requests to make the ceremony more worthy, refused. He explained that is not an ordinary family affair and representatives of the British royal family are not allowed to attend the wedding. Not befitting!
Instead of relatives, the prince's lawyers and the favorite florist of London's society, Constance Spry, came to the ceremony. The latter was friends with the bride and groom and was one of the first to learn about this relationship. Wallis and Edward were among the florist's best clients and were closely associated with her.
That is why, despite being the best, Spry was not commissioned to prepare flower decorations for the coronation of George VI. Instead, knowing she would end up losing more orders from the royal family, she rushed to France and made Wallis and Edward's wedding soaked in flowers.
Out of the crowd of journalists and onlookers - disproportionately large for the number of visitors - two international reporters were fished:Charles Murphy and Randolph Churchill (Winston's son). And only they were invited inside after the ceremony to report it to the world.
The scenery of this exceptionally unsuccessful wedding was the Château de Candé in France (photo published under CC BY-SA 2.0 license, author Manfred Heyde).
As for the wedding setting itself, there were even problems with it. A makeshift altar made of a carved oak chest turned out to be carved with naked female figures. What a faux pas! Fortunately, I managed to cover it with a tablecloth.
The crucifix was also a problem. Reverend Jardine refused to accept the Catholic image of Jesus, so it was necessary to borrow a simple cross from a Protestant chapel nearby. The wedding itself went without further disasters, but the troubles didn't stop there.
The accursed prince. The despised duchess
A new blow to Edward was the fact that Wallis did not receive a royal title. It was forbidden to refer to her as Her Royal Highness ( as all British diplomats and officials were instructed in later years contacting the Duchess of Windsor).
Against the wishes of the royal family and despite the huge scandal that erupted over their relationship, Wallis and Edward lived to see old age together.
As the already quoted Anne Sebba writes in the book “This woman. Wallis Simpson ", the prince was to say after reading the letter of justification sent by his brother: Nice wedding present for me . Also a gift from the Duke and Duchess of Kent (that is, from his brother Jerzy and his wife) in the form of a box, Fabergé sent back in a fit of bitterness and anger.
Prince Edward felt betrayed and humiliated by his family. Abandoned by friends. In the past, he and Wallis were constantly accompanied by a wide circle of flatterers, none of whom remained. There were only seven Englishmen at the wedding of a man who ruled the entire British Empire a few months earlier .
Against the background of all this, the telegram sent by King George and Queen Elizabeth sounded extremely false: We think of you with great tenderness on your wedding day and send you our best wishes for happiness in the future, hugs .
As you know, history likes to come full circle. The grandson of George VI, Prince Charles repeated the sins of his great-uncle. In 2005, he married his long-time partner Camila Parker-Bowles, with whom he had an affair while his first wife was still alive. I wonder what Bertie would say if this divorced woman joined the family and became Her Majesty the Duchess of Cornwall ?
Source:
Trivia is the essence of our website. Short materials devoted to interesting anecdotes, surprising details from the past, strange news from the old press. Reading that will take you no more than 3 minutes, based on single sources. This particular material is based on:
- Anne Sebba, That woman. Wallis Simpson , Znak Literanova, Krakow 2012.