Mr Simpson, the husband of Mrs Simpson, the lover of King Edward VIII
In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated from the throne of the UK in order, as he put it, to marry the woman he loved. The woman he loved was Wallis Simpson who was then still married although her divorce was in the works, and who had been divorced once previously. Edward was born on 28 June 1894. As heir to the throne he was expected, like Charles many years later, to do his duty, get married to the appropriate lady, produce an heir himself and do what he was told and be a good king. His younger brother George had produced two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret so the need to produce an heir was no longer so vital after 1925. Edward was in his forties and had had a number of relationships with mainly married women – it appears usually with the consent of the husband. Thelma Furness, correctly known as Viscountess Furness was married to Marmaduke Furness, he as the 1st Viscount Furness which is where she got the title from. She married Marmaduke in 1926 and started a relationship with the Edward in 1929. They even went on holiday together. Whether or not this bothered Marmaduke, I cannot say. However when Thelma went away, she asked her friend Wallis Simpson to look after the prince in her absence. Which she did and we all know how that ended up. Thelma came back, and wanted the Prince back but Wallis would not give him back and Edward did not want to go back. At the time Wallis Simpson was married to Ernest Aldrich Simpson. He was born in New York City on 6 May 1897 and a graduate of Harvard. His father was Ernest Louis Simpson, he was British and Jewish and had co-founded the global shipbroking firm Simpson, Spence & Young. His mother, Charlotte Woodward Gaines, was American, daughter of a New York City attorney. Shortly after Harvard he came to the UK, took up British nationality, got a commission in the Coldstream Guards and fought in WW1. This is Ernest Simpson in 1923, looking, in my opinion, very American. He met his first wife in the US but divorced her in 1928 in order to be with Wallis. Wallis also divorced her first husband in order to be with him. So clearly the marriage of the Simpsons was one based on love for each, even if it started with infidelity. They were married in the registry office in Chelsea. They got a flat in Mayfair in London where they had servants to look after them. They were financially well off until the stock market crash of 1929 although he had various business interests which allowed them to keep their heads above water even though they had to let some of the staff go. At the time Wallis started looking after the Prince, she was therefore happily married. Why did Mr Simpson permit this situation? It was not unusual for the members of the ruling establishment to allow the heir to borrow their wives, Prince Charles was noted for this type of behaviour in the 1970s. However Mr Simpson may have been well off financially, but he was hardly an establishment figure. A secret police report on him noted that Ernest Aldrich Simpson, is bragging to the effect that he expects to get high honours before very long. He is very talkative when in drink." Therefore maybe he was counting on royal patronage in the future. Ernest Simpson had met the Prince of Wales, who had even visited the couple at their apartment. Once everything came out of the meeting, he talked of an emotional meeting with King Edward at which the King broke down after saying that he was in love with Simpson's wife. Whereas there is an establishment tradition of loaning out one’s wife to the heir to the throne, there is no mention of handing her over on a permanent basis. Simpson called him mad. Correspondence between Wallis and her husband in 1936, in the lead up to, and after the divorce, indicates that she still loved him and the man she wanted to be with was her second, not third husband. She clearly indicated that she wanted to return to him and be with him. His correspondence however with his family shows that after everything that had happened he could not have been happy with her. However he loved her so much that pretended that he had been unfaithful in order for her to have grounds to divorce him, accepting all the blame. What they did here was of course illegal. I rather get the impression that Wallis Simpson did not know what she wanted. This photograph shows him on board a ship on 1 November 1936 just after the divorce hearing in Ipswich and just before the abdication crisis hit. Mr Simpson went on to have two more wives. His third wife died of cancer aged only 45 in 1941. After the death of his third wife, he married again. He died in London in 1958, aged only 61. His second wife, Wallis wrote to him until his died. Please consider supporting me on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/alanheath
In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated from the throne of the UK in order, as he put it, to marry the woman he loved. The woman he loved was Wallis Simpson who was then still married although her divorce was in the works, and who had been divorced once previously. Edward was born on 28 June 1894. As heir to the throne he was expected, like Charles many years later, to do his duty, get married to the appropriate lady, produce an heir himself and do what he was told and be a good king. His younger brother George had produced two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret so the need to produce an heir was no longer so vital after 1925. Edward was in his forties and had had a number of relationships with mainly married women – it appears usually with the consent of the husband. Thelma Furness, correctly known as Viscountess Furness was married to Marmaduke Furness, he as the 1st Viscount Furness which is where she got the title from. She married Marmaduke in 1926 and started a relationship with the Edward in 1929. They even went on holiday together. Whether or not this bothered Marmaduke, I cannot say. However when Thelma went away, she asked her friend Wallis Simpson to look after the prince in her absence. Which she did and we all know how that ended up. Thelma came back, and wanted the Prince back but Wallis would not give him back and Edward did not want to go back. At the time Wallis Simpson was married to Ernest Aldrich Simpson. He was born in New York City on 6 May 1897 and a graduate of Harvard. His father was Ernest Louis Simpson, he was British and Jewish and had co-founded the global shipbroking firm Simpson, Spence & Young. His mother, Charlotte Woodward Gaines, was American, daughter of a New York City attorney. Shortly after Harvard he came to the UK, took up British nationality, got a commission in the Coldstream Guards and fought in WW1. This is Ernest Simpson in 1923, looking, in my opinion, very American. He met his first wife in the US but divorced her in 1928 in order to be with Wallis. Wallis also divorced her first husband in order to be with him. So clearly the marriage of the Simpsons was one based on love for each, even if it started with infidelity. They were married in the registry office in Chelsea. They got a flat in Mayfair in London where they had servants to look after them. They were financially well off until the stock market crash of 1929 although he had various business interests which allowed them to keep their heads above water even though they had to let some of the staff go. At the time Wallis started looking after the Prince, she was therefore happily married. Why did Mr Simpson permit this situation? It was not unusual for the members of the ruling establishment to allow the heir to borrow their wives, Prince Charles was noted for this type of behaviour in the 1970s. However Mr Simpson may have been well off financially, but he was hardly an establishment figure. A secret police report on him noted that Ernest Aldrich Simpson, is bragging to the effect that he expects to get high honours before very long. He is very talkative when in drink." Therefore maybe he was counting on royal patronage in the future. Ernest Simpson had met the Prince of Wales, who had even visited the couple at their apartment. Once everything came out of the meeting, he talked of an emotional meeting with King Edward at which the King broke down after saying that he was in love with Simpson's wife. Whereas there is an establishment tradition of loaning out one’s wife to the heir to the throne, there is no mention of handing her over on a permanent basis. Simpson called him mad. Correspondence between Wallis and her husband in 1936, in the lead up to, and after the divorce, indicates that she still loved him and the man she wanted to be with was her second, not third husband. She clearly indicated that she wanted to return to him and be with him. His correspondence however with his family shows that after everything that had happened he could not have been happy with her. However he loved her so much that pretended that he had been unfaithful in order for her to have grounds to divorce him, accepting all the blame. What they did here was of course illegal. I rather get the impression that Wallis Simpson did not know what she wanted. This photograph shows him on board a ship on 1 November 1936 just after the divorce hearing in Ipswich and just before the abdication crisis hit. Mr Simpson went on to have two more wives. His third wife died of cancer aged only 45 in 1941. After the death of his third wife, he married again. He died in London in 1958, aged only 61. His second wife, Wallis wrote to him until his died. Please consider supporting me on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/alanheath