This series, produced in association with the BBC, chronicles the lives of the most important and well-known figures of the 20th century, whether they be politicians, musicians, or sports stars.
Queen Mary died in 1953. In 1967, the Duke returned to England for the centenary celebration of the late Queen Mary. It was his sister in law Princess Marina that died in 1968. The funeral of Princess Marina was the last royal ceremony attended by the Duke of Windsor.
That’s actually why he abdicated, now all the documents have been released it’s become clear that it was nothing to do with being allowed to marry Simpson. At the time they just couldn’t tell the people that their former King was a fascist. His father had ordered the intelligence service to set up surveillance on him in the early 1930s due to his and Simpson’s links to various prominent Nazis, his brother carried on the surveillance once he was King and it continued until after WWII. Simpson didn’t love him, he was just one of several lovers she had. It’s poetic justice that they ended up stuck together for the rest of their lives.
They weren't trapped in the Bahamas they had no choice but to go there since MI6 saw them as a threat to the war effort so put them as far away as possible
Given the Duke's affection for Hitler and fascism, it was a break for Great Britain that he was more interested in himself than the empire. His brother was a better man for the country in every respect.
Prince Edward & Wallis Simpson - 20th Century Hall of Fame 1427pm 25.6.24 i am only asking: is the hysteria of nowadays akin to the past re: royal stuffiness and celebratory events?
sad thing was that in letters revealed later, she never wanted to marry him - sometimes people got swept up in the fun times that were the pre-war years and then they were stuck with the results....
They weren’t swept up in anything, well except fascism. It was a marriage arranged to disguise the real reason the King abdicated. If they’d been anyone else they’d have found themselves inside a prison cell. Instead they were bound to each other for the rest of their lives. They deserved each other.
There is a history of the English royals defying rules and regulations for the sake of Love, from Lady Diana (R.I.P.) to King Charles, to Prince Harry! 💥
They’re the British Royal Family, and have been since 1707. And it was nothing to do with marrying for love, that was just the cover story at the time because the government thought it would damage moral to tell people that their Kings was a fascist. Documents since released show that the British Secret Service had surveillance on them both since the early 1930s and knew exactly what they were up to with their trips to the German Embassy and visits to see Hitler.
Admiraban a Adolf Hitler, tanto que incluso se vieron y fotografiaron a su lado. Hay una fotografía donde aparece Wallis Simpson estrechando su mano derecha al Führer, con su cabeza un poco agachada reverentemente hacia ella, mientras Eduardo VIII lo observa.
Given he was a buddy of Hitler’s we’d likely not been involved in WWII and the whole of Europe would have spent decades fighting fascism. Just as well his father had Secret Service surveillance put on him from the early 1930s and the government knew what he was long before he was King. The ‘marrying for love’ story was just a ruse.
Wallis cheating on her husband? He was as much a social climber as Wallis. Look at Alice Keppel and Edward the 7th. That being said, the Abdication was the best thing ever for the United Kingdom. Thank God George the 6th was on the throne during the war.
Diana cheated whilst she was married to Charles the night before she wed Charles she had a row with him over Camilla and she went ahead and married him wonder if she would have done that if Charles was an ordinary non royal man?
A 'wonderful long reign' horrific...! From a man who visited Nazi Germany in 1937 against the advice of the government, and met hitler at berchtesgaden. And that edward wanted Britain bombed so that the nazis would put him back on the throne as the head of a puppet srate. Yep, we would have had a really peaceful time of it!
