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Wedding of Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson

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Wedding of Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson
The Windsors (center) on their wedding day with Herman Rogers (left) and best man Edward Dudley Metcalfe (right).
Date3 June 1937; 87 years ago (1937-06-03)
VenueChâteau de Candé
LocationMonts, Indre-et-Loire, France
Participants

The wedding of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, and Wallis Simpson took place on Thursday 3 June 1937 at Château de Candé in France. The bride was a twice-divorced American socialite whose relationship with the groom, formerly King Edward VIII, caused a constitutional crisis which led to his abdication in December 1936.[1]

Background

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See also: Abdication of Edward VIII

During her marriage to Ernest Aldrich Simpson, Wallis Simpson was introduced to Edward, then-Prince of Wales, by his then-mistress Thelma, Viscountess Furness. On January 10, 1931, Lady Furness introduced Wallis to Edward at Burrough Court, near Melton Mowbray. Soon, the pair began a relationship. Between 1931 and 1934, he met the Simpsons at various house parties, and Wallis was presented at court.[2]

On January 20, 1936, George V died at Sandringham and Edward ascended the throne as Edward VIII. The next day, he broke royal protocol by watching the proclamation of his accession from a window of St James's Palace, in the company of the still-married Wallis. It was becoming apparent to court and government circles that the new king meant to marry her.

As King of the United Kingdom, Edward was also Supreme Governor of the Church of England. At the time of the proposed marriage (and until 2002), the Church of England disapproved of, and would not perform, the remarriage of divorced people if their former spouse was still alive.[3] Constitutionally, the King was required to be in communion with the Church of England, but his proposed marriage conflicted with the Church's teachings. In November, he consulted with the British prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, on a way to marry Wallis and keep the throne. However, the British and Dominion governments believed that a twice-divorced woman was politically, socially, and morally unsuitable as a prospective consort. Hence, if Edward were to marry Wallis against Baldwin's advice, the government would be required to resign, causing a constitutional crisis.[2]

Wallis's relationship with Edward had become public knowledge in the United Kingdom by early December. She decided to flee the country as the scandal broke, and was driven to the south of France where she stayed at the Villa Lou Viei, near Cannes, the home of her close friends Herman and Katherine Rogers.[2] Determined to marry Wallis, Edward decided he had no option but to abdicate.[4]

Edward signed the Instrument of Abdication on December 10, 1936, in the presence of his three surviving brothers, the Dukes of York, Gloucester and Kent.[5] The Duke of York then became King George VI. On December 11, Edward said in a radio broadcast, "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love."[6]

Ceremony

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See also: Wedding dress of Wallis Simpson
The Château de Candé, the Windsors' wedding venue, south of Tours in France

Edward left Britain for Austria, where he stayed at Schloss Enzesfeld, the home of Baron Eugène and Baroness Kitty de Rothschild. Edward had to remain apart from Wallis until there was no danger of compromising the granting of a decree absolute in her divorce proceedings. Upon her divorce being made final in May 1937, she changed her name by deed poll to Wallis Warfield, resuming her maiden name. The couple reunited in France soon after for their wedding.[7]

Wallis and Edward married on June 3, 1937, at the Château de Candé, lent to them by French millionaire Charles Bedaux. The date would have been King George V's 72nd birthday; Queen Mary thought the wedding had been scheduled for then as a deliberate slight.[8] No member of Edward's family attended.

Wallis wore a "Wallis blue" Mainbocher wedding dress. Edward presented her with an engagement ring that consisted of an emerald mount in yellow gold set with diamonds, and the sentence "We are ours now" was engraved on it.[9] While the Church of England refused to sanction the wedding, Robert Anderson Jardine, Vicar of St Paul's, Darlington, offered to perform the service, an offer that was accepted by the couple.[10] Guests included Randolph Churchill, Baron Eugène Daniel von Rothschild, and the best man, Major Fruity Metcalfe.[10] The marriage produced no children.

Edward was created Duke of Windsor by his brother King George VI prior to the marriage. However, letters patent, issued by the new king and unanimously supported by the Dominion governments, prevented Wallis, now Duchess of Windsor, from sharing her husband's style of "Royal Highness". The King's firm view that the Duchess should not be given a royal title was shared by his mother, Queen Mary, and his wife, Queen Elizabeth.[11]

The couple had their honeymoon at Wasserloenburg Castle in Austria.[12]

Guests

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  • George Allen, the Duke's solicitor
  • Charles and Fern Bedaux, hosts of the wedding
  • Randolph Churchill, son of Winston Churchill
  • Dudley Forwood, the Duke's equerry
  • W. C. Graham and Mrs. Graham; Graham was the British Consul at Nantes, France
  • Bessie Montague Merryman, Wallis' maternal aunt, the only relative to attend the wedding
  • Major Edward Dudley Metcalfe and Lady Alexandra Metcalfe, the best man and his wife
  • Walter Monckton, Attorney General of the Duchy of Cornwall, advisor to the Duke during the abdication crisis
  • Herman and Katherine Rogers, friends of the bride
  • Baron Eugène von Rothschild and his wife Baroness Rothschild, formerly Catherine "Kitty" Wolf; friends of the Bride.
  • Lady Selby, wife of the Duke's friend Sir Walford Selby, then-British Ambassador to Austria
  • Hugh Lloyd Thomas, the Duke's former secretary, then-First Secretary at the British Embassy in Paris

References

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  1. ^ Rothman, Lily; Ronk, Liz (2 June 2017). "Inside the Wedding That Shook the British Monarchy". Time. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Why marriage to a King did not make Wallis Simpson a Queen". CBC. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  3. ^ Marriage in Church After a Divorce, Church of England, archived from the original (doc) on 15 September 2012, retrieved 9 March 2013
  4. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard; Evans, Rob (2 March 2000), "Edward and Mrs Simpson cast in new light", The Guardian, retrieved 2 May 2010
  5. ^ "No. 34350". The London Gazette. 15 December 1936. p. 8117.
  6. ^ "Edward VIII Abdication speech". BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  7. ^ McMillan, Richard D. (11 May 1937), "Duke Awaiting His Wedding Day", Waycross Journal-Herald: 1, retrieved 6 September 2011
  8. ^ Letter from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth, May 21, 1937, Royal Archives, QEQM/PRIV/RF, quoted in Shawcross, William (2009), Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography, Macmillan, p. 422, ISBN 978-1-4050-4859-0
  9. ^ Cartier engagement ring for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Cartier, retrieved 15 November 2018
  10. ^ a b Hallemann, Caroline (2 June 2017), "Inside Wallis Simpson's Wedding to the Duke of Windsor", Town & Country, retrieved 30 November 2017
  11. ^ Home Office memo on the Duke and Duchess's title, National Archives, archived from the original on 7 December 2016, retrieved 2 May 2020
  12. ^ Halleman, Caroline (2 June 2017). "Inside Wallis Simpson's Wedding to the Duke of Windsor". Town and Country Magazine. Retrieved 4 June 2024.

Further reading

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