Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, was one of the most famous women in history, the American divorcee who captured the King of England, Edward VIII, and cost him his throne. Until Charles Higham's 1.3 million-copy bestseller, much of her life was a glamorous mystery. Now, fifteen years later, major new documentary evidence, classified at the time, makes for a book far more sensational than the original bestseller. Drawing from long-suppressed archives in France, England, and the United States, Higham has uncovered the duchess's passionate affair with a top-ranking political figure, the duke's romantic involvement with a male equerry, the secret radio broadcasts the couple made to Hitler, and the blackmail plot in Paris that almost brought them - and the British royal family - to ruin.
Charles Higham was an author and poet. Higham was a recipient of the Prix des Créateurs of the Académie Française and the Poetry Society of London Prize.
The question as to whether Edward, Prince of Wales, would have made a good monarch for Great Britain is open to question for he was never crowned although he reigned as Edward VIII for a short time. His love affair with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson is well documented but in this updated edition of his earlier work on Wallis Simpson author Charles Higham brings plenty of new, and recently released at the time, material to the fore. And the abiding impression one gets is that the answer as to whether David, to give him his pet name, would have made a good King, is a very definite 'No, he would not.'
That may sound a little harsh looking back from today's vantage point but if only half the stories in this excellent biography are true (and I am sure that from this well respected author they all will be) it should perhaps be regarded as a fair assessment.
Wallis was an admirer of the Prince of Wales even before she met him and once she had done that, admittedly at first in a more passing moment, she set her sights on him in a serious way. This despite her being married and having affairs with other men, some even while she was courting (I use the word lightly) David. This is not to suggest that the Prince was a one-woman man, he certainly was not but once he had latched on to Wallis, there was only one woman that he was going to marry, despite his dalliances elsewhere.
In fairness, approaching the abdication, Wallis did try to persuade him not to sacrifice the throne (did she really love him, one wonders - with this action perhaps but with some of her later actions, possibly not but she was more or less committed to the act so had to continue with it) but he would have none of it and he went full steam ahead with his plans to marry the woman that he loved. That meant, of course, giving up his right to be King, something that he was very willing to do, and to allow his brother, initially less keen than even he was at becoming monarch, to take on the Kingship. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, never forgave David for this act.
Love affairs, blackmail, possible treasonable actions and the occasional bit of shady dealings are all brought out in this most compelling expose of one of the highest profile cases of its kind in history. It is a book that is difficult to put down, reads like a thriller and is one which provokes food for thought in a most sensational way.
Charles Higham was not a biographer, but a fantasist. He used archives, but rearranged or mangled evidence to suit his own purposes. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were not especially attractive characters, but the way Higham inserts his own fictions about their characters makes you feel rather sorry for them both. Charles J.V. Murphy and J. Bryan III wrote a much better book, "The Windsor Story," which reveals the flaws in their characters without making up things out of whole cloth. It was not a mistake that most of the people Higham wrote about were safely dead, which at least prevented libel suits after Errol Flynn's daughters discovered they could not sue Higham under American law for defamation of the dead.
"THE DUCHESS OF WINDSOR: The Secret Life" reads as both a biography of Wallis Simpson, the woman for whom Edward VIII abdicated the throne in December 1936, as well as a fully fleshed-out story of the life she and Edward (aka the Duke of Windsor) had together from their marriage in France in June 1937 til the Duke's death in May 1972.
This book is also replete with revelatory information about both the Duke and Duchess of Windsor that makes plain their fascist leanings in the 1930s, their admiration of Adolf Hitler, and various other indiscretions. I won't say more because it would be better for anyone with an interest in the lives of both Edward and Wallis Simpson to read this book and arrive at his/her own conclusions about them. What's more: the book is well-researched and footnoted and generally well-written.
I am not going to review this book, other than to say that it fills in a few gaps in the reading public's knowledge of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. What you make of this knowledge will depend on your attitude to her and her place in English history. Some biographies are sympathetic, some are not, but to have a real insight into her whole life, one needs to read Behind Closed Doors by Hugo Vickers. We have been well served by the mass of information about her early life and her glittering middle years, but her life after the death of her husband was a whole different - and dark - story. She may have been feted by (European) royalty, by Presidents, dictators, politicians, film stars and millionaires, have enjoyed many years as one of the most soignee women in the world - top ten best-dressed, star of every banquet, reception, or ball, covered in jewels beyond imagining - but she paid a heavy price during the last eight or ten years of her life. Even at the height of her power, she was plagued by bitterness and petulance at what she saw as lack of respect for herself and the Duke by the British royal family, so that she always seemed less than completely happy. But worse was to come as she faced life without the Duke. Under the sway of her lawyer, Maitre Suzanne Blum, she was denied access to her closest friends, kept under virtual house arrest, Ill and drugged, systematically robbed of her possessions, alone except for a handful of servants, deteriorating into dementia, a tragic end to a life story which captured the world's imagination for so many years. As a child at the time of the Abdication, I remember the sadness at Edward's choice to give up his throne for her, so I've never been partisan on her behalf. No one, reading of her latter years, could help but feel pity for her, and that hers was really a life of tragedy.
This might be expected to be an easy read, romped through in a weekend: a tale of glamour and desire, scandal and jewels, palaces and the people. No. This is a very thorough, hence long, book. The international nature of high society was an eye-opener for me. The story of the affair, the disruption to the Royal Family and the pressure on the government and the church of the day was not new. I knew the superficial elements of the story - the scandal, the disapproval directed at Wallis Simpson, the abdication and exile. But the personalities involved came to life in this book and not to the credit of most of them. The selfish greed of the one-time king, his obsession with royal status, the calculating behaviour of Wallis in her bid for social standing and pounds sterling - these provoke distaste, contempt even. The account provides insights, often unwelcome, into political life. The references to international negotiations and manoeuvres demanded a greater knowledge of the build-up to the second world war than I possessed. The liaisons and stand-offs between the war-bound powers - Italy, Germany, Russia - with France and England describe a choreography that is surprising to an ordinary reader of the present day. The Duke of Windsor is shown to be besotted with a woman whose sexual history would have shocked the ordinary people of the time, although in the circles she frequented her liaisons, which later included the US ambassador to France, were tolerated. The book details more than one murder in their milieu; the story of an insurance fraud involving the famous jewels; and information about Wallis’s activities as a spy. Since “Mrs Simpson” is issued by a major publisher, I have no doubt the research is sound. No firm would run the risk of a law-suit. Though I don’t share the sentimental view of the couple that many felt or feel, I wasn’t prepared for what I read here. The biography, in its 2005 edition, with the subtitle Secret Lives of the Duchess of Windsor, will stay on my shelves for its insights into the politics and society of those times.
I was reading and thoroughly enjoying Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness mysteries in which Wallis Simpson makes several catty appearances and I was curious to know whether this portrayal of her was accurate. So I got two biographies from the library, this one, and The People's King by Susan Williams. When learning about historical characters, I always like to read several books, to get a well-rounded portrait, as every historian writes from their own particular bias or viewpoint. But if several sources agree, then you can be pretty sure that the facts are accurate. Well, these two books painted quite different pictures. In The People's King, the author stated that Wallis' father died before she was born. In this book, the author said that at the time of Wallis' birth her parents weren't married, but did marry a bit later, and then her father died while she was still very young. There's definitely a contradiction there! In The People's King, Edward VIII is portayed as being a breath of fresh air, clearing out stuffy and unnecssary traditions in the royal household. In this book, he is portrayed as being uncaring as to the feelings of those in the royal household and changing things arbitrarily. I guess I'll have to read a third biography and see what they say!
Did Wallis Simpson want to be Queen or was she just desperately in love with King Edward VIII? According to Charles Higham in Mrs Simpson, she 'wanted to have her cake and eat it too'. She liked the grand life-style and the stunning presents she received as Prince Edward's mistress and she wanted to remain his mistress after he became King.
This is about the best thing about her, according to this book. Apart from being vulgar and common, Higham writes that she was also a Fascist, promiscuous, and even a drug-runner in China! The Duke of Windsor was also sympathetic to the Nazis and even gave secret information away. He even suggested that England should be bombed more heavily so that the country would be more inclined to want peace!
They were apparently an extremely nasty couple if this information is correct, and Great Britain was extremely lucky that this King abdicated!
This book is full of salacious gossip and scandal but it's written in a fairly dull way. I wouldn't recommend it unless you are very interested in this story.
As expected a bit of a sensationalist read which was based on observing other books this author wrote but it was a deeper insight into the lives of the Windsors. Fascinating how these people spent their lives finally waffling between Paris London New York and south of France in a quite aimless and wasted way. Who needs 117 pieces of luggage to get across the Atlantic and who knows how many tons of expensive jewellery. The pro Nazi and the Shanghai Lil bits we knew something of but it was illuminating how widespread their attitudes were in the 30s among the aristocracy. I was left feeling rather sad and hoping we don't actually see their like again - though I couldn't put it down. Not sure how accurate it all was but finally feel it must be fairly close to the truth. He was quite damaged and mad - she was a power freak with a heightened libido. The wanderings reminded me of royal progresses in the Renaissance of England and France and I suppose elsewhere. Well goodbye to all that...
Very interesting book and well written. The book was a real eye-opener into the lives of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. I used to think that their relationship was very romantic, but since reading the book (which is documented) I have changed my mind. I no longer feel that they were dealt with unfairly by the Royal Family. It is very interesting to see the family dynamics inside the Royal Family. This book is a historical novel. It makes reference to the war, but it doesn't go into the war stories. The book tells the story of what was happening in the lives of the Duke and Duchess during the war. After reading this book, I can see that if Edward had remained King of England, WWll would have had a very different ending.
I hated this book. I picked it up at a thrift store and thought it might be interesting because of the way it hinted that Wallis may have been used by intelligence agencies to influence WWII. It was NOT that kind of book. Instead it was full of gossip and innuendo that was pure trash. I wish I was the kind of person that could put a book down whenever it doesn’t meet my expectations. However, I always think that surely there will be something redeeming about this book, but I can’t think of anything good to say about this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Far too much time spent proving they were Nazi collaborators, too many rumours, gossip & scandal presented as fact with only a sentence pointing out there's no actual evidence or anyone left alive to corroborate or indeed disprove them. This actually focuses on the couple rather than Wallis, after the Duke's death her life of nearly another 15 years is condensed into less than a chapter really.
I found this book in the laundry room of my apartment complex. I didn't really expect much out of it-just some good gossipy stories-but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
At so many times during this I wanted to throw it away and only my Innate curtesy of never giving up on a book (or a film) half way through kept me going. It was so awful in places - unsubstantiated claims, horrible and cruel descriptions of the “sex skills” Wallis had learned in brothels in Peking which she used to enslave her male devotees - please! I felt sick. if she was good in bed and men liked it then good for her. The portrayal of her as a nasty bit of work softened in the later chapters which is why ultimately I think I may keep this book rather than consigning it to a charity collection. Don’t get me wrong I’m not blinkered to her privilege but was expecting a more rounded portrayal. The war years and the nazi connections I found a tedious stream of names I couldn’t keep up with. I think I’ve been generous with 3 stars frankly and will actively avoid anything else by this author. Would also like to add, I was looking on eBay for the letters edited by Michael Bloch and the best deal price wise included this title also which I hadn’t heard of. It was actually cheaper to buy both together than just the one I wanted. Now I know why someone was keen to offload it as a get-this-free!
Interesting but very long for what is now a long forgotten footnote to history.Their Fascist sympathies and links to pro Nazis was more than I imagined,their deliberate or perhaps indiscreet revelations of Allied war plans to Germans in France,Portugal and Spain was amazing,their continual actions of embarrassment to Britain in wartime saw them hidden away in the Bahamas as Governor and wife.Wallis emerges as a clever forceful woman who overplayed her hand.She never loved the King but he came to rely on her.She got wealth,connections to society but to me ended up lonely living an empty life of parties,new houses,furnishings,jewels but no influence or respect with the real powerful people.The book could have been more severely pruned to remove endless references to her houses and jewels.But the question remains:Could war have been avoided by an agreement with Hitler?The Duke remained convinced it could have.It would have needed agreement to take in all German’s Jews which is really unimaginable.
Lately I’ve been writing a couple of relatively bad reviews, and began wondering if it was me, but this book really was a GOOD READ - despite the main characters being really selfish and self-absorbed people. Even some years after the war, the couple maintained that the British should have let Hitler have his way in mainland Europe. Edward VIII’s abdication may have been for love – or lust – or for just wanting to enjoy himself without being bothered with duties, but he clearly loved the Duchess. However, I’m not convinced that the Duchess loved the Duke, but she sure loved the jewelry he gave her.
Historical fiction, esp about monarchies, is my favorite genre. However, this one was very dry with too many boring facts. I rarely don't finish a book but couldn't get through this one.
Maybe I'm stupid but I always assumed England was a united front against the Nazis. According to this book, I was wrong. And the story of the Duke and Duchess isn't a touching, romantic tale of what one man did for love. The duke was an idiot and the duchess was a spy and a bitch. Who knew? Way too many details in this book and I almost gave up several times but glad I finished. But I do wonder about the veracity of his research.
I have read extensively on this subject and there were so many contradictory sources you sometimes wonder what actually happened. There is no doubt however that at the very least they were horrible people and at most utterly treasonous spies who should have faced the consequences of their behavior. There was not a lot of information I had not read before. I do think on the whole the author tried to be balanced. Some books have been so pro the couple or her that you can practically see the them groveling at the feet of the Duke and Duchess. On the other hand other biographers denounce them totally. After all of my reading I think they were indeed Nazi spies who got away with it. The advice to Hitler to continue the bombing killing his former subjects is enough to mean treason. More evidence released recently supports those claims. But I think the author should have noted at some point that far from wanting to stay on the throne Edward detested the idea of being since.the day he understood he would inherit the throne. He even as a child was very unhappy with the idea. He tried to get Freda Dudley Ward to divorce her husband and run away to one of the colonies and live like a regular person. Freda was far to smart to.do.something that foolish. The allegation of her as interested is not to be dismissed as easily as Higham does. There is scant proof she did have an abortion in China and she claimed that she had never engaged in any actual coitus which her first 2 husbands and that no one had crossed her personal mason Dixon line. I also wonder about her surgery for ovarian cancer. It must be remembered how.low the survival rates of cancer in general were at that time especially something like ovarian cancer. How did she survive with no treatment other surgery. It is plausible she was either interested or had a condition that caused her male parts to under develop leaving the testicles to remain in her abdomen and had to have the surgery to.remove them. Anyway on balance it is a good book even though there are some things aren't as.accurate as they could be.
This review contains spoilers, so do not read further if you are going to read the book and want to be surprised. This is a remarkable and very interesting book, some parts more interesting than others. Mr. Higham has put together a very dense and detailed account of both the Duke and the Duchess. He has included many facts, stories, rumors, and innuendoes, and does a fairly credible job of distinguishing between them. If only half of the things told here about the pair of them are true, neither emerges from this book as a very admirable character. They were almost certainly both Nazi sympathizers and collaborators, although the exact extent is not known. I have read this elsewhere, so that I think it is at least partly true. Mr. Higham has painted a rich and detailed picture here, which can be enjoyed without believing everything to be absolutely true. An admiring American public certainly did not know everything about them. In Chapter 17, Mr. Higham refers to the murder of Sir Harry Oakes as the “crime of the century.” I don’t think it should be called that, when one considers Sacco-Vanzetti, the Bobby Franks murder, the Lindbergh baby, and the Kennedy assassination to name just a few. (Of course, the OJ Simpson crime occurred after the 1988 publishing of this book). Of course, every reader will come away with different opinions. To me, the most damning story about Wallis was her radio interview with Clare Booth Luce. The Germans bombed London around 10May1940. Clare Booth Luce was in town, and somehow she was on a BBC broadcast with the Duchess. Luce said she hated to see the British so wantonly attacked. Wallis replied (on air!?), “After what they did to me, I can’t feel sorry for them – a whole nation against a lone woman.” Wallis was completely self-absorbed. She compares in one breath the deaths of many people with her own situation of denial of the throne of England. She also ignores the many people who supported her. I give this book an 8 out of 10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Okay, confession: I didn't actually finish this book. I'm mildly interested to go back and find out what happens to Mrs. Simpson at some point, but the book, as a result of both the writing (dull, name-droppy, jumped around) and the subject matter (I just couldn't find anything redeeming about Wallis Simpson. I know she was partly a product of her time, but I am still flummoxed that the King abdicated the throne for her). This could have been a pretty scintillating magazine article, but it made for a yawn as a whole book. Then again, I couldn't get through Cleopatra recently, either, so perhaps I'm just not one for biographies. I would recommend skipping this one and going to see "The King's Speech" instead, where Mrs. Simpson is a cameo as opposed to the star.