Burrough Court is a former stately home in Burrough on the Hill near Melton Mowbray in the East Midlands, England. Burrough Court was once the site of a large country house of which today only the stable yard, chauffeur's and grooms' quarters remain. The remaining buildings have now been converted into office suites, meeting rooms and a conference centre.
The house was built in 1905 by H. C. Allfey and it later belonged to Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness, who used it as a hunting box. [1] During this time, Burrough Court became a rendezvous for the hunting society of Melton. In the autumn of 1930, Burrough Court was the backdrop to the first meeting between, Edward VIII, Prince of Wales, and Mrs. Wallis Simpson. [1] The main house burned down at the end of World War II, allegedly due to some Canadian soldiers using explosives to get to a sealed wine cellar.[ citation needed ] The romance between the Prince of Wales, and Mrs. Wallis Simpson was initiated when both were invited by Thelma, Viscountess Furness to a house-party at Burrough Court. According to Wallis' memoirs, in November 1930, Mr. and Mrs. Simpson were supposedly invited as last minute chaperones to Thelma and the Prince of Wales to hunt at her house in Melton Mowbray.[ citation needed ]
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor was an American socialite and wife of former king Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a constitutional crisis that led to Edward's abdication.
In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American, who was divorced from her first husband and was in the process of divorcing her second.
Ernest Aldrich Simpson was an American-born British shipbroker, who was the second husband of Wallis Simpson, later the wife of the former King Edward VIII.
Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness, was a mistress of King Edward VIII while he was Prince of Wales. She was supplanted in his affections by Wallis Simpson, for whose sake Edward abdicated, becoming the Duke of Windsor. She was the maternal aunt of the writer, fashion designer, and socialite Gloria Vanderbilt.
Melton Mowbray is a market town in the Melton district in Leicestershire, England, 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Leicester and 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population of 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promoted as Britain's "Rural Capital of Food"; it is the home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie and is the location of one of six licensed makers of Stilton cheese.
Sir Francis Grant was a Scottish portrait painter who painted Queen Victoria and many British aristocratic and political figures. He served as President of the Royal Academy.
Fort Belvedere is a Grade II* listed country house on Shrubs Hill in Windsor Great Park, in Surrey, England. The fort was predominantly constructed by Jeffry Wyatville in a Gothic Revival style in the 1820s.
Edward & Mrs. Simpson is a seven-part British television series that dramatises the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.
Easthampstead Park is a Victorian mansion in the civil parish of Bracknell in the English county of Berkshire. It is now a conference centre.
George Strausser Messersmith was a United States ambassador to Austria, Cuba, Mexico, and Argentina. Messersmith also served as head of the consulate in Germany from 1930 to 1934, during the rise of the Nazi Party.
The River Eye is a slender, slow-flowing river in north-eastern Leicestershire, England. The river is known to flood periodically; especially within the town Melton Mowbray. Fine sediments from agricultural fields, the biggest known cause for the floods, have been recognized as a major source to the channel's supply. The river meanders throughout north-east Leicestershire where is it primarily flanked by farmland, and only crosses a handful of villages/towns. The primary wooded area it crosses is the fox covert. The farming in the district is largely made up of pasturing sheep and cows. Stilton and Red Leicester cheeses originally came from the villages and dairy farms in the Eye basin.
William Elliott Morris Zborowski was an American racing driver and father of racing driver Louis Zborowski.
Scalford is a village and civil parish in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. It lies 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north of Melton Mowbray at the southern end of the Vale of Belvoir. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 608.
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson have been depicted in popular culture, both biographical and fictional, following his abdication in 1936 and their marriage the following year.
Ashwell railway station was a station in Ashwell, Rutland on the line between Melton Mowbray and Oakham. It lies west of the village, on the road to Whissendine. Just north of Ashwell was Ashwell Junction where the Cottesmore Ironstone Branch joined. This was in use between 1883 and 1974 and served quarries in the vicinity of Cottesmore and Exton. Part of the former mineral branch line is now Rutland Railway Museum.
Edward VIII, later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January 1936 until his abdication in December of the same year.
Alfred Young Nutt, MVO, ISO was an English architect and artist, who was Surveyor to the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor in the late 19th century.
Maud Alice Burke, later Lady Cunard, known as Emerald, was an American-born, London-based society hostess. She had long relationships with the novelist George Moore and the conductor Thomas Beecham, and was the muse of the former and a champion of and fund-raiser for the latter. She was a supporter of Wallis Simpson during the British abdication crisis of 1936, vainly hoping for a court appointment. The Second World War ended her era of private patronage and lavish hospitality.
The Woman He Loved is a 1988 British HTV made-for-television romantic drama film for ITV about the abdication of Edward VIII. Directed by Charles Jarrott, it stars Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and Olivia de Havilland. Jane Seymour was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film at the 46th Golden Globe Awards and Julie Harris was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Costume designer Robin Fraser-Paye was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special. It was partly shot at Shirenewton Hall in Monmouthshire. This was Olivia de Havilland's final acting role, before her death in 2020.
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.