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.
Leicestershire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, and Staffordshire to the west. The city of Leicester is the largest settlement and the county town.
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.
The River Soar is a major tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands and is the principal river of Leicestershire. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leicester, where it is joined by the Grand Union Canal. Continuing on through the Leicestershire Soar Valley, it passes Loughborough and Kegworth until it reaches the Trent at the county boundary. In the 18th century, the Soar was made navigable, initially between Loughborough and the Trent, and then through to Leicester. It was not until the early 19th century that it was linked by the Grand Union Canal to the wider network to the south and to London.
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.
Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The town is located 25 miles (40.2 km) east of Leicester, 28 miles (45.1 km) south-east of Nottingham and 23 miles (37.0 km) north-west of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,149 in the 2021 census. Oakham is to the west of Rutland Water and in the Vale of Catmose. Its height above sea level ranges from 325 to 400 ft.
Melton is a local government district with borough status in north-eastern Leicestershire, England. It is named after its only town, Melton Mowbray. The borough also includes numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The north of the district includes part of the Vale of Belvoir. Melton is the least populous district of its type and the fourth least populous district in England overall.
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.
Oakham was a rural district in Rutland, England from 1894 to 1974, covering the north of the county.
John Theodore Goddard was an English solicitor and founder of the law firm Theodore Goddard (TG) based in London. The firm merged with Addleshaw Booth & Co on 1 May 2003 to become Addleshaw Goddard. Goddard was appointed by Wallis Simpson as an adviser to her during divorce proceedings and in relation to her involvement during the United Kingdom abdication Crisis of 1936.
The Melton Mowbray Navigation was formed when the River Wreake in Leicestershire, England, was made navigable upstream from its junction with the River Soar and the Leicester Navigation near Syston to Melton Mowbray, opening in 1797. Largely river navigation, there were numerous lock cuts, to accommodate the 12 broad locks built along its length, many of which were built at sites where it was necessary to maintain the water levels for an adjacent mill.
Rutland County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. Since 1997 the council has been a unitary authority, legally being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council.
William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness was a British peer. He was the producer and financier of many West End plays, and an active member of the Royal Central Asian Society. He was also a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
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.
Sewstern is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Buckminster, in the Melton district of east Leicestershire, England. It lies just south of Buckminster, with which it shares a primary school, situated between the two villages. It is 9 miles east of Melton Mowbray, 10 miles south of Grantham and 4 miles from the A1 at Colsterworth. It is the easternmost village in Leicestershire.
The Defence Animal Training Regiment (DATR) is a training establishment, based in Melton Mowbray, east Leicestershire. It trains animals, of which the most numerous are dogs, for all three armed forces. Its headquarters are also the principal base of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.
Rutland, sometimes archaically called Rutlandshire, is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town.
Stapleford Park is a Grade I listed country house in Stapleford, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England, which is now used as a hotel. It was originally the seat of the Sherard and Tamblyn families, later the Earls of Harborough and, from 1894, of the Gretton family, who would become the Barons Gretton.
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.
