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.
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.
The abdication of Edward VIII was featured in the multi-award-winning historical drama film The King’s Speech , in which his decision to stand down was depicted solely upon his desire to marry Wallis Simpson. [2]
The abdication is mentioned frequently in the 1st season of Netflix television series The Crown , in which the former King, now titled the Duke of Windsor, returns to London for the funeral of King George VI and accession of Elizabeth II. Queen Mary is depicted as continuing her condemnation of his marriage to Mrs Simpson and his decision to abdicate, [3] and faces animosity towards his attendance of Elizabeth's coronation, subsequently declining his invitation . [4] His abdication is also cited as a factor in the opposition to the marriage of Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend. [5]
The 6th episode of the 2nd season features the Duke returning to London in a bid to ask Queen Elizabeth II for forgiveness of his abdication and to allow him to work for the monarchy. However, following her informing of The Marburg Files, detailing facts of the Duke's relationship with Nazi Germany and further damning information from former private secretary Tommy Lascelles, and continuing animosity from the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Prince Philip, she admonishes him and asks him to return to London only at the request of the monarch. [6]
Edward has been portrayed by:
He has also been used as a cultural reference. In Lady of the Night , Chunky reads a paper which proclaims Edward "The Best Dressed Man in the World", prompting him to go to a tailor with his suits and demand: "You fix these! I want to look like that Wales guy!". [8]
Mrs. Simpson has been portrayed by:
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.
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.
Mary of Teck was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V.
Thrones, Dominations is a Lord Peter Wimsey–Harriet Vane murder mystery novel that Dorothy L. Sayers began writing but abandoned, and which remained at her death as fragments and notes. It was completed by Jill Paton Walsh and published in 1998. The title is a quotation from John Milton's Paradise Lost and refers to two categories of angel in the Christian angelic hierarchy.
In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was in the process of divorcing her second.
Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his abdication on 11 December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the time of Henry I, following the Norman Conquest, is situated. Windsor has been the house name of the royal family since 1917.
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.
Operation Willi was the German code name for the unsuccessful attempt by the SS to kidnap Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor in July 1940 and induce him to work with German dictator Adolf Hitler for either a peace settlement with Britain, or a restoration to the throne after the German conquest of the United Kingdom.
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.
Events from the year 1936 in the United Kingdom.
Bertie & Elizabeth is a 2002 television film directed by Giles Foster and produced by Carlton Television. The film explores the relationship between King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth from their first meeting to the King's death in the winter of 1952. Bertie & Elizabeth was commissioned especially for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II and was first broadcast on ITV1 on 4 June 2002, only two months after the death of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The role of Queen Mary was portrayed by Dame Eileen Atkins, a role she again played in season one of The Crown in 2016.
George VI is depicted in art and popular culture.
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.
W.E. is a 2011 historical romantic drama film written and directed by Madonna and starring Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, Oscar Isaac, Richard Coyle, and James D'Arcy. The screenplay was co-written by Alek Keshishian, who previously worked with Madonna on her 1991 documentary Truth or Dare and two of her music videos. Although the film was panned by critics and was a box office bomb, it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design. This marked Isaac's and Cornish's second role together, the first being Sucker Punch.
The following events occurred in December 1936:
The coronation of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom was due to take place at Westminster Abbey on 12 May 1937. Preparations had already begun and souvenirs were on sale when Edward VIII abdicated on 11 December 1936. He did this because of opposition from many quarters to his intention to marry Wallis Simpson, who had already divorced twice. His coronation was cancelled as a result of his abdication. The coronation date itself was not abandoned; Edward VIII's brother George VI and sister-in-law Elizabeth were crowned on that date instead.
The Marburg Files, also known as the Windsor Files or Duke of Windsor Files, are a series of top-secret documents discovered in Germany during May 1945 near the Harz Mountains and compiled at Marburg Castle, Hesse.
Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, and Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, visited Nazi Germany in October 1937. Edward had abdicated the British throne in December 1936, and his brother George VI had become king. Edward had been given the title Duke of Windsor and married Wallis Simpson in June 1937. He appeared to have been sympathetic to Germany in this period and, that September, announced his intention to travel privately to Germany to tour factories. His interests, officially researching the social and economic conditions of the working classes, were against the backdrop of looming war in Europe. The Duke's supporters saw him as a potential peacemaker between Britain and Germany, but the British government refused to sanction such a role, opposed the tour and suspected that the Nazis would use the Duke's presence for propaganda. Prince Edward was keen for his wife, who had been rejected by the British establishment, to experience a state visit as his consort. He promised the government to keep a low profile, and the tour went ahead between 12 and 23 October 1937.
The funeral of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, took place on 5 June 1972. Edward had been King of the United Kingdom from 20 January to 11 December 1936, reigning as Edward VIII before his abdication, and had lived in Paris at the time of his death. His funeral took place at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after lying in state for three days and he was buried at the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore. His widow, Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, was buried alongside him in 1986.