speculate whether the prince, while offering Wallis a glittering life, delivered a lackluster performance in bed.
Whatever their sexual relationship, certainly Wallis had a strong psychological hold over the prince. Whereas other women had melted into butter at his feet, Wallis completelydominated Edward, who became gushingly subservient. And, like many a royal mistress before her, Wallis offered scintillating charm and delightful wit.
But why did Edward insist on marrying the woman? Why didnât he simply keep her as his mistress? Perhaps Edward, stubborn, selfish, and intellectually limited almost to the point of imbecility, could not imagine himself on the throne without her seated on a throne beside him, smoothing things over, telling him what to do. Or maybe he never wanted to be king at all and used Wallis as a convenient and romantic excuse to liberate himself from a monarchâs responsibilities.
Nothing in the British Constitution forbade the king from marrying a divorcée, a commoner, or an American. The Settlement Act of 1701âpassed when a Catholic pretender was angling for the British throneâstated that the monarch could neither be a Catholic nor marry one. (Oddly, the act is still in effect today.) The Royal Marriages Act of 1772âpushed through by George III, who was furious that his brothers had secretly married for love rather than royal suitabilityâstated that heirs to the throne must obtain the monarchâs consent to a marriage unless the heir was over twenty-five. Neither of these acts would have prevented Edward from marrying Wallis.
He would have found himself in an uncomfortable position with the Church of England, however, which forbade a divorced person from remarrying as long as the former spouse was alive. Wallis had not one but two former spouses very much alive. As king, Edward was also supreme governor of the Church of England and was supposed to uphold its precepts. Perhaps worse, public opinion was against the marriage. Yet, if Edward had had the patience and public relations savvy to calm his clucking bishops and smooth the ruffled feathers of his subjects, he could certainly have married Wallis.
But ignoring sensible advice from friends and advisers, Edward made every disastrous political and public relations blunder possible, insisting on an immediate marriage so the two could be crowned together. It is likely that Wallis, rather than persuading the king to wait for public opposition to die down,was pushing for an early marriage. Wallis knew how extremely fickle and cowardly Edward had been with his earlier amours, deciding from one day to the next to dump a mistress and letting someone else give her the bad news.
As the crisis over the kingâs proposed marriage deepened, people picketed the palace with placards: âDown with the Whore!â âWallyâGive us back our King!â âOut with the American Garbage!â 5 Bricks and stones were hurled at her windows. Children sang, âHark the herald angels sing, Mrs. Simpson stole our King!â 6
Agreeing with the age-old adage that the bedded canât be wedded, a patron of a London pub reportedly said, âIt just wonât do. We canât have two other blokes going around saying theyâve slept with the Queen of England, can we?â 7
The customs of earlier centuriesâwhich could have quickly dispatched the problemâwere no longer acceptable in 1936. The royal family could not order courtiers to stab Wallis to death, as poor Inez de Castro had been six hundred years earlier, though perhaps they would have liked to. Nor was Edward in a position to hang and burn all who spoke against his marriage, as his ancestor Henry VIII had done four hundred years earlier. And so the lovelorn king abdicated, concealing his ineptitude with a legend of chivalrous romance and honorable sacrifice.
Edward and Wallis were married in France on June 3, 1937, a little more than a
Whatever their sexual relationship, certainly Wallis had a strong psychological hold over the prince. Whereas other women had melted into butter at his feet, Wallis completelydominated Edward, who became gushingly subservient. And, like many a royal mistress before her, Wallis offered scintillating charm and delightful wit.
But why did Edward insist on marrying the woman? Why didnât he simply keep her as his mistress? Perhaps Edward, stubborn, selfish, and intellectually limited almost to the point of imbecility, could not imagine himself on the throne without her seated on a throne beside him, smoothing things over, telling him what to do. Or maybe he never wanted to be king at all and used Wallis as a convenient and romantic excuse to liberate himself from a monarchâs responsibilities.
Nothing in the British Constitution forbade the king from marrying a divorcée, a commoner, or an American. The Settlement Act of 1701âpassed when a Catholic pretender was angling for the British throneâstated that the monarch could neither be a Catholic nor marry one. (Oddly, the act is still in effect today.) The Royal Marriages Act of 1772âpushed through by George III, who was furious that his brothers had secretly married for love rather than royal suitabilityâstated that heirs to the throne must obtain the monarchâs consent to a marriage unless the heir was over twenty-five. Neither of these acts would have prevented Edward from marrying Wallis.
He would have found himself in an uncomfortable position with the Church of England, however, which forbade a divorced person from remarrying as long as the former spouse was alive. Wallis had not one but two former spouses very much alive. As king, Edward was also supreme governor of the Church of England and was supposed to uphold its precepts. Perhaps worse, public opinion was against the marriage. Yet, if Edward had had the patience and public relations savvy to calm his clucking bishops and smooth the ruffled feathers of his subjects, he could certainly have married Wallis.
But ignoring sensible advice from friends and advisers, Edward made every disastrous political and public relations blunder possible, insisting on an immediate marriage so the two could be crowned together. It is likely that Wallis, rather than persuading the king to wait for public opposition to die down,was pushing for an early marriage. Wallis knew how extremely fickle and cowardly Edward had been with his earlier amours, deciding from one day to the next to dump a mistress and letting someone else give her the bad news.
As the crisis over the kingâs proposed marriage deepened, people picketed the palace with placards: âDown with the Whore!â âWallyâGive us back our King!â âOut with the American Garbage!â 5 Bricks and stones were hurled at her windows. Children sang, âHark the herald angels sing, Mrs. Simpson stole our King!â 6
Agreeing with the age-old adage that the bedded canât be wedded, a patron of a London pub reportedly said, âIt just wonât do. We canât have two other blokes going around saying theyâve slept with the Queen of England, can we?â 7
The customs of earlier centuriesâwhich could have quickly dispatched the problemâwere no longer acceptable in 1936. The royal family could not order courtiers to stab Wallis to death, as poor Inez de Castro had been six hundred years earlier, though perhaps they would have liked to. Nor was Edward in a position to hang and burn all who spoke against his marriage, as his ancestor Henry VIII had done four hundred years earlier. And so the lovelorn king abdicated, concealing his ineptitude with a legend of chivalrous romance and honorable sacrifice.
Edward and Wallis were married in France on June 3, 1937, a little more than a
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