Signals AZ

This Day In History, October 27th, 2020 – “Mrs. Wallis Simpson”



Article audio is made possible by CAST11 Prescott Podcast Network. A Talking Glass Media production.

It was just 84 years ago today, October 27, 1936, when Mrs. Wallis Simpson successfully managed a preliminary decree of divorce from her husband, Ernest Aldrich Simpson. Why do we care about a divorcee, for the simple fact that this divorcee caused perhaps one of the biggest scandals in modern British Royal History, and would lead to the abdication of King Edward VIII.

This Day in History, history, American History

If you like gossip magazines, you were born in the wrong generation, for nothing today in celebrity desperation can compare to what a little girl named Bessie Wallis Warfield, born in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania near the turn of the century, could muster in a short amount of time. Married twice when she met the Prince of Whales, her socialite adventures made many in England gasp at just the site of her alone, but with the future King, NEVER. When Edward fell for the woman, a Constitutional crisis arose, how could a King marry a divorcee, a racy one at that, who had admirers the world over, including Hitler’s Foreign Minister, Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop. Edward and Wallis even visited the Austrian housepainter, can you guess who he was? Affairs and gossip plagued this American woman, but then again, she earned her reputation. In the end, Edward did abdicate, giving rise to the impressive George VI, who gave his brother Edward the title of Duke of Windsor, Wallis became known as the Duchess of Windsor after their marriage in 1937, though she was not allowed to claim the title of Royal Highness. The American socialite in London caused quite a stir the world around, and with her decree of divorce, it only caused more headlines, 84 years ago, today.


Follow Signals on Facebook to get the latest local events and updates: Facebook.com/Signals A Z

Subscribe to the Signals Newsletter, events, entertainment, info & news right to your inbox! SUBSCRIBE

If you like this story, consider subscribing to Signals Updates, Entertainment Events & News!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.