Relationship between The Queen Mother and The Duchess of Windsor

[Skydragon]

The 70-year-old letter details the Queen Mother's refusal to receive Mrs Simpson at Buckingham Palace almost three years after the abdication of Edward VIII, who gave up the throne to marry the twice-divorced American socialite.

Letter reveals Queen Mother's rift with Wallis Simpson - Telegraph

 

[Russophile]

Wallis never counted on what a tough "Cookie" the QM was, did she?

 

[Jaya]

Opposite personalities

Wallis called the QM "cookie" for her rounded face and figure and the Qm refused to ever have anything to do with Wallis.Hitler once was quoted as saying that the Qm was one of the most dangerous persons in Europe.Guess her formidable and presence intimidated even him.

 

[Madame Royale]

Certainly it was about her influence over the King (its generally agreed that the King was, by nature, a shy and retiring indavidual and that it was his wife, the Queen, that reinforced his public image and had influence (as I'm sure she did) over decisions made by the sovereign).

So it would be my guess, that it wasn't about Elizabeth, herself, but the sway she could encourage.

 

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

Elizabeth probably kept Wallis & Edward away in order to re-enforce a stable monarchy...
She was the cement & iron backbone after 1936 and during WWII - going out & about and showing her face and probably 'forcing' The King out there with her.
She didn't need 'the Windsors' back in Britain and all over the place taking the spotlight off the present monarch.
Edward VIII was responsible in large amount for putting George VI on the Throne and his Queen was responsible for keeping him there and making him look good.

Bermuda was the best place for Edward & Wallis - not London!!!

I have always believed that The Queen Mother saved the monarchy and worked steadily till the end of her life in that cause....

She did it by being both "the iron fist in the velvet glove" and "smile and wave"....

Larry

 

[Lumutqueen]

She did it by being both "the iron fist in the velvet glove" and "smile and wave"....

Larry

That sounds like our QM
She was a wonderful woman. Strong and determined to see her monarchy strive.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Yes, exactly. It's a sign of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's blindness that they didn't understand why they couldn't come back to Britain. After all, Edward VIII's abdication wasn't a European-style royal "retirement." He abandoned his nation and his empire for the love of a twice-divorced woman with a shady history. His actions caused great upheaval in his own family and in the rest of the country in a time when ideas of "duty" and "loyalty" were very important. As Queen Mary said to the Duke, people couldn't understand why the person whom they sacrificed for couldn't make a lesser sacrifice.

Elizabeth probably kept Wallis & Edward away in order to re-enforce a stable monarchy...

 

[iowabelle]

Edward's prolonged presence in Britain certainly would have detracted attention from the new king. They were wise to banish him. (It's hard to feel sorry for him, adequate financial provisions were made, and he didn't go out of his way to strengthen his own family ties.)

 

[Russophile]

Not to mention what a stunning dresser Wallis was (you remember her comment that she wasn't much to look at so she had to dress better than anyone else) which would have taken attention away from the QM and the unification of GB for a common goal (of winning the war) she was working towards.

 

[Mermaid1962]

You think so? I've had the impression that the British thought of Wallis as "the woman who stole our King".

Not to mention what a stunning dresser Wallis was (you remember her comment that she wasn't much to look at so she had to dress better than anyone else) which would have taken attention away from the QM and the unification of GB for a common goal (of winning the war) she was working towards.

 

[Zonk]

It probably was a little of both.

Wallis, the adventuress who stole their King and not understanding why he couldn't make such a sacrfice.

Either way, things happen for a reason. Despite what many say about the Queen Mum (both rumoured and true), King George VI and his family were what Britain needed during WWII.

 

[iowabelle]

Yes, I think Edward and Wallis would have acted like glamorous swans versus the less interesting George VI and his plain missus.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Yes, I think Edward and Wallis would have acted like glamorous swans versus the less interesting George VI and his plain missus.

That comment sums up the often shallowness of many people - beauty over hardwork and dedication.

Give me the dedicated, loyal and dull George VI any day over the flash in the pan, couldn't hack it, wastrel Edward VIII.

 

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

I don't think The Queen Mother was plain at all.... She had beautiful porcelain skin (peaches & cream) and dressed for her figure type - organza & lace in fairy princess style!!!
Her hats maybe were a little 'Mad Hatter-ish' but she was interesting....

Edward & George were good looking princes and George was the one who "lucked out" with a good family life.
I can't see Edward as being happy - gallivanting to all those parties, with a lot of phony people around him....

Wallis was just mud homely and didn't look healthy. She had jewels but not much else... At the end, she was abandoned by most and was senile.
Elizabeth, at least, had a lot of friends and was quite cognizant till the last!!!

I'd say Elizabeth had the glamourous & useful life and Wallis the boring & useless one....

Brava, Queen Mum!!!


Larry

 

[Lumutqueen]

I agree the QM wasn't plain but I don't think she was particularly glamourous, Wallis was more so. Also Wallis didn't lead a useless life, she didn't really have a choice about how she lead the end of her life. Elizabeth had a useful life because she was the Queen, thats the only way.

 

[Dierna23]

Well said. I agree with everything in this post. And I think you can't compare Wallis & David with Bertie & Elizabeth. They were just very dissimilar couples IMO.

 

[iowabelle]

Although Elizabeth might have been less glamorous than Wallis (and unfortunately, very thin people tend to wear clothes people), Queen Elizabeth would have been a better queen for the time than Queen Wallis. I don't think Wallis had the strength of wall or the ability to endure personal hardship that Elizabeth had. And I do think Elizabeth was lovely in the fairytale image she created for herself a la Winterhalter... that was very clever.

 

[PssMarie-Elisabeth]

Yes, I think Edward and Wallis would have acted like glamorous swans versus the less interesting George VI and his plain missus.

How could anyone describe the late Queen Mother as plain?!
... I shall have to post more images of her when young

 

[Dierna23]

I always thought that Elizabeth was a natural beauty:

LIFE: Excellent profile portrait of young Eliz... - Hosted by Google

 

[Mermaid1962]

Yes, I agree whole-heartedly. Wallis and Edward were glamorous, yes; but I don't know how they could have handled the decidedly unglamorous business of war. There was something movie-star-like about them, and Wallis also had a hardness about her. I can't imagine her being the motherly, concerned figure that Queen Elizabeth was during the War years.

 

[iowabelle]

How could anyone describe the late Queen Mother as plain?!
... I shall have to post more images of her when young

What I mean is, Wallis wanted to be a fashion plate and chose to diet herself into a figure that was favored by designers of her time. It was obviously less important to Queen Elizabeth, although she combated that by wearing clothing which was very attractive for her shape. Of the two, I think I would have preferred knowing and being in the company of the Queen.

The Queen did put on quite a bit of weight around the time of the abdication (I was looking at some photos and wondered if she might have been a stress eater) but the fashions of the 1920s and early 30s didn't suit her particular shape, even when she was thinner. But I think she always had a sweet face and pretty smile.

 

[NGalitzine]

I agree the QM wasn't plain but I don't think she was particularly glamourous, Wallis was more so. Also Wallis didn't lead a useless life, she didn't really have a choice about how she lead the end of her life. Elizabeth had a useful life because she was the Queen, thats the only way.

Wallis was not beautiful by any streatch of the imagination but with the right clothes and jewels she did have a kind of glamour.

Of course Wallis had a choice in how she and the duke lived their life in exile. She could have involved herself in any number of charitable or cultural groups while living in the French capital. Instead her life revolved around getting her hair done by Alexandre, attending fashion shows, dining out with friends at chic restaurants, entertaining the international set at their home in the Bois, and annual trips to America to repeat the same scenes on that side of the Atlantic. I cant think of a more shallow and useless way to spend 36+ years of ones life. The only benefit she gave to society was when her jewels were auctioned to benefit Institut Pasteur.

 

[Mermaid1962]

I believe that she did some work for the Red Cross when the Duke was Governor of the Bahamas. Of course, at that time, the work wasn't really "voluntary"; she would have been expected to do that kind of work as the Governor's wife. But yes, when they were in Europe after the Abdication, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that they did anything except complain about Wallis's lack of status and be fashionable. Had Wallis been a kind and generous woman, there would have been more than enough to keep her occupied with helping others in Paris.

 

[Iluvbertie]

There is an arugment that had she taken on that sort of role the King may have even relented and felt that as she was working the way a wife of a Prince of the Realm should behave that she might have been given the HRH later in life but as she, and he, did nothing but complain they didn't deserve any consideration.

 

[iowabelle]

I have to agree that Wallis might have chosen to do something more purposeful with her life in exile. IMO that's what was wrong with their lives, they couldn't find something meaningful to do with themselves. If George VI refused to find them something to do, they could have volunteered to do all sorts of charitable works; instead, they chose to be jetsetters and lived a vacuous existence.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Yes, the erstwhile Edward VIII seems to have forgotten the concept of noblesse oblige.

 

[Dierna23]

Wallis was not beautiful by any streatch of the imagination but with the right clothes and jewels she did have a kind of glamour.

I would disagree. Wallis is not absolutely my cup of tea, but in pictures like this one I find her beautiful:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bbc75Sa1S...AcA/niU28IR2Yo0/s320/Wallis_Simpson_-1936.jpg

The thing is - during the abdiction crisis and when she married Edward her best days were over. There are woman who get more and more beautiful the older they get, but Wallis matured not so well IMO, maybe because of all her diets...

 

[Marsel]

The Queen Mother? That spiteful old soak dedicated herself to making our lives hell


Some excerpts (all from Michael Thornton's "Royal Feud: The Queen Mother and the Duchess of Windsor"):

The Duke, who appeared vaguely uncomfortable with this topic, murmured: 'Well, it's hard to explain. But, yes, Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) was rather fonder of me than she ought to have been. And after I married Wallis, her attitude towards me changed.

'My sister-in-law is an arch-intriguer, and she has dedicated herself to making life hell for both of us.'

The Duke of Windsor insisted he possessed 'proof positive' that the Queen Mother had personally engineered the Duchess's exclusion from royal rank - an action now judged constitutionally illegal and known to historians as 'the Depriving Act'. 'It was her doing entirely,' said the Duke. 'It was not something my brother, the King, would ever have done, left to himself. But he deferred to her influence, just as her daughter does now.'

The Windsors' most astonishing claim concerned their visit to the United States in 1941.
The Queen Mother, they alleged, enlisted the help of Special Branch in London; of her brother, David (later Sir David) Bowes Lyon, who was posted to the British Embassy in Washington; of the British Ambassador, Lord Halifax; and of her friends, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, to have them followed and spied on 24 hours a day by FBI agents.

But the Duke of Windsor told me: 'Between these four walls, you do realise, don't you, that she is an alcoholic? She begins drinking at ten o'clock in the morning, which doesn't make her any easier to deal with.'

Although I am well prepared to acknowledge that the Queen Mother was hardly the kind and sweet grandmother she had been portrayed for many decades, I find it extremely hard to believe even the small part of what is mentioned in the article (and the book).
One thing that rather amuses me is the number of times the Duke of Windsor (allegedly) repeats 'between these four walls', 'between us', 'not for print', etc: surely, if he and Wallis wanted to maintain some sort of dignified salience, not telling anything to a journalist would have been the most prudent thing to do?! Of course they knew that sooner or later whatever they said was going to be printed: it sounds like a petty attempt of revenge to me (again, if everything written is true).

I can't help but think that if Wallis and the Duke of Windsor behaved themselves in a different way, the 'reconciliation' might have taken place eventually. As it was, if someone said all those things about me (and I doubt the journalists would have been the first or last person they 'confided in'), I'd be less than happy at the prospect of seeing their faces. Ever.

 

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Marsel,

I agree with you 100%. It's all a lot of sour grapes, especially on his part.
I've heard and read that Wallis didn't really give a fig about the title, only he did, as it amounted to a slap in his face.

If he didn't want all this grief, he should have stayed on the Throne and kept her as a paramour (my polite name for what she actually was!!).....

Also, I rather think that Queen Mary also had something to say about what Wallis was called (titled).. I can't see her keeping her mouth shut for long about how she'd handle things.

The Queen Mother was, after all, a human being - not all good and not all bad - and she saw to it that the Monarchy survived, no matter who didn't get what or what had to be done to accomplish this end.
Brava, QM!!!

Larry

 

[Wisteria]

Something that seems to be missed these days is that while bombs were falling on London the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were bombarding the Prime Minister with petty messages about Wallis not being titled HRH. It reminds me a little of Nero fiddling away while Rome burned.
The Queen mother was there in the thick of it, giving her support to her husband and his people. As you said Larry - Brava QM.