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06-05-2017, 04:48 PM
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Imperial Majesty
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: London, United Kingdom
Posts: 11,022
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why are you heartbroken that they are controversial? I wouldn't say that they're controversial, i'd say that most people who know about them, have little sympathy and don't much like them.
Yes Wallis' first husband was abusive. Her second husband wasn't and if she had not gotten involved with Edward VIII, they would probably have stayed married, with occasional dalliances for life. But she played with fire, letting Edw get nutty about her and then she couldn't get out of the affair. and her husband had grown fed up with her affair and had found himself another woman and wanted to end the marriage.
And while they weren't Nazi sympathisers as such, they were willing to go to Nazi Germany because it meant that Wallis would be treated as the queen Edward hoped she might have been.. and even after the war, Edw didn't have the decency or common sense to keep his belief that "Hitler wasn't a bad chap" hidden.. why would you sympathise with a couple like that?
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06-05-2017, 08:08 PM
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Majesty
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Midwest, United States
Posts: 6,034
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 I agree. I think they no longer divide, rather I think they entertain us. It does not say much about our characters, but they are so very easy to hurl stones at. I think we rather enjoy uniting in our dislike for them.
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"And the tabloid press will be a pain in the ass, as usual." - Royal Norway
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06-05-2017, 09:00 PM
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Majesty
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 9,141
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Perhaps if the Duke and Duchess had done something worthwhile with the latter part of their lives there might be more sympathy for them, flawed though they were. Edward was still admired by a certain section of the British population in a nostalgic sort of way. He could have done so much for wounded and maimed ex servicemen after the war, even if he'd remained in France and done his bit for French servicemen, allies of the British.
If he had immersed himself in that, if she had thrown herself into relief work for the poor of Paris, international refugees of which there were many after World War 2, care of the sick, something, anything heartfelt, then they would at least have shown they were capable of thinking of others beyond their immediate circle.
Instead, there were regular trips on transatlantic liners, long stays at friends' homes in Italy, the US, Portugal, even England. She decorated their two houses, they both entertained, they were great partygoers, etc etc., a completely hedonistic lifestyle that lasted until Edward's final illness. The Duchess was a totally self absorbed individual, she was the centre of his world in a very obsessive way, and that says it all really. No thought for anyone else but themselves ever.
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06-05-2017, 09:20 PM
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Imperial Majesty
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Midwest, United States
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I have read that the Duke expected after a certain time frame that he would be invited to live again in the UK and take up a position in the family doing charity work etc...however as time passed it became clear he was not welcome (with his wife) to live there or be involved with the family.
Now I am sure he could of done stuff on his own...why he didn't ...don't know.
LaRae
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06-05-2017, 10:02 PM
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Majesty
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Yes, another part of Edward's self-delusion, that after causing this huge constitutional crisis and forcing his reluctant brother to become King in his place, he would be welcomed back with open arms by mother, brother, sister in law! It would have been impossible but he could never see that.
However, the fact is the Windsors settled in France (at a peppercorn rent for their Paris mansion) and after the war lived a totally indulgent lifestyle for the rest of their lives.
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06-05-2017, 10:28 PM
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Majesty
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: New England, United States
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They were nazi sympathizers and covorted with nazis both when Edward was pow, king and afterwards as duke of Windsor. That is why they were sent to the Bahamas during the war, they were unreliable with state secrets. They were a terrible strain on Churchill and the king. Their self indulgence, his drinking, made them ok for New York cafe society in the 40's and 50's but in history, truly a sad couple. At least her vast jewel collection went to aids research
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06-06-2017, 04:22 PM
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Imperial Majesty
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Join Date: Apr 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AdmirerUS
 I agree. I think they no longer divide, rather I think they entertain us. It does not say much about our characters, but they are so very easy to hurl stones at. I think we rather enjoy uniting in our dislike for them.
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I woudlnt' say that, I am Irish and we're well known for being critcal but all the same, I don't really enjoy how awful the Windsors were.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frelinghighness
They were nazi sympathizers and covorted with nazis both when Edward was pow, king and afterwards as duke of Windsor. and 50's but in history, truly a sad couple. At least her vast jewel collection went to aids research
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They weren't Nazi Sympathisers. right wing yes and willing to go to Germany because it gave them semi royal status.. and Edw didn't have enough brain to conceal that he didn't think that Hitlter was all that bad, even after the war... but he ws too dim to have any real political ideas.
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06-06-2017, 05:52 PM
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Serene Highness
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Birmingham, United States
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I just read Arthur Shawcross' biography of the Queen Mother and it talks quite a bit about the Duke of Windsor. After finishing this book, I ordered Philip Ziegler's biography of the Duke of Windsor called "King Edward VIII-A Biography". Is it a good book? I really like Shawcross' biography of the Queen Mother. Where is the forum to discuss her?
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06-06-2017, 06:46 PM
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Member - in Memoriam
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Actually I'm still in the process of reading Ziegler's biography of Edward VIII and it does give a good insight into the man he was. I recommend it.
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To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
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06-08-2017, 11:02 AM
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Aristocracy
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Join Date: May 2017
Location: Berlin, Germany
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After the Duke's death in 1972, the Queen should have invited the Duchess to live in Britain closer to the Royal Family but I'm sure that would have infuriated "mummy".
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06-08-2017, 11:13 AM
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Moderator Emeritus
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Why? The Duchess of Windsor had no close relationship with the BRF and had spent most of her life not living in Britain.
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06-08-2017, 12:07 PM
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Majesty
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Yes, I think the Duchess was quite comfortable in the Paris home she'd lived in for decades with longtime staff around her. It wasn't too long afterwards that she developed dementia, anyway.
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06-08-2017, 05:07 PM
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Imperial Majesty
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Join Date: Apr 2016
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Yes, I don't think the queen was obliged to do anyting for her. Why should she? Not that Wallis would have liked it anyway I'm sure.
As I recall she was a bit "out of it" at the Duke's funeral even, there were signs of her getting forgetful and a bit confused before he died and after he wnet, she got worse. So she was problaby much more comfortable in her familiar environment...
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06-08-2017, 05:43 PM
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Member - in Memoriam
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kronprinz
After the Duke's death in 1972, the Queen should have invited the Duchess to live in Britain closer to the Royal Family but I'm sure that would have infuriated "mummy".
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Wallis was never part of the BRF so why would she even consider living near a family that had ostracized both her husband and herself?
From what I vaguely remember, the Queen and Charles both went out of their way to assist Wallis though after the death of her husband. I just can't recall offhand just how they did it though.
The abdication happened in 1936 and for the most part, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor led totally separate lives away from the UK and the BRF with little to no contact with family in the UK.
__________________
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
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06-08-2017, 11:29 PM
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Imperial Majesty
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Midwest, United States
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Yes I recently read a biography on the Queen Mother and even it stated that Charles and the Queen had a relationship with both the Duke/Duchess years later. After the Duke passed it seems that Wallace more or less became fairly reclusive.
LaRae
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06-09-2017, 02:25 AM
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Imperial Majesty
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: London, United Kingdom
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there was a polite friendship, after her widowhood and even before it, the queen had visited David.. and P Charles did show some special friendship to the Windsors esp to Wallis when she was on her own.
They did nto "ostracise her", but they weren't "her kind fo people".
They had little in common and the Abdication had been a terrible trauma to the family, and had resulted in the King Having to take on a lot of responsibility, suddenly, and the QM felt that it had led to his early death. And David and Wallis led such a trivial foolish pleasure seeking existence, that its hard to see what the British based members of the family could have in common with them.
Wallis and David were pretty rude about them, too, making snide remarks about Eliz the QM and the Duchess of Gloucester and even about Q Mary. So I think that in keeping up a mild friendship, the RF were being about as nice as they had an obligation to be.
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06-11-2017, 09:10 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 8,783
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A twopenny scarlet stamp printed in 1936 by the Commonwealth Stamp Printers in Melbourne, Australia of the-then King Edward VIII is up for auction on June 26 - it is one of only six in existence, and has a starting price of $AUD100,000. A stamp from the same sheet sold in 2015 for just over $AUD170,000.
The stamp is so rare that there is not one in the Australia Post archives, nor in the Royal Collection.
https://www.theguardian.com/artandde...P=share_btn_tw
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06-11-2017, 11:22 AM
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Majesty
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 9,141
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This is amazing stuff. isnt it, but everything to do with that brief reign, stamps, a few coins that escaped into circulation, even souvenirs made for a Coronation that never happened, are worth literally a king's ransom, nowadays. I really hope that this stamp doesn't go to a private collector, but into the Royal Collection or Australia Post. I suppose it depends to what heights the price above the reserve will go.
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06-11-2017, 01:09 PM
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Serene Highness
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
Posts: 1,431
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Curryong
Perhaps if the Duke and Duchess had done something worthwhile with the latter part of their lives there might be more sympathy for them, flawed though they were. Edward was still admired by a certain section of the British population in a nostalgic sort of way. He could have done so much for wounded and maimed ex servicemen after the war, even if he'd remained in France and done his bit for French servicemen, allies of the British.
If he had immersed himself in that, if she had thrown herself into relief work for the poor of Paris, international refugees of which there were many after World War 2, care of the sick, something, anything heartfelt, then they would at least have shown they were capable of thinking of others beyond their immediate circle.
Instead, there were regular trips on transatlantic liners, long stays at friends' homes in Italy, the US, Portugal, even England. She decorated their two houses, they both entertained, they were great partygoers, etc etc., a completely hedonistic lifestyle that lasted until Edward's final illness. The Duchess was a totally self absorbed individual, she was the centre of his world in a very obsessive way, and that says it all really. No thought for anyone else but themselves ever.
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Nevertheless though, I don't see where all the hatred towards them comes from. Yes, they had their flaws and made their mistakes. But I see no reason to hate them, so I won't.
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06-11-2017, 01:10 PM
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Serene Highness
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
Posts: 1,431
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Curryong
This is amazing stuff. isnt it, but everything to do with that brief reign, stamps, a few coins that escaped into circulation, even souvenirs made for a Coronation that never happened, are worth literally a king's ransom, nowadays. I really hope that this stamp doesn't go to a private collector, but into the Royal Collection or Australia Post. I suppose it depends to what heights the price above the reserve will go.
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I agree. It would be nice if the Royal Collection or Australia Post would buy it and keep it safe.
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