Wallis, Duchess of Windsor

Born Bessie Wallis Warfield in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, Wallis Simpson became widely known for her marriage to Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom. Raised in Baltimore, Maryland, she endured the death of her father and relied on the support of her wealthy relatives. Her educational journey included attendance at Oldfields School, the most expensive girls’ school in Maryland. Simpson’s personal life was marked by two divorces before her marriage to Edward, which prompted his abdication from the throne due to her status as a divorcée with two living ex-husbands. As the Duchess of Windsor, she was not permitted to share her husband’s style of ‘Royal Highness’.

Their marriage and subsequent life were marred by accusations of Nazi sympathies, including a controversial meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1937. During World War II, Edward served as governor of the Bahamas, where the couple resided until 1945. Following the war, they led a jet-set lifestyle between Europe and the United States. After Edward’s death in 1972, Wallis lived a reclusive life until her own death in 1986.