Friday, November 22, 2024

Wallis Simpson ‘never loved’ King Edward VIII who famously abdicated the British throne

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Wallis Simpson “never loved King Edward VIII” who famously abdicated the British throne, according to a former royal butler in his memoir.

On December 11, 1936, the late Queen’s uncle made the shocking decision to voluntarily abdicate the throne so he could marry the woman he loved, US socialite Wallis Simpson.


However, according to an extract from a memoir by the couple’s former butler, Alan Fisher, this was an unrequited love.

Fisher worked for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor for six years in France from 1954 following the King’s abdication.

King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936

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The Manchester-born butler became one of the world’s most sought-after butlers later serving Charles and Diana.

Fisher died in 2006 but the butler’s unpublished memoir gives insight into the life of Edward and Wallis Simpson who he describes as a “Queen Dictator.”

The former butler wrote: “He was in love with her 100 per cent of the time. She was in no way in love with him.

“So many of her actions spelt it out so violently. Of course, she had a façade she kept up publicly.

King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson

King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in New York, 1966

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“There must have been moments when she looked at him and thought of all that might have been. It must have made her extremely bitter.”

Fisher wrote his memoirs in 1978 and is believed to have held talks with a Hollywood studio.

The manuscript is going on sale on June 4 by Rare Book Auctions and is expected to fetch between £3,000 to £5,000.

The sale will include a never-before-seen picture of Edward in royal robes with Wallis.

Alan and Norma Fisher

Alan Fisher pictured with his wife Norma after retiring from royal duties

Rare Book Auctions Hansons / SWNS

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Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson and Queen Elizabeth II

The late Queen Elizabeth II stands with her uncle Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in 1967

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Wallis Simpson was largely vilified and painted as the cause of the King’s downfall after he announced his abdication via a radio broadcast in 1936.

However, Anna Pasternak, author of The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson, believes that Simpson was a “convenient scapegoat and took the rap for the abdication.”

Pasternak told PEOPLE: “As far as he was concerned, he could not live without her and could not see that she might not be able to live with the consequences of his single-mindedness.

“Being blamed in perpetuity for stealing a beloved, popular king from his throne and almost destroying the British monarchy would prove to be a lifelong annihilating burden that Wallis was forced to bear.”

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