Monday 22 November 2004 In Defense of the Duchess, Round TwoOf Bathrooms and Chinese Brothels In December 1936 the same month of King
Edward VIIIs abdication the first book-length biography of Wallis Simpson was
published. The first edition of Her Name Was Wallis
Warfield: The Life Story of Mrs. Ernest Simpson alone saw no fewer than 17 printings.
Although a friendly portrayal of Wallis, the book avoided many of the issues that would
have given the public a deeper and, quite probably, more sympathetic understanding of this
controversial woman. Chiefly, considering that Wallis first
divorce from Win Spencer was enough to make her a scandalous and controversial figure,
author Edwina Wilson did surprisingly little to prove that Wallis was not only justified
in seeking a divorce, but incredibly brave. Portraying the Spencer marriage as simply
a mistake with scenes
neither of the principals wishes to
recall was perhaps the understatement of the year. In reality, the marriage was more
than a mistake, it was a nightmare; and the scenes that Modern biographers have chronicled the violence
and brutality in Wallis first marriage to varying degrees. Although decidedly
focused on perpetuating the most scandalous and damaging aspects of Wallis own
behavior, author Charles Highams The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life does
include a somewhat sympathetic account of this period in her life. In one instance, Higham
records that Wallis mother personally witnessed Spencer shaking Wallis over her
refusal to play golf with him. Far less sensational authors like Greg King have
given more sympathetic attention to her plight. In The Duchess of Windsor: The Uncommon Life of Wallis
Simpson, King sources a friend of Wallis as saying that Wallis had confided in her
that she had endured frequent kicks and blows from her husband. One thing both
authors as well as others agree to is that matters came to a head when
Spencer one day grabbed Wallis, dragged her violently through their apartment and pushed
her in the bathroom, where he left her locked in for hours with no way of escaping. Not unreasonably, it was at this point that Wallis
first approached her family with the intention of divorcing Spencer. Desperate to avoid
scandal in the family, her mother and uncle vociferously refused the possibility of
divorce and Wallis dutifully went back to her husband. Faced with more violence and abuse,
she eventually mustered the courage to defy both her family and her husband by leaving
him. The events that were to follow probably did more to shape her as a person than
anything that had happened before. They would also do more to damage her reputation in the
time surrounding and the years following the abdication. While, by leaving her husband and turning her back
on a violent marriage, Wallis exhibited a tremendous amount of courage, she had also
broken a code of silence that was akin to law among the upper echelons of society all
around the world. Unfortunately for Wallis, not only did she refuse to suffer in silence
and give the impression of a happy marriage while discreetly going about her business, she
revelled in her new found freedom. With her estranged husband who she appeared to
have no desire to return to stationed in Hong Kong, Wallis found herself a young,
attractive and (relatively) free woman on the Washington D.C. social scene. Accordingly,
she partied, had romances, travelled and otherwise enjoyed herself. Eventually, realizing
that the good life couldnt continue and divorce was hardly an option, she agreed to
yet another attempt at reconciliation with Spencer and made her way to It was then that, lacking factual details of
Wallis life and with little hard evidence to go on, the chroniclers of her life
increasingly became the tabloids, gossip columns and yellow journalists who, in turn, were
well-fed with salacious stories by just about anyone who had had anything to do with the
former king and his mistress. As the intended wife of King Edward VIII, Wallis first
divorce from Win Spencer and her pending divorce from Ernest Simpson were sufficient
reasons to find her entirely inappropriate. After the abdication, however, they were
hardly impediments to a marriage and did nothing to assuage the fact that it was the King
who had abdicated, despite fierce protestations from Wallis. Thus, something had to be
done to draw the attention and the blame to Wallis. The question became, How could a woman like
her get a man like him so handsome and promising to give up the Suddenly, it all made sense to people.
Continuously fed with new information a combination of details about her behavior
during her first separation from Spencer and stories about her rough treatment
of the ex-king and her flirtatious and charming way with men the so-called
details of her time in China created a picture of a sexually deviant and
manipulative woman who used her skills to waylay a king. After all, He was but a man, how could he have resisted? Of course, the reality of it all is an entirely
different story. In my opinion, Greg King again does the best job of smashing the
foundations of this theory about Wallis. He indicates, among other things, that the
British governments China Dossier never actually existed the best
proof being that no one seems to have ever seen it. On the charge that Wallis visited
Chinese brothels to learn special sexual techniques, King points to evidence that she did
indeed visit such brothels, but not on her own accord. In fact, she did so much against
her will, forced by her drunk and violent husband who would then make her watch as he
kissed and fondled the prostitutes and going so far as threatening her when she protested.
Given the history of her relationship with and the past behavior of Win Spencer, I
personally find this explanation much more palatable. All the same and despite the work of
authors like King public opinion is still largely set against the Duchess of
Windsor and, in particular, the rumors of her sexual powers still persist,
thanks, no doubt, to years of hype and relentless perpetuation. Of course, the Duchess
herself was not always her own best advocate and her behavior often perpetuated the
legends that surrounded her. Just as her often indiscreet behavior during her estrangements from her first husband did much to inflame the rumors and solidify the idea of her as a seductress and dominatrix, her increasing independence and bluntness during her divorce and subsequent second marriage would bring a far more damaging allegation to her table that of a Nazi sympathizer. That, and more, next week in Round III of In Defense of the Duchess. Until next week, - Tori Van Orden Mart�nez |
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reproduced without the authors permission. The 'Royal Scribe' column is �2005 Copyright by Tori Van Orden Mart�nez who
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This page was last updated on: Monday, 29-Nov-2004 08:20:35 CET