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Monday 22 November 2004

In Defense of the Duchess, Round Two

Of Bathrooms and Chinese Brothels

In December 1936 – the same month of King Edward VIII’s 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 Wilson referred to were – pure and simple – domestic abuse. In its mildest form, a drunk and aggressive Spencer would verbally bombard his wife with insults and accusations – both in private and in public. At worst, Spencer resorted to cruel and violent physical abuse.  

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 Higham’s 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 couldn’t continue and divorce was hardly an option, she agreed to yet another attempt at reconciliation with Spencer and made her way to China. The decision and the experience would, in diverse ways, haunt her for the rest of her life, but it wouldn’t be until after the abdication that she would face the worst. 

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 British Empire?” The most obvious answer became that she was a seductress who had tempted him from his duty. With two husbands behind her, she must have some strange sexual hold over men. And, with “witnesses” claiming that she ordered the King about and treated him like a wayward child, the popular theory came about that she must be some sort of dominatrix. Rumors abounded that, while in China, Wallis had frequented notorious brothels where she had learned special sexual techniques that no man could resist. Not only that, this information was said to be “official” – gathered, as it were, by British Intelligence. A proven fact. Or so it would seem.  

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 government’s “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 


Previous Royal Scribe columns can be found in the archive

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This page and its contents are �2006 Copyright by Geraldine Voost and may not be reproduced without the authors permission. The 'Royal Scribe' column is �2005 Copyright by Tori Van Orden Mart�nez who has kindly given permission for it to be displayed on this website.
This page was last updated on: Monday, 29-Nov-2004 08:20:35 CET