The Unofficial British Royal Family Pages

Monday 6 December 2004

In Defense of the Duchess, Round Four

The Face That Launched a Thousand Sneers

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis once said, "The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship." But long before the world knew who Jackie was, the future Duchess of Windsor was well on her way to living out this effective marriage triangle – if only in a slightly more convoluted manner.  

By 1928, with the marriage for love having failed miserably, Wallis tried the marriage for money – or, more accurately in her case, financial stability. This is not to say that she embarked upon her marriage to Ernest Simpson with anything but good intentions. Undoubtedly, she was in no hurry to enter into another impetuous marriage; but, as a 32-year-old divorc�e trained only to be a wife, her prospects were severely limited. So, when Ernest Simpson – who was cultured, serious and otherwise perfectly agreeable – came along, she must have recognized that that few such opportunities would come her way. After two marriage proposals, Wallis finally agreed to marry Simpson and the two went on to lead the stable and secure lifestyle she craved, no doubt at the expense of deep emotional attachment.  

In this regard, the couple was not alone – plenty of their peers had undertaken marriages of convenience only to find emotional or physical satisfaction elsewhere. In the majority of these cases, discretion equalled social acceptability. For Wallis, however, while her eventual affair with the Prince of Wales perhaps provided her with something of the emotional element she may have lacked in her marriage to Ernest Simpson, it certainly furnished her with an abundance of excitement, social notoriety and, of course, lavish gifts. Under the circumstances, it would have been a difficult proposition for a great many women to refuse – especially with a husband who was himself all too happy with the situation.  

On the other hand, given the Prince of Wales’ history with women, which Wallis was well aware of, it’s unlikely that she expected her relationship with him to outlive its natural shelf life. She also frequently found her relationship with the Prince emotionally draining and physically exhausting – a feeling that only increased after he became King. To further complicate matters, she was undoubtedly aware that her husband had found someone to fill the void she had left. In the end, she had good reason to believe that she would ultimately lose both her husband and her lover.  

For the moment, however, her husband put a respectable veneer onto her relationship with the Prince of Wales, whose generous gifts of jewelry undoubtedly meant to Wallis a secure financial future when both men were gone. Disinclined or unable to extract herself from these conditions, it now seems as though she may have found solace in a third party – car salesman Guy Trundle.  

Like many people, I believe that of all the rumors regarding Wallis, this is probably the most damaging, particularly because it’s one of the few accusations that is supported by actual evidence. That said, I don’t find the report to be conclusively damning and am inclined to argue reasonable doubt in this case. In my opinion, unless the police detectives actually witnessed first-hand physical intimacy between Wallis and Guy Trundle, the matter is still open to speculation.  

What is certain is that this new information revived the enthusiasm of the Duchess’ many detractors and has been used as more ammunition against her. What hasn’t been mentioned is the possibility that, if the allegation is true, it may also be further proof that she was not what history has repeatedly told us she was – an ambitious woman who wished only to be Queen. Not that it is vitally necessary as supporting evidence to this theory. Guy Trundle aside, Wallis’ own personal letters as early as 1935 make it clear that she not only had no desire to marry the Prince of Wales, but actively encouraged him to find a “suitable bride.” And both her letters and historical record show that she expressed her wish to end, and even attempted to end, the relationship with the Prince/King at various times.  

With her marriage to Ernest Simpson over in every way but on paper and her affair with the Prince/King a challenge that she wished to extract herself from but couldn’t, perhaps Guy Trundle filled a gap in Wallis’ life. Who knows, she may even have loved him. Maybe she saw him as her future companion after Ernest and the King were both long gone. And maybe not. He could just as easily have been a confidante, a romantic fling or even an unrequited love. No matter what he was, he was not to have a place in Wallis’ future. In the end, her future was decided by the determination of the King to put her above all else, no matter what she wanted. 

The point has been made that perhaps King Edward VIII would have never abdicated if he had known about Trundle, but then who’s to say that he didn’t know? Anyone who has studied the Duke and Duchess of Windsor knows that he had a passion for her that can safely be described as obsessive. It’s just as possible that such an affair might have made him even more determined to marry her and have her for himself. The bottom line is, we don’t know what happened behind closed doors and are therefore left with the frustration of speculation, not just in this instance, but in many others involving the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. In a way, this is part of the allure and the reason why, almost 68 years after the Abdication, we’re still interested in the two main players of that drama.  

I admit that it’s highly likely most people will always look at the Abdication in simple terms – either as the most romantic gesture since Alexander of Troy sparked a war out of love for Helen of Sparta; or as the foolishness of a besotted King for a wicked woman. In either case – whether because of jealousy or misunderstanding – the Duchess of Windsor will almost always take the fall. In the first scenario, she’ll be remembered as the jaded hussy who couldn’t see the value of what she had been given. In the second, the most reviled woman in all of history.  

It’s simply more convenient this way, not to mention far more interesting than to see her for what she really was: an imperfect and damaged woman who sought little more in life than what we all seek – love, social acceptance and financial security – and got in over her head. With this in mind, I realize that my defense of the Duchess of Windsor is overwhelmed in strength and numbers by those who have fought for years against her, but I do know that I am not alone in thinking that the amount of myth, propaganda and politics surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Windsor rivals the legend of Alexander and Helen. After all, in the end, it seems that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were made for each other and, I think most people would agree, Britain was a lot better off with King George VI.

Until next week, 

- Tori Van Orden Mart�nez