Only fairytale romances end with ‘happily ever after’ and the same was true in the fateful love affair of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII of England, who after much struggle, cemented their union in the eyes of God and man on June 3, 1937. Wallis and Edward were as different from each other as two people could possibly be. She was an American; twice married with two living husbands; he was the heir to the British throne and already had his entire life planned out for him in advance.

Unfortunately for the British monarchy, Prince Edward had other plans. When he first met the witty, sharp and incredibly glamorous Wallis in January 1931, he was in a relationship with Lady Thelma Furness, while Wallis was married to her second husband, Ernest Simpson. Over the next few years, the two met numerous times in the presence of their respective partners, however evidence suggests that their friendship did not develop into a full-blown affair until January 1934.

Edward’s family and the court initially dismissed the relationship as another one of his affairs, but it soon became evident that the Prince was (in the words of his official biographer) ‘slavishly dependent’ on her. ‘That woman’ (as the Prince’s mother, Queen Mary of Teck described Wallis) had captivated him with her domineering manner and abrasive irreverence.

Once Edward became King in 1936 and rumours began circulating in court and government circles that he meant to marry her, the relationship could no longer be ignored. The problem was that the King, as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, could not marry a divorcee with two living spouses. The former prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald made an interesting assessment of the situation to point out the fact that had Wallis been a widow, there would have been no problem. “The people of this country do not mind fornication,” he said, “but they loathe adultery.”

Thus an ultimatum was issued to the King; if he went ahead with his plan of marrying Wallis, the government would resign, plunging the country into a constitutional crisis. The other options were that the King continue his affair on the side as long as he married someone else; or that he marry Wallis and abdicate his throne.

In a move that shocked his family, the government and the British people, Edward chose the latter option. To get a sense of the enormity of this decision, it seems pertinent to point out that this was the first entirely voluntary abdication in British history. In his now famous speech of December 11, 1936, Edward declared, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

A little over six months after the abdication, Edward, now the Duke of Windsor, married Wallis in France. Wallis wore a beautiful blue Mainbocher dress which has since come to be known as ‘Wallis blue’. While the couple lived in France, Portugal and the Bahamas, their marriage seems to have brought them little happiness. Friends and acquaintances reported that Wallis routinely ridiculed the Duke in company. Additionally, the British monarchy’s refusal to accept Wallis into the fold made the couple extremely bitter and resentful.

The Duke died of cancer in 1972; Wallis who was suffering from dementia lived as a recluse until her death in 1986. In death she found the acceptance she craved; her funeral was attended by Queen Elizabeth II and several other members of the royal family, and she was buried next to Edward in Royal Burial Ground near Windsor Castle.