Power of elegance: Wallis Simpson aka duchess of windsor

There are perhaps more than 10 reasons to dislike her, more than 1000 reasons to hate her, but certainly more than 100000 women in England and more than 1 million women around the world envy her: how did she do it??


To mesmerize a king as a commoner, hundreds and perhaps thousands of courtesans, with or without names, had done it; to make a king fall in love, the more cultured Madame de Pompadour had done it; to make a king’s love last until his death, the more alluring Diane de Poitiers had done it; to make a king marry her, the more faithful Madame de Maintenon had done it, to make a king marry her openly against any rule or the wishes of its people, the more bewitching Anne Boleyn had done it; to make a king give up everything to marry her, Marie Manzarin almost had done it.....

But until now, Wallis Simpson is the first and only woman in history, that make a king give up his country,his people, and his throne-for her.

But, why? A woman who was neither young no beautiful, neither well educated no rich, and twice divorced, and an American, why she had been able to make the beloved “golden boy of British Empire” fall for her, so disportionately devoted, so stubbornly slavish...until his last breath. Why?

This question has been asked and answered times and again since King Edward VIII gave his touching abdication speech in the winter of 1936, and the most popular and enduring point of views have to do with her sexuality or her sense of dress.

About her sexual power, it was said Wallis Simpson had acquired some old fashioned Fast East chamber technique in some Chinese brothels with the exotic name of Shanghai squeeze or Singapore grip (some called Baltimore grip, perhaps to show more contempt toward her as Wallis Simpson was from Baltimore) or China clinch, when still married to her first husband Earl Winfield Spencer, and later used it on the then prince and later king Edward, who was reputed to be a “little man” in all senses of the word, and “not heir conditioned”.

It is perhaps never possible to know if Wallis is indeed armed with such bedroom skill, but her skill in dressing had been well documented over the years by commissioned and curious photographers,and well demonstrated by appearing and staying on the best dress list, both European and American. The list itself can be biased even political, thus not always trustworthy, but the photos did not lie: she may not be always impeccably or immaculately dressed as claimed by so many presses, or the most stylish woman of 20th century as believed by some, she could at times overdressed like a Christmas tree decorated with those over sized Cartier jewels, or underdressed like a prudent school teacher, but one thing is sure: over the years, with the help of Edward the prince, the king and then the duke, his aura and his wallet, Wallis Simpson had learned, cultivated and mastered the skill of not only dressing well, but carrying herself in those dresses.

Sometimes, she was so successful that one can not help thinking she looked more royal than some member of her royal in laws, although She was never granted the title of Her Royal Highness.

Wallis Simpson page