Yesterday, at the Savile Club, I asked Michael Bloch about the Dukes of Windsor and Sussex. His insights are too interesting to keep to myself and I prevailed upon him to write today’s post; thank you Michael.
“During the 1980s, in my mid-twenties, I worked in Paris for Maître Suzanne Blum, a fascinating old lady (born 1898) who was executor of the Duke of Windsor (who had died in 1972) and managed the affairs of the Duchess of Windsor (who lived on until 1986 in her mansion in the Bois de Boulogne). I wrote six books about the ex-King and his consort, largely based on their private papers made available to me by the Maître.
During recent months I’ve often been asked about the parallels between King Edward and his great-great-nephew Prince Harry, each of whom might be said to have exiled himself for the sake of the woman he loved. An obvious difference is that Edward was King (a position he definitively gave up), whereas Harry was merely sixth in line to the throne (which for the moment he remains). Another difference is that the King abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson, who was largely disapproved of by the royal family, ‘the establishment’ and the public at large, whereas Harry had already married Meghan Markle with the apparent blessing of all.
One similarity is that, while both men had much experience of women, it was not until Edward met Wallis and Harry met Meghan (in both cases in their thirties) that they fell desperately in love (to the point that not much else seemed to matter). Of course, both men were immensely popular with the public (this popularity being tarnished somewhat by their abandonment of royal life and departure abroad). And both women were American divorcées, whom the public largely blamed for their husbands’ decision to quit the British scene.
Though it seems probable that Meghan called the shots in this regard, it would be unfair to hold Mrs Simpson responsible for the Abdication. She was horrified at the idea of Edward VIII giving up the throne, and tried to talk him out of it. Though she enjoyed her life as a royal favourite, I don’t believe she wanted to marry him – though once he had made his reununciation against her wishes, she resigned herself to her fate and devoted the rest of her life to him. They were happily married for their remaining thirty-five years together. (It is fashionable to suggest that the marriage went off the rails in the 1950s, but this was vehemently denied by their formidable secretary at the time, Miss Anne Seagrim, who became a friend and neighbour of Christopher Bellew in Margravine Gardens.)
However, one melancholy parallel is undeniable. Both Edward VIII and the Duke of Sussex gave up their respective positions apparently without considering the wretched existences to which they would be condemning themselves. Having led busy and well-organised lives, surrounded by people offering them service and companionship, they found themselves largely on their own, with little to do – and in a largely unfamiliar habitat.
Though rich on paper, the fact that they still had to keep up a position, and protect themselves from an often hostile world, without much support from the royal court, involved a struggle to make ends meet. The Windsors found they had effectively become outcasts, and (though the Royal Family are doing their best to avoid this impression) this may also become true of the Sussexes. At least the Windsors had the consolation of half a lifetime of connubial bliss. Will this be the case with the Sussexes?“
Michael Bloch, August 2020.
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Michael Bloch’s books on the Windsors, available as e-books published by Little, Brown & Co., are The Duke of Windsor’s War (1982), Operation Willi (1984), Wallis & Edward (1986), The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor (1988), The Reign and Abdication of Edward VIII (1990), and The Duchess of Windsor (1996).
His biography of the sculptor Stephen Tomlin, Bloomsbury Stud, is due on 24th September 2020: www.bloomsburystud.net.