In June of 1896, Bessie Wallis Warfield was born. In
November of that same year, her tubercular father died. Her mother was two
months pregnant when they married, which gave her a bad start in the social
life in the south. Her mother’s father and step-mother did not offer to take
them in. The only family that offered to take care of mother and child was
uncle Sol Warfield, who Wallis thought of as a grumpy miser. He allowed them to
live with him, and provided enough money to feed them, and eventually paid for
Wallis’s education. This stung Wallis; she never had enough to please her. An apocryphal
story says that Wallis’s first words were “Me, me!” rather than “Ma, ma!”
Her uncle made sure she entered into society, and she wasted
no time in marrying. Her first husband was a Navy pilot who adored her, but he
was an alcoholic and would never be rich. The circles he ran in, however,
allowed her to meet people with more money; her second husband was a shipping
broker who could provide her with the life to which she wanted to become
accustomed to. And that allowed her into even higher circles; she met the
Prince of Wales. And he became infatuated with her; he showered her with gifts
and attention, while her husband thoughtfully stayed in the background- he had
a lover, too. Soon, it seemed, she would be able to become queen. The only
problem was that, even if she divorced her husband, as a twice divorced woman,
and a commoner, she was ineligible to become queen. They could marry if they
wished, but she wouldn’t have the title. Or he could abdicate his position. This was unacceptable
to her. Meanwhile the king had died and Edward was on the throne that beckoned
to Wallis. Against her wishes, Edward abdicated, leaving him free to marry but
denying Wallis a royal title. Ever after, she treated Edward shabbily.
But none of the three men she married was the love of her
life. That was Herman Rogers, a long time close friend who frequently managed
her affairs (financial, that is). On the eve of her marriage to Edward, she
went to the happily married Rogers and offered to have his child. He never took
her up on her offer.
Wallis was a thoroughly unpleasant person. She took
everything she could and did not give back. Her wit was biting and cruel. The
man who gave up the throne of England for her was treated as a servant in his
own house. It’s a good thing for the world, however, that she did seduce him-
he was pro-Nazi and thought Hitler was a fine fellow (so did Wallis- they had
dealing with high up Nazis). If it had been him rather than his brother on the
throne, WW 2 might have turned out very differently.
I can’t say that I like Wallis one bit more than I did
before after reading this deeply researched account of her life. Even her aunt
who always took her side didn’t believe that Wallis had ever done anything worthwhile.
She was simply famous for being famous. I do, however, understand her better. She
grew up in poverty in the middle of people who had more. Her first marriage had
her living in shabby circumstances. But rather than work her way to better
things, she used men for that.
I found the book very interesting and well written. I have
to admit that reading about Wallis was a bit tiring because she was such a
dreadful person and an inveterate liar. I give the book five stars, because there
is no way any biographer could make her look good. The author managed to hold
my interest despite my dislike of the subject.
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I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
