The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, was buried alongside
her husband on this day in 1986.
Simpson was an American socialite in her second marriage when
she met her future husband at a party. She became his mistress. It became clear
that he intended to marry her as soon as her second divorce was complete,
sparking a massive scandal in Britain now known as the “abdication
crisis.”
Church of England leaders and the British establishment
maintained that the king could not marry a divorced woman who still had two
living ex-husbands. The king’s government ministers concurred and found
Wallis’s personal behavior unacceptable. In addition, many Britons were
reluctant to accept an American as their queen.
Wallis fled to France during this time to avoid heavy press
coverage. On December 11, 1936, Edward delivered a BBC broadcast saying he
could not do his job without the support of “the woman I love.”
King Edward VIII abdicated his throne to be with her; the couple was married on June 3, 1937.
The king’s decision to leave his throne for Wallis Simpson changed British history. His brother, George VI, succeeded him to the throne and led Great Britain through World War II. Upon his death in 1952, he was succeeded by his oldest daughter, Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth II, now ninety-four years old, is the
longest-reigning monarch in British history.
The king who abdicated his throne for the one he loved
Scripture tells of another monarch who left his throne out
of love. Paul described this event: “Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking
the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in
human form, he humbled himself by becoming…
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