No one knows that Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, abdicated by King Edward VIII of England in order to marry her. She has always appeared in front of people's eyes as a fashion icon, and even after her husband's abdication, they were still sought after by celebrities and aristocrats, living a luxurious life unimaginable to ordinary people.
However, over time, history has lifted the veil of truth.
The last years of Wallis Simpson's life were not rosy, and her life in a Parisian mansion was almost hell.
In 1972, after the funeral of former King Edward VIII of England, Wallis returned to Paris.
Since then, she has spent her old age in France, relying on the inheritance left by her husband and the allowance paid by the Queen herself.
Funeral of Edward VIII in 1972
The Duchess of Windsor is clad in black veil
They owned a luxurious villa in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, affectionately known to Edward VIII as the "Windsor Cottage". Rented to the couple by the city of Paris at a symbolic rent, the villa is not a cottage, but is actually an almost miniature version of a magnificent royal palace, with even the street lamps on either side of the entrance gate decorated with the duke's crown.
Although the Duke of Windsor ceded his private royal estate in England to his brother George VI when he abdicated in 1937, he still had enormous wealth.
For many years, they lived a life of luxury and carefree, often attending French and American parties.
They rented the 37th floor for a long time at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, and even the furniture has always been present in the hotel. Every year when they visit, the hotel is furnished with the Dukes' own furniture to ensure that they can enjoy a comfortable living environment.
This lifestyle makes it not difficult to imagine how much wealth the former king owned.
The former king and duchess of Windsor had excellent taste
The two turned Windsor Cottage into a real royal palace
Now, Wallis is the sole heir to the former king, and she has amassed a fortune over the years, including countless fancy dresses, brands including Chanel, Givenchy and Dior, and some jewelry that is extremely valuable.
Her life in Paris began very comfortably, everything went well, and despite some loneliness, the Duchess had a large army of servants, including English lawyers, cooks, porters, maids, drivers, and even barbers who served her specially.
However, over the years, in order to maintain an extremely thin figure, Wallis has hardly followed the diet of a normal person, and she has adopted a very extreme method of weight loss, that is, drinking vodka in small sips. Now, she's starting to show some of the early symptoms of Crohn's disease.
Wallis has never gained weight
Many women of her generation used various extreme methods to lose weight
Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, the most obvious symptom is abdominal pain, but it may also cause other symptoms, such as diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, etc.
Due to poor health, Wallis began to rely more on the help of staff. She had two secretaries and hired a French lawyer named Suzanne as a consultant.
It was like Wallis and Suzanne were coming from two very different worlds. Wallis loves to socialize and has become a fashion icon with her slim figure and taste, while Suzanne has always maintained a scruffy dress and a serious and cold personality.
This is a real photo of Suzanne
Because she was so controversial, the British also staged a call
The drama of the last years of "The Duchess"
Below are the stills
During Christmas 1972, 76-year-old Wallis accidentally fell out of bed, and although it was very painful, she thought that it was just a small fall and that she would be fine. However, she did not seek medical attention in time and did not realize until after Christmas that she had broken her hip bone and had to be hospitalized for surgery.
It was during Wallis's hospitalization that Suzanne found an opportunity to gradually control her.
She first convinced Wallis, who was weak and confused at the time, that her English lawyer, Godfrey Morley, was trying to defraud her of her property, and Wallis believed the lie and fired Godfrey. Next, Suzanne uses rhetoric to get Wallis to appoint her as the sole legal representative.
Between 1975 and 1978, Wallis suffered severe intestinal bleeding, which caused her health to deteriorate dramatically. The other two secretaries left, and there was no one to check Suzanne anymore, and her power reached its peak.
Wallis was in need of support in her old age
It was also photographed by reporters through the glass
Looking sadly out the window
- Her first step was to isolate Wallis from her friends, who Suzanne always claimed was too tired or sad to see them.
- In the second step, Suzanne gradually dismissed Wallis's staff, including the cook, porter, driver, and hairdresser, leaving only the maids and nurses.
The couple has many friends
There is also a dog that is considered a child
In the end, it was also sent away
Wallis began to suffer from atherosclerosis.
In pain, she lamented to the nurses, hoping that God would take her away. Suzanne began to suggest tranquilizers to Wallis, which resulted in a horrific drug addiction. Subsequently, Wallis began to suffer from memory loss and almost became unable to take care of herself, she struggled to move, and sometimes she could not even speak.
She became a prisoner in her family and lived in deteriorating conditions. The hairstylist who had taken care of her no longer visits, and she no longer uses expensive creams.
Wallis languished in that bed for years, tormented.
At the age of 81, she shouted to Suzanne with all her might, "I hate you!" Wallis paid a huge price for this sentence.
From that day on, Suzanne became more ferocious and did whatever she wanted. She told Wallis that they had no money to sustain themselves because of the high cost of treatment. Suzanne then sold millions of pounds worth of Lady Windsor jewellery without Wallisse's permission.
In addition, Suzanne's greed reached its peak. One of Wallisse's valets discovers the love letters between Wallis and the Duke before their marriage, and although Wallis weakly orders the valet to burn the letters as soon as possible, Suzanne ignores them.
She not only kept the love letters, but also published them for profit.
She then began selling silverware and porcelain from the Windsor cottage.
Wallisse's refusal to sign the documents authorizing the sale was also useless, and the sale of such property took place right under her nose from the time Wallis was alive until her death.
Wallis is completely imprisoned in her mansion bed, powerless to stop everything.
Although the nurse at night tried to communicate Wallisse's plight to the queen, she was unsuccessful. The nurse had taken pictures of Wallis lying in bed. In the photo, only her head can be seen exposed above the sheets, and there are countless instruments in the room, sustaining her life.
In April 1986, Wallis was finally relieved when James Leo, a clergyman from the American Cathedral in Paris, awarded her the Dying Sacrament.
With so much suffering, the news of Wallisse's death was a relief for her and her friends.
A friend of Wallis said: "I'm so glad she passed away. In fact, I even wish she had died years ago. ”
Although her death ended her suffering, her death was not treated with the respect it deserved.
Her funeral took place in Windsor, lasting less than half an hour, with little to everything to mark the pomp and ceremony of the royal family's death.
She was buried next to the Frogmore Mausoleum, attended only by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Princess Diana and eight of Wallis's assistants and friends.
The Queen Mother once called Wallis "the lowest person", so the Queen asked her not to attend the funeral.
According to Princess Diana, the Queen shed tears when Wallis was buried. She claimed it was the only time she saw the Queen cry.
This also became the beginning of Prince Harry's book "The Spare Wheel", when he was waiting to attend Prince Philip's funeral at Frogmore Gardens near Windsor Castle.
It was there that he thought about the people buried in the royal burials, such as Queen Victoria. But there was also Wallis and her husband, former King Edward VIII.
Harry pondered whether the distance the Queen had established between them and the rest of the family was the final "punishment":
The remains of Wallis and Edward were placed under a low-hanging Suzuki tree. However, they were isolated from the rest of the royal family, forever separated from each other, and were "exiled" after death.