Biography
Friends and Family
Alice Montague
[Mother]
::
Teackle Wallis Warfield
[Father]
Trivia and Quotes
Quotes
 “All my friends know that I`d rather shop than eat” “I never make a trip to the United States without visiting a supermarket. To me they are more fascinating than any fashion salon.”
Perspective
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
“Fill what`s empty, empty what`s full, and scratch where it itches.”
Saying
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"Never explain, never complain."
Saying
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"For a gallant spirit there can never be defeat."
Courage
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"A woman`s life can really be a succession of lives, each revolving around some emotionally compelling situation or challenge, and each marked off by some intense experience."
Life
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"I have always had the courage for the new things that life sometimes offers."
Attitude
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"Mine is a simple story. It is the story of an ordinary life that became extraordinary."
Biography
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"In my opinion, there is only one important rule about clothes: it is that they should be so simple and unobtrusive as to seem unimportant."
Style
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"I am not a beautiful woman. I`m nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else. If everyone looks at me when I enter a room, my husband can feel proud of me. That`s my chief responsibility."
Aesthetics
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"You have to wear black, aging or not, because when the little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place."
Style
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"The most important thing is to take care of your face. The other end you sit on."
Appearance
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"My endowments were definitely on the scanty side. Nobody ever called me beautiful or even pretty."
Appearance
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"A fool would know that with tweeds or other daytime clothes one wears gold, and that with evening clothes one wears platinum."
Aesthetics
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"I, who had sought no place in history would now be assured of one-- an appalling one, carved out by blind prejudice."
Destiny
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance!"
Commitment
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"I`m trying to collect money for a third clinic, but I hope you don`t mind if I buy one or two dresses."
Wit
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"All my life I`ve disliked hot weather and coming to Nassau has been like taking a permanent slimming cure."
Travel
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"If ever the life of two people together was beset with problems-- problems, mind you, manufactured by our enemies-- it was ours."
Obstacles
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"You must always look like you stepped out of a bandbox."
Appearance
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"I married the Duke for better and for worse, but not for lunch."
Wit
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"Nobody has the right to come to a party and sit there like a piece of furniture."
Manners
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"Old people like me are such bores, the way they forget things."
Age
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"It would take four ordinary duchesses to make one Duchess of Windsor."
Belief
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"No man is ever allowed to touch me below the Mason-Dixon line."
Rules
(Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor)
"A woman can never be too thin or too rich."
Belief
(Duchess of Windsor)
Trivia
Her main interests were housekeeping, dancing and walking with her pugs.
In addition to her conversational skills, Wallis had other allures. Allegedly using sexual techniques that it is said she learned in Chinese bordellos, she satisfied the prince`s idiosyncratic sexuality. And she drew on her friendships with German leaders to sanction his fascist sympathies.
The Duke loved to shower her with one-of-a-kind jewelry. So great was his love, in fact, that he stated in his will his wish to have those jewels removed from their settings after Wallis`s death, lest her pieces be collected and worn by lesser women. That was the only wish of his that Wallis seems to have countermanded. The terms of her will stated that her jewels were to be auctioned off for the benefit of the Pasteur Institute. That auction, held in 1987, produced 50 million dollars for AIDS research.
If Antoine of Paris is to be believed, she had her hair done three times a day-- once in the morning before donning a little hat, again in the afternoon before the races, and in the evening before going out.
The Duchess of Windsor was one of the twentieth century`s most stylish and elegant women. Along with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Diana, Princess of Wales, she became one of the most celebrated fashion icons of her age. Wallis was named to the world`s best-dressed list for over four decades, a singular accomplishment equaled by no other woman.
The 1998 nine-day auction of property from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor`s former Paris home - owned by Harrods` boss Mohamed Al Fayed - raised more than £14m for charities. A piece of their wedding cake fetched $28,600.
Winston Churchill called the Duke of Windsor`s love for her `one of the great loves of history.`
She caused a furore in 1937 when she was seen as a guest of Hitler.
At Edward`s funeral she was allowed to stay only one night at Buckingham Palace before journeying back to Paris and obscurity.
One of her allies during the abdication crisis was staunch monarchist Winston Churchill - perhaps because his mother was American too. One anecdote recalls a lunch he enjoyed with playwright Noel Coward in which Churchill said:"Why shouldn`t he marry his cutie?" To which Coward replied: "Because England doesn`t want a Queen Cutie!"
Wallis`s engagement ring was the massive Mogul emerald, set in a platinum ring. It was engraved on the back: "WE are ours now, 27 x 36. {October 27, 1936}".
King George VI deprived Wallis of the style of Royal Highness as a way to punish her for the Abdication. But, Wallis had little doubt as to who bore ultimate responsibility for the deprivation: the two Queens, Mary and Elizabeth. Wallis, in fact, was frequently to refer to her sister-in-law Elizabeth as "the Dowdy Duchess." The dislike was mutual, and it was Elizabeth, Britain`s beloved Queen Mother, who, more than any other person, maintained the ostracism of the Windsors and the vendetta against Wallis.
Before they started favoring pugs, the Windsors kept cairn terriers. The first was called Slipper, or Mr. Loo. He was soon followed by Pookie, Detto and Prisie. The dogs` meals were specially prepared and brought on platters to the Windsors` private apartments, where either Wallis or David would spoon the food into their silver bowls themselves.
Wallis usually went through her wardrobe twice a year, selecting gowns and outfits she no longer wanted. In the 1960s, Diana Vreeland managed to convince Wallis to donate many of her gowns to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; over the next decade, dozens of suits and dresses made their way to New York, including the Duchess`s wedding dress by Mainbocher.
When she learned that her formidable enemy Queen Mary had died, Wallis`s reaction was a curious one. Upon hearing the news, she immediately burst into tears. For the rest of her life, she would keep a small photograph of the Queen on a table in her bedroom in Paris.
Her first words were not "Mama" but "Me-Me."
So little did she know of the political situation and the King`s power and status that during the Abdication Crisis she is said to have asked, "But, David, can`t you remain Emperor of India even if you are no longer King of England?"
Wallis kept a small gold notebook inscribed with the poem "King`s Cross." The staff called it her "grumble book." In it, she noted any ideas she might have for the next dinner party as well as any comments on service or presentation: "Too hot," "Too cold," and "Cigars handed at wrong time."
Wallis was exacting in the cleanliness she demanded. Paper money was either ordered new and crisp from a bank or wash cleaned and ironed by the housemaids; coins were always washed.
By marrying His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor, Wallis would automatically become Her Royal Highness Princess Wallis, The Duchess of Windsor. This was prevented by a juridically absurd document known as Letters Patent, the effect of which was that the ex-King, Prince Edward, would henceforth bear the title, style or attribute of Royal Highness-- but that designation would be withheld from his wife and from any children born to the marriage. Wallis would be known simply as the Duchess of Windsor. Wallis, therefore, became the only wife of an Englishman to be disallowed her husband`s rank.
For all her precision in supervising gourmet dinners for guests, her own favorite food in her last years was a juicy rare hamburger.
Was Time Magazine Person of the Year - 1936. She was the first woman chosen.
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