The Real Wallis Simpson: A New History Of The American Divorcee Who Became The Duchess Of Windsor

  • Author: Anna Pasternak
  • Narrator: Laura Kirman
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Duration: 11:37:48
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Synopsis

Wallis Simpson is known as the woman at the center of the most scandalous love affair of the 20th century, but in this “unputdownable…lively and detailed” (The Times) biography, discover a woman wronged by history with new information revealed by the latest research and those who were close to the couple.

The story that has been told repeatedly is this: The handsome, charismatic, and popular Prince Edward was expected to marry a well-bred virgin who would one day become Queen of England when he ascended the throne. But when the prince was nearly forty, he fell in love with a divorced American woman—Wallis Simpson. No one thought the relationship would last, and when the prince did become king, everyone assumed that was the end of the affair.

But to the shock of the British establishment, the new king announced his intention to marry the American divorcée. Overnight, Wallis was accused of entrapping the prince in a seductive web in order to achieve her audacious ambition to be queen. After declaring that he could not rule without the woman he loved, the king abdicated, and his family banished him and his new wife from the country. The couple spent the rest of their days in exile, but happy in their devoted love for each other.

Now, Anna Pasternak’s The Real Wallis Simpson tells a different story: that Wallis was the victim of the abdication, not the villain. Warm, well-mannered, and witty, Wallis was flattered by Prince Edward’s attention, but like everyone else, she never expected his infatuation to last. She never anticipated his jealous, possessive nature—and his absolute refusal to let her go.

Edward’s true dark nature, however, was no secret to the royal family, the church, or the Parliament; everyone close to Edward knew that beyond his charming façade, he was utterly unfit to rule. Caught in Edward’s fierce obsession, she became the perfect scapegoat for those who wished to dethrone the troubled king.

With profound insight and evenhanded research, Pasternak pulls back the curtain on one of the darkest fairy tales in recent memory and effortlessly reveals “a host of intriguing insights into a misunderstood woman” (Kirkus Reviews).

Chapters

  • 001 RealWallisSimpson Title

    Duration: 43s
  • 002 RealWallisSimpson Prologue

    Duration: 23min
  • 003 RealWallisSimpson Ch1

    Duration: 01h03min
  • 004 RealWallisSimpson Ch2

    Duration: 55min
  • 005 RealWallisSimpson Ch3

    Duration: 52min
  • 006 RealWallisSimpson Ch4

    Duration: 49min
  • 007 RealWallisSimpson Ch5

    Duration: 49min
  • 008 RealWallisSimpson Ch6

    Duration: 44min
  • 009 RealWallisSimpson Ch7

    Duration: 59min
  • 010 RealWallisSimpson Ch8

    Duration: 57min
  • 011 RealWallisSimpson Ch9

    Duration: 35min
  • 012 RealWallisSimpson Ch10

    Duration: 55min
  • 013 RealWallisSimpson Ch11

    Duration: 38min
  • 014 RealWallisSimpson Ch12

    Duration: 50min
  • 015 RealWallisSimpson Ch13

    Duration: 49min
  • 016 RealWallisSimpson Epilogue

    Duration: 11min
  • 017 RealWallisSimpson Credits

    Duration: 49s