The Woman He Loved: The Story of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor

Author: Ralph G. Martin
Stars: 4
Review by: MandyApgar
A biography of the former King Edward and his wife, Wallis Warfield, a couple who caused one of the biggest scandals of the last century. Edward, called David, was prince of Wales when he met the Baltimore raised divorcee at a party. On her second husband, the then Wallis Simpson was chic, conversational, and lively. And David fell for her completely, with the couple beginning a relationship shortly thereafter. When David became King, he had a large problem in that he could not marry a divorced woman, and wound up abdicating in favor of his younger brother Albert. Wallis did not wish him to give up, and was devastated as she knew people would blame her for her whole life, but upon their marriage the couple worked together quite well. David's imperiousness acting as counterpoint to Wallis' street smarts, they made a very good pair despite being shuttled around the world as the royal family decided what to do with them, and stayed married for nearly 35 years until David's death from cancer. A very well done book, it shows well how strong Wallis was as a woman and helpmate to her husband(s), and goes well into David's mercurial character - especially his single man crusade to have his wife recognized with a royal title (which Parliament and the late Queen mother had denied to her illegally). It is a shame though that this was made before several papers were disclosed detailing the full relationship between David and Hitler. The former being a known Nazi sympathizer (which the book goes into), he caused a lot of trouble with his attitudes and actually offered Hitler to help push his brother off the throne provided he be made a ruler of sorts again. But it cannot be faulted for not presenting evidence that wasn't available until the 80s. The book's only real fault is in presenting negative personality traits in an odd manner, harping on some instances and ignoring others. Quotes are presented from David claiming he was kind and unteasing to Albert, which he famously was not, especially in the subject of Albert's stammer. But overall the book was exceptional.