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That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, by Anne Sebba
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The first full scale biography of Wallis Simpson to be written by a woman, exploring the mind of one of the most glamorous and reviled figures of the Twentieth Century, a character who played prominently in the blockbuster film The King's Speech.
This is the story of the American divorcee notorious for allegedly seducing a British king off his throne. "That woman," so called by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, was born Bessie Wallis Warfield in 1896 in Baltimore. Neither beautiful nor brilliant, she endured an impoverished childhood, which fostered in her a burning desire to rise above her circumstances.
Acclaimed biographer Anne Sebba offers an eye-opening account of one of the most talked about women of her generation. It explores the obsessive nature of Simpson's relationship with Prince Edward, the suggestion that she may have had a Disorder of Sexual Development, and new evidence showing she may never have wanted to marry Edward at all.
Since her death, Simpson has become a symbol of female empowerment as well as a style icon. But her psychology remains an enigma. Drawing from interviews and newly discovered letters, That Woman shines a light on this captivating and complex woman, an object of fascination that has only grown with the years.
- Sales Rank: #61790 in eBooks
- Published on: 2012-02-14
- Released on: 2012-02-14
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Booklist
The story has been told many times but never seems to get old. Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American, took up with King Edward VIII of England, and, in 1936, he abdicated to marry her, which he couldn’t have done had he remained on the throne. Forever afterward, they drifted aimlessly as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The central question has been, as Sebba poses it, “How could a middle-aged, not especially beautiful, rather masculine-looking woman have exerted such a powerful effect on a king that he gave up his throne in order to possess her?” Wallis met and mesmerized the future king when he was still Prince of Wales, and “it was her assurance, poise and buoyancy that the Prince admired, as he could not see the underlying insecurity.” The author makes it clear that Wallis never intended to become the queen, but once she embarked on her affair, she found it impossible to back out, and when the prince suddenly became king, marriage was not what she had planned. Sexual proclivities and domineering personality traits all factor into Sebba’s picture of the Windsor relationship. For popular biography collections. --Brad Hooper
Review
“Brought to brilliant light in this responsible, respectful biography.” —Booklist on Jennie Churchill
“A rigorously objective book… Fascinating.” —Financial Times on Mother Teresa
Review
A historical biography that doesn't get dull or confusing, this new look at the life of Wallis Simpson is a fascinating insight into the not-too-distant history of the Royals WOMAN MAGAZINE
Most helpful customer reviews
325 of 348 people found the following review helpful.
Wallis still remains a mystery
By P. B. Sharp
Many years ago, in December 1936, my mother had me by the hand as we went Christmas shopping in Robinson's department store in Los Angeles. Carols were loudly playing from speakers all over the store. Suddenly the music stopped abruptly and all the shoppers stopped what they were doing as though they were playing "statues." Everybody gazed at the silent speakers. Presently a man's melodious voice broke the silence. It was Edward VIII renouncing the throne for the woman he loved. My six year old heart was thrilled and I became an Anglophile on the spot. I had to grow up to be disillusioned by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor but I am still an Anglophile.
"That Woman" is the first biography of Wallis written by a woman but author Anne Sebba does not get closer to the real Wallis than the men. At the beginning of the biography the author plunges right in by defining what Wallis was all about. What made her tick. She also describes in detail the outfits and jewelry the Duchess wore which will appeal to women readers more than to men, I think. But the dress instincts of Wallis defined her. For her appearances were everything.
Her father died just five months after her birth and although her mother remarried the family was often living in near poverty in Baltimore. Wallis, however, had a sugar-daddy, her Uncle Sol who sent Wallis to an exclusive girls' boarding school called Oldfields. Wallis thirsted after the trappings of wealth, of society and the company of men. She was boy-crazy at a very young age. She wanted to pull herself up by her bootstraps if necessary and enter a higher social plane. Ambition to be somebody was a driving force in her character.
Author Sebba suggests but in no way proves that Wallis might have had some form of DSD, a Disorder of Sexual Development. There are many variations of the syndrome and in the future Duchess' case, she may have been lacking a uterus although perfectly normal-looking on the outside. Wallis did what many girls of this disorder do- tried to be as alluring to men as possible, to be as ultra-feminine as possible to compensate. And part of that compensation would be to give sexual partners world class orgasms. At the same time they would have a manipulative hold on their lovers. However fitting the character of Wallis into this syndrome is not justified by the facts.
Many observers have commented on Wallis' appearance- flat and angular, with large hands and feet and a strong male-like jaw. Persons with DSD have to fit themselves into a world where social order clearly defines the two sexes . A person not clearly male or female had a "dangerously disruptive presence." Wallis would compensate by being ultra-enticing to men, and marrying very young. If Wallis did, indeed, have some form of DSD, she was driven by her genes to behave exactly as she did. But again creating the character of Wallis to fit a mold is not justified. That Wallis was abnormal in any way is very unlikely.
The character of Edward is revealed throughout in the book. The author speculates that the Prince may have been autistic or have the lesser malady, Asperser's Syndrome but this seems far- fetched, as autistic individuals have trouble with verbal communication, and Edward spoke well. There is no substantiation whatever for Edward's being autistic. The Prince, however, seemed to have stayed as emotionally immature as an adolescent when he was well into his thirties. He appeared to require his girlfriends to be mother-figures or to dominate him. Many samples are given of Wallis' humiliating him before guests, bossing him around like a lackey. At a party he would follow her around like a dog. Edward was very likely sadomasochistic according to the author.
Edward's refusal to give up Wallis created a constitutional crisis and the atmosphere in England at the time is well described in the book with members of parliament in a dither. Wallis was frequently threatened but finally, after the abdication, the couple was married in the Chateau de Cande near Paris. The rooms of the chateau were filled lavishly to the brim with peonies and other spring flowers but precisely seven English people attended the marriage ceremony. Seven, for the ex- king of England. Although the title Her Royal Highness was refused to be awarded to Wallis, in their future homes the Duchess was addressed by the royal title and visitors were obliged to curtsey.
Most of the book, however, takes place before the couple is married and the result is an unbalanced picture of the Windsor's lives. After the wedding the pace is fast-forward.
On returning from Nassau where Edward was sent as governor to get him out of the way of World War II, the Windsors spent the rest of their lives attending parties and entertaining. Wallis was fully aware of her celebrity and once complained that Marilyn Monroe had pushed her off the front page and who was Marilyn's publicity agent? They could have done so much for the world but chose a vacuity that is staggering.
Author Sebba had access to many unpublished letters and private conversations that peg the Windsors and their world but there is very little new in this biography. What people thought of the royal pair is revealed in many quotes throughout the book such as: [Wallis] was "an evil force... full of animal cunning" and [the Windsors] were" tiny twins with large bottles of drink." It is an irony that the highly sociable Duchess became a bedridden recluse the fourteen years left to her life after the Duke died. But she will not be plowed under by the bulldozer of history. People will speculate forever just what Wallis did in the bedroom to capture her Prince. It's hard to like her but the whole world should be grateful to her for removing Edward from the throne."That Woman" is interesting enough but there are better biographies of the Windsors out there.
56 of 58 people found the following review helpful.
Not much new--same old questions go unanswered...
By Cynthia K. Robertson
I really wanted to like That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba. About 20 years ago, I was on a big Edward and Wallis-kick and read every book that I could find on the Windsors. When I read that Sebba used new source materials, I expected something exciting. Instead, That Woman proved to be a big disappointment, and all the old (big) questions remain unanswered.
The story of Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson is very well known. King Edward VIII gave up his throne in 1936 to marry the twice divorced Wallis Simpson. Edward (called David by his family) was handsome, charming, self-absorbed, vain and immature. He also had no sense of duty. His father, King George V, predicted that after his death, his son would ruin himself in 12 months. Edward's refusal to give up Wallis created a constitutional crisis that led to his abdication. His brother, Bertie, ascended to the throne as King George VI. Afterward, Wallis and Edward lived a frivolous, unproductive and unfulfilling life in exile. They were never accepted by the Royal Family, they never moved back to England, and Wallis was never awarded the title Her Royal Highness. Their life was a "mismatch between public glamour and private anguish."
Sebba touches on many key questions about Wallis and Edward, but unfortunately, never provides real answers. Was Edward homosexual or bisexual? Did he have some sexual-physical limitations? Did Wallis suffer from a chromosomal abnormality? Was she really attracted to homosexual men? Did she learn sexual tricks to please a man while living in Shanghai? What truly happened to Queen Alexandra's jewels--especially her emeralds? And how far did Wallis and Edward go to help the Nazi cause? The author focuses most of her attention on the time leading up to the marriage of Wallis and Edward. She zips through their married life in a superficial manner. The controversy with the Windsors and homosexual heir Jimmy Donahue gets merely two paragraphs. An entire book has been written about that situation. Sebba also claims that "Wallis was utterly genuine in her desire to disappear from the King's life, if only to preserve her own sanity rather than from motives of altruism or to protect the King let alone the institution of the monarchy." If she was really "genuine," she could have stopped her divorce proceedings. The author also claims that Wallis never wanted to be queen. Again, I don't believe that for one minute as Wallis certainly liked living like one. She especially loved the jewels, the clothes, and the other perks of royalty. In fact, I believe that she loved all those trappings more than she ever loved Edward.
Sebba quotes quite frequently from other biographers of Wallis and/or Edward. My advice is to skip That Woman and read the books by Michael Bloch, Philip Ziegler, Greg King, Charles Higham, or Ralph Martin.
89 of 96 people found the following review helpful.
The lady from Baltimore
By wogan
Anne Sebba hits many of the moods and ideas of the era of `That Woman', such as the belief that tuberculosis was an embarrassing disease, especially for an upper social strata family like Wallis' family. We begin at her birth and some of the unknowns about that and her father's frail health. Sebba has completed much research, including papers and letters just now open to view; however the results do not uncover much new information. This reads a great deal like other works published about the Duchess of Windsor, including `The Heart has its Reasons', which is quoted frequently.
What is contained in this book though is the extensive speculation regarding the Duchess' supposed chromosomal abnormalities- her masculine traits and the rumors of her activities during her time in the Far East where she is rumored to have learned many of the methods used in the local dens of iniquity. Very little good is said about the Duchess in these pages. She is described by most as crass and vulgar, naughty when she was young, hateful and poking fun at the Duke of Windsor after they were married.
At one point the author steps into the narrative to tell how she was able to read some just released papers, but again, there is not anything stunningly different from the other books written about this `love affair'. What are done well are the descriptions of the attitude of the British people toward the monarchy and the complete obliviousness of both the Prince of Wales and Wallis on the ramifications of their affair.
Even though the subtitle line states that this is the life of Wallis Simpson, most of the book (210 pages out of 283, an additional 60 pages has notes and an index) is devoted to the time before her marriage to the Prince of Wales-Edward VIII and the negotiations concerning her divorce from Mr. Simpson and the turmoil surrounding the abdication. The rest tells of their `exile' to the Bahamas in WWII and then their residence in Paris during the post war years. For more information on this later part of her life, one would have to look elsewhere.
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