Meghan Markle should learn these lessons from late American duchess Wallis
EXCLUSIVE: When Meghan Markle became engaged to Prince Harry, the former Hollywood actress was instantly compared to another American divorcee who married a British royal.
And while it’s easy to find similarities between the women, one royal author insisted they couldn’t be more different.
In 2019, Anna Pasternak released a book titled “The Real Wallis Simpson” about the Duchess of Windsor, who married Edward VIII in 1937. The former king famously abdicated the throne before quietly slipping out of England and marrying the socialite. George VI, Queen Elizabeth II’s father and Harry’s great-grandfather, took over the throne.
For her book, Pasternak tracked down Simpson’s last remaining circle of intimate friends who wanted to set the record straight about her controversial life. In 2020, The Gotham Group announced it will produce a film based on the publication, Deadline.com reported.
American socialite Wallis Simpson and British royal Edward VIII tied the knot in 1937. They remained together until his death in 1972 at age 77.
(Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
The British writer told Fox News there are lessons that Markle, 39, can still learn from Simpson’s life. Simpson passed away in 1986 at age 89.
“The one thing that Wallis never did was that she never spoke out against the royal family and she had far more reason to than Meghan Markle,” Pasternak told Fox News. “In her interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan talked about how there were times where it was unsurvivable. Wallis Simpson once said, ‘Every morning my world goes to pieces on my breakfast tray,’ because after the abdication, she received hate mail and death threats. She became the most hated woman in the world.”
Pasternak pointed out that, unlike the former “Suits” star, Simpson was not welcomed by 1930s Britain when she embarked on a relationship with Edward. Deadline.com shared that the opposition against Simpson was so severe that Edward surrendered the throne so he could marry the woman he loved.
But Simpson never escaped the hatred she faced from the public. In the ‘30s, there were rumors that Simpson was a Nazi sympathizer, The New York Times reported. According to the outlet, Simpson insisted she never tried to influence Edward to regard Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich favorably. The outlet shared there was no reason for Simpson to do so because the royal “already regarded the Germans favorably.”
Mrs. Simpson offers to ‘withdraw’, 8 December 1936. Article on the front page of the ‘Daily Express’ about American socialite Wallis Simpson (1896-1986). Mrs. Simpson’s relationship with King Edward VIII (1894-1972) eventually led to his abdication.
(Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)
In 1940, Edward was given the governorship of the Bahamas, where he and Simpson stayed for five years, the outlet reported. Simpson kept busy working for the Red Cross and raised money for charities. In 1956, she released her memoirs titled “The Heart Has Its Reasons.”
“She absolutely knew that she could not change public opinion,” Pasternak explained. “So she sought to strengthen herself. She later said all that mattered was that she knew the truth of who she was.”
“Meghan is a smart, secured and emotionally savvy woman,” Pasternak continued. “Why is it so important to her to court public opinion? She could easily live out her fairy tale in California with her family. But speaking out only draws more public attention and criticism. I think the one thing she could learn from Wallis now is to never speak out against her in-laws.”
Pasternak shared that, unlike Markle, Simpson wasn’t welcomed by the royal family even after she married Edward.
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(Photo by Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese via Getty Images)
“Meghan was absolutely welcomed into the fold,” she said. “She had this amazing wedding at Windsor Castle with all the royals present. Wallis would have killed for a tiny percentage of the effort that was made to welcome Meghan.”
Pasternak claimed Edward and his mother, Queen Mary, had a strained relationship after the abdication, which Simpson attempted to repair.
“Wallis tried desperately to create healing between Edward VIII and his mother Queen Mary,” Pasternak claimed. “She couldn’t bear it that he was estranged from his family. In fact, she wrote to her mother-in-law, who refused to ever accept her, and said, ‘It’s such a source of sadness to me if I’ve been the cause of separation between mother and son.’ So she always wanted healing within the…
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