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The Duke of Windsor

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Many moods of Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, born on this day in 1894.

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Edward VIII litograph by Edmond Xavier Kapp as prince of Wales, 1932.

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Love note left by David for Wallis on her 75th birthday, June 19, 1971. Exactly fifty-four years ago today. This was the last of Wallis's birthdays David would be alive for and he seemingly wrote the note for her while she was resting.

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How was the duke of Windsor's relationship with Sydney Johnson like, I am assuming obviously good in the simple sense, since I can't find anything suggesting otherwise?

Everything I've found indicates the relationship was good. Sydney first started working for David in the Bahamas when he was around seventeen and was ultimately promoted to serve as David's valet for the rest of his life. He also would sometimes serve as a butler during parties. Sydney was entrusted with a lot of important duties during the thirty plus years he worked for the Windsors, and was especially valued by them because he handled David's wardrobe and packing, unpacking, and organizing his clothes. In David's mind that was probably the most important job in the household, given how much he cared about his clothes and struggled to function without a competent valet. Sydney would also handle very personal tasks like putting the toothpaste on David's toothbrush for him and leaving it ready in the bathroom for him. (Source: The Windsor Style)

When David died, Sydney stayed by his body and combed his hair in preparation for burial. (Source: Duchess of Windsor by Greg King p. 464) Sydney gave many interviews to the press during the late '80s while he was working with Muhammad Al Fayed at Villa Windsor, mostly related to David's wardrobe and how the household was run, but what little he said about his working relationship with David was entirely positive. His feelings about Wallis were somewhat less positive, but that's entirely justified given she abruptly fired him in 1974 (by which point she was probably not in her right mind) just because he had to take off work early to take care of his children. And overall accounts of people who worked for the Windsors vary wildly; some people loved them and saw them as extremely kind and benevolent employers, some people thought they were a nightmare, and it's about a 50/50 split among those who spoke out as to whether Wallis or David was the more difficult. Sydney's accounts were definitely more on the positive side despite him having an entirely legitimate grievance about how his employment came to an end.

One detail that is telling in terms of how much David valued and appreciated Sydney is that in David's will from 1972 he specified that, if Wallis predeceased him, there were bequests specified for several of the Windsors' servants with Sydney receiving the largest bequest at $30,000 ($234,156.93 in 2025 according to the inflation calculator). (Source: Behind Closed Doors p. 46) Another interesting detail is that Sydney, along with Wallis's maid Anna, was included in a photo in Wallis's memoirs, mentioned by name as the "two oldest members of our staff." (Source: The Heart Has Its Reasons p. 356)

Thanks for asking and have a nice day!

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Why do you think George V didn't force David to marry someone "appropriate"? I know by the end he seemed to have hoped David would never marry and have heirs. But surely there would've been a time? Also how do you think David would've handled that?

Thanks for reaching out! This is a very interesting question.

The fundamental issue was that by the time David came along the era of forced marriage among royalty had mostly died out. By the late Victorian era even 'arranged' marriages only took place after the two involved parties had met and both consented to be married. Even if George V had had the desire and ability to force David into a marriage, he would've struggled to find a girl who's family would go along with it; that sort of thing just wasn't done anymore.

George V did pursue introducing David to suitable princesses starting around 1911, when David was seventeen. He was introduced to Princess Victoria Louise, daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm, and Princess Caroline Matilda of Schleswig-Holstein, the latter of which David expressed some interest in. But the plan was never for him to get married as a teenager, and by the time he was old enough for firm plans to be made World War I had started. There were also widespread rumors of a possible marriage with Grand Duchess Olga of Russia; no serious negotiations were ever made but had the war never happened it's likely he would've been reintroduced to the Romanov children at some point after 1914 to see if there was any attraction there. The one time he did meet the Romanovs, in 1909, they were all two young to see each other in a romantic light but by some accounts he got along much better with Olga's younger sister Tatiana. I actually think personality wise Tatiana would have been a pretty good fit for him, as good of a fit as any suitable royal bride probably could've been.

But by the end of World War I, pretty much all of the potential brides who had been in consideration had lost their titles, lost their lives (in the case of the poor Romanov girls), or married men closer to home. There were still some Protestant monarchies that had marriageable princesses, but the list had gotten much, much shorter. George V and Queen Mary were aware of this, and weren't entirely sure themselves what the best course of action would be in regards to David. So they didn't really push the issue and instead focused on sending David on a series of royal tours that wouldn't have left him with much time to find a wife (much less plan a royal wedding) anyway.

Prior to the war, David was still very immature and sheltered and in many ways looked to his parents for guidance. It's very likely that he would've been open to a royal marriage at that stage in his life. But by the time the war ended, David had become more independent from the rest of his family. During the war he had expressed an interest in marrying Rosemary Leveson-Gower, who was deemed unsuitable despite her aristocratic background because of a rumored history of mental illness in her family and because one of her aunts was a socialist who had had an affair with Edward VII and then attempted to blackmail the royal family to raise money for leftist causes. David himself would later insist he never seriously contemplated marrying anyone prior to Wallis, but he was probably at least on the verge of seriously contemplating it with Rosemary before his parents shut him down and after that point he got it into his head that anyone he really wanted would probably be unsuitable. Then, near the end of the war, he fell in love with Freda Dudley Ward who was legally married to someone else and David had no desire to marry anyone else while he still had feelings for her.

As time went on, George did become more concerned by David's unmarried status, but he had very little leverage to try and make anything happen. In similar cases throughout history, money had been used as an incentive to coerce wayward royal sons into making a suitable marriage. But thanks to his income from the Duchy of Cornwall, David wasn't financially dependent on his parents. He had been given his own household as a bachelor after the war, unlike his younger brothers, so that wasn't an incentive that could be offered either. Because George lacked any real carrot or stick he could use to manipulate David into marriage, when he lectured him it was usually focused around his disapproval of the women David was dating rather than any sort of ultimatum about who he should settle down with. And because David had so little interest in pursuing a suitable marriage anyway, he never even asked what exactly the rules were in terms of who was suitable. David spent much of his life under the impression that only a royal princess would be acceptable because that probably had been the case prior to the war decimating the royal marriage market. Even after David's siblings Mary and Bertie married into the aristocracy, David wasn't sure that would be permissible for him as heir to the throne. It wasn't until 1932, when David was thirty-eight that his father even told him it might be possible for him to marry a non-royal if she was a "well-born English girl." The fact that it took so long for that conversation to happen to me indicates that neither David nor George were pressing very hard on the marriage issue.

As to how David would've reacted if he had somehow been coerced into a royal marriage, that's hard to judge. He didn't think his parents or grandparents had particularly happy marriages which probably played a role in his aversion to seeking out something similar for himself. As much as he adored his grandfather Edward VII, he didn't like how his grandfather's affairs impacted his grandmother or the family as a whole. I think his intention was always to only marry if it was someone he was in love with and could be faithful to. Which makes me wonder, if he'd been coerced into a royal marriage at a young age with someone he liked but perhaps wasn't completely in love with, would he have been able to remain faithful? Would he have been like his grandfather? Or would he have managed to make the best of it, as some other royals did, and eventually fallen in love with his wife? Would Wallis Simpson have still entered the picture at some point? There's really no way of knowing. I think it would all come down to the personality of the wife in question, whether they had any common interests, and how she treated David.

Thanks for asking and have a nice day!

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Who do you think was David’s favorite sibling?

George was definitely David's favorite during the 1920s-1930s when they spent a great deal of time together and had many common friends and interests. As a child David was closer to Bertie and Mary, and after George's death Mary was almost certainly the favorite.

Thanks for asking and have a nice day!

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The Duke and Duchess of Windsor

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where did you find this picture https://www.tumblr.com/kingedwardviii/781565208805163008?source=share

It was printed in Diana Mosley’s biography of Wallis. There are some very interesting and rare photos in that book but unfortunately the quality isn’t great.

Thanks for asking and have a great day!

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David leaving one of his favorite hat shops in London, late 1950s

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The Duke and Duchess of Windsor receiving flowers from children at a welcome ceremony a few days after their arrival in the Bahamas in August of 1940.

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The young Prince Edward with his siblings Albert, Henry, and Mary.

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Easter gifts David gave to Wallis in 1939 and 1947.

Left: Pocket watch with a compass on the other side. Inscribed in David's handwriting: "No excuse for going in the wrong direction Easter 1939"

Right: Platinum locket engraved with the cypher of the Duchess of Windsor, the interior featuring a photo of Wallis and David and the inscription: "All the things I said each year in the other locket 1935-1946 1947-More & more & more Wallis from David Easter 1947"

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The Duke and Duchess of Windsor on the terrace at Villa Windsor, 1950s

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did the duchess of windsor entertain guests alot and go out to parties as often as people say? was it like every night or was there nights it was just her and edward home alone? thank you!

Hi! Thanks for reaching out!

Wallis and Edward alternated between hosting dinner parties, eating out with friends (either at someone's home or a restaurant) and eating alone, just the two of them. Which they did most often varied from week to week depending on where they were, the time of year, which of their friends were in town, and other practical considerations.

Ralph G. Martin's biography of Wallis states that in 1937-39 they averaged two dinner parties a week and dined alone or ate at friends' houses, doing the latter more frequently. Greg King's biography of Wallis specifically mentions that they did often dine alone together in the 1950s and '60s, and especially on Sunday nights when their staff were off work and Wallis would cook for them herself.

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Since 'With Love, Meghan' is premiering tomorrow on Netflix, I thought it'd be a good time to post a reminder that Meghan Markle isn't the first American-born royal wife to have an interest in cooking.

Wallis Windsor's cookbook cookbook “Some Favorite Southern Recipes of The Duchess of Windsor” was released in 1942 as a charitable endeavor to raise money for the British War Relief Society with a forward written by then First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

It's a little-known fact that Wallis actually wrote a second cookbook titled "My Personal Cookbook" in 1958, though tragically that one was never published and is only known about because a draft manuscript was found among her papers and auctioned off in 1993. With so many unique and creative recipes featured in her first cookbook, it's anyone's guess why she may have struggled to find a publisher for the sequel.