Beauty Icon Wednesday: Portrait of A Lady...?

Name: Wallis Spencer the Duchess of Windsor, born Bessie Wallis Warfield June 19th, 1896; died April 24th, 1986

From Madonna's new film, W.E.

Wallis Simpson and her former King

Known for: most recently, the real-life inspiration for Madonna's film contribution to this year's Toronto International Film Festival (she not only directed but also wrote the screenplay); but mainly for being that American woman - twice-divorced - that somehow managed to steal the heart of the King of England.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I am a total Anglophile, as well as an avid fan of the Royal Family from a very young age. When I was seven I got up at 5:30 in the morning, as most people did, to watch Diana walk her 40-foot dress train down the aisle to marry her Prince. But I’m not sure that most people had named their goldfish after the new Royal couple, which was one of my main reasons for watching. It was a fairytale at the time, but one that did not have a happy ending for couple or goldfish. 

But, as usual, I have strayed far from my original point.

I can remember first hearing about Wallis Simpson from a book whose name has long been forgotten. Some fluffy teen novel from the Eighties whose main character was some shy mouse of a girl named for this woman whose powers of seduction were so great as to have caused a King to abandon his throne. Naturally, my preteen self was completely enthralled.

From all accounts, Wallis Simpson was not what one might consider a great beauty. The pictures here seem to attest to that. However, what she may have lacked in 'beauty' she more than made up for in charisma, charm and presence. Personally, I'm a big fan of any woman who can sweep in and make a man worship at her feet. That goes double if that man happens to be royalty. But it would seem that this epic romance was also without its happily ever after - after his royal abdication, Edward married his beloved Wallis without any members of his family to support him, and the couple were treated as social pariahs for much of their lives together. 

Still, you have to admire Wallis for her sheer ambition and ability to claw her way from obscurity to one of history's most infamous women. 

If you're just as intrigued by her story as I am, you might want to check out this little article from our friends over at the BBC.