Wallis Simpson THE OTHER AMERICAN DUCHESS

THE TRUTH ABOUT WALLIS SIMPSON – AND HOW SHE COMPARES TO MEGHAN MARKLE

- Stephen Downie

Two American duchesses. Two divorcees. And two glamorous women who rocked the royal boat when they fell in love with their men. Meghan Markle is being compared to her predecessor Wallis Simpson who, like the Duchess of Sussex, was at the centre of a royal scandal.

Yet Meghan and Wallis are very different people. “In my view, Meghan cannot hold a candle to Wallis Simpson,” Anna Pasternak, author of The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson, tells New Idea Royals. “If there was one word for Wallis it would be dignity.”

Wallis – an American socialite and double divorcee – began an affair with Edward VIII, leading the king to abdicate in December 1936, which forced them to live in exile in France.

“People say what’s happened with Meghan and Harry is a repeat of the abdication saga,” Anna says. “But the crucial difference was that Wallis wanted Edward to stay in the royal family and did everything in her power to do that, whereas Meghan wants Harry out [of the royal family].”

The Sussexes caused a storm of controversy in January when they effectively quit the royal family for life in Canada.

“She doesn’t want privacy, she wants more exposure and she wants her voice,” Anna says of Meghan. “She felt silenced within the royal family and she wants to be heard.”