CHATEAU de CANDE (1) - EDWARD AND WALLIS

Trigger Warning : VBCW Historians should look away now. This post clearly comes from an alternative time line, one where Edward VIII did not raise his Royal Standard in the Mall, Mosley did not become his appointed "Prime Minister", and Britain did not descend into an uncertain Civil War. Instead, it appears, Edward VIII tamely abdicated, and was then taken into exile in France aboard a British destroyer.....good grief.....

It is 3rd June 1937, and the wedding day of the Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII, King and Emperor) and the Duchess of Windsor (formerly Mrs Wallis Simpson, formerly Mrs Wallis Spencer, formerly Miss Wallis Warfield) at the Chateau de Cande in the Loire Valley, France. After the wedding ceremony, the happy couple emerged onto the front steps of the Chateau for formal pictures:

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Chateau de Cande, 3rd June 1937.
None of the Royal Family attended the wedding, and some days previously
(27th May 1937), King George VI had informed his brother that the 
Duchess of Windsor would not, upon her marriage, be accorded the title "HRH".

The Duke and Duchess in close up.

...and colourised....

The happy couple with the Duke's best man, "Fruity" Metcalfe.

another colourised photograph, reverse view.
The photographer is within the entranceway
of the Chateau, looking out upon the same steps and estate.

The couple with their wedding guests - a generally sorry lot of hangers on, perhaps
exemplified by the presence of Randolph Churchill, son of Winston (right). Between
the Duke and Randolph, Mrs Fern Bedaux, chatelaine of Cande. More helpful detail
and the full guest list HERE

A closer image. Randolph to the right of the photograph and to the left, Wallis'
redoubtable Aunt Bessie.

Looking down and......

....later, after the wedding lunch and changed for departure.
The Chateau de Cande, now owned by the French State following the deaths of
its previous owners, Mr and Mrs Bedaux, (in 1944 and 1972 respectively)
is open to the visitors of today...

87 years later, a helpful tourist practises a "royal wave" at the entrance

to the Chateau de Cande...

and "steps in to history" (or at least steps on history,
or on alt-history) at the Chateau de Cande.

HRH the Duke and (not HRH) the Duchess of Windsor, same spot,
87 years before.

Notes

(1). The formal photographs of the wedding were taken by Cecil Beaton; the informal photographs by (amongst others) "Baba" Metcalfe, wife of "Fruity", daughter of George Nathaniel Curzon, one time Viceroy of India, and very close friend of the very married Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, 1938 - 1941

(2). An amazing and colourised moving film of the Duke and Duchess on their wedding day is on YouTube HERE. Baba Metcalfe can be seen taking some of the above photographs, and there is a suitably 1930s musical accompaniment!

"ROYAL" CHRISTMAS CARDS

On rare occasions, the dimensional streams are rent or intersect in strange ways - and all kinds of random objects are thrown into the world of Hereford1938. Prepare to be astonished, therefore, by what follows - clear evidence of the existence of the multiverse. Apparently, there is at least one parallel universe in which the Very British Civil War never took place......instead, however difficult it might be to believe, Edward VIII chose a life of abdication and wasteful exile in preference to leading his troops into battle across Great Britain:

King Edward VIII and Queen Wallis - or the strangely titled
"Duke and Duchess of Windsor" ?

In this bizarre parallel universe, Edward VIII married his Wallis - but was then hastily bundled off  by the British Establishment to become Governor of the Bahamas.....

Blown in from the parallel universe - a 1940 Christmas Card from "Edward and Wallis Windsor"
at Government House, Bahamas.

.....and then retired to a comfortable exile in Paris:

Christmas Cards from Parisian exile - the lifelong result of this Edward's
 decision to abdicate rather than fight for his throne.

Thankfully, Hereford1938 does not have to contemplate this heresy, but will continue to battle out the historical events of the Very British Civil War next year and - deo volente - for many years to come. Still, we are happy to accept Christmas Greetings from anyone, most particularly so if (at least in our universe) they are decidedly royal...

28mm EDWARD VIII and QUEEN WALLIS

Following Man Ray's efforts with Mrs Simpson, here is Phil Robinson's later (and 28mm) version of Edward VIII and, by now, Queen Wallis, in the VBCW:

Partizan 2012 Special Figures - Edward VIII and "That Woman"

A different version, plus further information about uniforms and these 28mm Partizan figures, can be found HERE

WALLIS SIMPSON by MAN RAY

Man Ray may now be best known as a Dadaist and Surrealist, but during the 1930s he was also a conventional society photographer. No surprise, then, that he photographed Wallis Simpson:

Wallis by Man Ray, 1935.

The Society Lady of 1935. Wallis was in her late thirties at this point -
and married to Ernest Simpson.

Wallis by Man Ray, 1936. A very different look, either commemorating
Wallis' "Nights in Shanghai" or prefiguring her ""Very Fascist" fashion phase.

Man Ray's WIKI is HERE

WALLIS SIMPSON (BEFORE THE PUBLIC SCANDAL)

Academic historians still argue as to the importance of Mrs Wallis Simpson (as she then was) to the outbreak of the Very British Civil War. For some, she was the principal cause; to others, only a proximate cause. Most agree, however, that she was a causa sine qua non.

For a lengthy period, the British Press voluntarily censored itself about the relationship between Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson. The American Press, however, was not so restrained:

An original US Press Photo of Mrs Simpson on 15th October 1936 (12.30 pm)
transmitted by wire 1st November 1936

    

The reverse of this photograph reads:

'WALLY' AT A COCKTAIL PARTY

LONDON...A NEW PHOTOGRAPH OF MRS ERNEST "WALLY" SIMPSON, FORMER BALTIMORE, MD, BEAUTY, WHOSE RISE FROM A BALTIMORE BOARDING HOUSE TO FRIENDSHIP WITH KING EDWARD VIII CAUSED A BUZZ OF GOSSIP THAT HAS BEEN INTENSIFIED BY MRS SIMPSON'S FILING OF SUIT FOR DIVORCE FROM HER WEALTHY BARRISTER HUSBAND. MRS SIMPSON WAS PHOTOGRAPHED HERE AS SHE ATTENDED AN AFTERNOON COCKTAIL PARTY."

Wallis Simpson obtained a decree nisi against Ernest Simpson on 27th October 1936. The British Press' self-censorship broke down on 3rd/4th December 1936, leaving Edward VIII to make his fateful decision during the night of 7th/8th December 1936. The timeline to the Very British Civil War had begun..

EDWARD VIII UNIFORM REFERENCES

Following THIS POST providing uniform references for Oswald Mosley, leader of the BUF and "Prime Minister" during the VBCW, some uniform details for his King:

Edward VIII in "civvies", arm in arm with his "Queen", Wallis Simpson.
The King wears a characteristic double breasted suit, but with the
remarkable solecism of a high fronted waistcoat beneath
(or worse, a V-neck jumper).

Same photoshoot, King and "Queen" in demi-profile.
The King's "V neck" is here pronounced. Such is fashion.

Much more interesting - Edward VIII in uniform. VBCW historians
argue that this is a "notably Fascist" uniform of Edward VIII's own design,
high-collared and jet black, often worn when inspecting BUF troops during
the VBCW. Historians of the "alternative timeline" (of sad reality)
claim the uniform to be that of the Scots Guards, while others argue
for the Rifle Brigade.

Same photoshoot, the King now joined by "Queen Wallis". VBCW historians point to Wallis'
jet black dress, extraordinary jewellery and "faux leather driving gauntlets" as indications of
her BUF favour, complementing the King's own "very fascist uniform". Historians of the
alternative timeline point out that she was, in all probability, simply "fashionably gloved and
ready for cocktails".