This is my first time writing Simpson Lady and her jewelry, and it is also the last time. The article is relatively long. Everyone is welcome to give valuable suggestions after reading it!
Speaking of the "love species" of the Windsor family, Edward VIII, who "don't love the country and loves beauty", ranks second, and no one dares to rank first.
For half a century, his love story with Mrs. Simpson has been repeatedly packaged. It was originally a social woman who cheated on the American sex offender, who was constantly with her mistress, was irresponsible to the royal family's obligations and was difficult to take responsibility, and was passed down from generation to generation, but it turned into a love story that has been passed down forever. Are you sarcastic?
Mrs. Simpson, whose original name was Bessie Wallis Warfield, was born in 1896 in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the only daughter of the family. Her father died when she was 4 months old. When Wallis and her mother Alice
0, Wallis married Earl Spencer (not Diana's Spencer) Winfield, who was 8 years older than her. Due to long-term separation, the marriage eventually divorced 11 years later.
Of course, in the first marriage, she had no children. Before she got divorced, she got involved with officer Ernest Simpson. Ernest married her on the day of the divorce (1928), and the marriage lasted for 9 years.
Walis and her second husband were still borrowed from Edward's mistress
However, these 9 years were not the 9 years of Wallis and Ernest. Because in the third year after their marriage (1931), Wallis met Prince Edward through Edward's mistress, and became Edward's mistress in 1934. According to Wallis later, she fell in love with Edward at the end of 1934. The two have been traveling together in public since 1935.
936 George V died, and Edward ascended the throne as Edward VIII . He thought about it and wanted his mistress Wallis to become a queen, and proposed to her in October 1936. At this time, Wallis was still Mrs. Simpson. Even if the relationship was gone, he had not divorced yet. And this is the beginning of their "beautiful love story". Do you think it's interesting?
Of course, everyone knows what happened later. Edward was determined to marry Wallis, signed the abdication book, and threw a bunch of messes to his younger brother Albert , who had not been educated by the heir, the father of Queen Elizabeth . Later, George VI , he and Wallis flew together and went to France to settle.
When I was a child, I was ignorant and thought that a man would not even want a divorced woman. He must love her as his life. Those who made him abdicate are big bad guys. What happened to the divorced woman? Is the royal family amazing? Why should I force him to abdicate? When I grew up, I realized that such a man was too ungrateful. He was born in the imperial family and took over the scepter to become king. He enjoyed supreme rights, but was unwilling to give to the country. He also talked about vows with his married daughter. He was really not a man who stood up.
After he abdicated, he married Wallis Warfield, who is the second husband's surname. That year, Edward was 43 years old and Wallis was 41 years old. Compared to their "love", Wallis's jewelry is more worthy and more interesting.
Mrs. Simpson is a very complicated character. Even though I scoff at their "love", even if I was teased by Queen Mother Elizabeth because of "love to cook", "Oh, this is really a special hobby", I do not deny that she is a charming woman. She has never been recognized by the royal family. Even though she has the title of " Duchess of Windsor ", she is not His Highness (HRH), and Edward has been struggling for this for the rest of his life. But her fashion taste is obvious to all, and her jewelry talent is recognized by celebrities such as Cartier , Van Cleef and Arpels , Sotheby's , as well as Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor .
Although the jewelry she owned and wore was not as dazzling as the Windsor jewelry box, it has its own characteristics and contemporary significance. I selected some representative ones, let’s take a look~
01
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101wes, as early as before the relationship between the two was revealed, they had already started to use jewelry to convey emotions. At that time, Edward was not only Wallis, but he might have the most right feeling for Wallis. He gave Wallis a "WE" brooch. This we are both our meaning and the first letter of Edward and Wallis.
This is like a secret that only the person involved knows. Both of them will also use this "we" in their letters. Just looking at the pictures is quite existence. The real thing is smaller, and there are fewer wear pictures that can be found. It is a good idea to get stuck in the collar.
02
In 1935, when Edward was the Prince of Wales, he gave Wallis a Welsh feather brooch.
Welsh feathers are a symbol of Prince of Wales (future king), and the British royal family also has many Welsh feather jewelry ( Diana and Camilla have both worn).
But after all, Wallis was a mistress at that time, and it was difficult to give the real one. Only by customizing the imitation from Cartier, which also conveyed the message that "I ascend the throne in the future, you will be the queen." Later, Edward became Edward VII , but he could not marry Wallis as promised. After abdicating, Queen Wallis' dream was broken, but the brooch was kept and occasionally worn.
This brooch was auctioned after Wallis's death. It is said that Charles wanted to buy it for Diana, but it was missed because the bid was not as good as Elizabeth Taylor's husband. Taylor was also publicly worn during his lifetime.
corresponds to the Welsh feather brooch, and there is also a pair of feather diamond sapphire pendant earrings. The earrings are diamond feathers, and the pendant is a removable water drop-shaped sapphire pendant.
This pair of earrings is also Wallis's iconic earrings. Occasionally, she will wear them with her sapphire pendant necklace, which is quite present.
03
During her time as "Miss Wallis", the famous jewelry she received, in addition to the Welsh feather brooch, there is also a three-piece set of Van Cleef & Arpels ruby, which is a bracelet, a necklace and a huge brooch.
necklace is engraved with Edward's affectionate confession to Wallis: "My Wallis from her David 19.VI.1936". David is Edward!
At that time, he had ascended the throne as Edward VIII and was trying to make his wife who was still someone else's wife become a regular person. He commissioned Van Clerk Arpels to make this bracelet containing 40 Burmese Ruby with the engraved "Hold Tight". This phrase was used by them to encourage each other in difficult times, and it was quite noble.
But obviously Edward's plan was not successful. He violated his oath when he ascended the throne and forgot his own obligations for selfish desires. What followed was a lot of documents to be processed, so he could not spend Christmas with Wallis. In order to make up for her, he commissioned Van Clerk Arpels to make a brooch inspired by holly leaves. It is said that this is Edward's favorite plant. These two brooches are quite existence and Wallis has also worn them many times.
It is OK with daytime clothes or long dresses. Ruby and diamonds together outline a vitality.
04
soon after abdicating, the two got engaged. The engagement ring was a 19.77-carat emerald , made by Cartier. Edward said at the time that emerald represented hope and was a protection for marriage (his) but Wallis seemed not satisfied. In 1958, he sent the ring back to Cartier for secondary processing, not only changed to gold inlay, but also added a circle of diamonds (hot knowledge: Megan 's engagement ring was also changed).
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and the ruby three-piece set are comparable. They are also made by Van Clerk Arpels, and there is also a sapphire bracelet and a pair of sapphire pairs/breasts.
sapphire bracelet was made in 1937. It is very big and rich, and should be considered a wedding gift or something.
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sapphire pairs are worn on the wedding day. Their wedding was borrowed from the castle and there were no royal members to attend. Let’s show it to yourself~
This pair of pairs of broochs are actually quite widely used, especially when wearing a generous collar and a heart-shaped collar, you can just not be on the collar.
07
In 1940, Wallis was already Edward's wife. In order to give his wife a special birthday gift, Edward asked Cartier to make a brooch with Wallis's own design ideas, including red and blue green treasures, citrine , diamonds, etc. However, some of the diamonds on the bird's legs came from Wallis's private collection. The gem color matching is very bold, saying that it symbolizes their passionate love (?). This brooch can be regarded as her iconic jewelry.
Although not everyone can get the "love" story between the two, Edward has been giving Wallis all kinds of commemorative jewelry, whether it is compensation for the royal family that does not recognize her, or she wants to buy money when she has nothing to do, anyway, I can wait for the passerby to see the glittering jewelry.
08
On the 20th anniversary of his marriage, Edward gave Wallis a heart-shaped brooch, which was also made by Cartier. The heart shape is about 34mm x 38mm x 10mm, with bright single-cut diamonds on top and an 18-carat gold crown, which is quite "crowning love".
There are "E" and "W" made of emerald + gold on the heart shape, and there are ruby gold-edged XX (20) underneath. Wallis has not worn this brooch in public for few times. Some bloggers even think she has not worn it publicly, but in the picture below, it seems that this commemorative brooch is shown.
Wallis undoubtedly loves this kind of jewelry that whispers love. Some information says that after Edward's death, Wallis was very fond of this brooch. I guess only the person involved knew whether it was true or not.
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Cartier, Van Cleef Arpels and Wallis can be said to have achieved mutual success. Van Cleef Arpels' zip series was derived from Wallis's suggestion, and Cartier's Cheetah series, and because of Wallis, set off a trend of large cats as jewelry design inspiration.
Wallis's famous cheetah jewelry includes a diamond bracelet and a bald sapphire cheetah brooch.
10
Wallis and Edward's intimacy began in 1934 (although they were stubborn, the jewelry did not tell lies), and it has not ended until now. There is a cross secret bracelet commissioned by Edward to Cartier, which is still telling the story of that year.
This is a platinum bracelet with 22 round brilliant-cut diamonds on it. From 1934 to 1944, Edward added a total of 9 gem crosses to the chain.
Duke of Windsor Edward wrote important moments and sweet words on the back of the cross that only the two of them understood. For example, Edward's younger brother Prince George and Greece When Princess Marina got married, Edward wrote the sentence "WE are too, 25-XI-34" behind the cross. WE is the abbreviation of Edward and Wallis. This message can be interpreted as: "From this day in 1934, Wallis and Edward have also fallen in love."
Wallis wore this chain on the day of her wedding, and in the following decades, she was also her favorite bracelet.
In addition, she also has a large amount of private jewelry, mostly from Cartier and Van Clerk Arpels. For example, this "Three-piece Fruit Tips Set" where she participated in the production (thought). The necklace can be occasionally seen in the Cartier exhibition, and is made of gems such as gold guilloche, amethyst , turquoise , and turquoise .
There are also Cartier aquamarine brooch and earrings worn when she met Edward's niece Queen Elizabeth, as well as gradient sapphire bracelets, gold pendant broochs, emerald necklaces, ruby opening bracelets, pearl necklaces, , ruby necklaces, , and so on.
After Wallis passed away, most of her jewelry was taken to Sotheby's auction, and some even auctioned for a second time. The auction price was quite considerable due to the aura of celebrities, and all this money was used for charity.
You should know that Wallis climbed up all his life, from the officer's wife, countess to the duchess, and even almost became a queen. She loved jewelry, dance parties, and big party, but she did not show her interest in charity like other royal women during her lifetime. She was even absolutely "white supremacy" with Edward and his wife. A hundred years later, she monetized jewelry to do charity. It's a good performance~ This is why the title says that jewelry has a better reputation than love.
In the future, Meghan may become another duchess who is "excluded by the royal family", "controversial dressing idol", "love jewelry and intoxicated by charity", but it is likely that people will not love and hate like Wallis. As for Harry... he is incomparable to the royal family, but he is afraid he will be at a disadvantage when it comes to conveying feelings with jewelry~
