Wallis & Edward

As a fan of the Monarchy and everything Royal I was really happy with this wonderful presentation of the Monarchy during this slightly difficult and emotional time. It was wonderful to see the ex-King presented in such an emotional way. There was love in that actor's eye, and to act in such a wonderful way is a true asset to any productions cast.

Wallis Simpson is your classic American character. I'm sure she wasn't like this back in the day... a boisterous, bossy and rather annoying woman, slowly becoming a reasonably acceptable character portraying someone who really was stuck in the middle.

All in all, I think this is a very good 'made-for-TV' presentation and I'd recommend it for anyone's 'Royal Viewing Schedule'.

It is impossible to fault this made for TV film - the principals make an attractive couple; the period is well evoked; the settings are suitably glamorous and the supporting cast is particularly strong.

There is a deft touch running throughout: the abdication crisis could have been played in a grinding and maudlin manner but it is handled summarily and almost underplayed.

What particularly convinced was the abdication speech, in the context of the film this "historic given" rang absolutely true. Quite an achievement.

However, it is still a made for TV biopic - the historic characters are necessarily painted a little bland and it is inescapably "light entertainment". There is much humour and subtle-digging at the royal family - but not without affection. Altogether, this film is far better than one could have reasonably expected and far more enjoyable too.

There is some hint towards the end of the narrative, of the sadness of the life of exile that the Windsors led, but that is a whole other movie. There are clear resonances in the movie of Camilla and Charles - I think this is deliberate for the contemporary audience but not overstated. Some of the historical context was a revelation: Churchill considered forming a King's party to champion the cause of Edward and Mrs. Simpson i.e. by no means was the whole county in favour of abdication.

When all is said and done, the story is a real life tragedy out of the Shakespearian mold, and one worthy of the retelling. My mother was at a girls' school at the time - and the whole class listened to the abdication speech in tears. The hold of the story at the time was intense as that other Shakespearian tragedy in our times of Diana.

Viewers with an interest in British history might wish to note that since the first Hanoverian came to the British throne (George I in 1714) it has been occupied by dimwits. These dimwits have fallen into two classes – those like Victoria, George V, George VI and the present incumbent, who saw themselves as the slaves of duty and therefore as ceremonial heads of state did little or no harm, and those like George IV, Edward VII and Edward VIII who kicked over the traces, but did less damage than one might have expected. The 1936 abdication crisis was a crisis only for those who believe in monarchy, in this country a minority of about 25%, according to the 1999 Republic referendum. The story has been told several times before on TV – is there anything new about this 2005 ITV version, apart from the Baltic locations?.

Well, the publicity says there's more of Wallis's side of the story here, but I can't say that's obvious, apart from there being a bit more of Wallis' Aunt Bessie (Miriam Margolyes). Edward is portrayed as the seducer (in a candlelight chalet in winter) but Wallis (nicely played by Joely Richardson) doesn't exactly play hard to get. She had rivals for the post of prince's mistress (Lady Furness and Mrs Ward) whom she easily defeats. At the end she was left with the baby, or at least the immature prince, a duchess without honour exiled to France. Stephen Campbell Moore is about 10 years too young for Edward but his puppy-like demeanour is appropriate. The triviality of the Windsors is shown by the fact that it wasn't the loss of the Crown that irked them so much as the establishment's refusal to give Wallis the title "Her Royal Highness". Diana, of course, had exactly the same beef, but then she was demoted on her divorce. Camilla (for the moment) is a mere duchess, but is also "HRH". Winston Churchill, robustly played here by David Calder, was a principal supporter of Edward just because he was a prince, but then Winston was a rather romantic old Tory.

Nazi sympathies were not uncommon in the British upper classes prior to World War 2 ("those Nazi chappies certainly know how to make the trains run on time") but if an invasion of Britain by Germany had been successful (and it was a close–run thing), Edward, given his sympathies would have been the front-runner for puppet King. Edward was an undistinguished governor of the Bahamas between 1940 and 1945 but the main reason for that appointment was to keep him out of the reach of the Nazis. (Down under we got his younger brother, Prince Henry, who was even dumber than Edward, as GG (1942-1945), but a bit better behaved). After that he and Wallis spent the remaining 27 years of their marriage in very comfortable and well-deserved obscurity in Paris. One is left with the feeling we got lucky.

This production has a nice sheen to it and the 30s' era is well evoked. There are some other good performances, particularly 80 year old veteran Richard Johnston as Wallis' nemesis, prime minister Baldwin, and Julian Wadham as Edward's not exactly loyal private secretary Fitzhardinge.

One can only describe this rubbish as, well rubbish, the writer must have been a relative of Mrs. Simpson to write this drama in such a fashion. I note the decimation of Balomoral Castle was omitted, it would have been called sacking in days of old, but she cleaned out a few rooms, mind you stripping rooms was mild by her other favourite hobby, jewel collecting. Then we have them doing what could be called a state visit to the Nazi party, I thought only the head of state carried out official state visits, and what about the deal they both did with Hitler to put him on the throne as king and her as Queen is Hitler had invaded Britain. What about them dining with Nazis in Portugal while the British Government were trying to get them away from possible Nazi capture, they tried every way possible to get captured. Then we have them as governor of the Bahamas during the war, and hating every day of the post, because the residence was not big enough for their needs, and not enough servants allocated. This was pure and simply a load of rubbish, if the author had went for the truth instead of complete fiction, it might have made it even slightly less boring, but I decided to watch to the end, oh how I wish I'd turned it off after the credits at the start It was an exercise in nothing, as it was no where near to the truth, the only part that was remotely truthful was the abdication speech, well done to the author for that.

This story of a ruptured line of monarchs seems like a very touching love story where the woman is portrayed as a sacrificing and sincere partner. However, most historical material speaks of a different Wallis Simpson--one who was eternally ambitious and actually never recovered from her inability to serve as Queen. In fact, in her own words, "You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance." They did not have the eternal love-flame of romance and it is believed that tolerance on both their parts was a key element in the marriage. History and reality aside, the movie presented a decent story line on its face. Wallis Simpson was no innocent flower. Edward may or may not have regretted his abdication--even to himself--but he became known more for suspected Nazi sympathizing during World War II than any other cause of noble intention. What is probably the best result of the royal mess is that the many interpretations of the love affair and marriage became a magnet for rich and poor alike.