Books by and for independent women

Wallis Simpson by Anne Sebba and Kate Auspitz at Soho Lit Fest

Vilified, erased, forgiven, redeemed? This seems the well-trodden cycle in public opinion toward most individuals daring enough to deviate from the social, political and monarchical norms of inter-war Britain.

Commanding a packed out top room in Soho Theatre, we gathered as part of Soho Lit Fest to hear biographer Anne Sebba and novelist Kate Auspitz thrash out these arguments as they stand in relation to Wallis Simpson; the woman who convinced a King to give up his throne.

Thankfully, public opinion towards “that woman” has eased in relation to the regard in which we hold the Royal family.

Anne Sebba, historian and biographer, first introduces us to her book, That Woman, a historical account that aims to portray Simpson in a clear and factually accurate way, a feat only possible now since the death of the Queen Mother, and the uncovering of writings from Simpson herself.

Assessing the available evidence, Sebba undertakes the unenviable task of breaking down the nationally upheld perceptions of her American protagonist; Nazi, spy, infertile, whore.

What emerges is an impressionable – dim and shrewd in equal measures – insecure young girl who made a mistake. Sebba paints us a picture of the twice-divorced Simpson, who suffered at the hands of her alcoholic and sexually frustrated first husband, then exercised great courage in abandoning him and the $6million she was set to inherit.

While her second marriage didn’t bear these signs of oppression – in fact Sebba uncovers letters that point towards a heartbreaking fondness for her second husband even after her relationship with Edward was public – it is implied that the infamous seducer is little more than a simple pawn in a global bloodless coup of huge patriotic motivation.

Punctuated by fear and apprehension, the inter-war years were unsettled, and upper intelligentsia were prepared to do anything to avoid the crowning of a potential puppet King in Nazi-sympathiser Edward.

Sebba draws the conclusion that the British public, in accordance with basic human nature, greatly feared the unknown foreigner, and for all her knowing-naiveté, this fear was in part born out of Simpson’s sexual maturity and her familiarity with the Shanghai Squeeze and Singapore Grip. The very fascination of a scandal.

Evoking a little more poetic license, Kate Auspitz talks us through her novel, Wallis: My War, a retelling of events as penned by Simpson. Here Auspitz makes it clear to us her aim was to explore the question; why did she have to marry Edward when remaining his mistress would have saved her from public hatred and humiliation?

With all the ingredients of a tour de force spy thriller, Auspitz’s novel seems to plot the twists and reveal the tribulations of a wronged woman, exploited and sacrificed for the good of the Empire who saved Britain from a Nazi King and certain alliance with Hitler.

In these literary attempts to clear her name and shed her evil image, what is revealed are the inadequacies, the ineptitudes and the insecurities of Edward VIII. Thanks to no longer having to serve up such deferential fodder in the name of the monarchy, this historical story now shifts the blame to Britain’s brief King.

Sebba and Auspitz go some way in facilitating Simpson’s full redemption, but they are also wary of not fully condoning her behaviour. In past events that rested on endorsing certain clichés – the femme fatale, the gold-digging seducer – these champions of Simpson’s leave us understanding more of her complex nature, able yet ignorant, and realising that in playing with fire, she wasn’t careful enough in what she wished for.

Lucinda Southern