Since Day 1, the Windsors and the royalists have been trying to force a comparison between Wallis Simpson and Meghan Markle. They claimed that Prince Philip was “reminded of Wallis” when he met Meghan. The courtiers went out of their way to put Meghan in a Rolls Royce associated with Wallis. Wallis Simpson was the American divorcee who married King Edward VIII and became the Duchess of Windsor when he abdicated. Meghan is the American divorcee who married a prince, got mercilessly abused by the royal system and GTFO with her husband and children. Wallis was a Nazi sympathizer, Meghan is a Democrat, a lifestyle influencer and former actress. From the way these British people rant and rave, you’d think that Harry was the heir to the throne and some American hussy led him to ruin. Sally Bedell Smith is the latest royalist to make some absolutely unhinged comparisons:
The Duchess of Sussex has the same “narcissistic and controlling” quality as Wallis Simpson and married a similarly “weak” man, a biographer of the Royal family has claimed. Sally Bedell Smith said there were clear parallels between the Sussexes and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, with both relationships ruled by “domineering” wives. Bedell Smith, an American, is the author of a biography of George VI, the Duke of Windsor’s brother, and his wife, the late Queen Mother.
Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival, Bedell Smith said that the breakdown of relations between Princes Harry and William had echoes of the difficult relationship that the king, known as Bertie, had with his errant brother.
“There are similarities. The Duke of Windsor did a lot of harmful things,” Bedell Smith said. “It’s different – Harry was never going to be king – but I think there are similar feelings of betrayal that have resulted in William, in particular, being furious with his brother, and with good reason. They had a difficult childhood but there was a period of time, as was the case with Bertie and David, when they were very close. And an American woman, in each case, came into the picture and changed the dynamic of the whole thing.”
Bedell Smith, who is American, went on: “In some respects, Meghan and the Duchess of Windsor have similar qualities: very narcissistic, very controlling, very dominating. And if you read [the Duke of Windsor’s] letters, you can see how weak he was and how much he needed a domineering woman, and it feels as if Harry is somewhat the same way.”
She said that the Duke of Windsor threw the monarchy into turmoil over his “obsession” with Wallis Simpson but the abdication “delivered Britain from an irresponsible king” and replaced Edward with a king known for his diligence and decency.
This is so disgusting, this kind of attack on Harry’s character and the appallingly casual way Meghan is described as a controlling, dominating narcissist. If Meghan really was some domineering, image-obsessed narcissist, surely she would have raised holy hell when the smear campaign against her began in 2018? Surely she wouldn’t have just meekly waited it out, hoping that things would eventually get better if she showed people that she was desperate to fit in with Harry’s world? That’s all she did for two years – try to fit in, try to do royal work, try to survive in an institution which was actively trying to destroy her.
Also – I don’t doubt that the Duke of Windsor was an incredibly weak and compromised man. But I’m old enough to remember when there were widespread fears within the institution that Charles was the most like his uncle, in character, temperament and his need to throw everything away and do irreparable institutional harm, all for a deeply unsuitable woman (Camilla).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.