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Wallis, Duchess of Windsor was the American wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor. After two unsuccessful marriages, she allegedly became the mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales in 1934. Two years later, after the prince's accession as King-Emperor of the British Empire, he proposed marriage. The monarch's desire to wed a twice-divorced American, with two living ex-husbands and a reputation as an opportunist, caused a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom and the Dominions, which ultimately led to the king's abdication in order to marry "the woman I love". After the abdication, the former king was created Duke of Windsor by his brother, George VI; Edward married Wallis six months later. Following her marriage, she was formally known as the Duchess of Windsor, without the style "Her Royal Highness". Before, during and after World War II, the Windsors were suspected by many in government and society of being Nazi sympathisers. In the 1950s and 1960s, she and the duke shuttled between Europe and the United States, living a life of leisure as society celebrities. After his death in 1972, the duchess lived in seclusion and was rarely seen in public. Her private life has been a source of much speculation, and she remains a controversial figure in British history. (more...)
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