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Meghan Markle and Wallis Simpson: US-born divorcees whose love broke up the British royal family

Both Meghan and Wallis encouraged their better halves to follow their hearts, even if it meant going against the wishes and traditions of their families
UPDATED JAN 17, 2020
Wallis Simpson, Meghan Markle (Getty Images(
Wallis Simpson, Meghan Markle (Getty Images(

Immediately after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they wished to step down as senior members of the royal family, the 38-year-old former actress was compared to Wallis Simpson, another "American outsider" who caused a constitutional crisis that led to the abdication of King Edward VIII in the 1930s.

Queen Elizabeth II, the current reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, would not have had to wear the crown had it not been for her uncle's unprecedented abdication just 11 months after becoming the king to “marry the woman he loved”. The move changed the trajectory of the British monarchy, thrusting Elizabeth's father, George VI, into the limelight as he was forced to assume the vacated throne.

Although the Duke of Sussex's decision to quit the royal family did not create as big of a crisis as his great-granduncle, being the sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, it did give rise to a host of controversies, including his wife being blamed for breaking up the royal family just 20 months after marrying the prince. 

Both Meghan and Wallis encouraged their better halves to follow their hearts, even if it meant going against the wishes and traditions of their families. The stories of their lives were eerily similar.

US-born divorcees

Wallis Warfield was born in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, to Teackle Wallis Warfield, the fifth and youngest son of a flour merchant described as "one of the best known and personally one of the most popular citizens of Baltimore" and Alice Montague, a daughter of a wealthy stockbroker.

Duke (1894 - 1972) and Duchess (1896 - 1986) of Windsor at their temporary home near Ashdown Forest, Sussex after their return from France at the start of WW II. (Getty Images)

She married Earl W Spencer, a navy pilot, in 1916, whom she divorced in 1927. She traveled to England, where she met Ernest A Simpson, a US-born British subject. They were married in 1928 and lived near London.

Wallis Simpson met the-then Prince of Wales Edward in 1931 and after falling in love with him, she filed for divorce from her second husband in July 1936, with the apparent intention of marrying Edward.

Meghan was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Doria Ragland, was an African American, while her father, Thomas Markle Sr, was a Caucasian, making her a bi-racial woman. Her parents divorced when she was six years old.

Although she had difficulties booking a role as an actress early on in her career, her claim to fame was starring in the TV show 'Suits' as a character named Rachel Zane, a paralegal who eventually became an attorney.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex depart Canada House on January 7, 2020, in London, England. (Getty Images)

Markle married actor and producer Trevor Engelson in 2011 after seven years of dating him. However, their marriage concluded in a no-fault divorce in August 2013, citing irreconcilable differences.

How they met their princes

Both of them were real-life fairytales.

After Wallis moved to London with her second husband in the late 1920s, she eventually crossed paths with Edward in 1931 through a mutual friend, Thelma Furness, who was involved with him at the time. The two couples went for a fox-hunting weekend together and that was when they both started developing feelings for each other.

Duke of Windsor (1894 - 1972) and Wallis Simpson (1896 - 1986) on their wedding day at Chateau de Conde, Monts, near Tours, France. (Getty Images)

After they got engaged, Harry said in an interview that a "mutual friend" introduced him to Meghan. "It was just a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other,” Meghan said in the same interview, as the pair did not know about each other during their first blind date. The mutual friend was later identified as Violet von Westenholz, the daughter of a baron, von Westenholz, who was a childhood friend of Harry’s and also worked in public relations with Ralph Lauren, which was how she met Meghan.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wave from the Ascot Landau Carriage during their carriage procession on Castle Hill outside Windsor Castle in Windsor, on May 19, 2018, after their wedding ceremony. (Getty Images)

Public scrutiny

Both Wallis and Meghan had to face their own share of media and public scrutiny after they became romantically linked to the princes. 

The papers at the time, called Wallis a “harlot”, causing “grievous harm” to the monarchy. On the other hand, the Queen Mother described Wallis as “the lowest of the low” after Edward was forced to abdicate the throne and blamed her for her husband's early death.

Meghan had to face a similar line of criticisms after she and Harry announced their decision of becoming "financially independent," after breaking away from the royal family. The harshest perhaps was British broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan. "She split Harry from [brother] William and has now split him from the royal family," he said. 

Royal announcements

Interestingly, even the wordings of the statement issued by Edward was similar to the one jointly issued by Harry and Meghan.

The Duke (1894 - 1972) and Duchess (1896 - 1986) of Windsor in England after an absence of nearly three years, at Major Edward Dudley Metcalfe's country house, Coleman's Hatch, Ashdown Forest, Sussex. (Getty Images)

Edward's statement read: “After long and anxious consideration, I have determined to renounce the throne to which I succeeded on the death of my father, and I am now communicating this, my final and irrevocable decision. I will not enter now into my private feelings but I would beg that it should be remembered that the burden which constantly rests upon the shoulders of a sovereign is so heavy that it can only be borne in circumstances different from those in which I found myself.”

Prince Harry and Meghan pose with their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor during a photocall in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019, in Windsor, England. (Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan's statement read: "After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty the Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment."

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