Madonna: Wallis Maligned By History
In Madonna’s new film, “W.E.,” which showed in Venice this week to reviews that were mixed-to-negative, Wallis Simpson (later the Duchess of Windsor) is portrayed as a romantic heroine and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mum) as a bitchy sister-in-law. It’s true that the Queen Mum was being bitchy when she once referred to Wallis as “the lowest of the low.” But she had cause: if Wallis hadn’t come along to lure the King, who was forced to abdicate to marry her, then the Queen Mum and her husband, George VI (you know, of “The King’s Speech”), wouldn’t have had to give up their cozy life in favor of the rigors of the monarchy. Mum always maintained that such stresses were part of what sent her husband to a relatively early grave. (Of course, it didn’t help that he smoked!)
