She was so ill in her final years that her death was seen as a blessing. Wallis Simpson became the Duchess of Windsor, after marrying the man who chose love over duty.
As the Abdication crisis reached boiling-point in the dying days of 1936, was Wallis Simpson ready and willing to be bought out of her forthcoming marriage to King Edward VIII?
In October 1970, the 21-year-old Prince Charles met his great-uncle, the erstwhile Edward VIII, at his Paris home. Above: Charles pictured at the Duke s home in May 1972, just days before his death.