King Edward's affair with "sweetheart" before marrying Wallis Simpson
As the only British monarch to abdicate voluntarily, the story of King Edward VIII is not to be missed.
In 1936, King Edward VIII – who was the brother of Queen Elizabeth's father – rocked the British monarchy after he expressed his wish of marrying twice-divorced American woman Wallis Simpson. As head of the Church of England, Edward was advised against tying the knot with a divorcee, and his proposal was met with opposition from the religious institution and most politicians in the Commonwealth.
After failing to find a solution, Edward finally abdicated his throne in December – making Queen Elizabeth's father King George VI of England – and left for Europe to marry Simpson the following year. The couple, who became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, stayed together until Edward’s death in 1972.
However, before the marriage, Edward also had a series of affairs with married women. One of them was English socialite and textile heiress Freda Dudley Ward, who Simpson once described as “my husband’s first true love”.
Dudley Ward first met Edward, then the Prince of Wales, in 1918 during an air raid in London, when she had been married for five years to Liberal politician William Dudley Ward. The two soon became smitten with each other and began their relationship.
In the letters to Dudley Ward, which were later sold at Sotheby’s New York, the prince repeatedly avowed his love. “'I love you love you so so madly & desperately,” he wrote in one of the correspondences. “I worship & adore you my sweetheart & cant bear being away from you.”
He called her his “Sweetheart & Tormentor” and “my little Fredie” while signing himself as her “little slave” and “little parpee” (puppy). He would also phone her four to five times a night, and would reportedly become bereft when the line was busy or she was out of the house.
Soon the affair became well-known among the high society, with Winston Churchill once commenting, “It is quite pathetic to see the Prince and Freda. His love is so obvious and undisguisable.”
Dudley Ward’s marriage with her politician husband was dissolved in 1932. She enjoyed the prince’s company for a couple more years until their relationship was abruptly ended.
In 1934, she called the St James’s Palace after a few weeks of not hearing from the prince. However, the operator informed her, “I have orders not to put you through.”
Sotheby’s expert Marsha Malinowski said even though Dudley Ward was “admired by almost everyone in the prince’s circle”, she knew “their relationship wasn’t going anywhere and never would.”
Since then, the two never spoke or wrote to each other again. According to the New York Times, the prince had become attached to Simpson, who did not favour any contact with old girlfriends.
Dudley Ward went on to marry Pedro José Isidro Manuel Ricardo Monés in 1937, but they ultimately split up in 1954. She died in London in 1983 at the age of 88.