In defense of the Duchess of Windsor: After the Mail revealed Prince Philip disparagingly called Meghan 'DoW', biographer JANE MARGUERITE TIPETT argues Wallis Simpson could have revolutionized the monarchy if given half a chance
If the late Queen Elizabeth had a warm heart for Meghan Markle upon first meeting, Prince Philip, we heard last week, had a different opinion. It is said that he privately called her 'DoW' – Duchess of Windsor.
This revelation, courtesy of biographer Ingrid Seward, has caused much amusement, at least on the British side of the Atlantic.
Meghan certainly has her detractors, although not as many as those of her predecessor Wallis Simpson in recent decades.
Today, the Duchess of Windsor is best known as a scandalous figure; her reputation was destroyed by its embroilment in the 1936 abdication crisis, something neither the royal family nor the British public have forgiven.
Popularly, Valais remains an adventurer whose ambitious marriage to Edward VIII almost destroyed the monarchy. 'DoW' was not intended to flatter.
Research for my new book reveals a very different woman, but one with talent, charm and, coincidentally, a fair degree of diplomatic skill – qualities that the British royal family could certainly have used then and now.
It seems Meghan was already earning this disparaging nickname before “Megxit” sparked the inevitable comparisons between Prince Harry and his great-uncle, Edward, the Duke of Windsor.
It's true that both men married American divorcees and ended up in exile abroad, although I'm inclined to believe that's where the analogies end.
Prince Philip was right, however: their choice of respective consorts warrants some reflection, albeit not quite in the way he imagined.
Neither Meghan nor Wallis are cut from the mold of traditional royal brides. Slender, American and divorced, they were women who met their princes as successful, established adults.
Their previous lives had been marked by family instability, but their personal – and in Meghan's case, professional – success had marked them as both independent and surprisingly confident women.
Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor, with his bride Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, on their wedding day in 1937 (left) and Prince Harry and Meghan on theirs in 2018
Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, was unfazed by her constitutional ignorance until she reached the point of no return: abdication.
After climbing the American ladder of success, they were seemingly unfazed by the grand British environment they suddenly found themselves in. While their confidence shocked more traditional observers, it endeared them to their respective spouses.
The fact that neither of them knew anything about the world they had suddenly found themselves in seemed to have been unimportant to both of them, at least at first.
Wallis did not suffer from her constitutional ignorance until she reached the point of no return: the abdication. If Meghan is to be believed, she hadn't even Googled Harry's family tree before their first date and thought bowing to his grandmother the Queen was something that only happened on film.
Faced with such deep divisions – and, even in Meghan's case, the rigid expectations of a culture and class (at least those that still rule palace life), acceptance was clearly an uphill battle.
Of course, Meghan got to see a lot that Wallis didn't. She was welcomed into the family by a grand royal wedding, considering the style of Her Royal Highness and offered a career as a senior working royal.
Charles VIII's decision to marry Wallis – a divorced American socialite – led to a constitutional crisis and his abdication
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, attended the Invictus Games last year
Expectations were high initially and many, including the current king, saw the benefits that Meghan's more diverse background brought to the family portfolio.
While it's probably impossible to know what really happened in the breakdown of her relationship with “The Firm,” it seems hard to imagine that a clash of cultures wasn't partly responsible.
At times, Meghan's approach seemed surprisingly informal, even endearing. Why should she be bound by the formality of a royal congress? Does she really have to wear a hat just because the Queen planned to do so on their first (and as it turned out, only) engagement?
Yet this unscrupulous approach sat uncomfortably with those who, more privately, encountered her American overdrive, which – while fundamental to her past performance – was likely ill-attuned to the demands of Kensington Palace.
Adjectives such as 'difficult' and 'demanding' quickly emerged. Such labels, too often passed on to ambitious, career-driven women, also reflect a fundamental breakdown of life behind the palace walls.
But whatever criticisms might be leveled at Meghan of late, there was an undeniable ease and freshness in the way she went about her duties as a working royal, no doubt a product of her background and personality. She was – at first – loved.
The Duchess of Windsor received similar praise during the five years she spent in the Bahamas while Edward was Governor General.
Stylish, charming and known for her ability to captivate a room. Her performance was underrated, but it begs the question of what would have been if she had been given the same opportunities as Meghan.
Wallis might have heralded a new era for British royal women – one that fundamentally, and much sooner, changed expectations of what an acceptable royal consort was.
It might even have allowed for a more modern perspective on the merits of a young Camilla Shand as a suitable future wife for the then Charles, Prince of Wales.
If that other story had played out, Meghan would have been happy to be called the “DoW.”
- Jane Marguerite Tippett is author of Once A King – the lost memoirs of Edward VIII, published by Hodder & Stoughton, price £25