I've gained a certain respect for the Duchess of Windsor per se. I think that Edward VIII was not really the right man for the job, *especially* for what was coming, and what happened showed that. She was willing to go away from him but he was not willing to give her up. She spent the rest of her marriage living very well, yes, but oftentimes doing little more than babysitting a fussy boy and having to look divinely happy for everyone around. She was not a shrew, but people were angry about it all, and of course the English were kept in the dark by their newspapers about what was going on practically up to the point of the abdication, when suddenly they heard about ... this woman. (When we consider the latest pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, we know that such a situation could not occur today!) So of course it was easier to blame this American divorcee for what happened than their own childish monarch. However, as I said, this was one abdication that was fortuitous, because the capable brother rose and carried a nation on his seemingly frail shoulders while the feckless former king practically consorted with the enemy. And when the toll of the promotion proved too much for the former Duke of York, his elder daughter stepped forward, as eventually she would have ... but can you imagine "Uncle David" going to all those places in Africa etc.?

However, I have always admired Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She was glamorous in an upper-crust English way until she joined the royal family; she was a sprightly debutante and turned down Prince Albert several times before saying yes, not that she didn't like him, but that because, although the royal family was not then the fishbowl it now is, it *was* very restraining and she was already the beloved youngest daughter of a top British peer, being courted by eligible dukes and marquesses ... what did the royal family really have to offer *her*? However, Albert won her over eventually, and once she loved him she loved him entirely, which was good for the two of them, but ultimately (and which could not have been forseen at the time, when the Prince of Wales was the most eligible bachelor in the world) would be very good for Britain and dare I say for what we used to call "the Free World". She became a bit ... mmm frumpier as she passed 35, but that was what ladies in middle age and beyond were supposed to do; however she always wore charming colors and fabrics.

She never forgave Wallis (and the Duke of Windsor) for what she considered, almost certainly correctly, the early end of her husband's life. The Windsors were two huge, glaring exceptions to her famous hospitality. I like the picture you have on your site post, Tat ... I can just imagine Wallis crying behind her veil, feeling both lost and freed, and Elizabeth walking behind her, eyes boring into that tight black bun, thinking, "Go on, cry, at least you had another twenty years ... bitch." (Yes, the dear QM is recorded as having referred to the Dss of Windsor that way on more than one occasion!)

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Strange as it sounds, I would equate their relationship with queens Charlotte and Marie Antoinette; they kept constant contact with one another, but the business of monarchy (you know, that little tiff that started in the colonies) would force them to take the stands of their husbands. Same thing with the Duchess of Windsor and Queen Elizabeth. Yes, they were cordial when Edward and George were princes. But the notion of Edward marrying a divorcee - being an American also put a little dint into the problems, as well as her assumed Nazi sympathies - alarmed the establishment. The Duke & Duchess of York (George VI & Queen Elizabeth) had to take a stand on the issue and prepare for what would be the first volunteer abdication in British history.

Despite a more noble pedigree, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was very much more of a modern woman. She was the first commoner to marry into the royal family in more than 300 years (the last one, of course, being Anne Boleyn) and had the casual-meets-royal personality. It is no wonder George V wanted to push her and her future husband into the forefront. No wonder her wedding to the Duke of York was the first to have been celebrated at Westminster Abbey and declared a public holiday since Richard III & Anne Neville - a tradition that continues today.

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That was pretty much my take on Elizabeth until I read Lady Colin Campbell's book which made me re-evaluate. Of course I take everything I read with a grain of salt but it certainly has shifted my opinionof the woman.

Campbell claims that Elizabeth really wanted to marry David (Edward VIII) which was the real reason that she kept refusing Bertie (George VI). She finally had to admit defeat & accept Bertie so it's no wonder that she had a grudge against Wallis from the very beginning. This was a woman that really needed to be the centre of attention and she loved being in the fishbowl as long as she was the biggest fish!

Campbell also claims that it was Elizabeth and her conservative set that manipulated the situation so that David was forced to abdicate. If this is true then she had no one but herself to blame (or congratulate as the case may be) for Bertie's early demise.

Elizabeth comes off as being very shrewd & powerful and hiding it all under a thick layer of charm.

Mind-bending isn't it?

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She certainly had the common touch and loved to play to a crowd whether it was big or small or out in the wilds of Northern Ontario - lol. That's how my grandmother managed to snap photos of her!

It seems that she was a lot like Princess Di in that wayandthiscertainly was a wonderful characteristicespecially during WWII.

As for being modern, apparently she really wasn't and stuck firmly to most of the old ways (which helps explain her early backward fashion sense). George V loved her for being an old-fashioned girl. If we are to believe Lady Colin Campbell a conservative group (who didn't want to modernize the monarchy) was formed around her and they helped to oust David who was all for making changes.

Perhaps David, with all his personality quirks, really wasn't as weak as he was made to appear? Perhaps he was just out maneuvered by people that wanted to hold on to their power & positions, Elizabeth being the nexus of that group? It's an interesting avenue to explore!

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I must say that in my opinion, Her Majesty the Queen Mother is absolutely glamor ous and utterly fabulous. She is one of my ultimate idols and I find her to be such as inspirational human being. She, being royal of course, is in a completely different league to Wallis, and I like to keep it that way. Paired with the fabulous geniuses that are Norman Hartnell and Cecil Beaton, the Queen Mother wipes the floor with all others. She was the epitome of British sophistication and was absolutely devoted to her duty as Queen and not only mother of her two daughters by Mother of Great Britain. Even though she didn't wish to be Queen, she went into in with complete sense of duty and with great enthusiasm. Hitler at one point said she was the most dangerous women in the world. And he was absolutely right. The Queen Mother was a force to be reckoned with, she stood for the Old Guard, that doesn't make her boring. She understood what it meant to be a member of the royal family, which is why she refused to marry Albert so many times although she did wish to. She disliked change and she wished for things to remain as they always had been, and I salute her in this. It is hard to stand against the tide when the world is changing so quickly around you.

One of these changes was Wallis, whom I utterly dislike. I have no care for her at all, so I'll not speak of her much. Wallis was never to be a member of the royal family, it just would never of happened. Even Wallis knew this. She would never be a HRH either. Her Majesty probably did play some part in the abdication crisis, but I think it is absolutely unfair to think that she herself was the cause of His Majesty's death in 1952, that is utterly wrong. The fact is 'One does not simply abdicate', the Queen Mother knew this, the Queen knows this even now. To abdicate is to throw everything that has been given to you back into their faces. Though I do heartily agree that Edward would have made a terrible King compared to George VI. And Wallis, well, she would never have been Queen. It's inconceivable. George VI and Elizabeth were utterly devoted to their country and I have the utmost respect for both of them entirely, as I do my present Queen and all her predecessors and successors to come.

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Thanks for the additional pictures! That first portrait by Philip Alexius de Lszl is my favouriteimage of her.

Personally I don't feel that Elizabeth & Wallis were in different leagues. After all, as her daughter Princess Margaret wasprone to say, Elizabeth "wasn't born royal" she just married into it.

They both loved to have a good time& could be very charming when it suited them; they both wanted to be the centre of attention; they both really wanted their own way. No wonder they clashed!

I do believe that Elizabeth was always angling to be Queen. As I mentioned before, she was hoping to marry David but ended up with Bertie and took it from there. I think this makes her a much more interesting woman. I had thought that she was someone who just kind of drifted through her life but it appears that she was actively making things go according to her own plan (and in some cases those plans were very long ranging).

On the other hand, I don't think that Wallis ever wanted to be Queen and would have been quite content to remain David's matresse-en-titre. Instead she found herself married, vilified andexiled. I have a lot of sympathy for her.

With regard to Bertie's rather early death. Though it'spossiblethat stress was a contributing factor, he was a heavy smoker which lead to lung cancer and arteriosclerosis. I think it's a marvelous piece of PR that Elizabeth hated Wallis because of Bertie's early death. She had all kinds of reasons to hate Wallis but I don't believe this one is basedon fact.

In the end, Elizabeth made for a good Queen especially during the war years and lived a long and seemingly happy life. Wallis's life, particularily the later years, really wasn't that pleasant.

I think it's fascinating to look beyond the stereotypes of "kind-hearted aristocrat" and "grasping gold-digger" to try to find the real women underneath.

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