My Favorite Royal Couple

This week A&E ran a three part series on Victoria and Albert. Since I had planned to watch it, but forgot, I am quite disappointed. I'd always thought of Victoria and Albert as a very loving and strong couple despite the situation they lived in. Let's face it; there aren't many men - especially in that time period - who would have played out the role of number two in such a dignified manner. Though his wife very much adored him, the courtiers could have done without him and his influence over the Queen. They were a couple who grew closer as time passed which is shown by the many privileges Queen Victoria saw fit to bestow on him during his lifetime, such as the title of Prince Consort. There were many aspects of their relationship, including the love and respect they showed each other, that have always made me believe that theirs was a true love match. Also, there are Victoria's diaries and letters which contain such vivid passages about her love for Albert and Albert's untimely death of typhoid fever as this, "to see our pure happy, quiet domestic life, which alone enabled me to bear my much disliked position, cut off at forty-two - when I had hoped with such instinctive certainty that God never would part us, and would let us grow old together ... - is too awful, too cruel!" What about the other royal couples that have come since? Who would I say is my favorite couple?

Well, I really can't count Edward VII and Alexandra as they were a couple in the sense of duty and not in their personal lives where they had so little in common. Their son, George V, and his wife, Mary, were a great couple. Though formal to each other in person, they did share some very affectionate correspondences. All evidence supports the belief that they were quite devoted to each other in every way throughout their lives together. Both seemed to put duty before personal feelings, both piously performed their duty to the monarchy, both portrayed the austere, Victorian demeanor as opposed to the more gay Edwardian of their immediate predecessor. The Duke of Windsor recalled that his mother, Queen Mary, referred to Victoria as "the Queen" as if there was never another which is apparently a sentiment shared by her husband as well. Individually, and basically as a couple, they radiated little of the warmth and familiarity that Victoria and Albert did in their portraits. Thankfully we have their writings, the recollections of their children and a few remarks in the broadcasts made by George V to inform us of the deep affection they held for each other.

George and Mary's children also seemed to fare well in the mate department. Their two eldest sons are remembered as Kings and as men who were dearly devoted to their wives. Their first born, David/Edward VIII, took the throne for a brief eleven months before abdicating for "the woman I love." Their second son, Bertie, George VI, proposed three times before gaining the hand of the woman he loved, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons were wed in 1923. It is believed that the then Prince Albert ardently pursued Elizabeth as much for her family life as for her beauty and charm. As the ninth of ten children, Elizabeth was raised in a loving home with a relaxed atmosphere that was quite opposite of the rigid, formal home he was raised in. As the Duke and Duchess of York, they were called upon to do their rounds of royal duties relishing their quiet home life of parlour games and spending time with their two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. It is said that Elizabeth's devotion to her husband helped him overcome his stammer and that his new found confidence relieved him of the all consuming fear of public speaking that had plagued him throughout his life. On the occasion of their Silver Wedding Anniversary, April 26, 1948, the King made a broadcast to the people in which he stated, "I make no secret of the fact that there have been times when it would have been almost too heavy but for the strength and comfort which I have always found in my home." Sadly their union was severed on February 6, 1952, by the event of George VI untimely death.

Which leads me to his elder brother, Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor who also rebelled against his austere upbringing by choosing to give up the throne for love. As Prince of Wales he was a popular figure who traveled the world in support of his nation. He was also allowed to participate in World War I though admittedly not to the scale that he wished. He visited and showed compassion for the truly down trodden which brought him reprimands from his father and others who saw his compassion for the common man as a direct attack on the government and their policies. His family worried for at forty he was the only member of his immediate family who had yet to find a partner and settle down. They would have worried more if they only knew what would be the outcome of his relationship with Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson - Mrs. Simpson. Mrs. Simpson was a married woman who was already divorced from Mr. Earl Spencer. A socialite from Maryland, she embarked on her second marriage to Ernest Simpson by moving to London where her social circle broadened to include trips to "The Fort" as the then Prince of Wales called his bachelor pad. Over the course of several years, the Prince began to rely heavily on Mrs. Simpson. Her current husband, Earl Spencer, agreed to allow the divorce on the grounds of his infidelity after the Prince promised to take care of her for all of her life. His graciously stepping aside caused quite a commotion, as it was now believed that the newly appointed King Edward VIII would marry this twice-divorced American and try to make her his Queen. Wallis fled to France to avoid the onslaught of negative public reaction to her relationship with the king begging him to forget her and keep his throne. On December 10, 1936, Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication witnessed by his three brothers: Albert Duke of York, Henry Duke of Glouster and George Duke of Kent. On December 11th the former King addressed the nation. He said in part, "But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love."

In June of 1937 the now Duke of Windsor married Wallis Warfield. For a brief period they lived in the Governor's Mansion in the Bahama's. They lived out the rest of their lives in a rented home in Paris and eventually bought a country home, "The Mill", where the Duke could indulge his passion for gardening. For the most part they traveled the globe with the social seasons of New York, Palm Beach and Paris. They were a couple with all the magic of Hollywood with the Duchess making the best dressed lists and her famous jewelry collection being copied by the 'wannabes' of the day and even woman of today who like me enjoy owning a piece of what feels like Camelot. Their devotion to one another finally earned them respect in their twilight years though Wallis was never granted the courtesy of being HRH which weighed heavily on the former King. He died in 1972 of lung cancer and she passed away in 1986. They have been my favorite royal couple since I first saw them as a small girl in black and white on the television news. That day my mother told me their fateful story and I have been intrigued and captivated ever since.

Who is your favorite royal couple and why? Is it Elizabeth and Phillip? Sarah and Andrew? Prince and Princess Michael of Kent? Victoria and Albert? George VI and Elizabeth? The Duke and Duchess of Windsor? George V and Queen Mary? Write and let me know. It will make a great Speakers Corner.

All the best,