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Multiple things can be true about Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, all at once. She was the victim of a particularly vicious and long-running smear campaign. She was an American divorcee who was deemed unsuitable for the heir to the British throne. She had legitimate ties to Nazi officials, and she and Edward had cozy relationships with many high-ranking people in the Third Reich. Wallis probably never believed that she would cause Edward VIII’s abdication and that she and Edward would end up in exile for the rest of their lives. All of that is true, from what I’ve read over the years and from the historical record. Well, there’s a new book about Wallis called Her Lotus Year, about how a British spy planted stories about Wallis and her seductress adventures within British society:
Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who married Edward VIII plunging the British monarchy into turmoil when he abdicated in 1936, was the victim of an extraordinary disinformation campaign. The plot was masterminded by a British spy, who characterized her as a libertine who learnt an exotic sex technique called “The Shanghai Grip” in a Chinese brothel.
A new book claims that a fabled briefing document full of salacious stories about Simpson known as the “China Dossier”—a copy of which has never been found but was allegedly passed around high society—was the work of an “incredibly powerful” intelligence officer based in Shanghai named Harry Steptoe.
Supporters of Meghan Markle, another American divorcee who married into the royal family without entirely happy consequences for the institution, are likely to see parallels with establishment efforts to discredit Wallis. Although Meghan was outwardly welcomed into the family, Meghan herself complained that she was the victim of a “smear campaign” when she was accused of bullying by palace operatives, and her and Prince Harry have both alleged that the media have long colluded with the palace to sully their reputations.
Simpson lived in China in 1924 with her first husband, Earl Winfield Spencer Jr, whom she split from while living there. She subsequently spent several months in the country as a single woman. A report in The Times of London says that the titillating tales in the dossier included claims that Wallis, when living in China, had been a p–n model and had visited brothels to learn a sex technique supposedly called “the Shanghai grip.”
The carefully planned sexist and racist slanders are described in the new book, Her Lotus Year, as “one of the most successful whispering campaigns of all time.” The secret of the dossier’s success, author Paul French says in his book, was that the stories of sexual excess were all existing rumors and scandals in Chinese society which were transposed onto Wallis by the intelligence operative. The goal was to stop Edward plunging the nation into turmoil by marrying a divorcee: “They just wanted to scupper this relationship somehow,” French told The Times.
“A fabled briefing document full of salacious stories about Simpson known as the “China Dossier”—a copy of which has never been found but was allegedly passed around high society…” This is what they did in the 1930s before the British media became so powerful. They created a dossier and spread it around the aristocracy. The modern version of this is the monarchy authorizing the public smear campaign on Meghan, with courtiers and royals providing off-the-record accounts of how Meghan “bullied staffers” and “made Kate cry” and “sent 5 am emails.” As for Wallis… as I said, multiple things are true at once. Wallis was the victim of a really disgusting smear campaign… but she was also a problematic woman with ties to Nazis.
Also: “The goal was to stop Edward plunging the nation into turmoil by marrying a divorcee: ‘They just wanted to scupper this relationship somehow.’” That was also the goal of the smearing of Meghan, by the way. A century later, and it’s still the same fundamental play, to smear the American woman in the hope that they can somehow convince a prince not to marry someone they don’t like. In some ways, Harry’s marriage to Meghan was not as high-stakes as Edward marrying Wallis a year before England got pulled into WWII. In other ways, the Sussex marriage and Sussexit certainly feels more consequential in the modern era.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
172496, Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancee US actress Meghan Markle are greeted as they arrive to attend a Terrence Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair at Nottingham Contemporary in Nottingham. Nottingham, United Kingdom – Friday December 1, 2017. Photograph: © Avalon.red, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE
173019, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during a visit to youth-orientated radio station, Reprezent FM, in Brixton, south London to learn about its work supporting young people. London, United Kingdom – Tuesday January 9, 2018. Photograph: © Avalon.red, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE
(170118) — DAVOS, Jan. 18, 2017 () — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2017.(/Xu Jinquan)(gl)
Duke and Duchess of Windsor wedding 1937,Image: 503916179, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: UPPA/Photoshot / Avalon
Edward VIII Duke of Windsor married Mrs Wallis Simpson at the Chateau de Cande near Tours.
3rd June 1937 
Ref: B196_095067_3540
Date: 16.06.1999
Compulsory Credit: UPPA/Photoshot
