Tue. Oct 6th, 2026
Wallis Simpson as a young woman, perhaps close to her Lotus Year in China.

Description: Royal houses, the royal family of England. Wallis Simpson, the American woman whom King Edward VIII (1894–1972) married, thereby abdicating the throne. Here is a photo of her from 1909. She is wearing a long lace dress and a large hat. No location given, 1909. Unknown author via Wikimedia Commons.

S29E3: Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | Her Lotus Year and The China Dossier


Hold onto your conspiracy theories in this one, darlings!

Wallis took a lot of heat for the year she spent in the Orient, her Lotus Year. Many folks pinned a whole lot of terrible deeds on Wallis this year, largely all untrue. Her year in China becomes the basis for the future China Dossier, which was supposed to dissuade the Prince of Wales from his married lover. That plan did not work out too well, and this year, Wallis truly steps into being the woman she is to become. Also, she will break with Win Spencer, for good.

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Alicia’s Receipts

Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson by Paul French (Amazon)

The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson by Anna Pasternak (Amazon)

That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba (Amazon)

Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor by Andrew Lownie (Amazon)

The Duchess of Windsor by Greg King (Amazon)

The Windsor Story by J. Bryan III and Charles J.V. Murphy (Amazon)

Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy by Andrew Morton (Amazon)

King Edward VIII: A Biography by Philip Ziegler (Amazon)

Once a King: The Lost Memoir of Edward VIII by Jane Marguerite Tippett (Amazon)

The Heart Has Its Reasons by Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (Amazon)

The Duchess of Windsor: Memoirs of a Friend by Diana Mosley (Amazon)

Dancing with the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue by Christopher Wilson (Amazon)

The Prince, The Princess and the Perfect Murder by Andrew Rose (Amazon)

Before Wallis: Edward VIII’s Other Women by Rachel Trethewey (Amazon)

 

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