Wallis Simpson spent her final years desperate and alone in a grand Paris house ... trends now
She was so ill in her final years that one of her closest friends was 'delighted' when told the news of her passing, only wishing it had come sooner.
Wallis Simpson, the woman who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying the man who chose love over duty, died on April 24 1986. She was 89.
The American widow of the former King Edward VIII had been beset by illness after her husband's death in 1972 and lived out her final years almost alone in her Paris home, unable to walk or leave a room that had become her world.
Tended to by devoted nurses but preyed upon by her French lawyer who took advantage of her financially, it was a strangely anonymous, almost tragic, end for someone who had once flirted with becoming the Queen.
Wallis Simpson was so ill in her final years that one of her closest friends was 'delighted' when told the news of her passing, only wishing it had come sooner. Above: The Duchess of Windsor at home in the Bois de Bologne in 1974, the year before she became seriously unwell
Wallis Simpson married the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, after he abdicated in 1936. Above: The couple in the Bahamas in 1942, when the Duke was Governor of the islands
The Duke and Duchess and one of their favourite pugs at their French country retreat in 1966
Wallis Simpson's 1986 funeral was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, attended by The Queen, Prince Philip, the Queen Mother, Princess Anne and other members of the Royal Family
And while her funeral service, at Windsor's St George's Chapel, was attended by senior royals including the Queen, Prince Philip and the Queen Mother, her name was not even mentioned during the service .
Afterwards, she was buried alongside her husband at Windsor's Royal Burial Ground, not far from Frogmore cottage.
The divorcee had played a notorious part in the greatest royal controversy for more than a century: Edward VIII's abdication.
He made the decision to give up the throne after being told in no uncertain terms by Stanley Baldwin's government that he would not be allowed to marry a divorced woman and remain as King.
His departure forced his younger brother, the Duke of York, to step up and become King George VI, creating a family wound that never healed.
Wallis was blamed by royals such as the Queen Mother - George VI's wife - for tearing the family apart.
Things were not helped by the fact that there had never been any love lost between the Royal Family and the Duchess, who nicknamed the Queen Mother (then Duchess of York) 'cookie', a disrespectful reference to her weight.
Once free from the weight of responsibility, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor led the life of the idle rich, attending parties in France and America and going on lavish holidays with close friends.
Though she lacked the status of an actual queen, it was the kind of high life that American had always sought.
But when the Duke died aged 77 in 1972, Wallis was left alone, bereft of the man who had worshipped her.
The Queen, with whom she had had minimal contact in the decades since her husband's abdication, put her up as a guest at Buckingham Palace when she came to Windsor for his funeral.
The two had previously met when Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip visited the Duke in Paris in his final days.
It was a sign of the Queen's willingness to put differences to one side for the sake of the greater good.
The Duchess of Windsor at her husband's funeral in 1972. Behind her is the Queen Mother, who harboured an intense dislike of Wallis, blaming the divorcee for tearing the family apart
The Duchess of Windsor bats away a wasp on the verandah of her home in the Bois de Boulogne in September 1974. Two months later, she suffered an intestinal haemorrhage
The Duchess of Windsor in September 1974, nearly two years after her husband's death
The main rented home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the Bois de Bologne, Paris
Because he had lived largely beyond his means, with his only major source of income coming from a royal allowance that he always complained was too low, the Duke of Windsor left his wife obliged to cut back on the luxurious living to which she had become used.
The French government kindly agreed to defer death duties, while the City of Paris allowed Wallis to live in the Bois de Boulogne home that she and her husband had shared since their marriage at a moderate rent.
She could still, at least, have a comfortable existence with some dignity.
Even so, the Duchess would eventually become a prisoner in her own home, and this was in no small part down to her French lawyer, Suzanne Blum.
What had started out as a business relationship - with Wallis consulting her as and when needed - turned into one of abuse and control.
Historian Hugo Vickers told in his 2011 book how, step by step, Blum dismissed the Duchess's English lawyer and then her staff, who had included a chef, concierge, chauffer and hairdresser.
She gradually banished friends who wanted to come and visit, claiming that the Duchess was too tired or would be too upset to see them.
By then, the Duchess's poor health had left her in a state of immobility.
A diagnosis of atherosclerosis - where the arteries become narrowed - led to periods of confusion, prompting Wallis to believe that her husband was still alive.
She would imagine herself back at her the worst point in her life, when Edward VIII was about to abdicate.
The Duchess of Windsor's French lawyer, Suzanne Blum (pictured), deliberately isolated her
The Duchess of Windsor is seen wearing a long black veil on the day of the Duke's funeral
The Duchess of Windsor at her home in Paris in 1974. She became extremely ill in the last decade of her life
The Duchess of Windsor photographed with orchids in her Bois de Bologne greenhouse
The Duchess fell out of bed over Christmas in 1972 and was not given appropriate treatment, despite being in considerable pain.
It only emerged in the new year that she had broken her hip. The then 76-year-old needed surgery, but she did recover and was eventually able to walk without a stick.
It was while she was in hospital that Blum dismissed lawyer Godfrey Morley - who had previously handled the Duke's affairs - after persuading her that he was trying
