Edward VIII never meets Wallis Simpson

Not sure if this has been asked before. Apologies if it has.

But what do people think would've happened had Edward VIII never met Wallis Simpson? Was their meeting inevitable? If he never meets her, does this avoid the abdication crisis, meaning that he reigns until his otl death? If he never meets her, who does he marry instead?
 
He meet her at a dinner party, as she was a friend of of his mistresses, so the meeting is avoidable.

However not meeting her would mean he would still just be a playboy prince and still not married when he ascends the throne in 1936 at his father's death. An unmarried king at 42 is seen as a little unconventional before being seen an eligible bachelor, Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, would expect him to marry.

At his age, the best option is a younger lady who could give him an heir and with Europe on tender hooks due to war, maybe a home grown wife, similar to Albert's:
- Lady Rachel Douglas Home (10 April 1910 – 4 Apr 1996), younger daughter of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home
- Lady Susan Mary Seymour (26 April 1913 – 23 May 2004) youngest child of Evelyn Seymour, 17th Duke of Somerset
- Lady Isabel Violet Kathleen Manners (1918–2008), the second daughter of John Manners, 9th Duke of Rutland

A good foreign princess is Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (1904-1974) She is a Great-Grand daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, via Victoria, Princess Royal, however this makes her the niece of Kaiser William II of Germany.
 
Okay very interesting. Was there any reason Edward didn't marry before he ascended the throne and before meeting Wallis? I take it political marriages had fallen out of favour at this time?
 
Something else of note: if Edward VIII never meets Wallis Simpson and never abdicates, how might this affect WWII? He was known to be a Nazi sympathizer.
 
Something else of note: if Edward VIII never meets Wallis Simpson and never abdicates, how might this affect WWII? He was known to be a Nazi sympathizer.
Was he? I read somewhere that he was of the belief that the Nazis and communists should be allowed to kill one another
 
There are differing accounts, but he definitely, at the very least, admired the Nazis and thought that war should with them should have been avoided at all costs. Even if he wasn't a full-on Nazi supporter, this would've been bad for morale when the British government declared war on Germany.
 
Something else of note: if Edward VIII never meets Wallis Simpson and never abdicates, how might this affect WWII? He was known to be a Nazi sympathizer.
I actually believe it was Wallis who had the pro-Nazi beliefs, it just rubbed off on him.
 
Bessie Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson wasn't pro-Nazi, she was pro-whatever would get her up the social ladder. After being denied HRH, she did state that UK basically got what it deserved (when bombed) because they were all against her marrying the King (when he was king and she could be queen). She really just liked that Hitler called her "Her Royal Highness."

E8 (David to his family) was a big pro-German boy - but why not? His whole damn family was from there. He was traumatized by what he'd pushed himself to see in WWI and was rabidly anti-war as a result. (The military tried to keep him from the fighting, but he was determined to be an 'ordinary soldier' - it was one of his selling points to the masses.)
 
I think E8 would have found another reason to abdicate.....convert to Roman Catholicism or something. He'd mentioned something about his brother being better suited to Kingship than himself way before George V entered his final illness.
 
Edward VIII hardly would have much affect to WW2. Kings hadn't anymore much power. If E8 would be still on throne on beginning of the war, government wouldn't allow connections between the king and media.
 
He meet her at a dinner party, as she was a friend of of his mistresses, so the meeting is avoidable.

And the irony is the reason he met her is she and her husband were the 'chaperones' for the week-end long dinner party, Wallis was first an acquaintance of Benny Thaw and his wife (the mistress' elder sister); that got her the invite when the Thaws were called away by Embassy business.

Still avoidable, just have Ernest not be such a royal-worshipper (he was half-American) and therefore not so accommodating when David wants to spend time alone with his wife.....
 
All interesting though if Edward doesn't meet Wallis highly unlikely he abdicates. Wasn't this during the age of duty? And if he's not marrying a divorcee he can marry someone else for love and still do his duty
 
All interesting though if Edward doesn't meet Wallis highly unlikely he abdicates. Wasn't this during the age of duty? And if he's not marrying a divorcee he can marry someone else for love and still do his duty
Edward was very put out by having to abdicate the throne, but as he said, he did it for love.
Okay very interesting. Was there any reason Edward didn't marry before he ascended the throne and before meeting Wallis? I take it political marriages had fallen out of favour at this time?
It is sadly just due to him being a player, not wanting to settle down. His father, being the former playboy prince, never reigned him in, rather than doing what Prince Albert did to George..
Also on that note say George V dies in the early 1920s who might the young Edward VIII marry?
20s is most likely worse for a foreign princess due to anti-european sentiment in Britain.
Again the best bet is home grown, maybe even a cousin such as:
- Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott, daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, Scotland’s largest landowner. In OTL she married Prince Henry, Duke of Glouster, in 1935
- Princess May of Teck, great-grand daughter of Queen Victoria, by her son Prince Leopold's daughter Princess Alice of Albany.
 
Oh very interesting, though that is the first time I've ever heard George V being described as a play boy prince. I had thought that was more Edward VII aha.
 
Okay very interesting. Was there any reason Edward didn't marry before he ascended the throne and before meeting Wallis? I take it political marriages had fallen out of favour at this time?
There are (and were) persistent rumours regarding his sexual tastes being a little unusual for the period.

Something else of note: if Edward VIII never meets Wallis Simpson and never abdicates, how might this affect WWII? He was known to be a Nazi sympathizer.
He'd have been sidelined and kept away from anything important. I see the main danger as being in the run up to the war and possible meddling in the selection of PM after a Franco-British defeat on mainland Europe (which, of course, might be butterflied).

There are differing accounts, but he definitely, at the very least, admired the Nazis and thought that war should with them should have been avoided at all costs. Even if he wasn't a full-on Nazi supporter, this would've been bad for morale when the British government declared war on Germany.
I believe that personality-wise he was more a classic authoritarian rather than specifically a fascist.

Edward was very put out by having to abdicate the throne, but as he said, he did it for love.
Mmmmmm, not really. He was put out as being denied what he wanted. More of a childish tantrum.
 
Were Edward's politics all that different from the rest of the Family?

Istr that George VI invited Chamberlain onto the Palace balcony when he came back from Munich. As the Opposition party disapproved of the agreement, this was decidedly "political" and probably more constitutionally questionable than anything Edward had ever done whilst on the throne.

Also, afaik Edward had always got on well with Churchill, who could probably have managed him well enough.
 
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