Customer Reviews
Between governement and tabloids - By: Artsreadings, 03 Jan 2009 
This is a good film about the love affair between the heir to the throne of George V & an American commoner named Wallis Simpson. The movie emphasizes the awkward position of this relation, crushed between the necessities of the power, "traditions" & convenance, & the pressure of the popular press, fuelled by the nauseous curiosity of the British governement collecting detrimental information to poison the new king's love affair.
The environment of the 1930s is rather well rendered.
Wallis Simpson rather shows as a determined woman, but not excessively ambitious, considering the failure of her second marriage is made quite clear, as are her repeated attempts to convince Edward that they could not go further together without attempting to his abilities to rule his kingdom.
Edward is nonetheless clearly depicted as not being able to care less for public matters, & as obsessed with Wallis.
The movie fittingly ends on their weddingin France, with brief written comments on the rest of their life. One wonders what their life was made of once they got married. What did the duke & duchess of Windsor spend their life with? Would it be an interesting topic for another different movie on this unusual couple?
Abdication - the nightmare of the Royal Family - By: K. van Amelorde, 09 Jun 2008 
The abdication of Edward VIII & his marriage with Wallis Simpson is very often portrayed as one of the great love stories of the 20th century. A King given up his throne for the woman he loves... how very romantic. The love of Eward & Wallis triggered a constitutional crisis of first order & a splitin the Royal Family as Edward became HRH Duke of Windsor but his wife only The Duchess of Windsor & no HRH.
The movie is not an accurate picture but is pretty much indicates what happened & shows the main charactersin a way I feel is pretty close to reality. Edward was the glamour prince of the 1920th. His boyish (not very manly looks) appealed to many & he was seen as the modern way of life compared to his rather stiff & conservative parents.But he is shown - & rightly so - as an immature boy who seems to believein his own glamour & behaves rather selfish. There is something very shallow about him. His sense of duty is highly underdeveloped & he rather needs guidance. Wallis is of course much stronger, but as well ambitious. Whether her ambition is money or position is difficult to assess, but here money comes with position. Interesting are the scenes when she realizes that when marrying Edward after abdication she will be completely bound to him. While he follows her a bit like a puppy dog, it is his position (not his personality) that sets the stage. There is something desperate about it which is difficult to describe but one feels.
The Duchess herself made this clearin her famous statement summing up her life after the marriage."You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance."
The movie is not a fantastic one, the acting not too bad, the 30s' era is well re-created. It is enjoyable & gives an easy access to the drama of the day.
Abridged - By: Portaderry, 20 May 2006 This film was essentially a cut down version of the Edward & Mrs Simpson series of the 70s/80s. I thought that that version was too long winded, spanning seven one hour episodes. This version meanwhile is far too short & the cast aren't quite right somehow. If you've seen the Edward & Mrs Simpson series, you'll be sorely disappointed with this one.
