AS SEEN ON TV: THE DUKE & DUCHESS OF WINDSOR

In honor of "The King's Speech", which won several top awards at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards presentation Sunday night (Best Picture, Actor, Director, Screenplay), today's "Two For Tuesday" version of the ASOTV showcase features two of the historical figures who appeared in the movie. (This is not their first time in the spotlight "As Seen On TV", but it is the first time for this interpretation.....)

THE DUKE & DUCHESS OF WINDSOR

AS SEEN IN:
'Any Human Heart'

AS PLAYED BY:

THE DUKE OF WINDSOR
Tom Hollander
THE DUCHESS OF WINDSOR
Gillian Anderson

Compiled from both their entries at Wikipedia:
The King's desire to marry a woman with two living ex-husbands caused a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom and the Dominions, which ultimately led to the King's abdication in December 1936 to marry "the woman I love".

Edward knew that the government led by British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would resign if the marriage went ahead, which could have dragged the King into a general election and ruined irreparably his status as a politically neutral constitutional monarch. Rather than give up Mrs. Simpson, Edward chose to abdicate. He was succeeded by his younger brother Albert, who chose the regnal name George VI. With a reign of 325 days, Edward was one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British and Commonwealth history. He was never crowned.

After the abdication, the former king was created Duke of Windsor by his brother George VI. Edward married Wallis six months later, after which she was formally known as the Duchess of Windsor, without the style "Her Royal Highness".

Before, during and after World War II, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were suspected by many in government and society of being Nazi sympathisers.

After his abdication, he was created Duke of Windsor. He married Wallis Simpson in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. Later that year, the couple toured Nazi Germany. During the Second World War, he was at first stationed with the British Military Mission to France but, after private accusations that he held pro-Nazi sympathies, moved to the Bahamas as Governor. After the war, he was never given another official appointment and spent the remainder of his life in retirement in France.

In the 1950s and 1960s, she and the Duke shuttled between Europe and the United States, living a life of leisure as society celebrities.

After the Duke's death in 1972, the Duchess lived in seclusion and was rarely seen in public. Her private life has been a source of much speculation, and she remains a controversial figure in British history. BCnU!