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Two strong women are drawn into a bitter feud over their two weak husbands.
A revealing new look at the abdication crisis of 1936 through the eyes of the two women at its very heart. In a series of dramatized monologues set in 1967, Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Wallis Simpson look back at the dramatic events, which led to the British King, Edward VIII, giving up the throne for the woman he loved.
A revealing new look at the abdication crisis of 1936 through the eyes of the two women at its very heart. In a series of dramatized monologues set in 1967, Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Wallis Simpson look back at the dramatic events, which led to the British King, Edward VIII, giving up the throne for the woman he loved.
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Photos from Royal Wives at War
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King Edward VIII (Nick Waring) and Wallis Simpson (Gina McKee) greet the Duke (John Sackville) and Duchess of York (Emma Davies) at Balmoral for dinner in 1936.
Monika Kupper, BBC
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Wallis Simpson (Gina McKee) at Balmoral for dinner in 1936.
Monika Kupper, BBC
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Wallis Simpson (Gina McKee) at a lunch party given by the Prince.
Monika Kupper, BBC
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Wallis (Gina McKee) and David, Prince of Wales (Nick Waring) at a lunch party.
Monika Kupper, BBC
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David, Prince of Wales (Nick Waring), with Thelma Furness (Emma Campbell-Jones), his mistress.
Monika Kupper, BBC
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Thelma, Vicountess Furness (Emma Campbell- Jones).
Monika Kupper, BBC
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King George VI (John Sackville) and his wife, Queen Elizabeth (Emma Davies), during WW2.
Monika Kupper, BBC
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The Duke (John Sackville) and Duchess of York (Emma Davies).
Monika Kupper, BBC
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Queen Elizabeth and her servant, William Tallon (known as "Backstairs Billy"), in her garden in 1967.
Monika Kupper, BBC
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Queen Elizabeth and her servant, William Tallon (known as "Backstairs Billy"), in her garden in 1967.
Monika Kupper, BBC
About the Show
The British royal family torn apart, a nation and empire thrown into crisis, and the world plunged into war. Over 80 years since Britain’s Abdication Crisis, this drama-documentary from BBC and PBS reveals a fierce rivalry between two women - Elizabeth the Queen Mother and American socialite, Wallis Simpson - and the political, cultural, and constitutional repercussions their bitter feud had on the monarchy.
Throughout the 1930s these two women waged a war of their own, viciously tearing into each other’s reputation. Through a series of monologues, set in 1967 London just before Elizabeth and Wallis were about to meet for the first time in 30 years, their true personalities and what they really thought of each other are revealed.
In a series of startling discoveries in the build-up to the Abdication, history is rewritten with the revelation that Wallis desperately appealed to her lover not to give up the throne, while Elizabeth insisted it was his only course of action if he refused to leave Wallis.
"Royal Wives at War" explores the emotional impact of the post-Abdication fallout: how Wallis regretted a marriage she couldn’t avoid; how Elizabeth, miserable at becoming Queen consort, fought to ostracize and exile Edward and Wallis, pushing them both into the arms of Hitler and spilling personal matters into the political realm. On the outbreak of war, the British government was forced to step in, banishing the Windsors to the sleepy backwater of the Bahamas. While Wallis bitterly lashed out from afar, Elizabeth became the power behind the throne during the war years.
Featuring renowned actresses Gina McKee as Wallis Simpson and Emma Davies as Elizabeth, the dramatic storytelling is charged with emotion and journalistic revelation. Told with the help of three leading royal biographers, Anne Sebba, Lady Colin Campbell and Andrew Morton, conversing in an intimate gossipy style, this is the story of a family affair that changed the course of world events.
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