Dame Joan Collins has been unveiled to play Wallis Simpson in a new biopic about the American divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying King Edward VIII.
The monarch famously abdicated the British throne in December 1936 to marry Wallis. His decision to choose love over duty caused a constitutional crisis and led to a rift with his government.
The Bitter End is a new biopic that will unearth the untold story of Wallis’s final years.
The debut project is being adapted by award-winning entertainment producer John Gore, a 22-time Tony winner and recipient of two Emmys and two Oliviers.
Dame Joan will be celebrating her 92nd birthday as she begins filming the new movie.
Shutting down retirement plans, she said: “I am thrilled about the challenge of playing this iconic woman in a previously untold story and to be in John Gore Studios’ initial roster of what I’m sure will be a very successful endeavour.”
Dubbed the original Meghan Markle, Wallis was an American divorcee who sparked headlines when she entered into a relationship and marriage with Prince Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne.
It was considered one of the most scandalous love affairs of the 20th century, shaking up the royal establishment.
The British government believed that a twice-divorced woman was politically, socially, and morally unsuitable as a prospective partner to a royal.
Many in the British Empire perceived Wallis as a woman of “limitless ambition” who pursued the King because of his wealth and position.
In 1936, King Charles’s great-uncle Edward VIII chose to abdicate the throne to marry her.
The move clashed with his responsibilities as head of the Church of England, sparking a constitutional crisis that left the nation stunned and began a rift within the family.
The couple went into exile in France. Although the Duke had hoped it would be brief, he was never allowed to move back to Britain, with his brother, the new King George VI, threatening to cut off his allowance if he tried to return without an invitation.
Edward was later diagnosed with throat cancer in the 1970s, and he died on May 28, less than a month before his 78th birthday.
His body was returned to Britain, where it lay in state at Windsor Castle’s St George’s Chapel before his funeral.
Wallis died in 1986, aged 89, after suffering from dementia, which led to her living as a recluse.
She was later buried next to her late husband on Windsor’s grounds.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
