Expert debunks ‘cruel rumour’ about Edward VIII, Queen Mother

A royal expert and historian rubbished claims that the Queen Mother wanted to marry Edward but Wallis got in the way.

Lady Colin Campbell, in a 2016 BBC documentary-drama, claimed: “She [Elizabeth] tried to marry David [family name for Edward VIII]. David wasn’t interested in her. He liked them slender, sleek and svelte, like Wallis.”

“There was a malicious element to Elizabeth’s treatment of Wallis. I think it was vindictive, vicious and she set out to destroy them as a couple,” she added.

However, author Gareth Russell appeared on a recent episode of Kinsey Schofield’s To Di For Daily podcast to discuss his new book.

“I do discuss it in the book, but I don't have much patience with it. First of all, it was the brother-in-law who started this theory years later…He'd been really low with her by the stage, and he was saying the reason why she never liked Wallis is because she was really in love with him,” he shared.

“What I discovered was that they [Edward and Elizabeth] really did not spend enough time together, before she said yes to his brother, for her to have been in love with him. They sort of bumped into each other at one or two parties,” Gareth explained.

He added it was “just a cruel rumour that somebody made up to make themselves look better or feel better about their circumstances.”