Simpson, Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, n�e Bessie Wallis Warfield 1896-1986
US socialite, wife of Edward, Duke of Windsor

She was born in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania. She divorced her second husband, Ernest Simpson, in order to marry Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne (1936) to marry her (1937). Estranged from the British royal family, they lived in France and the Bahamas and were celebrities in the international social scene. After Edward's death she lived in Paris, virtually a recluse. She published her autobiography, The Heart Has Its Reasons, in 1956.