Who is this Edward VIII, this “uncle David”, in question? This is Edward Windsor, the uncle of the recently deceased former Queen Elizabeth. If their relations were reputed to be icy, this has not always been the case. As a child, the queen was very fond of her uncle, who was called David (one of her other first names). The abdication of her uncle in favor of her father Georges profoundly changed Elisabeth’s destiny, making her a future heir to the throne.
What was this marriage that was called at the time the “marriage of the century”?
It was a marriage that had a huge impact at the time because, to materialize, it required the abdication of King Edward VIII. The royal family opposing his union with Wallis Simpson, a divorced American, the monarch had no choice but to renounce the throne. A huge earthquake for the monarchy of England and a juicy subject for the press around the world!
But what is the relationship between this marriage and our Touraine?
Quite simply the fact that this wedding took place at the Château de Candé, in Monts! Already exiled in France, the spouses chose this discreet place, hoping to avoid adding noise to the noise. She is a friend of Wallis who plays the intermediary with Charles Bedaux, an American billionaire owner of Candé. The place is withdrawn, and equipped with all the luxury of the time. It matches!
How did this wedding go?
It was, as you can imagine, a rather special wedding, a wedding which was celebrated in the large library of the estate by the mayor of Monts. On the one hand because it brought together very few guests, barely fifteen. It was then not good to appear at their side! And on the other hand because it was scrutinized and covered by the press all over the world. The eyes of the whole planet were trained on Candé that day in June 1937! You have to imagine paparazzi everywhere around the estate and thousands of articles published afterwards.
A few anecdotes about this wedding?
A rather tasty one: the bride’s luggage (28 suitcases and more than 60 dresses!) was mistakenly sent to the Château de Candé… in Anjou ! You should also know that the spouses engraved their name on a paneling of the castle, a detail that can be observed today by visiting the premises. And today ? I can only encourage you to follow in the footsteps of this crazy marriage, by visiting the Château de Candé > https://domainecande.fr/