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On 29 April 1986 The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson was buried
alongside her husband, The Duke of Windsor at Frogmore in Windsor.
The Duchess was buried in an English oak coffin that contained a
silver inscribed plate stating, “Wallis, Duchess of Windsor,
1896-1986”.
St George’s Chapel held the rather simple funeral mass. Flags were
flown at half-staff but there was none of the traditional and
ceremony which is par for the course for a royal funeral.
The Royal contingent was led by the Queen and the Duke of
Edinburgh. Joining them were the Prince of Wales, Diana, Princess
of Wales, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and other
members of the Royal Family. Additionally, 100 guests were in
attendance including then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and Mr.
Thatcher.
In agreement with the Duchess’s wishes, there was no funeral
address. The service made no mention of her name, her marriage or
anything related to her life. It was rather general in nature.
There were a scant amount of flowers. The most noticeable was the
wreath of yellow, orange and white lilies from Her Majesty that
were placed on the coffin.
Only The Queen, Prince Philip, Charles and Diana were present for
the lowering of the coffin which was under a spreading plane tree
where the Duke of Windsor, former King Edward VIII was buried in
1972. The Royal family was joined by friends of the Duchess from
her time living in Paris.
The Queen Mother did not appear at the burial per the choice of Her
Majesty. She was understood to have had a problematic association
with the Duchess. Thrust into being sovereign after Edward VIII’s
abdication, she felt her husband King George VI died too young due
to the stress of being king.
photo credit: auntie rain via photopin
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