Wallis Simson / William C. Bullitt

[fellist]

I recently listened to a BBC radio play from 2007, 'Harpo Goes to Leningrad'. It's not worth tracking down – gratuitously anti-Third Reich as well as all else you'd expect from the BBC when it dares veer close to politics. But causally thrown out amidst the rest was the claim that William C. Bullitt (the C for Christian, for effect I suppose), who features as a character in the play, later engaged in a reckless long-term affair with the Duchess of Windsor.

It's a working hypothesis of mine that Edward VIII, because of his patriotism, his allied concern for the working man, his allied pro-Third Reich sympathies, was removed from office by a conspiracy, and for a few years I have been collecting all relevant evidence that would tend to prove or disprove that hypothesis. The standard history of the abdication crisis is obvious nonsense on several counts, so it's known to be a question of what *really* went on.

The Bulliitt / Windsor affair is a new twist for me, and was not backed up by my google searches, but is obviously potentially relevant to my studies. So if anyone has any info, it would be much appreciated.  --  Nick Dean

[Ognir]

If you ever find the audio, post it

[Idaho Kid]

I'd like to know more I Bullitt who was involved in the duping of Poland and the onset of WWII if I recall. 

Bullitt was born to a prominent, well-to-do Philadelphia family, the son of Louisa Gross Horwitz.[2] and William Christian Bullitt, Sr.

He married socialite Aimee Ernesta Drinker in 1916. She gave birth to a son in 1917, but the baby died after two days. They divorced in 1923. In 1924 he married Louise Bryant, journalist author of Six Red Months in Russia and widow of radical journalist John Reed.

Working for Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference, in 1919, Bullitt was a strong supporter of legalistic internationalism, subsequently known as Wilsonianism. Prior to the negotiation of the Versailles accords, Bullitt, along with journalist Lincoln Steffens and Swedish communist Karl Kilbom, undertook a special mission to Soviet Russia to negotiate diplomatic relations between the US and the Bolshevik regime. Having failed to convince Wilson to support the establishment of relations with the Bolshevik government, Bullitt resigned from Wilson's staff.

Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Bullitt the first US ambassador to the Soviet Union, a post that he filled from 1933 to 1936. At the time of his appointment, Bullitt was known as a liberal and thought by some to be something of a radical.[citation needed] The Soviets welcomed him as an old friend because of his diplomatic efforts at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Though Bullitt arrived in the Soviet Union with high hopes for Soviet–American relations, his view of the Soviet leadership soured on closer inspection. By the end of his tenure he was openly hostile to the Soviet government. He remained an outspoken anti-communist for the rest of his life.[6] Bullitt was recalled after US journalist Donald Day had disclosed that he had been involved in illegal exchange of and trading with Torgsin ruble

[yankeedoodle]

Edward VII is ranked  eighth on this list:  Top 10 Philandering English Monarchs   http://listverse.com/2011/04/21/top-10-philandering-english-monarchs/

Decades ago, Yankee Doodle saw somebody on the BBC - maybe ITV or Channel 4 - who claimed that he was the illegitimate son of Edward VII.   It was denied, of course, but he SURE AS HELL looked like Edward VII, much like Prince Harry looks like that riding instructor, or whatever he was.  Don't know if the guy seen was the Timothy Ward Seely mentioned in this article, but, for some reason, a quick check on the internet under "Timothy Ward Seely" produces NO picture.

[yankeedoodle]

In this documentary about Roosevelt's plot to start World War II, William Bullitt is mentioned just after the 4 minute mark.  He was the US Ambassador to France. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-dOrp1_mXa4

[fellist]

I still have the audio. Details 'Harpo Goes to Leningrad' by Lee Pressman. First broadcast May 6th, 2006, repeated September 11th, 2007.

There is an inferior version here: http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/drama/bbc4-afternoon-play/harpo-goes-to-leningrad-2007-xx-xx

The postscript with the relevant section begins 42:12, comments about Harpo Marx first, then:

"A few years after Harpo's visit, William Bullitt left Moscow to become the US Ambassador to France. Whilst in Paris he began a reckless long-term affair with the Duchess of Windsor." 

[fellist]

Here we go, Pressman seems to have taken the phrase word for word from a book blurb:

An explosive biography, substantially updated with fascinating new material about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor

The romance of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor has been called the greatest love story of the twentieth century. However with the first edition of this biography in 1988, highly acclaimed author Charles Higham used explosive secret intelligence files to reveal a far darker side to their forty-year relationship. Now the author has re-visited and updated his international bestseller, resulting in a fascinating, and at times shocking exposé of Wallis Simpson. New and disturbing revelations have come to light, adding to the now classic story of an illegitimate child from Baltimore who rose to become the mistress of the king of England and brought about his abdication. Wallis gained control of the Monarch through sexual techniques learned in China, but risked losing everything through a reckless, long-term affair with William Bullitt, US Ambassador to France. Newly released FBI files demonstrate, as no other source has done, the extent of the Duchess's espionage activities and how she conspired against Britain in the interest of Hitler. This is an intimate and extraordinary account of the woman who very nearly became the Queen of England.

http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/charleshigham/mrssimpson

[Christopher Marlowe]

It's a working hypothesis of mine that Edward VIII, because of his patriotism, his allied concern for the working man, his allied pro-Third Reich sympathies, was removed from office by a conspiracy, and for a few years I have been collecting all relevant evidence that would tend to prove or disprove that hypothesis. The standard history of the abdication crisis is obvious nonsense on several counts, so it's known to be a question of what *really* went on.

I share your thoughts.  The whole idea that Edward VIII couldn't be king because he was married to a divorcee didn't make any sense to me, considering that Henry VIII started the Anglican Church just so that he could get a divorce whenever he wanted. That movie, "The King's Speech" seemed like pure propaganda to me.