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On June 2, 1953, former king Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor since his abdication in 1936, sat chain smoking in a gilded chair as flashbulbs popped\u2014far from Westminster Abbey, where the coronation of his niece Queen Elizabeth II was taking place. Rather, he was in Paris, at a party hosted by the American heiress Margaret Biddle, surrounded by members of continental caf\u00e9 society and the United Press.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the darkened room, some eyes were on the TV, which broadcast a British coronation for the first time in history, but many more eyes were on Edward, who sat shoulder to shoulder with his wife, Wallis, Duchess of Windsor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward\u2019s jovial tone turned reflective as the coronation ceremony reached its height. \u201cThe Duke of Windsor fought back tears and prayed silently today as his young niece became Queen Elizabeth II. The Duke bowed his head and folded his hands as Elizabeth mounted the throne he surrendered 16 years ago,\u201d\u00a0the United Press reported on June 2, 1953, in a piece syndicated in the\u00a0LA Times<\/em>\u00a0the following day.<\/p>\n With the rest of his family across the Channel, he sought comfort in the woman for whom he had given it all up. \u201cThe Duchess leaned over to him. The Duke stirred and moved closer to her\u2014their faces almost touching,\u201d the UP reported. \u201cThe Duke took out a handkerchief and brushed a solemn face. He watched the crown being placed on Elizabeth\u2019s head. Then he turned to his Duchess and pinched the flesh between his eyes\u2014as though fighting back tears.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not what Edward had hoped for. After the death of his younger brother\u00a0King George VI<\/a> on February 6, 1952, the duke had been naively hopeful that he would be welcomed at the coronation\u2014along with his scandalous wife. As royal watchers speculated blindly that the Windsors would receive an invite, the Duchess of Windsor was equally in the dark. From their home in Paris,\u00a0she wrote to her aunt<\/a>, on October 3, 1952, about the upcoming ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n I will know more about that when the Duke returns as the reason for his trip [to England] was to review the entire situation. The family are certainly charming, aren\u2019t they? We will also have to take a lot of Coronation cracks<\/em>\u2014 and Winston [Churchill] though very friendly won\u2019t interfere in what he calls a family matter. I wish the world and particularly the U.S. press would forget the Windsors. Such an old story.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n