Elizabeth meets Uncle David: A Dying Duke Receives His Queen

The Duke of Windsor was diagnosed with cancer in November 1971. His condition worsened quickly and he died in May 1972. Shortly before his death, Queen Elizabeth II paid one last visit to the man who gave up the throne for the woman he loved.

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The former King Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor since he abdicated in 1936, was diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the throat in November 1971. Any attempt to treat his condition proved in vain. He underwent cobalt therapy but the diseases worsened and it was evident that he would die no sooner than later. But the former king remained unperturbed. His doctor, John Thin, explained that he knew about his condition, but he did not let it affect his composure. “His courage and resignation compelled general administration,” Thin said.¹ He also did not want his condition to cause serious upset to the Duchess of Windsor. Throughout his illness, he only remained in his house, Villa Windsor, together with their pugs.

On May 15, 1972, Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Paris for a four-day state visit to France. On her fourth day, she visited her dying uncle, accompanied by Prince Philip, Martin Charteris, and the Duchess of Grafton.

Knowing his niece would come and see him, the Duke, although lucid, weak and bedridden, decided to get up and receive her. According Sarah Bradford, the Queen’s biographer, the Duke did not want his Queen “to see him in his bedroom or wearing his bedclothes.” “The least he could do was to receive her, properly dressed” in his sitting room. Dr. Thin made everything to conceal the sick man’s drip and make his as dignified as possible, even for one last time. ²

When Queen Elizabeth entered his uncle’s room, the former king stood up and made the traditional bow a subject would to his sovereign, much to the horror of his doctor for fear of detaching the drip tube. They “chatted affectionately for almost a quarter of an hour.” According to Bradford, when The Queen left the room, the daughter saw tears in her eyes, “deeply moved by the dying man’s gallantry,” which ushered in memories of her own father. ³

After the short meeting with her uncle, the Queen joined the Duchess of Windsor for tea. However, the Queen was “annoyed” when the couple’s pugs “jumped up.” Elizabeth, though a lover of dogs, never really liked pugs, more so misbehaved dogs. Over tea, the Queen and Duchess of Windsor “talked about anything and everything except the one thing that was on everybody’s minds, the poor man dying in his room upstairs.” ^{4, 5}

Nine days later, the Duke of Windsor died.

[1] Bradford, 2002.

[2] Bradford, 2002.

[3] Bradford, 2002.

[4] Bradford, 2002.

[5] Hugo Vickers mentioned in Hodgkin, 2018.

References

Bradford, S. (2002). Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty The Queen. Penguin Books.

Hodgkin, E. (2018, February 28). What annoyed the Queen when she visited Wallis Simpson and her dying uncle Edward revealed. The Daily Express.