Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, later still Duke of Windsor, called David by intimates;
the protagonist whose decision shocked and shook the world. Most popular royal personage in history.

Wallis Simpson, the married American woman with whom Edward fell madly in love.
She was known for her fashionable elegance and sassy wit.

Elsa with Cole Porter.

Elsa Maxwell, a famous party hostess of international reputation who consorted with royalty, tycoons, high society,
Hollywood stars and moguls, and most of the celebrated and elite of her day. She comments on the action.

Winston Churchill, later Britain’s wartime Prime Minister but at this time a Member of Parliament
and close advisor and confidant of Edward.

Ernest and Wallis on their wedding day.

Ernest Simpson, Wallis’s husband, a British/American engaged in an inherited shipping business.
At first he is flattered by the Prince’s attention to his wife.

Queen Mary, Edward’s mother, determined to preserve the monarchy.
Horrified by Edward’s obsession with Wallis but always conducts herself with dignity.

Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister of Great Britain, who decides Edward is a liability.

George, Duke of Kent, Queen Mary, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, and Albert (Bertie), Duke of York

Albert, Duke of York, called Bertie by intimates, Edward’s brother, lacks Edward’s charm and charisma.
Under the thumb of his wife and mother. Later Edward’s successor.
Elizabeth, Duchess of York, Bertie’s wife; has intense dislike of Wallis.

Lady Thelma Furness, the married American lover of Edward at the time of the meeting of Edward and Wallis.
She was the aunt of Gloria Vanderbilt.

The Hon. Nigel Maidenhead, Elsa’s secretary, a well-intentioned cross between a ditz and a twit.

King George V, Edwards’s father, grandson of Queen Victoria, king and emperor of British Empire.
The King was afraid of his own father and happy for his sons to fear him as well.

Bessie Merryman, Wallis’s aunt, Wallis’s mother surrogate, loyal and devoted to Wallis.

Dr. Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church, the Church of England, which does not countenance divorce. He regards Edward’s plan to marry a divorced woman as a betrayal of everything the Church stands for.

Simon Palmsy, Bellimore’s associate, an eager and competent acolyte with few moral scruples.