Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

Wallis Simpson was the American divorcee for whom King Edward VIII gave up the throne of Great Britain. She was also a fashion icon and a celebrated international figure. Simpson knew how to live life to the fullest. She once said, "A woman's life can really be a succession of lives, each revolving around some emotionally-compelling situation or challenge, and each marked off by some intense experience."She met the future king (then Prince of Wales) in the early 1930s and a few years later they became lovers, though she remained married to her second husband, businessman Ernest Simpson. Matters came to a head when Edward became king in 1936. Simpson filed for divorce from her husband, but the royal family and the British government would not sanction the marriage.
In December, Edward stepped down as king, saying in a radio broadcast "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love." They were married on June 3, 1937, becoming the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and spent the rest of their lives in exile from England, living mainly in France and the United States.

-- Royalty.nu, The World of Royalty