One couple decided they wanted to be part of history. That couple is Amanda and Benjamin Kim. They two San Francisco based entrepreneurs love history with a sense of romance. This is one of many reasons why they decided to buy a piece of it. They spent nearly thirty-thousand dollars to buy a piece of wedding cake from one of the world’s best known weddings. The cake is a piece of the cake that Wallis and Edward Windsor served to their guests in France. The cake marked a momentous time in history. It’s a story with deep roots and one that probably changed the very course of world events. That is among the many reasons why the Kims decided they just had to have it. Even with a figure price the two consider it well worth the money.
World history
In 1936, many people all over the world were stunned to find out the King of the United Kingdom making a speech. The speech indicated he planned to abdicate his throne. Serving less than a year, he was ready to leave his post. The reason? In part because he had fallen in love. The future Duke of Windsor had fallen for a twice divorced woman. Wallis Warfield Simpson had married at nineteen to get out of her house. After divorcing her brutal husband, she met an Englishman named Ernest Simpson. Part English and part American, Simpson settled in London and brought his new wife with him. Over time, they gradually became part of a larger circle of friends of the then Prince of Wales. Edward or David as he was known to close family, found Wallis enchanting. When his father died, he realized he could not do without her.
The wedding of the decade
While King, it became clear to Edward that his choice of bride would not be acceptable to the world around him. He was expected to marry as his younger brothers had before him. They choose princesses and daughters of members of the nobility. Their brides were young, virginal and not previously married. They also had to choose women considered to be okay to join the royal family without a past of any kind. Wallis Simpson did not fit these criteria. She was not an Englishwoman. Even though her ancestors hailed from this part of the world, they had long since settled down in Baltimore where she was born.
Other brides also were not married before. That was another strike against Wallis. She was not only divorced once. She was about to be divorced again in England. That left her with two prior husbands. In his speech, Edward decided to marry her. He also decided it was time to leave the throne and abdicate. The English people had largely been left in the dark about their king’s personal life. Few who knew were expecting Edward to actually leave the throne for her. Their wedding in the south of France took place six months after the abdication.
A foundation
The former king died in 1972. His widow lived on another fourteen years. The two never had any children. Wallis and her husband decreed their possessions and fortune would go to charity. Sotheby’s offered up items from the estate of the Windsors for sale over the course of nine days. These were items from their homes including their headquarters in Paris. The piece of royal cake was among the many that were for sale. Left in a three-inch-square box, it was quickly snatched up by the couple.
When the auction was concluded, it had raised nearly two million dollars. Funds are to be used for the Dodi Fayed International Charitable Foundation. The foundation was established by Mohammed Al-Fayed in honor of his son Dodi. Dodi was dating the Princess of Wales when she was killed in a high speed car crash in 1997.
