Paperback edition of Vickers's biography of the Duchess of Windsor, aka Mrs Simpson, whose marriage to Edward VIII forced him to abdicate in 1936. A tragic story, Vickers makes it clear that Mrs Simpson did not lure the king from the throne, and relates how she was ruthlessly exploited by a French lawyer after the death of her husband. Madonna's film about Wallis Simpson is due out this year Hugo Vickers has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Royal Family, and has had a fascination with the story of the Duchess of Windsor since he was a young man.