About this episode

Anne Sebba discusses her biography of Wallis Simpson, exploring her life and impact on the British monarchy.

Historian and writer Anne Sebba, speaks this month to Bookclub, presented by James Naughtie, about her award-winning biography, That Woman: The life of Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. ‘That Woman,’ as she was referred to by the Queen Mother and other members of the Royal Family, became a hate figure for allegedly ensnaring a British king. Born in 1896 in Baltimore under the name, Bessiewallis Warfield, she had an impoverished and comparatively obscure childhood which, Anne Sebba writes, inflamed a burning desire to rise above her circumstances. This episode was recorded at the Borders Book Festival. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Topics covered

• biography
• history
• royalty

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