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The romance of Wallis Warfield Simpson and King Edward VIII shook England when the King abdicated on Dec. 10, 1936, to marry the Baltimore divorcee. London photographer Dorothy Wilding made this portrait.

Not all British royal marriages are so celebrated, as Baltimorean Wallis Warfield Simpson could attest. When Edward VIII abdicated his throne in December 1936 to marry the twice-divorced Simpson, "the woman l love," England was scandalized. The couple, who were given the titles of Duke and Duchess of Windsor, remained pretty-much pariahs in Edward's home country, but remained together until Edward's death in 1972. She died 14 years later; the couple are buried side-by-side in the Royal Burial Ground near Windsor Castle.