Writer and director Madonna had been developing the idea for W.E. for many years. She had a longstanding fascination with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, yet she was not interested in making a conventional biopic. She sought instead to capture the essence of their romance and convey her interpretation of one of the greatest love stories of the 20th Century. She says, “Truth is subjective. Everything I have to say about the Duke and Duchess is the conclusion I came to after all my research. I wanted to present a more well-rounded portrayal of Wallis than was commonly known. I created the Wally character because the movie needed a point of view. Wally goes on a journey thinking this is the greatest love story only to realize that it wasn’t such a perfect love and that both of them made huge sacrifices. Strangely enough, Wallis seemed to make more of a sacrifice than Edward did.”

Bessie Wallis Warfield was born in Pennsylvania in 1896. Her father died shortly after her birth, and she and her mother were left dependent on the charity of relatives. Her uncle, a wealthy bachelor, paid for her to attend the most expensive girls’ school in Maryland, where she became friends with daughters of some of the wealthiest families in America. A bright and successful pupil, even then she seemed to have been very conscious of appearances, always immaculately dressed and well turned out.

Madonna comments, “It’s important to understand the world that Wallis came from. When she was young, the only option for a woman was to marry, and you were only as good as the man that you married. If you married well, you would have a good life, and if you didn’t, you’d have to make do. She grew up without a father. Her mother cooked for people. They moved around a great deal, and she lived in the homes of many privileged families. As a servant’s daughter, she could see the difference between the haves and the have-nots. She did have an uncle who had money and made sure she got an education. But she grew up feeling like she was on the wrong side of the tracks, and she wanted to have a better life.”

In 1916, Wallis met and married her first husband, Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. “Win”, a US Navy pilot, but the marriage was not a happy one. Spencer was an alcoholic, and by 1920, the couple had already briefly separated for the first time. They were reunited in 1921 but split again in 1922 when Win was posted to the Far East. Wallis traveled to China in 1924 and joined Win there, but fell ill and returned to Hong Kong. By 1925, she and Win had both returned to the States but had separated, this time permanently.

Edward, Prince of Wales, first met Wallis in January, 1931, at a hunting weekend. Edward was known as a young man game for anything with a reputation for charming women. Despite being involved with another married woman, Lady Thelma Furness, at the time, he was completely enraptured by Wallis. He was entranced by her spark or her “pep,” as she liked to refer to it, qualities which would have been rare for a woman to display in the 1930s, certainly in royal circles. Edward had never met anyone quite like her and called her “the most independent woman he had ever met.” They continued to meet at various social events, and by 1934, Wallis was his mistress.

In January 1936, Edward’s father, King George V, died, and Edward was proclaimed King Edward VIII. His relationship with Wallis was now a huge problem. At that time (and indeed until 2002), the Church of England did not permit the remarriage of divorced people with living ex-spouses that were very much alive. Indeed Wallis was still officially married at the time of Edward’s accession, although she had filed for a divorce, which was granted in October 1936. It was impossible that the King of England, as titular head of the Church of England, could marry a divorcee.

By early December 1936, the British press, which until then had remained deferential to the monarchy generally and had not reported the relationship, had broken the news and Wallis fled to France to try and escape the scandal. Although the public perception was that she was an ambitious social climber and the one pursuing Edward for his wealth and rank, at this stage, she was the one prepared to give up the relationship in order to allow Edward to become King. However, he remained adamant that “he would marry Mrs. Simpson on the throne or off.” Despite huge pressure from the Prime Minister, the Royal family and advisers, Edward would not be moved. His position became untenable and seven months later, in December 1936, Edward delivered his famous abdication speech in the presence of his three brothers, ultimately choosing true love over the throne.

Madonna comments, “I couldn’t get my mind off of the fact that a man gave up the throne for a woman. From my perspective, men since the beginning of time have fought to get on the throne. Men are power-seeking animals, so why would this man run away from power? Why would he give it up? What drove him to do that? If it was for a woman and it was for love, what did this woman have that would inspire him to make such a great sacrifice? I wanted to know more about her.”

Wallis and Edward married in 1937 after her divorce was finalized. They spent much of their married life in France, and although they traveled to England on several occasions, they remained effectively in exile. After Edward’s death from cancer in 1972, Wallis, increasingly frail and suffering from dementia, lived the remainder of her life as a recluse. In 1980, Wallis lost the power of speech and toward the end of life, she was bedridden and not receiving any visitors, apart from her doctor and nurses. She died on April 24, 1986 at her home in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris.

Fascinated by this woman and this powerful love story, Madonna spent two years writing her script, and although W.E. is in part a fictionalized story, she also spent this time heavily researching the project. During her research, one element became particularly important. Wallis and Edward wrote to each other constantly throughout their relationship, sometime while even staying in the same house. “I found the letters very insightful because I think people reveal a lot about themselves in their writings.” Madonna adds, “Wally starts off her journey longing for a loving relationship because she is deeply unhappy. It was important for me to create a character that was trapped in a relationship that was not rooted in love. You can’t appreciate true love until you have it.”