Joan Collins set to star as Wallis Simpson in biopic

CNN

31-01-2025

Joan Collins is to play Wallis Simpson in a biopic about the American socialite whose relationship with the British King led to his abdication.
The 91-year-old actress revealed that the cameras will soon start rolling for the film, entitled 'The Bitter End.'
She posted a split panel of two black and white images on Instagram of herself and Simpson, who became the Duchess of Windsor after she married King Edward VIII following his abdication.
Collins said: 'I'm delighted to be playing #wallissimpson the #duchessofwindsor in an untold story about her final years, to start shooting soon in London and Paris.'
The news was greeted with much excitement from Collins' Instagram followers. One wrote: 'This is going to be great – I've always been so curious about those final years for her.'
Another said: 'This will be extraordinary! And no one could play the role more exquisitely than you @joancollinsdbe ! Just phenomenal!'
Filming is set to begin in May of this year, when the actress, who famously played the scheming Alexis Colby in '80s soap 'Dynasty,' turns 92.
Edward VIII scandalized British society in 1936 when he stepped away from the throne in order to marry Simpson, an American divorcée.
Simpson was born Bessie Wallis Warfield in Pennsylvania in 1896. She lived in London in the 1930s with her second husband, Ernest Simpson. It was during this period that she met the prince, who became King on the death of his father, George V, in 1936.
Edward abdicated after just 10 months on the throne, sparking a constitutional crisis that led to the coronation of his younger brother, George VI – father of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Edward and Wallis, who went on to be known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, were married in France in 1937, and spent most of the rest of their lives there. In 1953, they moved into Villa Windsor, a 14-room mansion, in the Boulogne woods of western Paris. The duke died in 1972, while his wife continued to live there in increasing isolation and declining health until her death in 1986.
The film promises to tell 'the shocking untold story of the last years of Wallis Simpson,' according to production firm John Gore Studios.
Currently in pre-production, the film's script has been written by Louise Fennell, the mother of actress and screenwriter Emerald Fennell, who played Camilla Parker Bowles in Netflix's 'The Crown.'
'The Bitter End' is set to be directed by Mike Newell, whose previous credits include 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.'
CNN royal commentator Kate Williams contributed to this article.