An only child, Bessie Wallis (sometimes written "Bessiewallis") Warfield was born in Square Cottage at Monterey Inn, a hotel directly across the road from the Monterey Country Club, in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania. A summer resort close to the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, Blue Ridge Summit was popular with Baltimoreans escaping the season's heat, and Monterey Inn, which had a central building as well as individual wooden cottages, was the town's largest hotel. Her father was Teackle Wallis Warfield, the fifth and youngest son of Henry Mactier Warfield, a flour merchant described as "one of the best known and personally one of the most popular citizens of Baltimore" who ran for mayor in 1875.
Second World War
As the German troops advanced, the Duke and Duchess fled south from their Paris home, first to Biarritz, then in June to Spain. There, she told the United States ambassador, Alexander W. Weddell, that France had lost because it was "internally diseased". In July, the pair moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where they stayed at the home of Ricardo do Espirito Santo e Silva, a banker who was suspected of being a German agent.  In August 1940, the Duke and Duchess travelled by commercial liner to the Bahamas, where the Duke was installed as Governor. Wallis performed her role as the Bahamas' first lady competently for five years; she worked actively for the Red Cross and in the improvement of infant welfare. However, she hated Nassau, calling it "our St Helena", in a reference to Napoleon's final place of exile. She was heavily criticised in the British press for her extravagant shopping in the United States, undertaken when Britain was enduring privations such as rationing and the blackout. Her attitude towards the local population, whom she called "lazy, thriving niggers" in letters to her aunt, reflected her upbringing. In 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill strenuously objected when she and her husband planned to tour the Caribbean aboard a yacht belonging to a Swedish magnate, Axel Wenner-Gren, who Churchill said was "pro-German". Churchill felt compelled to complain again when the Duke gave a "defeatist" interview. Another of their acquaintances, Charles Bedaux, who had hosted their marriage, was arrested on charges of treason in 1943, and committed suicide in jail in Miami before the case was brought to trial. The British establishment distrusted the Duchess; Sir Alexander Hardinge wrote that her suspected anti-British activities were motivated by a desire for revenge against a country that rejected her as its queen.  After the defeat of Nazi Germany, the couple returned to France and retirement.

Q: What actions did he take in the second world war?
A: As the German troops advanced, the Duke and Duchess fled south from their Paris home, first to Biarritz, then in June to Spain.

Q: Did Wallis stay in Spain?
A: the pair moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where they stayed at the home of Ricardo do Espirito Santo e Silva, a banker who was suspected of being a German agent.

Q: How long were they there?
A: In August 1940, the Duke and Duchess travelled by commercial liner to the Bahamas, where the Duke was installed as Governor.

Q: Were they safe?
A: She was heavily criticised in the British press for her extravagant shopping in the United States, undertaken when Britain was enduring privations such as rationing and the blackout.

Q: What was she shopping for?
A: unknown

Q: So she was viewed negatively by the public?
A: In 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill strenuously objected when she and her husband planned to tour the Caribbean aboard a yacht belonging to a Swedish magnate,

Q: Did they go anyway?
A: unknown
Did she have other questionable experiences?
Her attitude towards the local population, whom she called "lazy, thriving niggers" in letters to her aunt, reflected her upbringing.
Her attitude towards the local population, whom she called "lazy, thriving niggers" in letters to her aunt, reflected her upbringing.