Who plays Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, in seasons 1 and 2 of The Crown?

Lia Williams plays Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, in seasons 1 and 2 of The Crown.

Wallis was born Bessie Wallis Warfield and later became Wallis Simpson. Her relationship with Edward VIII triggered the constitutional crisis that ended with his abdication in 1936, allowing him to marry her. The Crown uses the couple’s continuing presence to explore the monarchy’s recent past and Edward’s complicated relationship with his niece, Elizabeth II.

Williams appears as Wallis in the show’s first two seasons, while Alex Jennings plays the Duke of Windsor. The role is sometimes confused with Geraldine Chaplin, who portrays Wallis in featured appearances during season 3. Victoria Hamilton plays the Queen Mother in seasons 1 and 2, and Eileen Atkins plays Queen Mary, so neither is Wallis.

The series presents the Windsors through dramatized conversations and reconstructed scenes rather than documentary footage. Historically, Wallis and Edward remained married until his death in 1972, and she died in 1986. Their exile and distance from the working royal family continued to shape the storylines involving the older generation of the monarchy.