Wallis Simpson was an American socialite who had been married twice when she met Edward, Duke of Windsor (then the Prince of Wales), at a party. She became Edward's mistress, leading to the "abdication crisis" in which he stepped down as king in order to be with her. Hearsay and conjecture have clouded the assessment of the Duchess of Windsor's life. There is no document which proves directly that she was anything other than a victim of her own ambition, who lived out a great romance that became a great tragedy. The Duchess is reported to have summed up her life in a sentence: "You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance."