Duchess of Windsor Laid to Rest as Queen Watches

The royal family buried the Duchess of Windsor today beside the king who gave up the British throne to marry her, thus honoring the American divorcee in death after shunning her in life.

Led by Queen Elizabeth II, 175 mourners ranging from royalty to the duchess’ faithful butler and chauffeur kneeled in prayer for the woman whose romance with King Edward VIII rocked Britain 50 years ago.

The duchess, who died Thursday in Paris at age 89, was buried beside her husband in a polished oak coffin bearing a single wreath from the queen. The wreath was made of flowers freshly picked at Windsor Castle.

The plaque on the casket said simply: “Wallis, Duchess of Windsor 1896-1986,” without the HRH--Her Royal Highness--which the Duke of Windsor had unsuccessfully sought for his wife.

The ceremony in Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel was conducted by the Church of England, which 50 years earlier had been in the forefront of opposition to the king, its temporal head, marrying the twice-divorced Baltimore socialite.

No Eulogy for Duchess

The 30-minute service, conducted by the dean of Windsor, the Rev. Michael Mann, included no eulogies and no direct references to the duchess.

At the service, the queen was flanked by her husband, Prince Philip, her son and heir Prince Charles and his wife Princess Diana, her daughter Princess Anne and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

Eight Welsh Guards then carried the coffin, which had been flown to Britain on Sunday from Paris, to a seven-car cortege which went to the royal family’s private cemetery at Frogmore Gardens on the Windsor Castle grounds.

Only 15 people attended the burial--the queen, Philip, Charles and Diana; Grace, Countess of Dudley, who was an old friend of the Windsors; two royal household aides; the dean of Windsor, and seven members of the duchess’ Paris household who flew to England for the funeral.

The duchess was laid to rest beside the duke, who died in 1972 at 77 and whose burial in England began a slow reconciliation between the royals and the widow. It had been their wish to be buried together in England.

Among mourners in the chapel were Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and opposition leader Neil Kinnock; U.S. Ambassador Charles Price; Lady Alexandra Metcalfe, widow of the best man at the Windsors’ marriage; the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and Lady Diana Mosley, widow of the 1930s British fascist leader.

Royals absent from the service were the queen’s sister Princess Margaret, and the queen’s sons Andrew and Edward. The explanation given by aides was that they barely knew the duchess.

Windsor florists said they were swamped with orders. “We have had orders from all over Britain and America, and from Germany and France,” florist Kim Curley said.