The woman who could have changed history: Rosemary Leveson-Gower who almost married Edward VIII

He was the disastrous king with a predilection for women unfit for the role of Queen of England.

Edward VIII notoriously abdicated in December 1936 after insisting on marrying American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

But history would have turned out very differently if his parents, King George V and Queen Mary, had allowed him to marry the highborn, respectable Rosemary Leveson-Gower.

After meeting her in 1917, Edward enjoyed a romance with the Duke of Sutherland’s daughter, which culminated in a proposal of marriage which she accepted.

But, worried by a supposed madness that ran in her family, the king and queen refused permission for the union.

Edward began courting Rosemary when in 1917 – during World War I – she was working as a nurse in France in a Red Cross hospital set up by her mother.

The then 23-year-old Prince of Wales, who was with his mother and father, was on one of several visits he made to the front during the conflict.

It was that same year that King George changed his family’s name from the German-sounding Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor and announced that his children would be allowed to marry into British families, rather than having to tie the knot with European royals. .

Before Rosemary, Edward had feuded with Marion Coke, wife of Viscount ‘Tommy’ Coke, heir to the Earl of Leicester, and Lady Sybil ‘Portia’ Cadogan, his sister’s best friend.

But by June 1917, Portia had accepted the hand of the Prince’s college friend, Lord Edward Stanley.

As the daughter of the Duke of Sutherland, Rosemary was both noble and beautiful. On paper, it meant she was a good match for a future king.

She was also warm and charitable and had a strong social conscience instilled by her mother, Millicent.

The London Illustrated News described her as “generous, cheerful and kind, ready for any excitement, especially for outdoor expeditions.”

A photo of her with Edward during their first meeting shows the nurse in her bright white uniform, while the prince can be seen in his military attire.

The couple’s banter even caught the attention of the public.

Socialite Cynthia Asquith recorded in March 1918 how there was “wild excitement” when Edward went on leave.

‘No girl is allowed to leave London and every mother’s heart beats faster. So far he dances with Rosemary the most and also rides motorcycles with her during the day,” she noted.

Edward’s proposal to Rosemary was accepted wholeheartedly, but the union eventually came to blows over parental authority, with both the King and Queen vetoing the match.

Queen Mary wrote to her son: ‘I agree that Rosemary is attractive, but please don’t think of her. There is a stain in the blood of her mother’s family.

The suggestion of madness was coupled with the fact that Rosemary’s uncle, the 5th Earl of Rosslyn, was a gambler who had gone bankrupt and was on his third marriage.

An enraged Edward felt bitter towards his parents for refusing to let him marry the woman of his choice.

Lady Paget, a friend of Rosemary’s, later said: ‘I don’t think he ever forgave his father.

“I also felt that from that moment on he was determined that he would never enter into a supposedly suitable marriage to please his family.”

Rosemary was ultimately the last single English woman Edward would ever seriously consider marriage material.

He is said to have a long-running affair with socialite Freda Dudley-Ward, while at the same time having meetings with Viscountess Furness.

It was during a visit to Lady Furness’s house in 1931 that Edward met Wallis, who later recalled being ‘petrified’ when she struck up a conversation with the future king over lunch.

She added that she found him “truly one of the most attractive personalities I’ve ever met.”

After it became clear that a future with Edward was impossible, Rosemary married William Ward, Viscount Ednam, in March 1919.

She and Edward remained close after her marriage – he was godfather to her eldest son and visited her at her home.

Rosemary was also close to fellow socialite Sheila Milbanke, the lover of Edward’s younger brother, the Duke of York, who would become King George VI after his brother’s abdication.

Before meeting the brothers for the first time, Sheila asked Rosemary how to behave. She said in response, “Nod to the ground, call them sir, and treat them like dirt.”

Nevertheless, Rosemary – who had been decorated for her wartime nursing – settled into family life and had three children with her husband.

One of them, son Jeremy, died aged seven in December 1929 when, while cycling near his family’s home, he was run over and killed on Chelsea Embankment.

In July of the following year, Rosemary met five others when the plane she was flying crashed over the village of Meopham in Kent.

Rosemary – a “famous beauty” and friend of the Prince of Wales – had just returned from a visit to France to see her husband when the tragedy occurred.

The plane was piloted by the famous British aviator Lieutenant Colonel GLP Henderson.

The Daily Mail described the tragedy as “one of the most appalling and mysterious plane crashes in civil aviation history” at the time.

Shortly after the crash, it also emerged that, had there been space, Prince Edward’s adjutant would have traveled on the plane. Instead, he crossed from the mainland by boat.

By the time Rosemary died, Edward’s relationship with Wallis was blossoming. By then, she was well on her way to her second divorce.

When he became king in January 1936, she became a permanent part of his life and their relationship raised a sensational eyebrow in official circles.

Edward on several occasions shied away from royal duties—such as skipping scheduling meetings for his upcoming coronation—to spend time with her.

His eventual refusal to give up the romance led to his abdication in December 1936.

The explosive crisis made headlines around the world and sparked a rift with other senior royals – most notably George VI – that ultimately never healed.

By the time Edward married Wallis in France in 1937, the former king was a solid outsider.

And his mother Queen Mary may have wondered what might have happened if she and her husband had granted Edward’s wish to marry Rosemary.