Charles Bedaux hosted the Windsor wedding at Candé, died in FBI custody awaiting treason charges, and his widow gave the château to France

Charles Bedaux made a fortune selling the Bedaux system of work measurement. On 23 July 1927 he and his wife Fern bought the Château de Candé in the Loire valley. Wallis Simpson arrived there on 10 March 1937, her divorce was granted on 3 May, and the former Edward VIII joined her on 4 May. They married at Candé on 3 June 1937 before 16 guests. After France fell in 1940, Bedaux became an economic adviser to Vichy and the Reich. In December 1942 French authorities arrested him and his son in Algeria for the OSS and handed them to the Americans. He was held for about a year without charge and flown to the United States to face possible charges of trading with the enemy and treason. On 18 February 1944 he died of a barbiturate overdose in FBI custody at the Dade County jail in Miami. Fern inherited Candé. In 1951 she gave the château and part of its furniture to the French state, keeping a life interest^†. She asked that the estate never be divided or built on. She died on 16 July 1972. On 1 April 1974 the state transferred Candé to the Indre-et-Loire department. Her wish that it become a presidential residence was not followed, and the furniture went to the Mobilier national. Since 2014 the original furniture has been returned. In 2026 the department owns Candé and opens it to the public.