Read The Duchess Of Windsor Online
Authors: Greg King
The Duchess Of Windsor (19 page)
Freda Dudley Ward, like Wallis, had also taken an interest in the work of the Prince of Wales, but the difference between the approaches of these two women could not have been greater. As an Englishwoman, Freda Dudley Ward had been raised in a country accustomed to ceremony; there was therefore little in the Prince of Wales’s ritual of royal engagements which provoked interest or question. Wallis, on the other hand, was completely drawn into this unknown royal world, and her enthusiasm for the public side of the Prince’s life undoubtedly appealed to him. Then, too, being from a prosperous background, Freda had little personal knowledge of the difficulties of the working class; Wallis, on the other hand, could question the Prince about housing, labor conditions, and education.
On April 15, Wallis reported to Aunt Bessie, “Thelma is still in Paris. I’m afraid her rule is over and I’m trying to keep an even keel with my relations with him by avoiding seeing him alone as he is very attentive at the moment. And of course I’m flattered.”
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Wallis felt she could reasonably dismiss the Prince’s attentions as mere infatuation. She realized that since she was scarcely young and could not be considered conventionally beautiful, the Prince must be interested in something else entirely. Perhaps it was her American heritage, her independent spirit, or her sense of humor. Then, too, she realized that he was a man of great paradox: the most famous bachelor in the world was also a very lonely man, and she had been one of the few around him to have expressed any interest in his royal duties.
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Wallis felt she could reasonably dismiss the Prince’s attentions as mere infatuation. She realized that since she was scarcely young and could not be considered conventionally beautiful, the Prince must be interested in something else entirely. Perhaps it was her American heritage, her independent spirit, or her sense of humor. Then, too, she realized that he was a man of great paradox: the most famous bachelor in the world was also a very lonely man, and she had been one of the few around him to have expressed any interest in his royal duties.
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Wallis, too, had a singular gift which neither Freda nor Thelma possessed. As a southern woman, she had been raised to nurture a man and devote herself to making him happy. The sort of attention and affection with which she showered the Prince happened to fit in exactly with what he himself wanted. Wallis was no fool; she earnestly studied newspapers and questioned others so that she could speak knowledgeably with the Prince. This, however, was not quite as mercenary as has often been suggested. She was simply acting as she always had by making the man she was talking to feel that he was the most important person in the world. And though his royal trappings made him fascinating, she was forthright and natural with him, and he had seldom come across a woman so independent of spirit. Lord Castlerosse, who knew the Prince well, said that he had “an inferiority complex. Mrs. Simpson has built up her man....” He added, “The attraction between them is NOT sex.”
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David, in turn, felt he could freely confide in Wallis about certain matters; he had never been able to do so with either Freda or Thelma. Freda, having been raised in England, could never forget his position as Prince of Wales; this invisible wall in many ways prevented David from sharing himself completely. And Thelma, for all her charm and sophistication, was not a woman who seemed to care greatly for thoughtful conversation. Wallis, however, treated David “as a man first, as a Prince second,” in the words of his future equerry Dudley Forwood.
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He was able to speak freely to Wallis of his hopes and fears for the future, his family life, his relationships with his parents, and she listened, expressing interest and offering advice and comfort. The deeper the bond this created between them, the more impossible it became for David to consider giving up Wallis.
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He was able to speak freely to Wallis of his hopes and fears for the future, his family life, his relationships with his parents, and she listened, expressing interest and offering advice and comfort. The deeper the bond this created between them, the more impossible it became for David to consider giving up Wallis.
Things were moving quickly. The Simpsons were still dazzled by the royal favor, even if friendship with the Prince of Wales entailed certain sacrifices neither had anticipated. The first of these to make itself known was money: Ernest‘s family business was already in trouble, and now his limited income had to stretch to cover a host of expenses neither he nor Wallis had ever expected. There were parties to attend and to be given, new clothes to buy and wear, and tips to be dispersed.
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As yet, the friendship of the Prince of Wales still encompassed both Simpsons. Nothing untoward had taken place. Society gossips had begun a whispering campaign against Wallis, but the truth was that in the spring of 1934 her relationship with the Prince amounted to no more than a slightly flirtatious friendship. Certainly her feelings for the Prince were ambiguous, and she was always careful to pay attention to Ernest lest he feel slighted in any way. When her aunt Bessie warned that she was treading into dangerous territory, Wallis agreed, saying that she was willing to give up the Prince if Ernest in any way objected.
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At the same time, Wallis began, at the Prince’s request, to insinuate herself, and her influence, into his households, at both Fort Belvedere and at York House, St. James’s Palace. Although her informal style greatly appealed to the Prince, it was an altogether different matter where his staff was concerned. When the Simpsons and the Prince were out evenings, they would sometimes return to the Fort or York House at three or four in the morning, then expect the entire staff to fix them cocktails and late-night suppers and wait on them until they chose to retire, forgetting that these same servants had duties to attend to in the early morning. Wallis soon became accepted as the natural hostess at the Fort and expected that weekend menus be regularly submitted for her approval. This did not sit at all well with Osborne, the head butler at Fort Belvedere, who had been with the Prince’s staff during the war and was accustomed to receiving orders only from his master. Things were more dire at York House, where the butler, Finch, was fired when he refused to take orders from this American commoner.
The remaining staff quickly learned to accept Wallis without question. She once rang society florist Constance Spry to give her some instructions on arrangements for a party. Spry, who had previously had a free hand in her floral work for the Prince, promptly called the comptroller at St. James’s Palace: “Look, have you by any chance got a new housekeeper called Mrs. Simpson?” There was a long pause before she received the answer: “Mrs. Spry, any orders that come from Mrs. Simpson should be instantly complied with.”
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That year, the Prince secured passes to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot for the Simpsons, a rather serious move in view of the fact that both had been divorced and no divorced person was allowed in the Royal Enclosure. The Prince smiled at her as he drove past in the royal carriage procession, and immediately afterward both she and Ernest returned to the Fort for a house party.
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In August, the Prince went on holiday to Biarritz, where he had taken a house, the Villa Meretmont, overlooking the ocean. He asked the Simpsons to join him, but Ernest had business in the United States, and Wallis excused herself by explaining that her aunt Bessie had already made arrangements to come visit her in London. But the Prince would not be put off and insisted that Wallis and her aunt accompany him.
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The Prince had accepted an invitation from Lord Moyne to join him on his yacht
Rosaura
as he cruised along the coast. This vessel proved to be something of a letdown: an old, converted Channel steamer, rather decrepit and unsteady. Unfortunately for the royal party, they encountered heavy seas, and Wallis fell terribly ill.
Rosaura
as he cruised along the coast. This vessel proved to be something of a letdown: an old, converted Channel steamer, rather decrepit and unsteady. Unfortunately for the royal party, they encountered heavy seas, and Wallis fell terribly ill.
Once the weather cleared, however, the mood lightened considerably. The Prince and Wallis often took the yacht’s launch and went ashore at secluded coves to picnic and swim. In the afternoons, they played poker and bridge or explored the nearby towns. Royal ceremony was carefully excluded. The Prince, insisting he was on holiday, refused to wear anything but shorts and sandals; when he went ashore, it took some clever arm-twisting to get him to wear a shirt and linen slacks. “I get very bored with all this dressing up,” he declared.
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Wallis followed his example: Clad in her bathing suit, with a pair of sunglasses perched on her head, she spent hours reading in the sunshine. When ashore, she wore simple linen-and-cotton sleeveless summer dresses. At night, they often dined together at small cafes and restaurants.
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Wallis followed his example: Clad in her bathing suit, with a pair of sunglasses perched on her head, she spent hours reading in the sunshine. When ashore, she wore simple linen-and-cotton sleeveless summer dresses. At night, they often dined together at small cafes and restaurants.
For three days, the yacht anchored in the quiet waters off Formentera, on the island of Majorca. “Perhaps it was during these evenings off the Spanish coast,” Wallis later wrote, “that we crossed the line that marks the indefinable boundary between friendship and love.”
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Something had clearly changed between the pair. When they returned to Cannes, the Prince, unwilling to end this make-believe life with Wallis, decided to stay for several extra days. On their first evening in Cannes, the Prince and Wallis slipped ashore, and accompanied by John Taylor, the local British vice-consul, and his wife, they visited the Palm Beach Club, where they danced with each other until dawn. Wallis’s friends Herman and Katherine Rogers, who lived nearby, entertained the pair the following evening with a midnight supper and a moonlight cruise on a friend’s yacht. By the third day at Cannes, the Prince was so taken with Wallis that he dangerously booked the two of them into a suite at the Hotel Miramar. While Wallis slept, the Prince rang the night manager of the hotel and asked him to, in turn, summon to work the staff of the local branch of the Cartier store; he then disappeared into the night to do some private jewelry shopping.
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Something had clearly changed between the pair. When they returned to Cannes, the Prince, unwilling to end this make-believe life with Wallis, decided to stay for several extra days. On their first evening in Cannes, the Prince and Wallis slipped ashore, and accompanied by John Taylor, the local British vice-consul, and his wife, they visited the Palm Beach Club, where they danced with each other until dawn. Wallis’s friends Herman and Katherine Rogers, who lived nearby, entertained the pair the following evening with a midnight supper and a moonlight cruise on a friend’s yacht. By the third day at Cannes, the Prince was so taken with Wallis that he dangerously booked the two of them into a suite at the Hotel Miramar. While Wallis slept, the Prince rang the night manager of the hotel and asked him to, in turn, summon to work the staff of the local branch of the Cartier store; he then disappeared into the night to do some private jewelry shopping.
Upon his return, he awakened Wallis and told her that they should leave immediately. The entire party, sleepy and not quite certain of what was happening, duly packed and returned to the yacht, which steamed out to sea. There, standing on deck under the moonlight, the Prince presented Wallis with a diamond-and-emerald charm for her bracelet.
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After another two weeks of visiting Nice, Genoa, Lake Como—where Wallis and the Prince rowed in the deep blue waters—and other southern cities, the party reluctantly returned to France. From there, the Prince flew back to England, thence to Scotland, so that he could see the launch of the new RMS
Queen Mary,
and Wallis and the others sailed from Cherbourg.
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After another two weeks of visiting Nice, Genoa, Lake Como—where Wallis and the Prince rowed in the deep blue waters—and other southern cities, the party reluctantly returned to France. From there, the Prince flew back to England, thence to Scotland, so that he could see the launch of the new RMS
Queen Mary,
and Wallis and the others sailed from Cherbourg.
For her part, Wallis would recall, she harbored strong feelings for the Prince but somehow managed to convince herself that it was a passing infatuation on his part.
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She acted nonplussed, but Aunt Bessie was more forthright, suggesting that Wallis was indeed treading into dangerous territory. “If you let yourself enjoy this kind of life,” she warned, “it will make you very restless and dissatisfied with everything you’ve ever known before.” But Wallis had dismissed her concerns, saying that she knew exactly what she was doing
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She acted nonplussed, but Aunt Bessie was more forthright, suggesting that Wallis was indeed treading into dangerous territory. “If you let yourself enjoy this kind of life,” she warned, “it will make you very restless and dissatisfied with everything you’ve ever known before.” But Wallis had dismissed her concerns, saying that she knew exactly what she was doing
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However, Wallis was keenly aware of the delicate balancing act her life had become. She had no reason to believe that her relationship with the Prince, as increasingly serious as it was, would lead to anything more than fond memories. Ernest was her husband; she cared for him and had no intention of losing him. In November she confided to Aunt Bessie that she had spoken at length separately with both her husband and with the Prince about this curious situation. Apparently, Ernest, reassured that she had no desire to leave the security and comfort of her marriage, expressed no objection to her continuing friendship with the Prince. While he cannot have been terribly happy with the growing public perception that he was a cuckold, Ernest genuinely liked the Prince. In addition, he was not averse to the aura of importance and prestige which surrounded both him and his wife in their favored position. “I shall try and be clever enough to keep them both,” Wallis wrote to her aunt.
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The true measure of their new status came in November, when they received an invitation to the wedding of the Prince of Wales’s brother Prince George to Princess Marina of Greece at Westminster Abbey on the twenty-ninth. Two days before the wedding, the Simpsons attended a state ball for the bride and groom given by King George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace. The King and Queen by this time knew of their son’s new American interest, and when they saw her name on the guest list, they allegedly ordered the Lord Chamberlain to cross it off. The Prince of Wales forced a confrontation. Marie Belloc Lowndes wrote: “The Prince, hearing of this, went to his parents and said that if he were not allowed to invite these friends of his, he would not go to the ball. He pointed out that the Simpsons were remarkably nice Americans, that it was important England and America should be on cordial terms, and that he himself had been most kindly entertained in the States. His parents gave way and the Simpsons duly came to the ball.”
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Wallis and Ernest made quite a picture on this their second appearance at Buckingham Palace. Ernest had to wear black knee breeches, according to court custom; Wallis, in a violet lame dress with a green sash, borrowed a tiara from Cartier for the evening. She was quickly sought out by the Prince of Wales, who presented her to Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. He then took Wallis over to where the King and Queen were standing. “I want to introduce a great friend of mine,” he said.
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Wallis stepped forward and sank into a deep curtsy before the King, who had taken her hand in his. She turned to Queen Mary, who wore a long blue gown and glittered with jewels, and curtsied once again. Like her husband, Queen Mary reached out and shook her hand. Later, she would tell one of her ladies-in-waiting, Mabell, Lady Airlie, that she had done so without thought.
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Wallis stepped forward and sank into a deep curtsy before the King, who had taken her hand in his. She turned to Queen Mary, who wore a long blue gown and glittered with jewels, and curtsied once again. Like her husband, Queen Mary reached out and shook her hand. Later, she would tell one of her ladies-in-waiting, Mabell, Lady Airlie, that she had done so without thought.
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Two days later, the magnificent wedding took place at Westminster Abbey Wallis was delighted to find that she and Ernest had been given very prominent positions in the transept, from which they could view the entire proceedings. All around her life was changing, and she was captivated. “It seemed unbelievable that I, Wallis Warfield of Baltimore, Maryland, could be part of this enchanted world,” she later wrote. “It seemed so incredible that it produced in me a dreamy state of happy and unheeding acceptance.” From now on, she would describe her existence to Ernest as being like “Wallis in Wonderland.”
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