The Duchess Of Windsor (48 page)
Read The Duchess Of Windsor Online
Authors: Greg King
Some of the recent misstatements concerning the Duchess and myself have caused us considerable concern and embarrassment, and might well lead to dangerous consequences.... Our visit to Germany has been very interesting, and we are now looking forward to our tour of America, and to further opportunities of making a study of the methods which have been adopted in the leading countries of the world in dealing with housing and industrial conditions.... I am now a very happily married man, but my wife and I are neither content nor willing to lead a purely inactive life of leisure. We hope and feel that in due course the experience we gain from our travels will enable us, if given fair treatment, to make some contribution, as private individuals, toward the solving of some of the vital problems that beset the world today.”
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On November 4 the American ambassador in Paris, William Bullitt, wrote to President Roosevelt:
I talked to the Duke of Windsor and his Duchess for several hours last night . . . . He is much calmer and more self-confident, and seems to be taking serious interest in housing and other problems connected with the life of the industrial workers. Incidentally, he drank almost nothing and is obviously intensely in love with his wife . . . .I am sorry that Mrs. Roosevelt will be on her speaking tour when the Windsors arrive and I explained to them both, as you ordered, that the tour had been arranged months in advance and could not be cancelled . . . . Incidentally, the Duchess expressed at considerable length, and apparently with sincerity, a deep admiration for Mrs. Roosevelt, and I hope they may meet somewhere sometime while the Windsors are in the United States.
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The British government, and most especially Buckingham Palace, was greatly worried over the forthcoming visit of the Windsors to America. By this time, King George VI saw a plot in nearly every move his brother made, and he was convinced that this proposed trip was nothing more than a publicity stunt. Sir Ronald Lindsay, the British ambassador to Washington, D.C., confided as much to the Earl of Crawford, who himself wrote: “The King and Queen are in a state of extreme nervousness about it. . . .”
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Lindsay “was staggered by the instructions sent to our Ministers and Ambassadors” regarding the Duke of Windsor and his wife. “They are
forbidden
to put him up in the house, or to give him a dinner, though they may give him a bite of luncheon, or to present him officially to anyone, or to accept invitations from him (except for a bite of luncheon) or to have him met at the station by anyone bigger than a junior secretary.”
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forbidden
to put him up in the house, or to give him a dinner, though they may give him a bite of luncheon, or to present him officially to anyone, or to accept invitations from him (except for a bite of luncheon) or to have him met at the station by anyone bigger than a junior secretary.”
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All of this worry, however, was in vain. Bedaux’s connection to the trip resulted in its ruin. American labor regarded both him and his methods as enemies of the working class and feared that his interest was the complete automation of all factories. As soon as word spread that he was behind the planned industrial tours to be undertaken by the Duke and Duchess, a small but highly vocal minority of labor leaders organized demonstrations against Bedaux. Soon strikes and pickets were proposed for any factory or industrial complex which Bedaux would arrange for the Duke to tour.
After much thought, Bedaux withdrew himself from the organization of the tour. From America, he cabled the Duke and Duchess: “Because of the mistaken attack upon me here, I am convinced that your proposed tour will be difficult under my auspices. I respectfully ... implore you to relieve me completely of all duties in connection with it.”
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Nothing, however, could halt the damage which had already been done. It soon became apparent that any trip to America would prove a public-relations disaster for the Windsors. To Wallis, who had been greatly looking forward to returning home and to seeing her family again, these developments were a considerable disappointment. Even more, however, she knew how much the visit had meant to her husband; such foreign tours allowed him, however briefly, to relive some of the sense of personal worth he had lost on abdicating the throne.
The decision, however, was made for the Windsors. One day, in the midst of all this planning, Dudley Forwood received a cable saying that George VI wished to speak with him at once. Forwood rang Buckingham Palace and was quickly put through to the King. “Tell David he’s not to bloody go to America!” Bertie shouted at the equerry before hanging up the telephone. Forwood went straight to the Duke and informed him that he had just spoken with the King. “His Majesty,” Forwood rather diplomatically said, “is highly concerned with your safety if you go to America, and the American Ambassador recommends that you don’t go.”
“Oh, all right then,” the Duke said angrily, “cancel the bloody thing!”
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Exile in Paris
A
T THE END
of their honeymoon, the Windsors had settled into a third-floor apartment in Paris’s luxurious Hotel Meurice. They chose the Meurice because it offered not only dignity but also privacy. “The service and food were of the highest quality,” noted Dina Wells Hood, “the atmosphere affluent, restrained, discreet.”
1
The international set flocked to the Ritz, but neither the Duke nor the Duchess had any wish for publicity where their private lives were concerned.
T THE END
of their honeymoon, the Windsors had settled into a third-floor apartment in Paris’s luxurious Hotel Meurice. They chose the Meurice because it offered not only dignity but also privacy. “The service and food were of the highest quality,” noted Dina Wells Hood, “the atmosphere affluent, restrained, discreet.”
1
The international set flocked to the Ritz, but neither the Duke nor the Duchess had any wish for publicity where their private lives were concerned.
Their suite, consisting of two bedrooms and a sitting room between, overlooked the Tuileries Gardens. The Meurice, however, was only intended as a temporary home: neither the Duke nor the Duchess expected to spend any length of time in exile. Both were still uncertain about what the future held, and with their financial situation not yet settled in the fall of 1937, they were reluctant to make permanent plans.
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Both assumed that they would return to England and take up residence in the Fort. David had brought few of his belongings with him into exile; most of his things, along with trunks which belonged to Wallis and the furnishings from her London flats, had been placed in storage at Frogmore House, just below Windsor Castle.
2
Both assumed that they would return to England and take up residence in the Fort. David had brought few of his belongings with him into exile; most of his things, along with trunks which belonged to Wallis and the furnishings from her London flats, had been placed in storage at Frogmore House, just below Windsor Castle.
For Wallis, the prospect of continued exile was unwelcome. “It was quite clear to me from what she said that she hopes to get back to England,” wrote Harold Nicolson. “When I asked her why she didn’t get a house of her own somewhere, she said, ‘One never knows what may happen. I don’t want to spend all my life in exile.’ “
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Circumstances for a return, however, were not in the Windsors’ favor. The feeling against them, especially among the court and the Royal Family, remained as strong as ever. Wallis wrote to Aunt Bessie: “I don’t think we will be settled anywhere until the English atmosphere is cleared but the terror of the Duke’s return remains—everyone is so afraid that it would upset the King’s so-called popularity. If that is so well-established as they all say, what is there to worry about? . . .”
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In Paris, the Windsors largely kept to themselves. “The British colony in Paris as a whole were as aloof in their attitude to the Windsors as were their official representatives,” recalled Dina Wells Hood. “Intensely interested in the Windsors’ doings, they were at the same time inclined to adopt a somewhat disconcerting attitude towards the exiled King and his Duchess. I was struck by this when I was talking one day to the wife of an English official in Paris, whom I met at a friend’s house. This lady was discussing the merits of a certain housemaid and I happened to mention that the maid had once been in the service of the Duchess. ‘Well, that’s no recommendation!’ rejoined my compatriot.”
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This antipathy toward the Duchess often led to embarrassing social situations. No one knew how to treat her: Should women curtsy to her as the wife of a Royal Duke, as would be expected, or should they ignore her, as Buckingham Palace had declared? When Lady Pembroke objected to several women curtsying to the Duchess of Windsor, David angrily told the
Evening Standard
in London, “We are less interested in curtsys than in courtesies.”
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Evening Standard
in London, “We are less interested in curtsys than in courtesies.”
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But Wallis made determined efforts to win over her critics. In November 1937 she accepted an invitation to open a charity sale on behalf of the British Episcopal Church of Christ at Neuilly. When she and David appeared at the bazaar, they were greeted with polite, if somewhat reserved, applause. This was the first occasion since the abdication on which Wallis had come face-to-face with any substantial group of British citizens, and her performance was a resounding success. She toured the numerous booths, happily exchanging small talk with the curious women, and even purchased several of their offerings. To those who had only read about this much-discussed and despised woman, the reality of their encounter with Wallis proved a startling experience. She was warm and friendly, smiled and laughed; although she was undoubtedly nervous, she appeared completely at ease. With the official welcome, Wallis climbed to the podium and delivered her first public speech: “We appreciate the welcome which you have given us. We are glad to be here at your community gathering and wish it every success. In declaring this sale open, I wish to congratulate all those who have worked for it and contributed to it, and I am sure they will meet with a generous response.” When the Windsors departed, amid much waving and generous smiles, the applause was deafening.
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The beginning of 1938 brought at least some satisfaction when Wallis was named one of the ten best-dressed women in the world, a distinction she was to hold for nearly four decades. The world’s press was fascinated with her every move; nothing escaped their notice, from the shade of her dresses to the size of her shoes. When, in April 1938, she changed the style of her hair, it was cause for immediate concern in the world press: “The Duchess of Windsor’s famous coiffure, which launched a thousand imitations the world round is no more. The Duchess has bobbed her hair,” the American artist, Porter Woodruff, said today in a letter from Paris. “Her long, smooth, soft-waved tresses knotted at the back of her slim neck have ceased to be the most distinguishing physical feature of the world’s most publicized woman.”
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Wallis found such press attention unwelcome and unrelenting. She explained to Anne Morrow Lindbergh that because she had not grown up before the public eye, as had her husband, she often felt unequal to the challenge of coping with such pressures. “She spoke with some feeling about her not wanting it to
change
her, to get the best of her,” Lindbergh wrote. Wallis complained about the inability to even shop in ordinary ways any longer: “And you find yourself doing strange things, like running out the back door” and “going into a shop for blue ribbon and coming out with black because you were so flustered.”
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change
her, to get the best of her,” Lindbergh wrote. Wallis complained about the inability to even shop in ordinary ways any longer: “And you find yourself doing strange things, like running out the back door” and “going into a shop for blue ribbon and coming out with black because you were so flustered.”
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Wallis rarely spoke to the press in these early years of her marriage to David out of respect for his position and the traditional distance which royalty maintained. But there were occasional exceptions. To Alice Henning of the
London Sunday Dispatch
she declared in the spring of 1939:
London Sunday Dispatch
she declared in the spring of 1939:
The life the Duke and I lead now has no “news value.” It is as unsensational now as we have always wanted it to be. In many ways we live more quietly than the average married couple. . . . I expect to take my husband’s name and rank, that is all. And I expect ordinary graciousness in human relationships. . . . People little realize how much we want to avoid excitement and so-called glamour. There have been so many pictures of us getting in and out of trains that we feel we do not want to get in or out of a train again! . . . I could never possibly have the number of hairdressers that are supposed to have attended me on various occasions. I hate publicity. The dresses I wear and all that. Those are not the real things of life. I hope as I grow older I realize it and not go about wearing frilly frocks or adopting modes such as the one that shows a little bit of petticoat below the dress. I want to grow old with dignity, but with fair measure of tolerance towards the new generation which I hope to be able to understand.
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Despite the unrelenting press attention and public interest in seemingly every move the Windsors’ made, at least one faction was determined to ignore them: Buckingham Palace and the Foreign Office continued to insist that the Duke and Duchess be ostracized. In January 1938, the British ambassador in Paris hosted a reception for the president of France. It seemed only natural that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, as the highest-ranking English couple then in the city, would attend. But when the embassy included their names on the guest list which went to Whitehall, Buckingham Palace immediately objected. King George VI ordered Alan Lascelles to write at once to the embassy, telling them that it would be inappropriate for the Windsors to be asked to attend any official ceremony. “No doubt such decisions could be justified in terms of protocol,” writes the Duke’s official biographer, Philip Ziegler, “but the situation was not one for which any precedent existed, and it is hard not to feel that a less doctrinaire approach could have been adopted without undue risk to the monarchy.”
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This was simply a taste of what was to come. In the spring of 1938, George VI and Queen Elizabeth were scheduled to make a state visit to France. It would be cause for endless rumor if the King and Queen, while in Paris, avoided meeting the Duke and Duchess, and David asked the faithful Walter Monckton to try to convince his brother to at least invite him and Wallis to some official reception for the sake of family unity. But when Monckton gently raised the issue, George VI absolutely refused to include his brother or sister-in-law in any part of his visit or even to meet with them privately while in Paris. His rather grim explanation to Monckton was that he worried that by receiving the Windsors their stature might possibly be raised among French society.
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When David received word of this stunning decision, he sat down and wrote a pathetic, almost pleading letter to his brother, but the King refused to reconsider his decision. The state visit to France was a great triumph for the King and Queen, who were loudly cheered everywhere they went. But Edouard Daladier, the French premier, was less than won over. After spending a considerable amount of time with the British monarch and his wife, Daladier described the King as a “moron.” His impression of the Queen was just as unfavorable. Daladier called her “an excessively ambitious woman who would be ready to sacrifice every other country in the world in order that she might remain Queen Elizabeth of England.”
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David was deeply hurt and humiliated by what he and Wallis both considered to be continued punishment for the abdication. In despair, he wrote to his mother, asking her frankly what the future held where relations between him and Wallis and the Royal Family were concerned. The Queen replied:
You will remember how miserable I was when you informed me of your intended marriage and abdication and how I implored you not to do so for our sake and for the sake of the country. You did not seem able to take in any point of view but your own. . . . I do not think you have ever realized the shock which the attitude you took up caused your family and the whole Nation. It seemed inconceivable to those who had made such sacrifices during the war that you, as their King, refused a lesser sacrifice. While sympathizing with your distress of mind at the time, I fail to see that your marriage has altered the point of view which we all took up, or that it is possible for you both to come to England for a long time to come. Naturally I am very sorry not to see you, as my feelings to you as your Mother remain the same, and our being parted and the cause of it grieves me beyond words. After all, all my life I have put my Country before anything else, and I simply cannot change now. The feeling about your marriage is far deeper and wider than you seem to realize, and your return to England would only mean division and controversy.
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Such a response only fed the Windsors’ growing conviction that they would never be welcome again in England, at least not by members of the Duke’s own family. The realization that they were doomed to be outcasts for the rest of their lives struck hard at their pride. “The question,” wrote Wallis, “was whether we should conduct ourselves like fugitives, always on the run, or put on a show of our own. David was born to be a King; he
had been
a King. In marriage, the palaces were lost; so was the trained staff that smoothed out everything for him. But he still had the mind and character and, yes, the interests of a King; and my duty, as I saw it, was to evoke for him the nearest equivalent to a kingly life that I could produce without a kingdom.”
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had been
a King. In marriage, the palaces were lost; so was the trained staff that smoothed out everything for him. But he still had the mind and character and, yes, the interests of a King; and my duty, as I saw it, was to evoke for him the nearest equivalent to a kingly life that I could produce without a kingdom.”
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Wallis’s first step toward establishing a regular life for her and David was to find some residence other than the temporary rooms they had taken at the Hotel Meurice. She began to search for a house to rent. Both she and David considered the idea of moving to America, but Monckton reminded them that the prohibitive tax rates which existed in England would also apply should the Windsors return to Wallis’s homeland. Residence in France seemed an acceptable compromise; the country was cosmopolitan enough to satisfy any future desire for society, there was an established aristocracy, and Paris was close enough to England to make return visits easy when they might become possible.
She wanted to live in Paris itself, while David wished for a country house, where he could indulge his love of gardening. Any house she found in the city lacked enough space to make him happy or too little garden to ensure privacy. Eventually, she found a house in Versailles, the Château de la Maye, which belonged to the widow of French politician Paul Dupuy. The house sat in a large private garden which boasted a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a nine-hole private golf course—a feature which won David over. Wallis asked Dudley Forwood to look into the details, and the equerry managed to sign a six-month lease, which included all of the furniture,
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