The Peoples King (20 page)

Edward was shocked by Hardinge's letter, as well as hurt and angry,
but he did not immediately tell Wallis what had happened. Always
trying to protect her from worry, he was especially keen not to cause
her any concern, as her aunt had arrived recently from Washington
and they were enjoying a weekend together at the Fort. Wallis noticed
that he was preoccupied and his manner abstracted. 'All the upwelling
of joy that he had brought back from the Fleet', she observed, 'was
gone . . . But he gave no hint or sign of what was troubling him.' The
next day, he showed her the letter. She was stunned, realizing that the
Government was preparing for a showdown with Edward. Her first
reaction was to declare that she would indeed leave the country, as
Hardinge had advocated - but Edward would have none of it. Instead,
he told her that he was going to send for Baldwin the next day, to
have it out with him. 'I'm going to tell him that if the country won't
approve our marrying, I'm ready to go.'
²²

According to Wallis's own account, this was the first time that the
possibility of him stepping down from the throne was mentioned
between them. She was appalled, imploring him not even to talk of
such a thing. But he was adamant that he would never give her up.
Later, Wallis reproached herself for not leaving England at this time,
'the fateful moment - the last when any action of mine could have
prevented the crisis'. But what kept her from going, she said later, was
'the fundamental inability of a woman to go against the urgent wishes
of the man she loves.' Edward was determined that she stay. 'He
insisted that he needed me,' wrote Wallis, 'and as a woman in love I
was prepared to go through rivers of woe, seas of despair, and oceans
of agony for him.'
²³
Friends said that Wallis and Edward 'acted like a
couple in love who wanted to get married, and were plainly horrified
by the momentous events this simple desire had set in motion . . . You
couldn't help loving them for it, they were honestly so damn naive.'
²⁴
But a turning point had been reached. After receiving Hardinge's
letter, the King withdrew further and further from court life, where
tensions had reached an unbearable level. 'I knew nothing of what
passed,' wrote Lambe, his equerry, 'but could not help feeling the
anxiety and stress which daily grew over everyone.'
²⁵
In a postscript
to his letter, Hardinge had added that he was going after dinner on
the day of writing, 13 November, to shoot at High Wycombe; the
Post Office, he said, would have his telephone number and 'I am of
course entirely at Your Majesty's disposal if there is anything at all
that you want.'
²⁶
But Edward did not respond either then, or at any
time later, to Hardinge's offer of an open door. He left him in his post
in Buckingham Palace, but eschewed any contact with him beyond
what was absolutely necessary (such as the enforced proximity to
Hardinge on the royal tour of South Wales, which must have been an
ordeal). He now turned for advice and support to Walter Monckton,
an outstanding lawyer who was not only Attorney-General to the
Duchy of Cornwall, but was also a long-standing friend from his
student days at Oxford.

Because Edward believed that Hardinge was reporting to Baldwin,
he tried to conceal from him Monckton's visits to Buckingham Palace.
Although their meetings were held in a room on the ground floor, to
which there was direct access along a passage from the Privy Purse
entrance, the King told Monckton not to use that entrance - because
it would have brought him past the Private Secretaries' rooms. Instead,
Monckton used the visitors' entrance on the other side of the Palace.
Here he was shown into a lift, taken to the top floor, marched across
the Palace, taken down again in another lift and at last shown into
the King's room. The return journey was accomplished in the same
manner. But the omniscient Hardinge was not fooled - and on one
occasion a footman handed Monckton a note from Hardinge, inviting
him to join him for a drink on his way out.
²⁷

If Edward felt he was being watched, he was right. In fact, both he
and Wallis - and also Ernest - were being watched in a way, and to a
degree, that would have astonished them had they found out. Since
1935 they had been under surveillance by the Special Branch of the
Metropolitan Police. One brief report on Edward, when he was Prince
of Wales, was made by Canning, the Superintendent in charge of
Special Branch, to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir
Philip Game, on 25 March 1935.
²⁸
A longer report by Canning was
devoted to Ernest Simpson, sketching out his background and his
business interests. It described the reserved and quiet Mr Simpson 'as
of the "bounder" type. He makes no secret of his wife's association
with P.O.W. and seems to enjoy some reflected glory because of this
and to make what capital he can out of it.'
²⁹
This contradicts Ernest's
own claim, made two years later, that once he became aware that his
wife was associating very frequently with the Prince of Wales, he
talked to her about it. He warned her that comments in the American
press might affect his business and would certainly affect him socially.
He told her, he said, 'that she was going too far, but she made evasive
answers and said that the matter must take its course.'
³⁰

The Special Branch report on Ernest Simpson adds that one of the
visitors to the Simpsons' flat was Lady Emerald Cunard, who is
'reputed to be a drug addict' and who is 'the mother of the notorious
Nancy Cunard who is very partial to coloured men and who created
a sensation some few years ago by taking up residence in the negro
quarter of New York.' The racist attitudes of Superintendent Canning
- and the rumour-driven nature of his reports - are further revealed
in the last sentence of the report - 'The Simpsons are regarded in some
circles as Jews.'
³¹

According to Canning, Mrs Simpson 'is the woman who is now
associated with P.O.W. She is reputed to be very attractive and to
spend lavishly on dress and entertainment.' Within the last few weeks,
it stated, she had visited an antique shop in Kensington 'in company
with P.O.W.':

The conversation showed that they were on very affectionate terms and
addressed each other as 'Darling'. A number of purchases were made and
orders given for the goods to be sent to York House and marked 'Fort
Belvedere'. The opinion of the dealer expressed after his distinguished client
had left was that the lady seemed to have P.O.W. completely under her
thumb.

Although 'she now spends a great deal of time with P.O.W.', added
the Superintendent, 'it is said that she has another secret lover who is
kept by her. Particulars of the young man concerned could not be
ascertained.''
²

In a further report, dated 25 June 193 5, the Superintendent told the
Commissioner that he was still unable to produce these particulars,
although 'Contact with the Simpsons is still being maintained.' Mrs
Simpson was described as 'spending as much time as possible with
P.O.W. and keeping her secret lover in the background'. Ernest Simp­son was said to be 'bragging to the effect that he expects to get "high
honours" before very long. He says that P.O.W. will succeed his father
at no distant date. He has mentioned that he expects, at least, to be
created a Baron. He is very talkative when in drink.'
³³

The 'secret lover' was finally identified by Superintendent Canning
and named in a report to the Commissioner dated 3 July 1935. He
was Guy Marcus Trundle, 'a very charming adventurer, very good
looking, well bred and an excellent dancer. He is said to boast that
every woman falls for him.' Evidently, he had also boasted about his
conquest of the woman who was associated with the Prince of Wales:
'He meets Mrs Simpson quite openly at informal social gatherings as
a personal friend, but secret meetings are made by appointment when
intimate relations take place. Trundle receives money from Mrs Simp­son as well as expensive presents.' Trundle had married in 1932 and
was a 'motor engineer and salesman . . . said to be employed by the
Ford Motor Company'. It appears that this information largely came
from Trundle himself - 'Trundle claims to have met P.O.W. through
Mrs Simpson.'
¹⁴

It is hard to believe that Wallis Simpson could have found time for
'intimate relations' with Trundle. She found it difficult enough, as she
told her aunt, to manage her marriage and the relationship with
Edward, and was also caught up in a whirlwind of activities and social
occasions which she found exhausting. The reports are so thin as to
be suspect - they lack any information about the many eminent
guests visiting Bryanston Court. As the head porter noted, 'the Mount-
battens and other distinguished visitors came as guests when Mrs
Simpson gave parties .. . many titled visitors attended Mrs Simpson's
parties.'
¹⁵

Canning, now promoted to Chief Constable in charge of the Crim­inal Investigation Department, continued to file reports to the Com­missioner. One of them, dated 30 June 1936, refers to a speech given
by Harry Pollitt, the leader of the Communist Party of Great Britain,
at the Leeds Peace Congress in which 'he was said to have brought the
house down with his declaration that "if gas masks are to be given
out we should demand the same kind of gas mask for our wives as
will be given to the Duchess of Kent and Mrs Simpson".' A trip to
France by Wallis and an American friend, Mrs Gladys Kemp Scanlon,
was also mentioned in the report:

The Special Branch officer at Folkestone had previously received a telephone
message direct from Inspector Evans at Buckingham Palace notifying the
journey and asking for assistance. On 6th June last Mrs Simpson, accompanied
as above, returned to Folkestone from Boulogne, and Inspector Evans was at
Folkestone to meet them. Remarks by railway and shipping officials overheard
by the Special Branch officer at Folkestone indicated that the association of
Mrs Simpson and the King was well known there.

This report also refers to a dinner given by the King at St James's
Palace and lists the guests, who included Mr and Mrs Simpson as well
as the Prime Minister and his wife, Lady Diana Cooper and Duff
Cooper, Colonel and Mrs Lindbergh, Lady Cunard and Lord Wigram.
However, this information had been made freely available in the Court
Circular, so was hardly confidential. The final statement of the report
refers to a rumour 'that efforts are being made to get Mr Ernest
Simpson a post in the diplomatic service. China has been mentioned
in this respect.'
³⁶
A handwritten comment on the report, dated a few
days after the report was filed, adds, 'There is also the question of
when he goes abroad. ?No Special Branch man (unless asked for).
?Any official intimation to the French police.'
³⁷