Read The Duchess Of Windsor Online
Authors: Greg King
The Duchess Of Windsor (18 page)
At the end of June 1931, Wallis traveled to France to spend a weekend with Consuelo at Cannes. They were joined by Consuelo’s sister Gloria and Nada, Lady Milford Haven. During this weekend, Wallis apparently discovered what had only been whispered in polite society: that Gloria was involved in a lesbian liaison with Lady Milford Haven. One morning, Gloria’s maid, Maria Caillot, walked in on her mistress and Lady Milford Haven together in bed, engaged in a passionate kiss. This incident would loom large in the custody case over her daughter, Little Gloria.
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With her slightly masculine appearance, Wallis may well have been the object of some desire on this trip. Her memoirs are silent, although she did later tell one friend, without further elaboration, that it had been an uncomfortable time.
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One can only assume that this discovery shocked her, for she abruptly packed her bags and fled back to London. Thereafter, although she continued to see Thelma, her relations with Gloria, Consuelo, and Lady Milford Haven were infrequent and finally ceased altogether.
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One can only assume that this discovery shocked her, for she abruptly packed her bags and fled back to London. Thereafter, although she continued to see Thelma, her relations with Gloria, Consuelo, and Lady Milford Haven were infrequent and finally ceased altogether.
She returned from Cannes to another stark dose of reality. In the midst of her privileged friendships, meetings with royalty, and grand parties, she discovered that Ernest‘s business was suffering from the Depression. Money was tight. They spoke of giving up their car if the situation did not improve and of letting servants go. Ernest‘s father, with whom Wallis did not get on particularly well, was cautious with his money, so she and Ernest were increasingly grateful for the welcome checks Aunt Bessie often dispatched.
The financial worries took a physical toll on Wallis. She suffered from terrible stomach ulcers, which left her violently ill and unable to leave her bed for days at a time. In the midst of this struggle, she developed a high fever and sore throat; doctors diagnosed inflammation of the tonsils, and Wallis had to enter the hospital to have them removed.
In January 1932 she and Ernest suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, received an invitation to spend the weekend of the thirtieth with the Prince of Wales at Fort Belvedere. Thelma would be acting as hostess, and Consuelo and Benjamin Thaw would be present as well.
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On the appointed afternoon, Wallis and Ernest left London and drove the thirty or so miles to Windsor Great Park. In the darkness, they followed the road across the countryside before finally coming to a set of gates, where they presented their invitation to a sentry on duty. Their car then swept along a winding gravel drive, through thick clusters of beech and evergreen trees, before rounding a bend and arriving at the top of a low hill. There, before them, stood Fort Belvedere, its towers and chimneys rising in sharp outline against the black night, the arched, Gothic windows flooded with warm light.
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Fort Belvedere had been built by William, Duke of Cumberland, the third son of King George II. After his occupancy, it was abandoned for some years before George IV hired architect Jeffrey Wyattville to enlarge the existing structure and enhance it with Gothic details. Following George IV, however, no one lived in the Fort, and it was largely abandoned until the Prince of Wales happened to spot it one day in 1929 and decided to make it his country house. When the Prince had asked for it, his father had implored, “What could you possibly want that queer old place for? Those damn weekends, I suppose.”
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Wallis thought it “the most beautiful house I have ever known,” even though she did find it a bit odd that the thoroughly modern Prince chose to live in such a distinctly old-fashioned place. A number of towers, ringed with crenellations, rose from the flat roofs. There was little of the castle left in the Fort; wide, mullioned windows were clearly meant to let the light in rather than keep attackers out. The light stone walls were covered with creeping ivy and flowering wisteria.
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“The house is an enchanting folly,” wrote Lady Diana Cooper, “and only needs fifty red soldiers stood between the battlements to make it into a Walt Disney coloured symphony toy.”
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Wallis thought it “the most beautiful house I have ever known,” even though she did find it a bit odd that the thoroughly modern Prince chose to live in such a distinctly old-fashioned place. A number of towers, ringed with crenellations, rose from the flat roofs. There was little of the castle left in the Fort; wide, mullioned windows were clearly meant to let the light in rather than keep attackers out. The light stone walls were covered with creeping ivy and flowering wisteria.
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“The house is an enchanting folly,” wrote Lady Diana Cooper, “and only needs fifty red soldiers stood between the battlements to make it into a Walt Disney coloured symphony toy.”
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As their car ground to a halt in the circular gravel court before the hulking Fort, Wallis spied the Prince of Wales standing silhouetted in the light streaming through the open door. As a servant unloaded their luggage, Wallis and Ernest followed the Prince through a small hallway and into an octagonal hall with a black-and-white-marble floor. Eight chairs, upholstered in yellow leather, stood against the plain white plaster walls.
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Thelma waited in the drawing room to greet them. Wallis quickly took in the octagonal room, paneled in natural pine, its tall, arched windows shrouded in yellow velvet curtains. A fire burned in the grate; one wall was lined with a full bookshelf; the expensive, though comfortable, furniture was Chippendale; a baby grand piano stood in one corner; and several Canalettos hung on the walls. It seemed elegant, yet hospitable.
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Wallis and Ernest were shown to their room to dress for dinner. When they reappeared for cocktails, Wallis was surprised to find the Prince busily working at a large needlepoint picture. When she asked him about it, he explained that his mother, Queen Mary, had taught all of her children how to do needlework. “This is my secret vice, the only one, in any case, I am at pains to conceal,” he said.
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During the entire evening, two small cairn terriors named Jaggs and Cora raced about the rooms, nipping at unsuspecting guests. The Prince of Wales, dressed in a kilt, led his guests to the dining room, also paneled in natural pine and hung with several paintings by George Stubbs. They dined on oysters from the Prince of Wales’s own oyster beds in Cornwall, roast beef, salad, and dessert.
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They spent the evening playing cards or putting together jigsaw puzzles. Wallis joined a card game with the Prince of Wales, although she warned him that she had not played for years. He offered to coach her, but after she began to win, he smiled and left her to her own devices.
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Thelma put the record “Tea for Two” on the gramophone and began to dance with the Prince. Everyone joined in, and the Prince made the rounds of the women present, including Wallis. As they danced, he explained to Wallis that she must consider herself absolutely at home at the Fort. He excused himself, saying that he wished to get up early to work in the garden, but insisted that his guests sleep as late as they wished.
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Wallis and Ernest retired shortly after midnight. The next morning, breakfast was brought to their room. When she and Ernest eventually entered the drawing room, they walked to the French doors and watched the Prince, clad in baggy plus fours and a thick sweater, swinging a machete at the shrubbery surrounding the garden. He spied them and strode up the slope to the terrace, explaining that he was at war with the laurel, which was threatening to overtake his carefully planned garden.
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The Prince disappeared back to his garden, telling Ernest he was free to join in if he wished. His equerry, Gerald Trotter, explained to Ernest that he could, of course, remain at the Fort but that no other guest had ever done so. Ernest wisely said he would be delighted to join in the gardening and went back to fetch a sweater.
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The view from the terrace was exceptional. The land sloped away to Virginia Water, a long, languid lake half-hidden by the groves of trees. The Cedar Walk, lined with ancient trees, led away into the thick rhododendron and azalea dells. Descending terraces surrounding the Fort were ringed with stone battlements and eighteenth-century Belgian cannons; below the battlements, to one side, was a swimming pool; to the other, a tennis court. Small, twisting paths, lined by thick, herbaceous borders, wound from the green lawns, through old cedars, to hidden rock gardens.
The Prince led his male guests away into the forests to cut down the flowering laurel, and Wallis returned to the Fort along with the rest of the women. A few hours later, the men returned for lunch, after which the Prince took Wallis and Ernest on a tour of the house. The small library was filled with Queen Anne furniture; the Prince’s own bedroom, off the octagonal hall on the ground floor, was a larger room whose chintz-curtained windows overlooked the garden. The walls were covered with photographs, and the Prince’s bed stood beneath an immense British Order of the Garter banner hung as a tapestry on the wall.
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Upstairs there were six bedrooms, including Prince George’s Room, named for the Prince of Wales’s brother, and the Yellow, Pink, Green, and Blue Bedrooms. The largest bedroom, the Queen’s Room, was a unique hexagonal space with wide bay windows, an intricate cornice, and a large draped bed towering in a shallow alcove.
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When the Prince remodeled the Fort, he had tried to fit in as many modern bathrooms as possible, an unusual feature in an eighteenth-century house. He also managed to install a steambath in the basement, a luxury he indulged in each evening.
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When the Prince remodeled the Fort, he had tried to fit in as many modern bathrooms as possible, an unusual feature in an eighteenth-century house. He also managed to install a steambath in the basement, a luxury he indulged in each evening.
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The Simpsons do not seem to have seen the Prince again until October 1932, when they were asked to the Fort, once for tea and again for a weekend house party. Then, in 1933, their Fortunes took an upswing. They were invited to spend the weekend at the Fort with the Prince in January, then twice in February, and again in March. In January, Wallis reported that during a weekend at the Fort, she, Thelma, and the Prince had been out ice-skating with the Duke and Duchess of York at Virginia Water. “Isn’t it a scream!” she wrote to Aunt Bessie.
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They had clearly impressed the Prince of Wales and broken into the charmed circle of his intimates. Yet, looking back, Wallis was to write: “If the Prince was in any way drawn to me I was unaware of his interest.”
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They had clearly impressed the Prince of Wales and broken into the charmed circle of his intimates. Yet, looking back, Wallis was to write: “If the Prince was in any way drawn to me I was unaware of his interest.”
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10
”Wallis in Wonderland”
I
F WALLIS WAS UNAWARE
of the Prince’s growing interest in her, this illusion was soon shattered. Aunt Bessie had sent her some money, and in March 1933 she sailed to New York aboard RMS
Mauritania.
Ernest, owing to business concerns, was unable to join her. As the ship left its berth in Southampton, a messenger knocked on her stateroom door, delivering a cable from the Prince of Wales wishing her a pleasant voyage. Word of this royal greeting quickly spread among the ship’s crew. During the crossing, she was showered with extra attention by the staff, a bonus of being a royal favorite she did nothing to protest.
1
Wallis returned on RMS
Olympic
, sister ship of the ill-fated
Titanic,
made friends with the purser, and was moved to an enormous cabin in exchange for acting as hostess at his table.
2
F WALLIS WAS UNAWARE
of the Prince’s growing interest in her, this illusion was soon shattered. Aunt Bessie had sent her some money, and in March 1933 she sailed to New York aboard RMS
Mauritania.
Ernest, owing to business concerns, was unable to join her. As the ship left its berth in Southampton, a messenger knocked on her stateroom door, delivering a cable from the Prince of Wales wishing her a pleasant voyage. Word of this royal greeting quickly spread among the ship’s crew. During the crossing, she was showered with extra attention by the staff, a bonus of being a royal favorite she did nothing to protest.
1
Wallis returned on RMS
Olympic
, sister ship of the ill-fated
Titanic,
made friends with the purser, and was moved to an enormous cabin in exchange for acting as hostess at his table.
2
Once she had returned to London, the Prince’s attentions became more direct. He began to visit the Simpsons at their Bryanston Court flat with increasing frequency, dropping in unannounced for cocktails and occasionally remaining for dinner. Often these impromptu evenings lasted until three or four in the morning. The Prince reciprocated their hospitality. The first weekend of June 1933, Wallis and Ernest stayed at the Fort with the Prince. Among the other guests were Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Audrey Emery. Before the weekend, Wallis was carefully briefed not to mention the subject of Rasputin, the Russian mystic whose hold over Tsar Nicholas II and his family had come to an abrupt end when he was murdered in a conspiracy led by Prince Felix Youssoupov and the Grand Duke. “It was fun, but a touch too royal,” Wallis wrote to Aunt Bessie.
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On June 19, Wallis received further evidence of the Prince’s increasing interest: He gave her a surprise birthday party at Quaglino’s and presented her with orchids when she arrived.
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On June 19, Wallis received further evidence of the Prince’s increasing interest: He gave her a surprise birthday party at Quaglino’s and presented her with orchids when she arrived.
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On July 4, Wallis gave a small party at the flat to celebrate Independence Day in America. The Prince of Wales was invited and was delighted to join in this patriotic spectacle celebrating his great-great-great-grandfather King George III’s loss of the American colonies. Wallis had decided that a typical American meal of black bean soup, grilled lobster, fried chicken, and raspberry soufflé would do, and the Prince enjoyed every minute of it. There were ten guests that evening, including Thelma Furness and Consuelo and Benjamin Thaw.
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There were evening visits with the Prince and his friends to the Embassy Club or Sartori’s, and more often than not Wallis and Ernest spent their weekends at the Fort. Here Wallis encountered many members of the Prince’s household. His equerry, Maj. Gen. John Aird, was a former member of the Grenadier Guards Regiment. Tall and thin, he was known affectionately as Jack and was prized for his loyalty. Another important member of the household was Maj. Edward Metcalfe, the Prince’s aide-de-camp. Known as Fruity, he had been the Prince’s aide-de-camp during his tour of India, when, as a member of the Indian cavalry, he had succeeded in winning the prize appointment. The Prince liked him, and Metcalfe eventually followed him back to England, where, in 1925, he married the Hon. Alexandra Curzon, daughter of the famed George, Marquess Curzon of Kedelston, viceroy of India. Fruity Metcalfe was the closest thing the Prince ever had to a lifelong friend.
Wallis also befriended George, the Prince’s youngest brother. George was a handsome, intelligent, slightly dilettantish young man, the favorite of his mother, whose tastes in art and collecting he had inherited. There was much talk about his private life. Kaiser Wilhelm II‘s grandson, Prince Louis Ferdinand, described him as “artistic and effeminate” and noted his use of strong perfume.
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Stories circulated about an alleged affair George had supposedly had with a black actress, but this was nothing compared to the scandal which arose when one of his young male lovers apparently tried to blackmail him. The Prince of Wales had to journey to Paris to try to smooth over the situation and retrieve several expensive Tiffany and Cartier cigarette boxes and lighters that had been personally inscribed by the Prince to his boyfriend.
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Worse still for the Royal Family, George was known to have a problem with drugs, especially cocaine and morphine, an addiction which the Prince of Wales eventually helped him overcome. All of these scandals made him introspective, and Wallis grew very fond of him.
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Stories circulated about an alleged affair George had supposedly had with a black actress, but this was nothing compared to the scandal which arose when one of his young male lovers apparently tried to blackmail him. The Prince of Wales had to journey to Paris to try to smooth over the situation and retrieve several expensive Tiffany and Cartier cigarette boxes and lighters that had been personally inscribed by the Prince to his boyfriend.
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Worse still for the Royal Family, George was known to have a problem with drugs, especially cocaine and morphine, an addiction which the Prince of Wales eventually helped him overcome. All of these scandals made him introspective, and Wallis grew very fond of him.
At the beginning of 1934, Wallis had a fateful meeting with Thelma Furness. Although the two had occasionally lunched together, they most often saw each other at the Fort. Now Thelma was being summoned back home to America, where her sister, Gloria Vanderbilt, was embroiled in a nasty legal battle over custody of her only child. The day before Thelma sailed, she asked Wallis to lunch at the Ritz.
There is some disagreement as to what next took place and, with both women dead, no way of ever knowing whose version is correct. In her memoirs, Wallis recalled that over coffee Thelma casually remarked, “I’m afraid the Prince is going to be lonely. Wallis, won’t you look after him?”
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Thelma, however, remembered the conversation a bit differently. According to her account, Wallis said, “Oh, Thelma, the little man is going to be so lonely.”
“Well, dear,” she replied, “you look after him for me while I’m away. See that he does not get into any mischief.”
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“It was later evident,” Thelma wrote, “that Wallis took my advice all too literally. Whether or not she kept him out of mischief is a question whose answer hinges on the fine points of semantics.”
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No matter who first raised the issue, both accounts agree that Thelma indeed asked Wallis to look after the Prince. Wallis agreed, and on Thursday, January 25, Thelma sailed for America.
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“It was later evident,” Thelma wrote, “that Wallis took my advice all too literally. Whether or not she kept him out of mischief is a question whose answer hinges on the fine points of semantics.”
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No matter who first raised the issue, both accounts agree that Thelma indeed asked Wallis to look after the Prince. Wallis agreed, and on Thursday, January 25, Thelma sailed for America.
Thelma had previously taken center stage in the Prince’s days, evenings, and weekends. Now, in the words of Michael Thornton, “the ill-advised departure of Thelma Furness had opened up a temporary vacuum in the life of a lonely and inadequate personality, and Wallis was the woman immediately on hand to fill that vacuum.”
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The day after Thelma left, Wallis and Ernest returned to the Fort to spend the weekend as the Prince’s guests. In return, Wallis asked him to dine at Bryanston Court the following week. Then, on Tuesday, January 30, the Prince invited them both to a party he was giving at the Dorchester Hotel, an evening which marked a turning point in the relationship between him and Wallis. While the other guests danced, Wallis and the Prince sat alone at the table, talking quietly. She began to question him about his royal duties, his plans for future reform, and his hopes for his own reign. The Prince was charmed, declaring, “Wallis, you’re the only woman who’s ever been interested in my job.” When they eventually took to the dance floor to join the others, he whispered a request to be allowed to stop by each week, as his schedule permitted, and join her and Ernest at Bryanston Court for cocktails.
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The day after Thelma left, Wallis and Ernest returned to the Fort to spend the weekend as the Prince’s guests. In return, Wallis asked him to dine at Bryanston Court the following week. Then, on Tuesday, January 30, the Prince invited them both to a party he was giving at the Dorchester Hotel, an evening which marked a turning point in the relationship between him and Wallis. While the other guests danced, Wallis and the Prince sat alone at the table, talking quietly. She began to question him about his royal duties, his plans for future reform, and his hopes for his own reign. The Prince was charmed, declaring, “Wallis, you’re the only woman who’s ever been interested in my job.” When they eventually took to the dance floor to join the others, he whispered a request to be allowed to stop by each week, as his schedule permitted, and join her and Ernest at Bryanston Court for cocktails.
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The Prince now began to visit the Simpsons on a regular basis. He remained “Sir” to them, and neither Wallis nor Ernest ever thought of crossing the clearly defined but unspoken line which separated ordinary people like them from royals. On occasion, the Prince stayed unexpectedly for dinner, which caused untold anxieties for the staff at Bryanston Court. The Prince would spend hours discussing life, his plans for the Fort, or his interest in housing projects and desire to help the less fortunate who would one day become his subjects as King.
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Neither Wallis nor Ernest was entirely comfortable with the situation, but neither felt like sending the Prince away. At first, Ernest and the Prince engaged in long intellectual and political chats, but eventually these dwindled as the Prince’s interest turned more and more toward Wallis. Inevitably, Ernest began to excuse himself from the after-dinner conversations, explaining that he had work to do for the next day’s business.
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Neither Wallis nor Ernest was entirely comfortable with the situation, but neither felt like sending the Prince away. At first, Ernest and the Prince engaged in long intellectual and political chats, but eventually these dwindled as the Prince’s interest turned more and more toward Wallis. Inevitably, Ernest began to excuse himself from the after-dinner conversations, explaining that he had work to do for the next day’s business.
Occasionally, Wallis summoned others to these intimate evenings. She was quite careful, however, about the company she chose, inviting only those known for their social connections and ability to tell witty stories. Some of her friends criticized her for not asking a more astute mixture of politicians, bankers, and other important leaders, but she explained, “He spends his days in the company of stuffed shirts. He comes here to be amused.” The Prince thus encountered people of interest whom he would likely not otherwise have met and was able to relax at Bryanston Court.
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After a month, his language became peppered with American slang, and members of his father’s court were taken aback to hear the occasional “Okey-doke” escape his lips.
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After a month, his language became peppered with American slang, and members of his father’s court were taken aback to hear the occasional “Okey-doke” escape his lips.
Ernest was not a stupid man. He realized that the Prince was not visiting, not coming around, not telephoning, to see or speak to him. But he also realized that his wife was too stubborn to be ordered out of the friendship. For Ernest, half British, there was also an element of both honor that the attentions of his future monarch should fall upon his wife and of humble service to the Crown. Wallis herself was utterly lost, seduced by her sudden importance in the life of the Prince of Wales; she had never been terribly introspective and had always let her emotions carry her along without thought, often until the situation had reached a crisis.
On the second week of February 1934, Wallis wrote to Aunt Bessie: “We have inherited the ‘young man’ from Thelma. He misses her so that he is always calling us up and the result is one late night after another—and by late I mean 4
A.M.
Ernest has cried off a few but I have had to go on. I am sure the gossip will now be that I am the latest.”
15
A few days later she wrote: ”It‘s all gossip about the Prince. I’m not in the habit of taking my girl friends’ beaux.... I’m the comedy relief and we like to dance together—but I always have Ernest hanging around my neck so all is safe.”
16
A.M.
Ernest has cried off a few but I have had to go on. I am sure the gossip will now be that I am the latest.”
15
A few days later she wrote: ”It‘s all gossip about the Prince. I’m not in the habit of taking my girl friends’ beaux.... I’m the comedy relief and we like to dance together—but I always have Ernest hanging around my neck so all is safe.”
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Thelma returned to London on March 22. Unfortunately for her, gossip about a liaison she had enjoyed with Prince Aly Khan, the only son of the millionaire Aga Khan, had preceded her. Her reunion with the Prince of Wales was distinctly uncomfortable. “I hear Aly Khan has been very attentive to you,” he said upon greeting her. She asked lightly, “Are you jealous, darling?”
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But he did not reply, and an awkward silence hung between them.
17
But he did not reply, and an awkward silence hung between them.
Thelma wrote that the Prince, “although formally cordial, was personally distant. He seemed to want to avoid me. I knew that something was wrong. But what? What had happened in those short weeks while I was away?”
18
Soon thereafter, she arrived at Bryanston Court, clearly upset. She told Wallis that the Prince was now avoiding her, that he would not even take her telephone calls, and she had no idea what she herself had done. When she had gone to America, she feared that he would return to Freda Dudley Ward or somehow grow less fond of herself; she had not expected that his attentions might be directed somewhere entirely different. However, having returned to London and been exposed to a steady stream of gossip about Wallis and the Prince, she wondered if her friend had somehow managed to assume her place in his affections. Finally, pointedly, she asked Wallis directly if the Prince was “keen” on her.
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Soon thereafter, she arrived at Bryanston Court, clearly upset. She told Wallis that the Prince was now avoiding her, that he would not even take her telephone calls, and she had no idea what she herself had done. When she had gone to America, she feared that he would return to Freda Dudley Ward or somehow grow less fond of herself; she had not expected that his attentions might be directed somewhere entirely different. However, having returned to London and been exposed to a steady stream of gossip about Wallis and the Prince, she wondered if her friend had somehow managed to assume her place in his affections. Finally, pointedly, she asked Wallis directly if the Prince was “keen” on her.
19
“Thelma,” Wallis replied, “I think he likes me. He may be fond of me. But, if you mean by ‘keen’ that he is in love with me, the answer is definitely no.” Whether this was a clever bit of prevarication or Wallis actually believed it was true, it failed to fool Thelma Furness.
20
20
Unfortunately, during this conversation, the telephone rang, and the maid answered. When she came into the drawing room and announced the call, Wallis was perturbed, declaring, “I told you I did not want to be disturbed....”
“But madam,” the maid said, ”it‘s His Royal Highness.” Wallis excused herself, but she could be heard whispering, “Thelma is here.” Nothing further was said of the conversation.
21
But Thelma left Bryanston Court suspecting that she had lost the Prince to her American friend.
21
But Thelma left Bryanston Court suspecting that she had lost the Prince to her American friend.
The following weekend, Thelma had her confirmation. During a tense house party at the Fort, the Prince treated Thelma coldly while at the same time showering great affection on Wallis. Then, at dinner, when the Prince began to pick up a leaf of lettuce with his fingers, Thelma watched in horror as Wallis reached out and playfully slapped his hand with a sharp gesture, telling him to mind his manners and use a fork. He only smiled at her, blushing, and did as he was told. Thelma stared at this scene with wide-eyed disbelief. “Wallis looked straight back at me....” Thelma recalled. “I knew then that she had looked after him exceedingly well. That one cold, defiant glance had told me the entire story.”
22
Thelma said nothing, retired early, and without saying goodbye to anyone, left the Fort the next morning.
22
Thelma said nothing, retired early, and without saying goodbye to anyone, left the Fort the next morning.
Wallis also was witness to the elimination of another rival: Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward, whose relationship with the Prince of Wales had lasted some sixteen years. When one of her daughters fell ill, Freda tried to call the Prince but was unable to reach him. When, finally, a few weeks later, she rang the switchboard at York House, St. James’s Palace, the operator declared, “I have something so terrible to tell you that I don’t know how to say it.” When pressed, she confided, “I have orders not to put you through.”
23
Thus did Freda Dudley Ward learn of her fall from grace. Philip Ziegler has suggested that Wallis may have pushed the Prince to this extreme, but there seems little reason to doubt that he, in fact, acted of his own accord, especially since, at this early stage, Wallis had no idea if her relationship with the Prince would last.
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Thus did Freda Dudley Ward learn of her fall from grace. Philip Ziegler has suggested that Wallis may have pushed the Prince to this extreme, but there seems little reason to doubt that he, in fact, acted of his own accord, especially since, at this early stage, Wallis had no idea if her relationship with the Prince would last.
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