Before Wallis

by Rachel Trethewey

  Over the next few months, Aly and Thelma jetted around the world to London, Paris and Ireland, attending every important race meeting on the continent. One of the highlights was a midnight race at Longchamp. Thelma and her twin sister, Gloria, dined with Aly, his father and his wife and the socialite Daisy Fellowes. They then went to the races in full evening dress. Most of the party were wearing hats but, never one to follow the fashion set by others, Thelma wrapped some delicate antique lace around her head and fastened it with a large black pearl pin which matched her famous necklace of black pearls. It was a memorable evening. It was dark, so the course was brightly lit. Before the racing began the corps de ballet from the Grand Opera and the Russian ballet danced on a raised platform in front of the grandstand. At nine different points along the course orchestras played. Famous racehorse owners from across Europe had come for this one night in Paris. Lord Carnarvon and Lord Derby had brought over their finest horses to race. There were six flat races, one major race and a gentleman’s race in which Aly rode. He was a fearless rider who raced wearing the Ismaili colours of green and red. The only disappointment of the evening for Thelma and her sister was that Aly did not win.8

  Thelma and Aly spent the summer together at a villa in Deauville, sunbathing on the beach, entertaining friends and gambling at the casino. Deauville was known as ‘the playground of the Best People in France’.9 One gossip columnist dubbed it ‘the queen of the Watering Places of Northern France […] though she may be slightly morganatic’.10 Society women from France and Britain visited the resort for the races and the glamorous social life. Mornings were spent by the sea, where the women wore a beach dress or dressing gown, but never shorts. At lunchtime they would dash back to their hotel or villa and change into white or pastel crepe dresses and large straw hats before drinking Dubonnets and having a leisurely lunch. Most afternoons there would be horseracing at the Deauville course. In the sunny paddock at the racecourse race-goers lounged in easy chairs under spreading trees.11

  During the summer season of 1934, Thelma and Aly were the centre of attention. One gossip columnist who saw her at the casino wrote that Lady Furness had ‘never looked more alluring than now. The new old-fashioned evening décolletage suits her milky skin and she quite often smiles.’12 She was photographed at the races looking cool and elegant in a white crepe dress with a short cape jacket which showed off to perfection her brunette beauty. Showing what Thelma interpreted as a degree of commitment, Aly bought her a racehorse.13 However, their relationship was not to last. At the end of the summer Thelma returned to America and they drifted apart. This was typical of Aly; he never finished his love affairs abruptly. Instead, he would find a new love and then go back to the previous one, or his lover before her. He was so charming and generous, women usually forgave him and accepted his womanising behaviour.14

  As Aly’s relationship with Thelma was cooling, he met his next conquest at a dinner party in Deauville. Joan Guinness was the daughter of Lord Churston and the wife of Loel Guinness, the MP for Bath. At the dinner party, Aly ignored the cool blonde for most of the evening but when there was a silence he turned to her and said, ‘Darling, will you marry me?’ Joan just smiled.15 Three years older than Aly, Joan epitomised English aristocratic beauty. Although she had a 2-year-old son with Loel Guinness, she left her husband to be with Aly, and they married in the spring of 1936. At the end of the year Joan gave birth to Aly’s son.16 The marriage of Aly to a divorced woman showed that if Thelma had played her cards right, she might have been able to marry this prince. However, in her memoir Thelma confessed that she was never really in love with him.17 She had been more in love with the Prince of Wales; Aly had just provided an exciting interlude at the end of her affair with Edward.

  In Thelma’s life men came and went, but the most lasting and important relationship was with her twin, Gloria. As the two sisters wrote in their memoir, they had a psychic bond and were almost like ‘Siamese twins’ without the physical connection.18 While Thelma had been having her own marital adventures, Gloria had married into the super-rich Vanderbilt dynasty. Like Duke Furness, Gloria’s husband Reginald Claypole Vanderbilt was much older than his stylish bride. The couple seem to have been genuinely in love, but their happiness did not last long. In 1925 Reggie died of cirrhosis of the liver, leaving Gloria with their baby daughter, Little Gloria, who was only 15 months old. By the time Reggie died he had spent much of his money. He was in debt and his widow was not entitled to the $5 million trust fund set up for his children. Little Gloria would only receive her share when she was 21, and until then her legal guardian, the New York Surrogate Court judge James Foley, was put in charge of the fund. Gloria senior was given a monthly allowance to support her daughter and herself.19

  Just as Thelma’s relationship with Aly Khan was coming to an end, Gloria was fighting for custody of her daughter in what became known as ‘the trial of the century’. When her sister needed her, Thelma immediately rushed over to America to be by her side. According to the twins, Gloria contacted Thelma when she was attending a ball at Claridge’s with Aly Khan. When Gloria begged Thelma to be with her, she immediately rushed to Southampton, still wearing her silver lamé evening dress, to catch The Empress of Britain, which was sailing to America. In fact, as so often with the twins’ stories, reality does not quite match their romanticised fantasies; Thelma sailed on The Empress of Britain a fortnight later, on 6 October.20 As she embarked, she told reporters: ‘I want to do everything I can to stop this nonsense. I am going over to see if I can help my sister in any way possible, for she needs me with her at a time like this. I shall certainly appear in court if I am asked to do so.’21

  Thelma stood by her sister throughout the harrowing custody battle which saw Gloria’s sister-in-law, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who was known as ‘the richest woman in America’, and Gloria’s own mother, Mrs Morgan, turn against her. Gloria was labelled an unfit mother and her private life was torn apart in public. It was a far cry from the fairy-tale lifestyle the twins had planned for themselves. After Reggie died, Gloria senior and Little Gloria had moved to Paris where they lived with Thelma and their mother, Mrs Morgan. Thelma was called ‘Aunt Toto’ by her niece, who, like everyone else, could not tell her mother and aunt apart.22 Gloria senior was a distant parent who left her daughter in the care of Mrs Morgan and the nanny, Dodo, while she partied with her sister. After Thelma married Lord Furness, Gloria started seeing a German prince, Gottfried Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria. They wanted to get married and take Little Gloria to live in his castle in Germany, but Mrs Morgan did not approve. She hated Germans and was concerned because the prince had a title but not much money. She decided that her granddaughter should live in America with the Vanderbilt family. Thelma and Gloria senior believed that their mother was always ruled by money and it was this motivation which made her turn against her daughter. They thought that Mrs Morgan wanted to be guardian of her granddaughter so that she would have access to the allowance from the Vanderbilt trust fund.23

  Problems began for Gloria senior after she returned to America with her daughter in the spring of 1932. Little Gloria’s guardians had insisted that she should be brought up as an American heiress and go to school in New York. In June, the young girl had her tonsils out, and after the operation she went to convalesce at her Aunt Gertrude’s Long Island estate.24 Little Gloria stayed in the United States while Gloria senior went back to France. Mrs Morgan told Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney about her daughter’s decadent lifestyle and said that she was spending money from the trust fund on herself rather than on Little Gloria. It was at this stage that Gloria senior realised that she needed to be guardian of her daughter, so she petitioned the court. To her horror, her own mother filed a complaint with the court stating that she was an unfit mother.

  When Thelma heard what had happened she went to see her mother and told her that mothers did not behave as she was doing and blacken their children’s characters before the
world. Mrs Morgan would not listen to her, claiming that Thelma had not been aware of the neglect that had gone on. When Thelma argued with her and said that she was on her twin’s side, Mrs Morgan became angry and told her to be careful or she would take her child away from her too. Thelma replied: ‘Luckily, mamma, my child has a father alive, and if there is any complaint it will come from him.’25

  A custody battle began which was to tear the whole family apart. Mrs Vanderbilt Whitney and Mrs Morgan were on one side while all Mrs Morgan’s children – Gloria senior, Thelma, Consuelo and Harry – were on the other. Little Gloria was caught in the middle. The trial began in October 1934; it became a media sensation as 10-year-old Gloria Vanderbilt was labelled the ‘Poor Little Rich Girl’ whose future was fought over in public. In the trial, Gloria senior was accused of spending money from the trust fund on herself instead of her daughter. She was also accused of drinking too much alcohol, partying all night and neglecting her child.26 There were lurid stories about her sex life. It was claimed that Prince Gottfried had been seen in bed with Gloria senior and they regularly read pornographic books together. Most shocking of all, in an era when lesbianism had to be kept secret, Gloria’s French maid claimed to have seen her kissing Nada, Marchioness of Milford Haven. Nada was a member of the British royal family and the sister-in-law of Lord Louis Mountbatten. The accusations were strongly refuted, but Gloria senior’s reputation was ruined. As the spotlight fell on the Morgan twins’ private lives, there were fears that the Prince of Wales’s relationship with Thelma would be exposed, but his name was never mentioned in court.27

  Every day, the Morgan sisters arrived arm in arm at the court dressed immaculately in neat hats with veils, chic black dresses and furs. When Thelma was called as a witness, her twin wrote admiringly of how her sister animated the proceedings by bringing warmth and colour into the courtroom. Thelma claimed that Little Gloria’s childhood had been full of love from her mother. She said that she used to visit her niece in Paris once a month with Lord Furness, when he went to buy racehorses and she was buying clothes. She would bring Little Gloria dolls with trunks of clothes and her niece would rush up to her and kiss her. She described a life of luxury for the little girl; she had her own car and chauffeur and had the freedom to go anywhere she wanted. She stayed in grand houses in New York, France and England. Thelma tried to portray herself and her twin as good Catholic girls. However, under cross-examination this image was undermined when it became clear her first marriage had been to a divorced man and her second ended in divorce. At the end of her testimony, Thelma was furious at her treatment and left the courtroom in a rage. When the press asked her for a statement she attacked Gertrude for trying to take her sister’s only child from her.28

  When Gloria senior gave evidence, she recalled seeing Consuelo and Thelma sitting together, their faces ‘tense and very white’.29 After fifteen minutes on the witness stand the judge called for a short recess. Thelma and a nurse walked Gloria into the corridor where she fainted. Thelma told the waiting reporters: ‘We hope for the best. We hope my sister does not collapse.’30 In her testimony Gloria senior told the court how much she loved her daughter. As she appeared each morning on the arm of her nurse, she won public sympathy as a poor, vulnerable mother who would be destroyed by losing her only child. Thelma acted as her spokeswoman to the press, helping to create this image.31 In her account of the trial, Gloria senior said that she felt like ‘a sleep-walker’ who could not sleep, think or speak. Each day after the trial when she got home she would immediately go to bed. She could not eat and so her weight dropped from 124lb to 107.32 Thelma tried to cheer her up but even she could not repair the damage done by those hours in court. Gloria wrote that she dreaded to think how she would have coped without her two sisters.33

  The crucial testimony came from Little Gloria herself. Manipulated by her grandmother and her nanny, she testified that she did not want to live with her mother. In a private testimony, made just to the judge, she told him that she was afraid of her parent. She also added that she did not like her aunts Thelma and Consuelo.34 After a seven-week trial it was decided that Little Gloria should be made a ward of court until she was 21. It was stated that it would be in the best interests of the child if custody was awarded to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Gloria senior would be allowed supervised visits at weekends and some holidays.35 She continued to receive a regular, though reduced, income from the trust fund until Little Gloria turned 21 and then it would be up to her daughter whether she was paid.

  When the verdict was announced there was much sympathy for Gloria senior among her contemporaries. Her behaviour was not unusual among society women of the era; many of them left childrearing to nannies and continued to behave as if they were single.36 Freda’s involved parenting was the exception rather than the rule. As the gossip columnist in The Bystander candidly admitted: ‘Lucky we don’t live in America – some of us would soon lose our chicks.’37

  16

  THE BUSINESSWOMAN

  After the case ended Gloria was so near to a nervous breakdown that Thelma said she would only go back to England for long enough to collect her son, Tony. She then returned to New York to be with her sister. Perhaps inspired by the society women who had opened shops in London, in 1935 the twins set up a fashion business together with Sonia Rosenberg. When they opened their dress shop in New York, Thelma told reporters: ‘My sister and I want something to occupy our time.’ Gloria added: ‘We are both fond of good clothes and so we are going into that business.’1 Paying herself $75 a week, Gloria travelled around the country promoting the dresses, which were in ‘the medium price range’.2 She wrote with pride, although not completely truthfully, that every cheque she wrote now was with money earned by herself.3 As always, Thelma was the stronger one in the partnership. There is a film of the twins showing dresses they have designed. The same scene was shot repeatedly and with each take Gloria became more deflated while Thelma took control of the situation.4

  When her former lover became king, Thelma made the most of the occasion to promote her business. She was photographed in a long evening dress she had designed herself, with a fur wrap, white gloves and tiara. She modelled the outfit in Philadelphia as a style suitable to wear at functions to celebrate the coronation.5 The twins also promoted their clothes in England. In October 1936 they held a fashion show in Harrods. They presented the collection themselves, introducing the models.6 From the start Gloria Vanderbilt-Sonia Gowns Inc. lost money. As the debts increased the suppliers began to sue. Without letting their partner Sonia Rosenberg know, they opened their own dress wholesaler called Ladyship Gowns. Miss Rosenberg sued for breach of contract. She claimed that the twins had drunk alcohol during business hours and gave clothes to their friends, pretending that these transactions were sales. Gloria and Thelma countersued. Eventually both suits were abandoned and Gloria filed for bankruptcy.7 Both Gloria and Thelma’s reputations had been damaged by the custody trial. When they decided to leave for England a gossip columnist on the Daily News wrote: ‘Thelma Furness – the former girlfriend of royalty has lost her former glamour.’8 Thelma was furious; she sued the newspaper and was awarded $5,000.9

  Thelma divided her time between New York and London. When her former lover Edward VIII abdicated Thelma was shocked. She had thought that once the prince became king he would change and use his royal authority to become a dynamic and progressive monarch. Even she wondered if he had ever really wanted to be king.10 In February 1937 she was photographed at London’s newest show, The Cochran Review’s Home and Beauty at the Adelphi Theatre. Her old rival Freda Dudley Ward was also there. They were wearing similar velvet coats and were accompanied by obscure escorts.11 Both women were looking miserable; in their different ways they had paved the way for Wallis, the woman who had wreaked havoc in the life of their ex-lover and the monarchy.

  In the months before the Second World War began Thelma was reconciled with her ex-husband Lord Furness. His marriage to his third wife,
Enid, was tempestuous. Enid Cavendish was a striking beauty; her hair had turned silver at the age of 28 and this unusual feature combined with her vivid green eyes and flawless skin made her turn heads wherever she went. When Lord Furness first took her to the casino at Monte Carlo, all gambling stopped as she entered the hall in her violet taffeta and white lace Molyneux evening dress. The Aga Khan, who was in the casino and had known her for many years, turned to her and said: ‘My dear Enid, could you not be more discreet with your entrance? Next time come in black.’12

  Duke Furness married Enid in 1933, shortly after his divorce from Thelma. They had met at the casino at Le Touquet; Duke told friends that when she came into the room he lost all concentration. As in his relationship with Thelma, he made up his mind to marry her, sending her jewels and flowers and putting his yachts, planes and Rolls-Royce at her disposal. He not only bought her the Chelsea flat she was living in, he bought the rest of the block as well.13 Enid had been married and widowed twice before, first to Roderick Cameron and then to Frederick ‘Caviar’ Cavendish. Although later in life she said Lord Furness had been the husband she loved the most – as with his immense fortune she could have anything she wanted – their marriage was not happy. Enid had affairs which made Duke intensely jealous, and he reacted by hiring detectives to keep an eye on her.14