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That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

Page 35

by Anne Sebba


  55 inscribed ‘To you’: Angulo, Peking Sun, Shanghai Moon, p. 27

  55 ‘old aristocratic families’: Diana Hutc:ing Sun

  55 ‘very taken by her’: ibid.

  56 and botched abortion: Charles Higham, Mrs Simpson: Secret Lives of the Duchess of Windsor, Sidgwick & Jackson 1998, p. 50, quoting Mrs Miles. See also Ray Moseley, Mussolini’s Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano, New Haven, Yale University Press 2000, pp. 9 – 10

  Chapter 4: Wallis on the Lookout

  57 ‘a strange city’: HHR p. 121

  58 ‘her last lap’: Martin, The Woman He Loved, p. 85

  58 ‘with equal satisfaction’: ibid., p. 124

  58 ‘call inferior decorating’: ibid., p. 122

  60 ‘and not remarry’: Baltimore News, 28 Oct. 1927

  60 sister Buckie, furious: NLD

  61 by Jacques’ syphilis: Kirk Hollingsworth, Conversation with author, 1 Nov. 2009

  61 ‘marry for money’: NLD

  61 ‘provided with money’: NLD

  62 ‘a man’s world’: HHR p. 128

  62 ‘finally, to everything’: Cleveland Amory, Who Killed Society?, New York, Harper & Brothers 1960, p. 238

  63 his own expense: Bernard Susser, The Jews of South-West England: The Rise and Decline of their Medieval and Modern Communities, University of Exeter Press 1993

  66 ‘looking after me’: Bloch, The Duchess of Windsor, 15 July 1928, p. 27

  67 ‘in a flash’: HHR p. 139

  67 ‘seem so important’: Bloch, Letters, p. 11

  67 ‘at Victoria Station’: HHR p. 139

  67 ‘since early childhood’: ibid.

  67 ‘to the core’: Brendon Papers, Bren 2/2/1, Churchill Archives

  68 ‘the human spirit’: HHR p. 146

  68 ‘a second sex’: ibid., p. 143

  68 ‘vacantly before me’: ibid., p. 144

  69 ‘in England live’: Mary Kirk Raffray (hereafter MKR), TOMS, p. 5

  70 ‘and many pillows’: MKR to Mrs Henry Child Kirk, 2 June 1931, TOMS, p. 1

  70 ‘her feminine interests’ HHR p. 159

  70 ‘right through one’: ibid., p. 149

  72 ‘and dinner parties’: ibid., p. 160

  72 ‘wiHHdely appreciated knack’: ibid., p. 161

  72 ‘wants to leave’: MKR to her mother, 7 June 1931, TOMS, p. 15

  72 ‘bathroom with her’: NLD

  Chapter 5: Wallis on the Sidelines

  73 ‘mind made up’: W to AB, 13 Jan. 1931, Bloch, Letters, p. 24

  73 ‘his cultural horizons’: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII: The Official Biography, Collins 1990, p. 41

  74 ‘his own thoughts’: ibid.

  74 ‘a brute to his children’: James Lees-Milne, Harold Nicolson, vol. II: 1930 – 1968, Chatto & Windus 1981, pp. 230 and 235

  74 ‘allowed to fight!!’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 57

  75 ‘of his inadequacy’: ibid., p. 58

  75 and exercise less: see LFP, p. xvii

  75 ‘am guilty of’: EP to King George V, 5 Sept. 1920, Royal Archives, quoted in Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 109

  75 ‘unfair on Papa’: ibid., p. 75

  76 ‘killed or wounded’: Alan Clark (ed.), A Good Innings: The Private Papers of Viscount Lee of Fareham, John Murray 1974, pp. 138 – 9

  76 ‘long to angel!!’: EP to FDW, 26 March 1918, LFP p. 10

  77 ‘fed up they are’: EP to FDW, 22 Dec. 1918, LFP p. 147

  77 ‘a national disaster’: EP to FDW, 26 Oct. 1919, LFP p. 267

  78 ‘and sounds Bolshevik’: EP to FDW, LFP pp. 346 – 7; Daily Telegraph, 6 June 2001

  78 ‘can’t live together’: EP to FDW, 7 Nov. 1919, LFP p. 276

  78 ‘feel like “resigning”!!’: EP to FDW, 24 Oct. 1919, LFP p. 266

  78 ‘work for him’: EP to FDW, 18 Oct. 1921, LFP p. 262

  78 ‘beloved little mummie!!’ EP to FDW, 14 Oct. 1919, LFP p. 259

  79 ‘ancestry as poor Edward P’: Alan Lascelles to Nigel Nicolson, 5 Sept. 1965, Lascelles Papers, Lasl 8/8 Churchill Archives

  79 ‘get away with it” ’: ibid.

  79 ‘“lock him up”’: ibid.

  80 ‘once a week’: ibid.

  80 ‘the next morning’: interview with Sarah Bradford, Brendon Papers, Bren 2/2/1, Churchill Archives

  80 ‘for his role’: Duff Hart-Davis (ed.), Introduction to In Royal Service: The Letters and Journals of Sir Alan Lascelles 1an kquote>, Hamish Hamilton 1989, p. xi

  81 ‘conventions of polite society’: Hector Bolitho, King Edward VIII: His Life and Reign, Eyre & Spottiswoode 1937, p. 75

  82 ‘of one’s employer’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 110

  82 ‘the couple concerned’: EP to Queen Mary, quoted in ibid., p. 171

  82 ‘a flirtatious nature’: Wake, Sisters of Fortune, p. 208

  82 ‘cos it’ll destroy me’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 173, 20 Feb. 1924, Broadlands Papers S 395

  83 ‘mostly about trivialities’: King, The Duchess of Windsor, p. 96

  83 ‘for this drama’: Sir Henry Channon, Chips: The Diaries of Sir Henry Channon, ed. Robert Rhodes James, Penguin 1967, p. 66; Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 223 for supplying the name

  83 ‘coloured symphony toy’: Lady Diana Cooper, The Light of Common Day, Rupert Hart-Davis 1959, p. 162

  84 ‘weekends, I suppose’: HRH The Duke of Windsor (hereafter DoW), A King’s Story, Cassell 1951, p. 237

  84 ‘voyage would end’: Gloria Vanderbilt and Thelma, Lady Furness, Double Exposure: A Twin Autobiography, New York, David McKay 1958, p. 266

  85 ‘frighteningly high’: HHR p. 171

  85 ‘and utter naturalness’: ibid., p. 169

  85 ‘but bad manners’: Vanderbilt and Furness, Double Exposure, p. 275

  85 ‘I am right’: HHR p. 165

  86 ‘an informal way’: W to AB, 13 Jan. 1931, Bloch, Letters, p. 24

  86 ‘of them again’: W to AB, 5 Feb. 1931, Bloch, Letters, p. 28

  86 ‘frowzy dressed town’: W to AB, 24 Jan. 1932, Bloch, Letters, p. 48

  86 ‘without the cold’: W to AB, 16 April 1932, Bloch, Letters, p. 32

  87 ‘talked until 2 o’clock’: MKR to Mrs H. C. Kirk, 2 June 1931, TOMS, p. 4

  88 ‘for it anyway’: ibid.

  88 ‘such an extravagance’: HHR p. 174

  88 ‘imitations but effective’: W to AB, n.d., Bloch, Letters, p. 35

  88 ‘the women look ghastly’: HHR p. 175

  89 ‘can never marry her’: MKR diary, private archive

  89 ‘can’t help me’: W to AB, 16 April 1931, Bloch, Letters, p. 31

  89 ‘“out of danger, Buckie”’: NLD

  Chapter 6: Wallis in Control

  91 ‘went very well’: HHR p. 190

  91 ‘an unsavoury nature’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  92 ‘billhook and whistling’: HHR p. 201

  92 ‘ping pong balls’: ibid., p. 183

  92 ‘to say what’: W to AB, 4 Feb. 1932, Bloch, Letters, p. 50

  93 ‘could not resist’: W to AB, 26 Feb. 1932, Bloch, Letters, p. 60

  93 ‘next six months’: W to AB, 11 Dec. 1932, Bloch, Letters, p. 62

  93 ‘to a friendship’: HHR p. 191

  94 ‘Thelma handed me’: NLD

  94 ‘you need me’: W to AB, 17 May 1933, Bloch, Letters, p. 68

  95 ‘to my figure’: ibid.

  95 ‘Princess of Wales’: W to AB, 30 May 1933, Bloch, Letters, p. 70

  95 ‘have refused her’: ibid.

  95 ‘selfish old pig’: W to AB, 29 Oct. 1933, Bloch, Letters, p. 76

  96 ‘look after him?’: HHR p. 192

  96 ‘to be lonely’: Vanderbilt and Furness, Double Exposure, p. 291

  96 ‘cheer him up’: W to AB, 26 Jan. 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 84

  96 ‘am the latest’: W to AB, 12 Feb. 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 87

  96 ‘with his papers’: HHR p. 193

  96 ‘man is exhausting’: W to AB, 12 Feb. 19
34, Bloch, Letters, p. 87

  96 ‘during the dancing’: HHR p. 193

  96 ‘all is safe’: W to AB, 18 Feb. 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 89

  97 ‘with him alone’: (Wallis italics) W to AB, 25 April 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 93

  97 ‘swansong before 40’: ibid.

  97 ‘loved it all?’: W to AB, postmarked 21 April 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 93

  97 ‘time will show’: W to AB, 18 Nov. 1935, Bloch, Letters, p. 143

  97 ‘all the time’: W to AB, 27 Oct. 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 101

  98 ‘as a Mason’: JCCD/d Feb. 1936, JCCD Papers 26, The Parliamentary Archive, House of Lords Record Office

  98 ‘into sponsoring him’: Thomas Papers, quoted in Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 278,/blockquan>

  98 ‘from him again’: Sarah Bradford, Sunday Times cutting 1998 n.d., private archive

  99 ‘him exceedingly well’: Vanderbilt and Furness, Double Exposure, p. 298

  99 ‘“is definitely no”’: HHR p. 194

  100 ‘them more often’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 229

  100 ‘not the second’: Aird Papers quoted in ibid.

  100 ‘join the party’: HHR p. 195

  100 ‘coward at heart’: Aird Papers quoted in Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 230

  100 ‘cash in best’: ibid.

  100 ‘like a dog’: ibid.

  101 ‘friendship and love’: HHR p. 197

  101 ‘keep them both’: W to AB, 5 Nov. 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 101

  102 ‘my own house!’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 231; Kenneth Rose, King George V, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1983, p. 392

  102 enclosure at Ascot: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 231, citing memo from Wigram, 12 April 1935, KEVIII Ab, box 4, Royal Archives

  102 ‘of meaningless pleasantries’: HHR p. 205

  102 ‘in the world’: HRH Prince Christopher of Greece, Memoirs of HRH Prince Christopher of Greece, Hurst & Blackett 1938, p. 62

  102 ‘and especially me’: W to AB, 30 Dec. 1934, Bloch, Letters, p. 105

  103 ‘awfully nice stones’: W to AB, 29 April 1935, Bloch, Letters, p. 117

  103 ‘jewels and clothes’: Channon, Diaries, 7 Oct. 1935, p. 43

  103 ‘the New Year’: Marie Belloc Lowndes, Diaries and Letters of Marie Belloc Lowndes, ed. Susan Lowndes, Chatto & Windus 1971, pp. 145 – 6

  103 ‘doing splendidly, Wallis?’: Daily Telegraph obituary of Dudley Forwood, 27 Jan. 2001

  104 ‘at the end’: W to E, n.d., Bloch, Letters, p. 118

  104 ‘easier for me?’: ibid.

  104 ‘from your youthfulness’: ibid.

  104 £6,000 per annum: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 238

  105 ‘Prince of Wales’: Channon, Diaries, p. 41

  105 ‘her company, ourselves’: Helen Hardinge, Loyal to Three Kings, William Kimber 1967, p. 55

  106 ‘to find it’: ibid., p. 54

  106 ‘enter Royal society’: ibid.

  106 ‘half an hour’: Channon, Diaries, p. 47

  106 ‘charming, cultivated woman’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 232

  107 ‘has admitted this’: 25 June 1935, marked ‘Secret’, MEPO 10/35, NA PRO

  107 ‘is not clear’: S. M. Cretney, ‘The Divorce Law and the 1936 Abdication Crisis: A Supplemental Note’, Law Quarterly Review, 2004, pp. 163 – 71

  107 ‘trouble with POW’: MEPO 10/35, NA PRO

  107 when in drink’: 25 June 1935, signed Superintendent, marked ‘Secret’, MEPO 10/35, NA PRO

  108 ‘but not Wallie’: Amanda Smith (ed.), Hostage to Fortune: The Letters of Joseph P. Kennedy, Viking 2001, p. 263

  108 ‘lived with her’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 233

  108 ‘and no mistake’: ibid.

  108 ‘married except David’: Rose, King George V, p. 390

  108 ‘and the throne’: Mabell, Countess of Airlie, Thatched with Gold, Hutchinson 1962, p. 197

  109 ‘of her friends’: Hardinge, Loyal to Three Kings, p. 57

  109 ‘such as me’: HHR p. 216

  109 ‘Silly Jubilee’: W to AB, 9 April 1935, Bloch, Letters, p. 115

  109 ‘from royal lips’: Diary of Rev. Alan Don, ms 2863, Lambeth Palace Archives [herafter Don diary]

  110 ‘significance had increased’: Philip Williamson, ‘The Monarchy and Public Values, 1910 – 1953’, in Andrzej Olechnowicz (ed.), The Monarchy and the British Nation, 1780 to the Present, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2007, p. 223

  110 ‘the upper classes’: Frank Prochaska, Republic of Britain, Penguin Books 2000, pp. 207 – 9

  110 ‘the younger generation’: ibid.

  110 ‘air about it’: ibid.

  111 ‘of my dreams’: W to AB, 31 July 1935, Bloch, Letters, p. 130

  111 ‘angelic Ernest again’: W to AB, 14 Oct. 1935, Bloch, Letters, p. 141

  111 ‘this eanum body’: EP to W, n.d., Bloch, Letters, p. 139

  Chapter 7: Wallis Out of Control

  112 ‘feel like a cigar’: Dr Catherine Blackledge, The Story of V: Opening Pandora’s Box, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p. 182

  112 ‘delay the genitals’: Higham, Mrs Simpson, p. 40

  114 ‘your hair etc’: Diana Cooper diary, DUFC 2/17, Churchill Archives

  115 ‘“care of that, Sir”’: Alfred Shaughnessy, Both Ends of the Candle: An Autobiography, Peter Owen 1976, p. 44

  115 ‘reduced to tears’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 237, quoting Alfred Amos

  115 ‘the offending nail’: Cooper, The Light of Common Day, p. 163

  116 ‘possible, even likely’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 236

  116 ‘“likes of me”’: W to AB, 30 Jan. 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 158

  116 returning for more: I am grateful to Dr Domenico di Ceglie, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the London Tavistock Centre, for explaining to me how this theory would fit the known characteristics of Wallis’s behaviour and personality. For further clarification of this personality type see Domenico di Ceglie and David Freedman, A Stranger in my Own Body: Atypical Gender Identity Development and Mental Health, Karnac Books 1998

  117 ‘than marrying her’: 2nd Earl of Birkenhead, Walter Monckton: The Life of Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1969, p. 126

  117 ‘and harassed soul’: Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, vol. 5: The Prophet of Truth 1922 – 1939, Minerva 1990, p. 810

  117 ‘of divorcing another’: marked ‘personal and very secret’, October 1936 – December 1937, Char 2/264, Churchill Archives

  118 ‘marriage was impossible’: letter to Princess Royal, quoted in Francis Watson, Dawson of Penn, Chatto & Windus 1950, p. 296

  118 ‘in twelve months’: Keith Middlemas and John Barnes, Baldwin: A Biography, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1969, p. 976

  118 ‘other so tight’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 240

  118 ‘have been weak’: W to EP, early Feb., Bloch, Letters, p. 156

  118 ‘you have passed’: Ernest Simpson (hereafter EAS) to EP, 21 Jan. 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 156

  118 ‘silly little affairs’: Watson, Dawson of Penn, p. 285

  119 ‘whence she came’: Channon, Diaries, p. 71

  119 ‘without an e!!’: W to AB, 1 Feb. 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 159

  119 ‘1066 families here’: ibid.

  120 ‘difficult to imagine’: Papers of Sir Edward Spears 6/4, Churchill Archives

  120 ‘I don’t mind’: ibid.

  120 ‘leave this about!’: Alan Lascelles to Joan Lascelles, Lascelles Paper, Lasl 11/01/15, Churchill Archives

  120 ‘very clever woman’: ibid.

  121 ‘who reads Balzac’: Brian Masters, Great Hostesses, Constable 1982, p. 140

 

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