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

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That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor Page 36

by Anne Sebba


  121 ‘she has done’: Queen Mary to Prince Paul, quoted in Forbes, TLS, 4 Jan. 1980

  121 ‘and Mrs Simpson’: Masters, Great Hostesses, p. 141

  121 ‘at the Palace’: W to AB, 9 Feb. 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 159

  122 ‘up the Can Can’: Channon, Diaries, p. 76

  122 ‘but not profound’: ibid.

  122 ‘a dangerous attribute’: Philip Ziegler, Conversation with author, 19 Jan. 2010

  122 ‘“it quite soon”’: Philip Ziegler, Diana Cooper, Collins 1987, p. 176

  123 ‘none at all’: Philip Williamson and Edward Baldwin (eds), The Baldwin Papers: A Conservative Statesman 1908 – 47, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2004 (hereafter Baldwin Papers), Monica Baldwin, Conversation with Uncle, p. 419

  123 ‘is still there’: Michael Thornton, Royal Feud: The Queen Mother and the Duchess of Windsor, Michael Joseph 1985, p. 99, quoting James Lees-Milne’s biography of Harold Nicolson

  123 ‘Ernest and H.M.’: Wallis to AB, 4 May 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 173

  123 ‘violent infatuation’: Airlie, Thatched with Gold, p. 198

  124 great war in Europe: FO 371/19892, NA PRO, quoting Baldwin

  124 ‘for doing so’: Memorandum of the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, 8 March 1936, quoted in W. N. Medlicott, Douglas Dakin and M. E. Lambert (eds), Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919 – 1939, vol. XVI: The Rhineland Crisis and the Ending of Sanctions March – July 1936, HMSO 1977, pp. 60 – 6

  125 look after Wallis: all the above from Birkenhead, Walter Monckton, pp. 128 and 157

  125 ‘and Cabinet papers!!!!!’: JCCD/d Feb. 1936, JCCD Papers 26, The Parliamentary Archive, House of Lords Record Office

  126 ‘an extravagant basis’: Birkenhead, Walter Monckton, p. 128

  126 ‘the Duchess’s loyalty’: George VI to Winston Churchill (hereafter WSC), 9 Dec. 1942, Churchill War Papers 20/52

  126 ‘without appearing discourteous’: Sir Roderick Jones to G. W. D. Tennant, 15 June 1933, Thomson Reuters Archive

  126 ‘genial and friendly’: Don diary, 5 June 1935

  126 ‘most glorious flowers’: E. B. Kirk, NLD

  127 ‘for Nazi Germans’: 26 Nov. 1936, the Hon. Lady Murray Papers

  127 ‘state of collapse’: W to AB, 14 April 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 171

  127 ‘old nervous indigestion’: W to AB, 4 May 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 174

  127 ‘by this prospect’: HHR p. 222

  128 ‘get a divorce’: MKR diary, private archive

  128 ‘the previous year’: NLD

  128 ‘to by everyone’: MKR to Anne Kirk, 23 April 1936, TOMS, p. 22

  128 ‘Wallis’ life forever’: NLD

  129 ‘ventured nothing gained’: W to AB, 16 March 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 169

  129 ‘slightly second rate’: Harold Nicolson, Diaries and Letters 1930 – 39, ed. Nigel Nicolson, Athenaeum 1966, p. 255

  129 ‘“Master of the Mistress”’: Duchess of Devonshire to Lady Airlie, 25 Feb. 1936, British Library Add. Mss 82766

  130 ‘“my future wife”’: HHR p. 225

  130 ‘without its good side’: Middlemas and Barnes, Stanley Baldwin, p. 981

  130 ‘sad beyond calculation’: Lord Reith, The Reith Diaries, ed. Charles Stuart, Collins 1975, p. 188

  131 ‘much, Mr Rubinstein’: Masters, Great Hostesses, pp. 182 – 4

  132 ‘heard of Mrs Simpson?’: 30 April 1936, Lascelles Papers, Lasl 11/o1/15, Churchill Archives

  132 ‘judge public opinion’: Conclusions of meetings of the Cabinet, 28 October – 16 December 1936, CAB 23/86, Addendum to Cabinet Conclusions, NA PRO

  132 ‘was highly evident’: HHR p. 225

  132 ‘other American interest’: ibid.

  132 ‘account for much’: Lady Mosley to Duchess of Devonshire, 5 June 1972, in Charlotte Mosley (ed.), The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters, Fourth Estate 2007, p. 582

  133 ‘became her implacable enemy’: Thornton, Royal Feud, p. 75, citing private information, letters to author, 30 May, 12 June 1983

  133 ‘more and more’: EP to W, n.d., Sotheby’s The Jewels 1987 catalogue, pp. 86 – 7

  133 ‘he won’t move’: EP to W, 5 June 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 180

  133 ‘starting divorce proceedings’: HHR p. 226

  134 ‘pain for a month’: W to AB, 22 June 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 182

  134 ‘here with me’: TS 22/1/2, NA PRO

  134 ‘this stupid manner’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 282

  134 ‘amount to £100’: ibid.

  135 with other men’s wives: ibid.

  135 ‘nicest man here’: 4 Sept. 1936, Lascelles Papers, Lasl 11/001/016, Churchill Archives

  135 ‘yak milk diet’: DUFC 2/17, Churchill Archives

  ockquote>136 ‘on her wrist’: ibid.

  136 ‘as a King’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 284

  136 ‘were looking for’: Diana Cooper, DUFC 2/17, Churchill Archives

  137 ‘folie à deux’: Forbes, TLS, 1 Nov. 1974, quoting Frances Donaldson biography of Edward VIII

  137 ‘be dropped all night’: DUFC 2/17, Churchill Archives

  137 ‘in old days’: Alan Lascelles to Joan Lascelles, 30 August 1936, Lascelles Papers, Lasl 11/01/15, Churchill Archives

  Chapter 8: Wallis in the Witness Box

  138 ‘they loathe adultery’: Lees-Milne, Harold Nicolson, vol. II, pp. 77 – 8

  138 ‘the British public’: Dugdale diary

  139 ‘with unremitting enjoyment’: A. G. Gardiner, Certain People of Importance, J. M. Dent 1929, pp. 107 – 8

  140 ‘of social tyranny’: DoW, A King’s Story, p. 258

  141 ‘without reference [to him]’: Memo, 9 Oct. 1936, Press Association/Thomson Reuters Archive

  141 ‘create disaster together’: W to E, 16 Sept. 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 94

  141 take his life: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography, Macmillan 2009, p. 366; Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 287

  142 ‘cannot live with’: EAS to Mrs E. L. Simpson, 17 March 1937, private archive

  142 ‘out at once’: Baldwin Papers, Monica Baldwin, p. 423

  142 ‘along so well’: W to EAS, 16 Feb. 1937, private archive

  143 ‘performance as Sovereign’: Helen Hardinge diary, pp. 101 – 3, Hon. Lady Murray Papers, quoted in Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, p. 365

  143 ‘myself against her’: ‘secret’ memo by WSC, Char 2/300, Churchill Archives

  144 ‘from the throne’: J. G. Lockhart, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Hodder & Stoughton 1949, p. 397

  144 ‘with the King’: Thornton, Royal Feud, p. 393, citing private information

  144 ‘woman he loved’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 172

  145 ‘about it sometimes’: Duchess of York to Queen Mary, 11 Oct. 1936, Royal Archives QM/PRIV/CC12/34A, quoted in Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, p. 368

  145 ‘with the American harlot’: TS 22, NA PRO

  145 ‘never forgive him’: Channon, Diaries, 11 Nov. 1936, p. 101

  146 ‘I am so lonely’: W to EAS, 25 Oct.o Eam so lon 1936, private archive

  146 ‘education and maintenance’: TS 221/2, NA PRO

  147 ‘Prince of Wales’: Time, 26 Oct. 1936

  148 ‘Queen Mary’s place’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  148 ‘but no heart’: Stanley Baldwin quoted in Baldwin Papers, p. 423

  148 ‘hard bitten bitch’: Walter Monckton (hereafter WM) quoted in Tom Jones diary, November 1936, Baldwin Papers, p. 388

  149 ‘the public view’: Duff Cooper diary, Jan. 1936, Baldwin Papers, p. 387; Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 248

  149 ‘hated the idea’: Lucy Baldwin, 17 Nov. 1936, Baldwin Papers, p. 390, SB additional papers

  149 ‘courteous and nicest’: ibid.

  149 ‘was a lie’: Stanley Bruce to Stanley Baldwin, 16 Nov. 1936, series M104, Australian Archives

  149 ‘it all intensely’: Lucy Baldwin, Baldwin Papers, p.
390

  149 ‘to marry her’: Monica Baldwin account of conversation, Baldwin Papers, p. 421

  150 cloth to advocate: 1 Nov. 1936, Lang Papers, vol. 318, Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 293

  150 ‘short of life’: Violet Bonham-Carter to WSC, Char 2 264, Churchill Archives

  151 their final decree: I am most grateful to Dr Stephen Cretney for supplying me with this information from the Civil Judicial Statistics 1935 – 8

  151 ‘its highest standards’: New York World Telegram, 21 Nov. 1936

  152 ‘been indirectly involved’: TS 22 1/1, NA PRO

  152 ‘marriage was intended’: diary of Hilda Runciman, Nov. 1936, Newcastle Library Ref. WR ADD. A/11. By kind permission of the librarian, Robinson Library

  153 ‘his responsibility acutely’: Don diary, 16 Nov. 1936

  153 ‘and Wallis Simpson’: Thursday 19 Nov. 1936, Runicman Papers, Newcastle Library Ref. WR 282/8

  153 ‘to do so’: Lockhart, Cosmo Gordon Lang, pp. 395 – 8

  153 ‘he quite normal?’: Don diary, 28 Oct. 1936

  154 ‘could be certified’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 275, citing memo by Wigram, 15 Feb. 1936, KEVIII Ab. Box 4, Royal Archives

  154 ‘happy Prince Charming’: Channon, Diaries, 3 Nov. 1936, p. 96

  154 ‘upon your deliberoitions’: Harold Nicolson diary, quoted in Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 265

  154 ‘of the divorce’: Don diary, 4 Nov. 1936

  154 ‘“Yes – Mrs Simpson”’: Channon, Diaries, 10 Nov.spapon 1936, p. 100

  154 Queen Mary acknowledged: Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart, The Diaries of Robert Bruce Lockhart 1915 – 38, ed. Kenneth Young, Macmillan 1973, 13 Nov. 1936, p. 357

  154 ‘and complete person’: Herman Rogers to W, 28 Oct. 1936, Bloch, Letters, p. 209

  155 ‘has become irretrievable’: Hardinge, Loyal to Three Kings, p. 133

  155 ‘him to Gallipoli?’: 27 Nov. 1936, Statement at Cabinet Meeting, Baldwin Papers, p. 394

  156 ‘an alternative government’: Bruce to Baldwin, 16 Nov. 1936, series M104 item 4, Australian Archives

  156 ‘marry Mrs Simpson’: Lucy Baldwin diary, Baldwin Papers, p. 390

  156 ‘he said good-bye’: ibid., p. 391

  156 ‘“kettle of fish!”’: Monica Baldwin, Baldwin Papers, p. 425

  157 ‘of all concerned’: E to Queen Mary, 20 Nov. 1936, quoted in Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, p. 373

  157 ‘was so divergent’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  157 ‘temporarily gone into’: W to Sybil Colefax, n.d., Colefax Papers, Ms eng c 3272 ff. 1 – 15, Bodleian Library (hereafter Bodl. Lib.)

  158 ‘getting it now’: Nicolson, Diaries and Letters, 18 Nov. 1936, p. 279

  158 ‘man she loves’: HHR p. 247

  158 ‘catastrophe for me’: ibid., p. 246

  159 ‘disgustingly conceited fellow’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 303

  159 ‘“a Queen Cutie”’: Cole Lesley, The Life of Noël Coward, Jonathan Cape 1976, p. 187

  159 ‘support the Government’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  160 ‘most formidable kind’: 27 Nov. 1936, Zetland Papers, Mss Eur D 609/7

  160 ‘by my Government’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 306

  160 ‘UK Parliament legislating’: Documents on Irish Foreign Policy, 1932 – 36, National Archives of Ireland

  161 and other nations: 28 Nov. 1936, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/index-e.html

  161 ‘seem to be alive’: W to EAS, 11 Jan. 1937, private archive

  161 ‘to them all’: ibid.

  161 ‘agony for him’: HHR p. 247

  162 ‘might shoot her’: Baldwin Papers, p. 423

  162 ‘and to myself’: W to EAS, n.d. but postmarked 30 Nov. 1936, private archive

  162 ‘was hurtin >160 g the K’: ibid.

  163 ‘concerned, won’t it?’: ibid.

  163 ‘I fold my tent’: W to Sybil Colefax, n.d., Monday, Colefax Papers, Ms eng c 3272 ff. 1 – 15, Bodl. Lib.

  163 ‘straight with his country’: W to Sybil Colefax, 18 Dec. 1936, Colefax Papers, Ms eng c 3272 ff. 1 – 15, Bodl. Lib.

  Chapter 9: Wallis on the Run

  164 ‘for the first time’: Brownlow diary, Brownlow Papers, BNLW 4/4/9, Lincolnshire Archives

  164 ‘of this need’: Lang Papers 1936, Lambeth Palace Archives

  165 ‘in the wilderness’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  165 ‘just SB’s luck!’: ibid.

  165 ‘to advise him’: 4 Dec. 1936, Lang Papers, Lambeth Palace Archives

  165 ‘and his ministers’: ibid.

  166 ‘a great deal’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  166 ‘“will be happy”’: ibid.

  166 ‘wished me happiness’: ibid.

  166 ‘de la douleur’: ibid.

  166 ‘you, my darling’: Brownlow diary

  167 ‘knife into them’: Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, p. 364

  167 ‘our fingers crossed’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 310

  167 ‘deportee or exile’: Brownlow diary

  167 ‘to winter conditions’: ibid.

  167 ‘difficult to recapture’: HHR p. 265

  167 she had reached Cannes: Thomson Reuters Archive

  167 ‘Tell the country’: W to EP, n.d., Bloch, Letters, p. 216

  168 ‘Roosevelt’s “fireside chats”’: HHR p. 253

  168 ‘crown and throne’: TS 221, NA PRO

  168 ‘a married woman’: Baldwin Papers, p. 402

  169 ‘tack was hopeless’: Sir Edward Peacock notes, Dep. Monckton Trustees 22, fol. 277, Bodl. Lib.

  169 ‘for all time’: Humphrey Keenlyside, Allen & Overy: The Firm, vol. I: 1930 – 1998, Allen & Overy 1999

  170 ‘could not interfere’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  170 ‘unhappy and untenable’: HHR p. 273

  170 ‘for the best’: ibid.

  170 ‘petition for divorce’: Zetland Papers, Mss Eur D 609/7

  170 ‘turn against me’: Susan Williams, The People’s King: The True Story of the Abdication, Penguin Books 2003, p. 191

  171 ‘it would be’, ‘WM typed account of events October to Dec 1936 with postscripts and additional comments from others’, Dep. Monckton Trustees 22, fols. 1 – 103, Bodl. Lib.

  171 ‘her magnanimous gesture’: Nancy Dugdale diary

  171 ‘wicket was determined’: Sir Horace Wilson to WM, 5 Feb. 1949, Dep. Monckton Trustees 20, fol. 37, Bodl. Lib.

  172 ‘eventually marry her’: 13 Aug. 1949, Dep. Monckton Trustees 20, fol. 74 TG statement, Bodl. Lib.

  172 ‘into her confidence!’: Sir Horace Wilson to WM, 5 Feb. 1949, Dep. Monckton Trustees 20, fol. 37, Bodl. Lib.

  172 ‘curious little document’: Lascelles to WM on Buckingham Palace notepaper, 6 Jan. 1949, Dep. Monckton Trustees 22, fol. 30, Bodl. Lib.

  172 ‘to do anything’: Ziegler, King Edward VIII, p. 313, citing Thomas Dugdale diary, 9 Dec. 1936, Crathorne Papers

  173 speaking to him: 10 Dec. 1936, MEPO, NA PRO

  173 ‘most painful degree’: Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, vol. V, pp. 814 – 17

  173 ‘it appalled me’: Monica Baldwin, Baldwin Papers, p. 422

  173 ‘“in the world”’: ibid.

  174 ‘reason with him’: ibid.

  174 not the least: Conclusions of Meetings of the Cabinet 28 Oct. – 16 Dec. 1936, vol. LIII, CAB 23/86, NA PRO

  174 ‘been in Bedlam’: Baldwin Papers, p. 411

  174 ‘with That Woman’: Thomas Dugdale diary, 8 Dec. 1936, Cranthorne Papers

  174 ‘earn her contempt’: Ziegler, Edward VIII, p. 327

  174 ‘invective from Cannes’: Thomas Dugdale diary, 8 Dec. 1936, Cranthorne Papers

  174 ‘day he died’: Ziegler, Edward VIII, p. 327

  175 ‘Sir Horace Wilson … ’: 13 June 1938, Smith, Hostage to Fortune: The Letters of Joseph P. Kennedy, p. 262

 

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