Herman said, “It’s yours for the asking, sir. Anytime.”
After the car door slammed, I heard Wally say, “Anytime after hell freezes.”
15th September 1934
I am a wreck. Wally and I went straight up and left HRH having a nightcap with Charlie Bedaux. I was asleep when the telephone rang. “Maybell,” he said, “it’s David. I have to go shopping and I need your help. Meet me in the lobby.”
It was one a.m.
I said, “Sir, everywhere’s closed.”
“No,” he said, “it’s all right. I’m having Cartier opened. The night manager is seeing to it now.”
The man from Cartier was very obliging, although I noticed he hadn’t combed his hair. He brought out tray after tray. Jack Aird sighing theatrically every few minutes. It was finally narrowed down to a large amethyst pendant or a canary diamond bracelet charm. HRH said, “You must make the final choice, Maybell. I turn to you in my hour of need.”
Funny how little men understand about jewels, even royal princes. Whatever its size, a canary diamond beats an amethyst any day.
“Not a word now,” he said when we were in the elevator. “I shall present this to her when we’re back on board ship.”
Aird groaned. He said, “Sir, shouldn’t we be starting for home?”
David said, “Don’t be such a killjoy. I don’t have to be back till the 25th. We still have heaps of time. I’m going to tell Guinness to take us to Italy.”
What a night. Padmore gets more sleep than I do.
16th September 1934
The Cavetts and the Bedaux are going join us for our trip to Italy. I’m so happy. Wally’s being a crosspatch. She scolded Jack Aird for yawning and HRH for handing out invitations without asking her.
He said, “But darling, Charlie Bedaux is a terrifically interesting man. He knows all about labor unions and working conditions. And he and Fern have homes everywhere. They might be terribly useful. Also, Einum Meinum, Fern and Zita will be company for Maybell. I’m afraid she must get very lonely when I’m monopolizing you.”
Wally said, “Then don’t monopolize me. You must go and play golf the very minute we put in to Genoa. I can’t be at your side every minute.”
17th September 1934, the Rosaura again
Wally is wearing her canary diamond and a smile. HRH set up a very seductive scene last night, and it seems to have paid off. He took Wally up on deck after dessert and Jack Aird motioned to the rest of us to stay put.
He said, “His Royal Highness has exclusive use of the moonlight for the next hour, so I suggest we make ourselves comfortable down here.”
I said, “Is she getting the diamond?”
He said, “The diamond, the stars. Perhaps even a bagpipe serenade.”
Fern said, “How romantic! I don’t know about you girls, but I always have to tell Charlie when it’s time he went shopping, and what to buy. Really it’s easier if I do it all myself.”
Danforth was the same. He was a busy man.
“Pick yourself out a bauble, Maybell,” he’d say. “I’ll go to five hundred.”
When Aird gave us the all-clear to go on deck, the lovebirds had already retired. What a bump down to earth London is going to seem to Wally. Just boring old Ernest and unlovely George Street.
18th September 1934, Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées, Stresa
We have said our final farewells to Walter Guinness and his lunatic crew. We put in to Genoa at eight this morning and were met by cars, which have brought us to a hotel on Lake Maggiore. Tomorrow we’re going by motor launch to view some recommended gardens. Wally had been threatening to spend a day in Milan, buying pocketbooks, but that little Cartier diamond has improved her mood no end. Lady Cunard has arranged an appointment for her in Paris on the 21st. A designer called Main Bocher. She says he’s fresh and American and will soon be in the vanguard.
Charlie Bedaux says he’d love to take HRH in hand for a year. He said, “I could really do something with him. There’s a lot of potential in the boy, and I see it going to waste. I guess his old man’s too busy chopping off heads.”
19th September 1934
To the gardens at Isola Bella. Terraces covered with lemon trees, white peacocks, marble grottos. Nothing to touch what Philip Sassoon has done at Lympne, but still very lovely. Wally made copious jottings. I hadn’t realized she was so interested in gardens.
I said, “Are you and Ernest thinking of getting a place in the country?” She said, “We already have a place in the country. It’s called Fort Belvedere.”
Fern says they have twenty gardeners at their chateau. Wally said, “Really? I’d like to see it sometime.”
Fern said, “Then come. We don’t stand on ceremony. And bring David.”
Wally said, “Bring David? Fern, let me save you from future embarrassment. People don’t invite His Royal Highness. They wait for him to propose himself.”
Fern said, “Is that right? How quaint. Well, in the meanwhile, if ever you want to bring your husband, I guess that wouldn’t be breaking any rules.”
Wally stalked off.
20th September 1934
Our vacation is at an end, although HRH is dragging it out till Saturday. His usual chirpy chatter has subsided, and he’s preoccupied with the busy weeks ahead. He said, “I have to go to Scotland, Maybell, to launch the new Cunarder. I’d give anything to take Wally with me. I’m going to miss her dreadfully.”
I’ll be glad to see London. Being surrounded by foreign jabber for weeks on end is very fatiguing. The Bedaux are off to Germany on business, Bernie and Zita are staying on for another week, and we leave tonight. Mr. Mussolini has kindly sent us his private railcar, and by tomorrow we will be in Paris.
21st September 1934, Meurice Hotel, Paris
Just called in to Ena Spain’s suite to condole. She said Gonzalo’s death had come as no surprise to them. They’ve known since he was a boy that he had the bleeding disease. Another of her boys has it, too. Poor dear. She seems so resigned.
Wally had gone out for some last-minute shopping with HRH, so the desk put Ernest’s call through to my suite.
He said, “Where is she, Maybell? I absolutely insist on her being back here by next Wednesday. I have some important clients, and I need her to make a dinner for me. Two months is surely vacation enough for anyone.”
They came back with hat boxes. I passed on Ernest’s message stripped of its aggrieved tone.
David said, “But that works out perfectly, darling. I have to be in Clydeside, and now you have to feed Ernest’s industrialists. Let no one say we don’t attend to our duties!”
Wally doesn’t feel it works out perfectly at all. She had hoped for at least a week in Paris. Prince George’s wedding has been announced for November 29th, which, as Wally says, leaves no time at all for undoing fashion mistakes one has been rushed into.
22nd September 1934
David’s plane collected him from Le Bourget aerodrome this afternoon. Wally and I went directly to see Mr. Main Bocher. His atelier is on Avenue Georges V, white walls, white tea roses, mirrors everywhere, and very witty zebra-hide armchairs. He’s a Chicago boy, refined, beautifully manicured nails. He and Wally hit it off immediately. He told her she has the kind of figure that would look fabulous in a paper bag. Of course, Mr. Bocher has all the appearances of one of those men who never marry, so his ideas on the womanly form are bound to be bizarre.
He had his people running in and out with bolts of cloth, everyone wearing white cotton gloves to prevent soiling. Wally’s chosen a very striking purple lamé for the ball and a soft blue velvet for the Abbey. I’m sure she has no idea how much any of it is going to cost. He said, “When you come back for your first fitting, you must bring with you the mink you’re planning to wear and the tiara. I have to see the full picture.”
She loves all that. She said, “He’s a perfectionist, like me. We’re going to show those royalties a thing or two about elegance.”
I said, �
�What are you going to do about a tiara? Will Ernest be willing to buy one?” She said, “He won’t need to be. For a royal wedding, jewelers are going to be vying with one another to lend me one.”
23rd September 1934
To Le Havre. Wally is in the kind of good humor that follows successful shopping, and quite expansive. She says she never intended for HRH to become so attached, but now he has the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. She said, “He’s sweet, in many ways, but what he really needs is to be properly employed. He has plenty of vim but it needs to be channeled.”
Very much Charlie Bedaux’s view of things.
She said, “No one ever helped him till I came along. He gets into such a state when the King sends for him. His father always gives him a row, and his mother sits tight-lipped, disapproving of everything. They sap his confidence. All they ever do is tell him what he can’t do. Well, I’m fixing all that. I’m building him up, putting some backbone into him. I’m going to turn him into a king no one’ll ever forget.”
I said, “All very well, but what about Ernest? How can you run a prince and a husband?”
She said, “Ernest understands. He admires the monarchy. He completely sees the value of what I’m doing. And the association is very good for business. Practically the same as a Royal Warrant above the door. Anyway, I’m on my way home to him now. The vacation’s over, and David has engagements enough to keep him occupied, so I shall be able to give Ernest my undivided attention. And Ernest isn’t nearly as exhausting as Sir.”
I said, “So you do still love Ernest?”
“Maybell,” she said, “you’re such a stitch! Love! I’m married to Ernest.”
24th September 1934, Wilton Place
Just before we docked, we received a message that a car would be waiting for Mrs. Simpson outside the customs shed. She said, “If Ernest asks about Paris, don’t blab about the gowns. I like to deal with these things in my own good time.”
But from the rail, there was no sign of Ernest, only Kettle with my car and Ladbrook with HRH’s Buick.
Wally said, “Sir’s sent his car for me. See, Maybell? This is what happens when you have a royal connection. Queues disappear, cars become available, doors open.” And doors certainly did open. There, sitting together in the back of the Buick, were Ernest and the Prince of Wales. Wally didn’t miss a beat.
She said, “Sir! I thought you were in Scotland launching liners!”
He said, “I’m leaving directly, but I thought it’d be fun to surprise you and Maybell, and then when we arrived, I found Ernest had had the same idea. So here we both are. We’ve had time for a splendid chat.”
Ernest was in a very affectionate mood, holding Wally’s hand. The hand HRH has clung to these last seven weeks.
“Well, dearest,” he said, “we mustn’t delay. I have a car waiting outside, and His Royal Highness has a long journey ahead of him.”
A mountain of correspondence waiting for me at Wilton Place. I shall be doing nothing for weeks except open envelopes.
25th September 1934
To Carlton Gardens. Violet was expected back from her Sanitarium committee momentarily, so I went up to the nursery to wait. Doopie loved her orange blossom soap, and Flora seemed pleased with her Spanish doll, although she removed all its clothes.
She said, “Uncle Prince George is getting married, and I’m going to be a flower baid.”
Doopie is making her dress.
I said, “Well, you’ll certainly have to have your hair combed before you can be a flower maid. And my friend Wally is going to the wedding, too. So I shall hear all about it.”
Had a small sherry with Violet. She said, “You may tell me about places of interest you’ve visited, but I don’t want to hear about anyone whose name begins with W.”
Flora then appeared with the naked doll, piping, “Mummy, Aunt Bayba says the Wally is invited to Uncle Prince George’s wedding, too. Isn’t that a surprise!”
I noticed that funny little twitch Violet always gets in her cheek when something unsettles her.
“Now Flora,” she said, “go downstairs and tell Smith we’ll be two extra for dinner. Tell her Lady Habberley will have just an omelette.”
Flora said, “Am I allowed gake?”
Violet said, “Yes, a small slice. Now kiss Aunt Maybell goodnight. She’s just leaving.”
The moment the door closed, she said, “How could you! Uttering that woman’s name to an innocent child. How could you!”
I said, “It’s not only me she hears it from. Everyone knows Wally is Wales’s friend. I’m sure even your boot boy knows.”
She said, “Knowing about it is one thing, speaking of it is quite another.”
I said, “Well, pretend all you like, Violet, but London is going to be seeing a great deal more of Wally. She and David are inseparable.”
She said, “Maybe so, but she certainly won’t be invited to George and Marina’s wedding, nor to any other occasion where she’ll be in the presence of Their Majesties. Wally is a divorced person, and her so-called husband is a divorced person. This is England, Maybell, not a Hollywood movie lot.”
I said, “You’re so old-fashioned. The Prince of Wales doesn’t care about people being divorced. Heavens, Wally even soaps him in his bathtub!”
She leapt to the door to check that no maids had been listening.
She said, “I never wished to quarrel with you, Maybell, but for the sake of my family, I must draw a line. Until you disassociate yourself from this scandal, you are not to see my children. People talk. Even boys of Rory’s age. Imagine if it became known at school that his aunt is that woman’s friend.”
I said, “Are you banishing me? I’m your sister.”
She said, “The remedy is yours. Walk away from Wally and the rest of Wales’s silly set, and you’ll be as welcome here as ever.”
26th September 1934
Gladys and Whitlow Trilling have another daughter. I do hope they’re not going to keep on till they get a boy.
27th September 1934
Lunch with George Lightfoot.
He said, “If it’s a choice between patching things up with Violet and sticking by Wally, I’d drop Wally. She’d drop you.”
But I don’t think she would. She appreciates my friendship. She knows she can turn to me when she finds herself short, or HRH has forgotten his billfold. Anyway, I hate small-mindedness and that’s the trouble with people like Violet. They can’t see beyond the fence to the Royal Enclosure.
I said, “What about you? Are you going to ‘draw a line’?”
He said, “Of course not. But I’m not in the same position as Violet and Melhuish. I don’t have Their Majesties good opinion to consider. Let’s just hope this affair soon burns itself out. You must admit, they make a rather odd couple. The wee Princekin and Mrs. Pushy.”
As I thought, the story about him and Penelope Blythe is untrue. He said, “I think she may have had a bit of a crush on me, but she’s started seeing Billy Belchester. He keeps a little service flat on Portman Square.
Billy Belchester! There’s desperation for you. He’s jowly, he perspires, and he has the ever-smiling Anne and all the junior Belchesters waiting for him with open arms. I’m sure he can’t be a very attentive lover. But Penelope’s never happy unless she’s avoiding someone’s wife or waiting by the telephone. I suppose that’s why George Lightfoot soon lost his appeal, having no wife to betray and being scrupulously reliable about returning telephone calls.
He agrees with Violet that Wally’s invitation to the wedding is sheer pie in the sky. He said, “Wales always opens his mouth before thinking. I’ll tell you what’ll happen. Ernest and Wally’s names will appear on the guest list, the Lord Chamberlain will show the list to the King, and Ernest and Wally’s names will disappear from the guest list.”
1st October 1934
Lunch with Hattie and Pips. Hattie says their friends are more fascinated by Wally than scandalized, and certainly no one has dropped
them.
I said, “Well I’m banned from Carlton Gardens, and Philip Sassoon hasn’t returned either of my calls.”
She said, “Well, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over that. The Sassoons are only five minutes out of their desert tents. I’m sure they’re completely untrustworthy.”
Pips said, “Yes. Unlike Wally, who’d lay down her life for any one of us.”
2nd October 1934
A letter from Rory. He writes that he won’t be able to go to tea and the Planetarium as we’d planned at Long Leave, because he’s invited to his friend Massingham’s house in Gloucestershire. So Violet’s gotten at him, too.
4th October 1934
I intercepted Doopie and Flora in St. James’s Park. Flora spotted me and immediately began whooping, “Aunt Bayba, Aunt Bayba! We’re not allowed to speak to you because of the Wally. But we can do zignals.”
She and Doopie playacted a little scene. Nurses with bassinets turning to stare at them. I said, “What did that all mean?”
She said, “It meaned we’d still like to go to the National Mystery Museum and then for fidge and ships. It meaned we still like you.”
Doopie said, “Nod vair, Bayba. Nod vair adall. Bud dode worry.” She actually hugged me. What Doopie lacks in intellect, she makes up for with simple, honest affection.
8th October 1934
To Bryanston Court for drinks. Ernest was grumpy because Mr. Loo had destroyed his new carpet slippers, and Wally kept talking about tiaras. She’s off to Paris tomorrow for fittings, and, I suppose, the whole money thing is making him anxious. Twice he said, “Remember to stay within your budget, Wally. Only a fool spends what he doesn’t have.”
Gone With the Windsors Page 20