13th August 1936, The Nahlin, off Sibenik
At last, the sea and our spandy white yacht. She’s called the Nahlin. There were crowds of well-wishers lining our route from the railroad station to the harbor, all dressed in their gay peasant costumes. HM said, “Come along, darling. Give them a wave. You’re going to have to get used to this.”
I caught Humphrey and Aird exchanging looks.
We have two dear little destroyers escorting us, so I now feel completely safe.
14th August 1936
The staterooms are rather smaller than they first appear, and completely airless. HM and Wally have nabbed the best suite in the bow. The only thing to do is stay on the sundeck as much as possible. HM and Boss and Hattie have been larking around in the sea. They say the water is warm. I’ll take their word for it. Humphrey sits all day with an atlas on his lap, trying to identify islands. A fool’s errand. They’re just white rocks. Why would they have names?
Tomorrow Dubrovnik. Lily says it’s an enchanting town with lots of inexpensive little things to buy.
16th August 1936, at sea
The press were waiting for us when we moored yesterday. Jack Aird suggested we leave immediately, without going ashore. HM said, “Why?”
Jack said, “Might we have a word in private, sir?” I never saw HM angry before. He said, “Absolutely not. Explain yourself here.”
Humphrey said, “Jack’s worried about photographs, sir, and so am I. With Wally as the innocent party in a divorce case, one needs to be cautious. About her being seen in the company of a man, if you see what I mean?”
Wally said nothing. She’d be desperate if anything scuppered her divorce. But HM said, “Nonsense. The British press promised me complete privacy during my vacation. These johnnies are all foreigners, and English judges don’t read foreign newspapers.”
Wally made all the girls wear sunglasses and headscarves for going ashore, to confuse any mischievous hacks. “HM’s harem,” Hattie called us.
Aird stayed on board and stewed. He’s not much of a shopper anyway.
19th August 1936, still at sea
Wally’s being very strict taskmaster with HM. He’d asked for the dinghy to be put out this morning so he and Judson could fish for octopus, but Wally countermanded his order and said he had to do his Despatch Boxes first. Even on vacation, a king has official papers to read and sign. Humphrey said, “You know, Wally is starting to look like a very promising Queen. She takes it all jolly seriously.”
Aird said, “Perhaps I should just get her to do the Boxes and leave His Majesty to play in peace.”
HM did his duty in record time, and then was allowed the dinghy. As Hattie said, from a distance, paddling around in his bathing trunks, he looks like a boy. A very happy boy.
20th August 1936
Humphrey and Poots are going to leave us when we get to Athens. Bernie and Zita Cavett will take over their stateroom. First we have to call on another royal cousin. George of the Hellenes. HM wants to make an excuse and get out of it, but Wally says it would be unpardonable. Actually, she’s rather keen to meet him, because he’s a king and divorced and he has a divorced sweetheart. She’s interested to find out how the Greeks manage these things.
21st August 1936, Corfu
HM and Wally have gone ashore to have dinner with King George. HM dragged his feet, and they were very late setting off. Jack Aird says Greece will be the next place to have a revolution. I can quite see that by next year, the only place left for us will be Palm Beach.
22nd August 1936
Having tried to wriggle out of dining with George Greece last evening, HM has now invited him to come aboard for luncheon before we sail. He said, “To tell you the truth, Maybell, it’s not that I especially like him, but I do feel sorry for him. They’ve brought him back here to be King, but he really has nothing to do. He’s just hanging around waiting for them to put a bomb under his car or send him back to London. He’s quite miserable.”
Wally says the girlfriend has good bone structure but no pizzazz. She’s also furious with HM for talking to her too avidly and omitting to turn between courses.
Poots said, “That’s pretty rich, Wally, considering you and Kenny Opdyke always sniggering at private jokes and neglecting the rest of us.”
24th August 1936, Athens
Bernie and Zita Cavett have come aboard. Zita isn’t happy with their accommodation, but she might spare a thought for those of us who’ve sweated and suffered thus far. Big crowds waiting for us as we nosed into Piraeus. Jack Aird got a tongue-lashing from Wally for suggesting HM might want to put on a shirt before getting within range of the press cameras. She said, “If His Majesty needs your advice, he’ll tell you.”
Aird is returning to his regiment after the cruise and not before time. With Wally in charge, his days must be numbered anyway.
Humphrey said, “Poor Jack. Cruising isn’t his kind of thing at all. I think he’s worried he’ll be required to wear espadrilles to the next Investiture.”
Tonight we dine on dry land in a picturesque tavern. I pray the revolution Jack Aird is predicting holds off till tomorrow at least.
Lovely cloisonné belt buckles to be had here, and all kinds of darling amulets and crosses for knockdown prices.
1st September 1936
A heavy swell. Next summer I shall vacation on dry land.
2nd September 1936
Smaller seas, but I’ve returned to my room. Wally is snapping at everything HM says, and it makes for such a tense atmosphere. Tomorrow we’re to visit the Dardanelles. Jack Aird speaks of them as though I should know them, but I really don’t recall them. One meets so many people.
3rd September 1936
HM went ashore with Bernie, Boss, and Aird. We girls stayed aboard and had massages and pedicures while they visited a battlefield. Padmore and Wally’s lingère went, too. They both lost brothers there.
Tonight we sail for the fabled city of Istanbul, but there is a terrible row brewing. The British Ambassador says HM absolutely must meet the President of Turkey. HM says he’s on vacation and has no intention of meeting any more people. We’re only going to Istanbul so he can play a round of golf. Now the ever-interfering Foreign Office has entered the affair, and Wally is adding her two cents. She says it would be rude to call in and not at least say hello to Mr. Ataturk. Jack Aird agrees. He says in the event of any future troubles, we want the Turks firmly on our side, not running off to the League of Nations, and there’s no better person to convey the message than the King of England.
4th September 1936, Istanbul
The diplomats had their way. HM went ashore to be received, and he got along so well with President Ataturk that he brought him back for drinks. Very good-looking and quite charming. He brought Wally a choker of hammered gold and turquoise, a very pretty rug, and an invitation to dinner.
5th September 1936
It was midnight before HM and Wally came back from being feted, and they had an escort of thousands. Little boats strung with lanterns milling around them. Jack Aird says it was a nightmare for the detectives. This morning, HM is in a black mood. It turns out there’s nowhere for him to play golf, and Wally has done nothing but talk about Mr. Ataturk’s lovely eyes. She says he’s the kind of man who could make a girl melt.
To the bazaar with Ethel, Zita, and Lily. Bought bangles and sheepskin rugs. Our last night on the Nahlin.
6th September 1936, another train
Mr. Ataturk put on a wonderful farewell firework display for us and has loaned us his train for the first part of our homeward journey. When we get to Bulgaria, King Boris is going to meet us with his train, which he actually drives himself. What hard times some of these little kings have fallen upon.
HM seems very depressed. When we get back, he has to go to Balmoral. He doesn’t like it, but it’s expected of him. Also, just as Aird and Butler warned him, his lawyer has told him that if he doesn’t behave more discreetly, there’s a real risk that he’l
l endanger Wally’s divorce. Monckton recommends that he simply not see her at all until the case has been heard, but he’ll never agree to that.
8th September 1936
The air is crackling between HM and Wally. The Pauls of Yugoslavia have sent their train for the next leg of our journey, so Wally says the very least we must do is have them to dinner. HM says he’s tired of all these relations who litter his path wherever he goes.
9th September 1936
Wally won the day and the Yugoslavias came to dinner. HM said, “Well, don’t expect me to talk to them. It’s only a month since I had tea with them. I’ve done my whack.”
And he was as good as his word. He sat right through dinner and hardly spoke. After the Yugoslav suite had left, we could all hear Wally telling him what a naughty king he’d been. Hattie said, “Lord, listen to her! If they ever crown her, she should carry a cane instead of a scepter.”
12th September 1936, approaching Paris
HM left us at Zurich. There was a plane waiting to take him to London. He has a dinner engagement with his mother. Wally gave him a most affectionate send-off. A great relief, because nerves have been frayed this last week. I’d begun to wonder whether the shine hasn’t gone off the affair, but this morning they were as devoted as ever.
Wally says she believes HM has the makings of a great King, if only these so-called advisers would stop interfering and leave her to handle him when he becomes difficult. She says he’s just not accustomed to applying himself, but she has a knack with him, a little discipline, a little reward, like training a dog. Funny, that’s pretty much what Kitty Rothschild said when she saw them together.
As soon as we get back to London, she’s going to resume house-hunting. She says it’s not only a question of security but also fittingness. She said, “It was one thing for the Prince of Wales to come to Bryanston Court. But not the King.”
Lily said, “So, are you going to marry him?”
She said, “I’m not free to marry him. But if I get my divorce, and if it can be managed, yes, I’ll marry him.”
Ethel said, “But can it be managed? That’s the point.”
Wally said, “If His Majesty says it can, it can.”
If it comes off, her title will be Queen Consort. And I’ll be the Queen Consort’s Best Friend. Let Nora Sedley Cordle put that in her teapot and brew it.
15th September 1936, Wilton Place
To South Audley Street to give Flora her sheepskin rug and Doopie her bangles. Lightfoot says HM dropped an enormous clanger by not inviting the Prime Minister to Balmoral. He says it’s something that’s written in stone. The Prime Minister always goes, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who hasn’t received his usual invitation, either. I’d have thought they’d both be grateful for the change.
16th September 1936
House-viewing with Wally. We’ve seen properties in Mount Street, St. James’s Square, and Beauchamp Place. More tomorrow.
To Carlton Gardens with Violet’s Turkish jam spoons. She said, “Ah, so you’re back. Well, I hope you realize you people are breaking Her Majesty’s heart.”
A fine greeting.
I said, “What people?”
She said, “You know. Truck tycoons. Johnny-come-latelies. Swanning around the Mediterranean. Don’t imagine we didn’t get to hear about it at Drumcanna.”
I said, “David is a grown man. He can surely choose how to spend his vacations.”
She said, “He is a grown man, and a king, too, though you’d never think it to see pictures of him cavorting half-naked with gangsters.”
Boss Croker is no gangster, and they weren’t cavorting. They were shrimping.
She never mentioned Wally, and neither did I. Let her hear it from the Yugoslavias next time they come to call.
18th September 1936
Penelope Blythe says she saw newspaper photographs of HM on his cruise, but Wally wasn’t in any of them. Very strange, because he was never more than two inches from her side. They must have removed her. I wonder how one does that.
Wally is taking a house in Cumberland Terrace. Its furnishings are rather overbearing, but it has good views across Regent’s Park and anyway, she’s not likely to be there for long. I have a feeling she’ll have yet another address by the time the year turns. The lawyer Goddard says she’ll need an advocate to represent her in court. He’s recommended someone called Birkett.
To the Crosbies for dinner.
19th September 1936
Freddie says Penelope Blythe is absolutely right. Wally was scrubbed from the photographs before they appeared in the British newspapers, to spare the feelings of the Majesties and shield all concerned from the tittle-tattling of the man in the street. He also said Wally’s divorce is being discussed in Whitehall, the principal question being, can HM be allowed to marry a divorced commoner?
Pips said, “Cut to the chase, darling. We already know the answer to that. The real question is, when Parliament tells him he can’t marry her, what will he do?”
No one has any answers. As far as we know, there are no more princesses in prospect, not even from the bargain basement.
21st September 1936
The lawyer Goddard says there are so many divorces waiting to be heard in London this fall Wally might have to wait as long as a year for her case to be called. HM says the delay is completely unacceptable. He wants Wally free to marry him before the Coronation on May 12th. Supper with Wally at Bryanston Court, just we two. HM telephoned three times. She’s as jumpy as a flea. She said, “It’s all too hurried, Maybell. There’s too much to be worked out, and if we rush things, it could all go wrong.”
If only they’d nursed the old King more carefully. He might have had another year or two in him.
22nd September 1936
Mr. Goddard has come up with a suggestion: Wally’s divorce could be heard in a little country court, where there aren’t such long lists. It would have the dual advantage of speeding things along and removing the case from the spotlight of London. HM and Wally are both in favor.
24th September 1936
Wally’s divorce has been transferred to a town called Ipswich. We have to go there. She has to be in residence for three weeks before the case is called.
She said, “Please come with me, Maybell. I can’t face it without you.”
She isn’t sure where Ipswich is, but HM has Oxer Bettenbrooke finding us a house.
She’s gone off to the Perry Brownlows for the weekend.
25th September 1936
To Ciro’s with the Crosbies, the Erlangers, and the Cavetts. Hattie says Ipswich is no distance from London. She’s offered to drive out and keep us company from time to time. Pips says she’ll do the same.
Zita said, “I’m muddled. Everyone says David can’t marry Wally, but what will they do if he just goes ahead and does it? They can’t fire the King. And who are ‘they,’ anyhow?”
Freddie says the marrying couldn’t take place because there’d be no one willing to perform it. Well, I’m sure someone could be persuaded. A crisp banknote left between the pages of a prayer book to whet the appetite. There’s always someone.
Freddie said, “The greater danger is that David will do something hot-headed. Run away to Canada, for instance. I know he’s spoken of it. You may be crucial in this, Maybell. Remind Wally what the risks are. Ask her to think of stopping her divorce until after the Coronation at least. I think he’ll may be less likely to bolt after he’s been anointed.”
Zita said, “Yeah. I guess those ermine robes’d slow him down some.”
Zita may have famous legs, but she’s not terribly bright.
29th September 1936
Wally couldn’t be clearer. She absolutely will not marry HM if the throne is at risk. She said, “Of course not. You know as well as I do what happens to those exes, trailing around the world, hocking their jewels to pay their hotel bills. That’s not for me, Maybell. I’ve tried poor, remember? It just doesn’t suit my constitution. So
, if they make things impossible for us, it’s me he’ll have to give up.”
I said, “But where will that leave you?”
She said, “I’ll be just fine. I’ll look around and find someone else. I’ll have the pick of London.”
She seemed pretty breezy for a person who’s already tried the throne for size. Then there’s HM. I can’t imagine him letting her go, and they’ll get no proper king-ing out of him if he doesn’t have Wally cracking her whip. It would be a disaster.
Von Ribbentrop is the new German Ambassador.
“See?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you?”
1st October 1936
Wally has her going-away-to-get-divorced gifts from HM. A black fox capelet to keep her warm while they’re apart, and a river-pearl sautoir to remind her she’s his Queen. Bettenbrooke has found us a house in a town called Felixstowe. He says it’s quiet but handy for Ipswich. Wally’s things will be moved into Cumberland Terrace while we’re gone. I have drunk my last martini at Bryanston Court.
2nd October 1936
To Harrold’s for candy. Saw Philip Sassoon.
He said, “Maybell! What a very large box. Have you left any fondant crrrèmes for the rest of us?”
Gone With the Windsors Page 29