The Duchess Of Windsor (55 page)
Read The Duchess Of Windsor Online
Authors: Greg King
The Duke and Duchess arrived at La Croë on May 29. The Duke immediately attached himself to the French command at Nice and spent his days undertaking reviews and inspections.
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By the second week of June, Italy had entered the war; from La Croë, the Windsors could hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance as the French bombed Genoa. Wallis later wrote with some dismay about how the French resistance had simply fallen away. After a few weeks, there was no opposition to the German invasion; this left the Duke and Duchess with little doubt as to the necessity of leaving the country.
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By the second week of June, Italy had entered the war; from La Croë, the Windsors could hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance as the French bombed Genoa. Wallis later wrote with some dismay about how the French resistance had simply fallen away. After a few weeks, there was no opposition to the German invasion; this left the Duke and Duchess with little doubt as to the necessity of leaving the country.
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The British consul at Nice, Maj. Hugh Dodds, also joined in urging the Duke and Duchess to leave with him for Spain. On June 19 a caravan of four automobiles drew up before the white portico of La Croë. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor climbed into their Buick, accompanied by their three cairn terriers and driven by George Ladbrook; Major Dodds, accompanied by his vice-consul, followed in a Bentley with diplomatic number plates; a Citroen, towing a trailer of luggage, held Capt. George Wood, his wife, Rosa, her maid, and their dog; and a hired van, containing the luggage of the Duke and Duchess, also carried Wallis’s lady’s maid, Mademoiselle Moulichon.
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As the sad procession slowly turned down the drive, Wallis turned back to look on La Croë one last time, convinced she would never return. It was her forty-fourth birthday.
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As the sad procession slowly turned down the drive, Wallis turned back to look on La Croë one last time, convinced she would never return. It was her forty-fourth birthday.
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The journey to Spain was fraught with danger. Neither the Duke nor the Duchess possessed any diplomatic papers, and there remained the threat that David might be arrested as a serving Allied officer the moment he crossed into neutral soil. All along the route, the Windsors encountered hundreds of refugees, all fleeing the country. Under the most trying of circumstances, Wallis managed to maintain her composure, as Rosa Wood later recalled:
I thought of Wallis and how so many people believed she cared only for clothes and jewels, and how they always pictured her against backgrounds of castles, with maids, couturiers, and hairdressers. I saw her in mud and dirt, sleeping in cars, eating sardines out of tins, I saw when we were held up for hours before we could go south, when we had to sit all night in the lobbies of little hotels. I saw her when we had no place to wash, much less do any of the things women like to do to make themselves look nicer. I saw her awaken at four o’clock in the morning and come out in the drizzle and help the Duke and my husband to arrange things on the lorry, when we didn’t know where we were going or whether we were walking into traps or whether we would be bombed. Never once did I see her cross or hear her complain or even falter except at the sight of the sufferings of others.”
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At the Spanish border, they encountered another problem: The officials refused to let the Duke and Duchess into their country until they obtained permission from their authorities. Wallis and David had to wait for the Spanish ambassador to intervene before they were finally granted asylum. By midnight, after a twenty-hour drive, they finally reached Barcelona.
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The Plot to Kidnap the Windsors
O
N THEIR FIRST MORNING
in Barcelona, the Duke and Duchess went to the British consulate general and dispatched a cable to the Foreign Office in London, alerting them to their arrival and saying that they would shortly be on their way to Madrid.
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They spent a quiet two days here before moving on to the Spanish capital, arriving on June 23, David’s forty-sixth birthday. The British ambassador in Madrid at the time happened to be Sir Samuel Hoare, the Duke’s old friend, and he entertained them at the embassy and made certain that they were lodged in comfort at the Ritz Hotel. The Windsors had nothing to do but wait for some form of transportation to be arranged so that they might presumably return to England.
N THEIR FIRST MORNING
in Barcelona, the Duke and Duchess went to the British consulate general and dispatched a cable to the Foreign Office in London, alerting them to their arrival and saying that they would shortly be on their way to Madrid.
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They spent a quiet two days here before moving on to the Spanish capital, arriving on June 23, David’s forty-sixth birthday. The British ambassador in Madrid at the time happened to be Sir Samuel Hoare, the Duke’s old friend, and he entertained them at the embassy and made certain that they were lodged in comfort at the Ritz Hotel. The Windsors had nothing to do but wait for some form of transportation to be arranged so that they might presumably return to England.
At first, Hoare had received instructions that the Windsors should be sent immediately to Lisbon, from where they could be safely evacuated to England. But David’s brother the Duke of Kent had also been expected in Lisbon to celebrate the eight hundredth anniversary of Portuguese independence; Buckingham Palace and the Foreign Office believed that it was undesirable that the two brothers should meet, for Wallis would undoubtedly be present and thus come face-to-face with another member of the Royal Family. Hoare was duly informed that the Windsors would have to wait while other arrangements were made on their behalf and handed the Duke a cable from Churchill informing him that the cabinet would shortly meet to discuss the details of his return. In response, David cabled Churchill the following day, thanking him but adding that he was not certain if his return to England would be best. He feared that his presence might cause undue embarrassment to the Royal Family and offered to take up some foreign post in the empire should this be the case.
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Hoare telegraphed Churchill that the Duke was ready and willing to leave as soon as possible but that he was “most anxious” to know if there was to be a job in England when he returned. “He does not want to appear to be returning as a refugee with nothing to do. I hope you can help him with a friendly answer as soon as possible. I have told him that if he fails to return to England within a few days, all sorts of mischievous rumors will circulate about him.”
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Churchill was in something of a difficult position. He had only been prime minister a few weeks, and due to his previous support of the Duke during the abdication, George VI was deeply suspicious of his loyalties. His first moves were therefore cautious. He informally suggested that Buckingham Palace might find a useful position for the Duke, where he could utilize his talents for the war effort. But this was not what George VI wished. On his orders, Hardinge replied to this inquiry by saying that the King doubted that the Duke, “as an ex-King,” could “perform any useful service in this country.”
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The Windsors, rather than being evacuated quickly, as they were certainly willing to be, were left to sit in Madrid. Thus, the continued desire to isolate Wallis was to lead to one of the most peculiar and controversial episodes in the lives of the Duke and Duchess.
On June 23 the Windsors were perfectly eager and ready to return to London. Wallis was particularly desperate to leave; she knew how anxious her husband was to be back in England and join in the war effort. She also believed that if they returned, their myriad difficulties with the Royal Family might be more easily dispelled. If they worked hard and proved how willing they were to cooperate, she saw no reason why the Royal Family’s vendetta should continue. Significantly, too, Churchill, who had always maintained a warm and supportive friendship with the Duke, was now in power on Downing Street; with such a strong and important ally, it only seemed natural that concessions might eventually come.
The news that the Windsors were to be kept waiting in Madrid rather than move on to Lisbon, however, made the Duke reconsider his original plans. He had not forgotten how he and Wallis had been treated on their last visit to England; the humiliation of his family’s deliberate snub had struck him hard. While his own family was incapable of understanding it, the simple truth was that in their desire to continually punish and isolate Wallis, they repeatedly antagonized David in the one area in which he remained most sensitive: his wife. He took every affront to her twice as hard as any slight to himself. Now he was determined that when the time came, Wallis would be treated with the dignity she deserved as the wife of the former king of England.
David was realistic enough to know that there was little he could do to change attitudes within his family; but the public, which rightly interpreted the treatment of the Windsors over the last three years as a series of deliberate humiliations, might be convinced otherwise should some public display of reconciliation take place. He wrote to Churchill, saying that he and Wallis would not return to England unless the King and Queen consented to receive them at Buckingham Palace and his wife was granted the style of Her Royal Highness, gestures the Duke believed would end press speculation over the continued breach with the Royal Family. He also wanted to know what sort of job he might be given and what salary he might expect.
Wallis tried to intervene, but on this point she was powerless; David would not yield where he felt her honor and dignity were at stake. Years later, the Duke recalled that Churchill’s “personal advice to me was not to quibble about terms, but to come home and wait patiently while he ‘worked things out.’ But I could not in honour take this line. The year before, while we had been in England, the presence of the Duchess at my side had never been acknowledged, even perfunctorily. Before going back I wanted an assurance that simple courtesies would be forthcoming. Winston could not manage this. From a distance, what I insisted on may look to be of small value. But the perspectives of my life had changed, and the matter loomed mighty large for me.”
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Hoare did his best to change the Duke’s mind. On June 29 he reported to Churchill that David was now willing to give up most of his demands. The request, Hoare wrote, now “boiled down to both of them being received only once for quite a short meeting by the King and Queen, and notice of this fact appearing in the Court Circular.” He pointed out that this need be a “once only” meeting of “aquarter of an hour” and expressed his hope that the King would agree to such a minimal request.
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In London, John Colville recorded: “The Prime Minister talked with Beaverbrook, and later with Alec Hardinge, who came to tea. They discussed the position of the Duke of Windsor who is ... trying to impose conditions, financial and otherwise, about his return to this country. It is incredible to haggle in such a way at this time, and Winston proposes to send him a very stiff telegram pointing out that he is a soldier under orders and must obey. The King approves and says he will hear of no conditions, about the Duchess or otherwise.”
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Contrary to what has often been asserted, Wallis herself had no part in his imposition of conditions; she tried in vain to convince David to take Churchill at his word and agree to return at once. Needless to say, the Duke has been roundly criticized for his actions, which seem especially petty at a time of war. But this view is mitigated somewhat by an understanding of just how vehemently the Royal Family and Foreign Office were obsessed with the same issues at the same time of crisis. When the Duke and Duchess first arrived in Spain, the Foreign Office notified Hoare that a flying boat would be sent to Portugal to collect them. “Please invite Their Royal Highnesses to proceed to Lisbon,” it added.
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This telegram drew a swift reaction from Buckingham Palace. On George VI’s orders, Hardinge wrote to the Foreign Office, indicating the King’s “extreme displeasure” that the Duke and Duchess had been referred to as “Their Royal Highnesses.” “This appellation was false and utterly impermissible. His Majesty’s express wish . . . was that steps be taken to ensure that such an official error never occur again.”
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If nothing else, this indicates that the King was just as guilty of carrying on a petty battle over the question of Wallis’s style during a national emergency.
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If nothing else, this indicates that the King was just as guilty of carrying on a petty battle over the question of Wallis’s style during a national emergency.
The British ambassador to Portugal, Sir Walford Selby, arranged for the Duke and Duchess to stay at the house of a banker with the exotic name of Dr. Ricardo de Espirito Santo e Silva, a man with the unfortunate reputation of being a Nazi sympathizer. The Windsors’ new residence, a large pink stucco house surrounded by colonnades and commanding a magnificent view of the beach, was near Cascais, on the coast of Portugal. This was to be only a temporary stop; when they arrived, Selby greeted them, then informed them that they would be able to leave the following morning.
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But David immediately objected, pulling the ambassador aside and telling him that he would not return until he had heard from either Buckingham Palace or No. 10 Downing Street about both his own position and that of his wife.
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But David immediately objected, pulling the ambassador aside and telling him that he would not return until he had heard from either Buckingham Palace or No. 10 Downing Street about both his own position and that of his wife.
In response, Selby handed the Duke a cable from Churchill, effectively ordering that he return to England at once: “Your Royal Highness has taken active military rank, and refusal to obey direct orders of competent military authority would create a serious situation. I hope it will not be necessary for such orders to be sent. I most strongly urge immediate compliance with wishes of the Government.”
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“What followed now seems fantastic and perhaps even a little silly,” Wallis later wrote. “But David’s pride was engaged, and he was deadly serious.” “I won’t have them push us into a bottom drawer,” the Duke exclaimed. “It must be the two of us together—man and wife with the same position.”
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Wallis tried to talk him out of this stubborn position, but with no success; although she wielded considerable power and influence over her husband, there was one area in which he refused to relent: the treatment of his wife. Wallis was too keenly aware that as humiliated as she felt by the continued snub, it affected David even more.
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Wallis tried to talk him out of this stubborn position, but with no success; although she wielded considerable power and influence over her husband, there was one area in which he refused to relent: the treatment of his wife. Wallis was too keenly aware that as humiliated as she felt by the continued snub, it affected David even more.
The dilemma was resolved on the following day. On July 4 a cable arrived from Churchill announcing the Duke of Windsor’s appointment as governor-general and commander in chief of the Bahamas. He added: “Personally I feel sure it is the best option in the grievous situation in which we stand. At any rate, I have done my best.”
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David was gracious in his response: “I am sure you have done your best for me in a difficult situation. I am sending Major Phillips to England tomorrow and will appreciate your receiving him personally to explain some details.”
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Privately, neither Wallis nor David was thrilled with the appointment. To Aunt Bessie, Wallis complained: “The St. Helena of 1940 is a nice spot.”
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There was little doubt that the appointment was meant as a punishment. The colonial secretary, Lord Lloyd, dined with Sir Ronald Storrs, who noted: “G. [Lloyd George] told me that the Windsor appointment in the Bahamas is the King’s own idea, to keep him at all costs out of England.”
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The appointment, harsh as it was, failed to please Queen Elizabeth, who later wrote to Lord Lloyd that she thought the Bahamas was too good for the Windsors and that Wallis was wholly unfit to be the wife of a governor-general.
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There was little doubt that the appointment was meant as a punishment. The colonial secretary, Lord Lloyd, dined with Sir Ronald Storrs, who noted: “G. [Lloyd George] told me that the Windsor appointment in the Bahamas is the King’s own idea, to keep him at all costs out of England.”
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The appointment, harsh as it was, failed to please Queen Elizabeth, who later wrote to Lord Lloyd that she thought the Bahamas was too good for the Windsors and that Wallis was wholly unfit to be the wife of a governor-general.
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The great irony, of course, was that George VI, in his desire to marginalize his brother, had ensured that David and Wallis would have to spend the entire war in the public eye. Rather than letting the Duke busy himself in some obscure military post in Wales or England, where David would have no contact with the public and Wallis no opportunity to appear in the public eye, Bertie’s insecurity drove him to make his brother the symbolic representative of the Crown in some faraway outpost in the empire. Undoubtedly, the repercussions of this decision were lost on the King and Queen, who presumed that the Windsors would now be safely out of harm’s way.
While all of this was taking place, more diplomatic intrigue was under way. On June 23, the same afternoon that the Windsors arrived in Madrid, the German ambassador to Spain, Eberhard von Stohrer, sent a confidential cable to the Nazi foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, requesting “advice with regard to the treatment of the duke and duchess of Windsor.” Stohrer declared that he had received “certain impressions . . . that we might perhaps be interested in detaining the Duke of Windsor here and possibly establishing contact with him.”
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This was to set into motion a chain of events as intricate and filled with intrigue as any spy thriller.
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This was to set into motion a chain of events as intricate and filled with intrigue as any spy thriller.
The reply came promptly: “Is it possible in the first place to detain the Duke and Duchess of Windsor for a couple of weeks in Spain before they are granted an exit visa? It would be necessary in all events to be sure that it did not appear in any way that the suggestion came from Germany.”
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Unfortunately, that summer, the Windsors spoke freely and somewhat carelessly about the conduct of the war, sentiments which only encouraged the Germans to believe they might cooperate. On July 2, for example, American ambassador Alexander Weddell reported to the U.S. State Department:
In a conversation last night with one of the Embassy staff the Duke of Windsor declared that the most important thing now to be done was to end the war before thousands more were killed or maimed to save the faces of a few politicians. With regard to the defeat of France he stated that stories that the French troops would not fight were not true. They had fought magnificently, but the organization behind them was totally inadequate. In the past 10 years Germany had totally reorganized the order of its society in preparation for this war. Countries which were unwilling to accept such a reorganization of society and its concomitant sacrifices should direct their policies accordingly and thereby avoid dangerous adventures. He stated that this applied not merely to Europe, but to the United States also. The Duchess put the same thing somewhat more directly by declaring that France had lost because it was internally diseased and that a country which was not in condition to fight a war should never have declared war.... These observations have their value in reflecting the views of an element in England, possibly a growing one who find in Windsor and his circle a group who are realists in world politics and who hope to come into their own in event of peace.”
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