Wallis, Part 6

So, we're back with part six of the scandalous life of Wallis Warfield Windsor. You cans see the other parts in the blog under May.

While they were on their honeymoon in June 1937, David and Wallis, now Duke and Duchess of Windsor, were faced with deciding what to do with the rest of their lives. They believed they would be invited back to England to do royal stuff within a few years, but what to do until then?

Their friend Charles Bedaux suggested arranging a pseudo-royal tour of housing developments. In Nazi Germany. Now, with hindsight, it's apparent how stupid going on that trip was. But at the time, to David and Wallis, who perhaps weren't the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree, it sounded like a good idea. It would be something to do, and a way for Wallis to get some level of recognition as a royal wife, which wasn't going to happen in Britain. On the internet, the going theory is that they took this trip because they were just so in love with Nazi stuff they had to see it for themselves. But there are some problems with that theory. First of all, the trip wasn't their idea. It was suggested to them by others and they went along with it. Second of all, they had also considered going on a trip to Soviet Russia, which was probably an even stupider idea considering what usually happened to royalty in Soviet Russia. But after the negative attention they got because of the Nazi Germany tour, the idea was scrapped.

Also, I really don't think they had Nazi sympathies and have yet to see and solid proof to the contrary. In all of the letters they wrote to each other there are very few mentions of Nazis at all, and what there is pretty negative. When it comes to the various second and third hand accounts, usually dating from years after the fact, it's really up to individuals rather or not they believe them. It is worth noting that there are similar second and third hand accounts of Nazi sympathies involving other members of the British royal family, and that includes the present Queen's parents and husband. Of course, there's nothing to most of these allegations, but it's interesting how stuff like this gets much more attention when it involves the black sheep of the royal family. But then again, I wouldn't know, I wasn't there. I'm trying to stick to documented facts when it comes to Nazi stuff. I will say that being raised in a royal family and being brought up to believe in the concept of monarchy might make someone inclined towards fascism or at least less likely to be against it.

Anyways, David and Wallis had decided to go to Nazi Germany to tour housing developments in October 1937. While there, they met with Nazis, toured Nazi buildings, and were generally given a feel for Nazi life. They even got to meet Hitler who told them about how he totally didn't want a war with anyone and was just misunderstood. Wallis found the whole trip kind of boring. She made small talk with some Nazis but none of them seemed to share her interests, which were fashion and campy movies.

After their Nazi visit, they got some angry responses from Britain. Not because they were in Nazi Germany hanging around with Nazis, but because they were taking attention away from the good royals back in Britain. It didn't help that David's fangirls had formed a society in his honor called the Octavians and were planning an annual pilgrimage to his place of birth to celebrate his accomplishments and complain about how The Firm had wronged him. I'm really not making this up. Imagine how poor Bertie must've felt. His only fangirl was his mother. One of the less angry responses was from Winston Churchill, who was one of the only people who knew what was coming when it came to Hitler. Though he had advised against the trip, he said that it had gone pretty well and praised them for not acting quite as stupid as they could've acted.

David and Wallis were once again with nothing to do. Charles Bedaux suggested a trip to America touring his factories, but it didn't happen after pretty much every person who knew David and Wallis told them not to do anything else that idiot suggested. So instead they rented a house on the French Riviera and had some relaxation time. They threw parties, and attended parties, and fell into married life. As to what to do all day, they shopped, played games, and generally had fun. The concept of David getting some kind of job was floated around, but royals really look down on people who work for a living. They regard them much in the same way Middle America regards prostitutes, though they have spent the better part of a century trying to convince people they don't feel that way. Even though personally he wasn't adversed to the concept, David's family and the British government would have seen it as undignified. Plus, they weren't exactly hurting for cash.

Wallis went to a lot of fashion shows, which she enjoyed, and took to circling things she wanted in Vogue magazine for her husband to buy her as gifts. Despite not being exactly happy with how things had turned out, to the point of fighting with David about it quite a bit, Wallis enjoyed the first few years of married life greatly. She was no longer as concerned about David changing his mind about wanting to marry her, though the idea of him regretting abdicating the throne was always on her mind. And for the first time in her life, she didn't have to think about money. David had also turned out to be a more affectionate and respectful husband than either of her other two had been. He put up with her problems, as well as her efforts to fix his own. One of them was that, growing up in a royal family where people nod along to whatever you say, he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut at dinner parties. So Wallis would kick him under the table whenever he said something that people not born with his particular brand of privilege might find offensive. That way he would know to stop talking. If only they could find someone to do that for Prince Philip...

Another problem David faced being in the real world (or the rich White people vacation real world at least) was his complete inability to do basic tasks like packing a suitcase and filing papers. Poor guy didn't even know how a paperclip worked. Of course, his situation was nowhere near as bad as that of some of the surviving Romanovs, who found themselves ex-royals with no money and half their family dead. And they were even more sheltered. Wallis found this more amusing than frustrating and arranged to hire a small army of servants so her poor husband wouldn't be forced to do anything himself. She would still helpfully remind him sometimes: "Remember, darling, you're not King anymore!"

During the early years of their marriage, Wallis figured that since her husband was British she needed a fake British accent to make it official. By all accounts, this accent was incredibly annoying, possibly even more than Madonna's. As a young girl she probably spoke like any other Baltimore girl of her generation, but once she started traveling during her first marriage she played up her "Southern" accent. That lasted until she decided to be British (after she'd been kicked out of Britain) which lasted until she settled on a New England accent modeled after her favorite actress, Katherine Hepburn. Regardless of accent, her voice was alleged to have sounded like "rusty gates", "a bird", or "a cat being strangled to death" depending on who you asked.

Starting in 1939, there was a war going on. I'm not a big World War II person, and that's why I don't watch The History Channel. I don't like wars; they're unpleasant and the only unpleasant historical things I like happened in Tudor England. Plus, unpleasant as it may have been, World War I was more interesting. Anyway, I do have a book on Wallis's life that goes into the war years and all that quite a bit. It's called "The Woman He Loved" by Ralph G. Martin and my copy is currently held together by tape. I really need to take better care of my books.

Long story short, at the outset of the war, David and Wallis came back to England so he could get an assignment to help the war effort. He was given a choice between a job in France or in Wales. He chose Wales, but they sent him to France anyway because the Queen didn't want them in the U.K. at all. A contemporary news article described his visit home:

"Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, went home, taking with him his still unroyal, still beloved Duchess. Once the news would have been the biggest in all Britain; last week it was just another parenthesis in the sad story of war. The Kelly was scheduled to dock at Portsmouth at 6:30 one evening. At 6:45 the blundering Ministry of Information announced that the Duke had landed. But not until 9, more than two hours after the news hit the wires, did the Duke set foot on the red carpet which covered the very jetty from which he had left England exactly two years, nine months before.
[sic]
Next morning the couple drove (Duchess at the wheel) to Major Metcalfe's grey stone house in Ashdown Forest, about 40 miles south of London. In the car were two paperbound books: Winston Churchill's Step by Step, Dr. Ivan Lajos' Nazis Can't Win. Beaming like newlyweds, they received newspapermen. The Duchess was bright ("looked even better than when she left") in a gold dress, a gold and black checked coat, the Duke proper ("looked several years younger") in gray double-breasted flannels and a maroon-and-white tie."

But then they went back to France, where David was to supervise British troops. There wasn't a lot of fighting going on yet; it was mostly sirens and the occasional bomb getting dropped. Wallis joined the Red Cross and spent her days gathering and packing supplies for soldiers. Once things started picking up and bombings increased, she worked in an ambulance delivering blood. Her servants had to leave to either join the service or be with their families and Wallis considered herself the "busiest" she'd ever been taking care of her household as well as trying to help the war effort. In 1940, the Nazis invaded France and Wallis fled to the South of France while David remained at his post. Though it was later claimed (in several books and on wikipedia) that he deserted his post, he had been given permission to leave and was planning on staying. This changed a few weeks later when Wallis started to get worried and demanded he join her at their house on the French Riviera because she was convinced he would get captured or killed if he remained in Paris.

When Italy declared war on France, the Windsors got papers to go to Italy, while the non-royals were left to suffer. Though they have since been accused of generally being selfish during the war, the worst of their behavior was during the summer of 1940. While they didn't do much that was really "wrong", considering all the horrible things most people in Europe were going through they didn't act very decently.

Wallis and David arrived Madrid after a difficult trip in June. While in Madrid, some Nazis took an interest in them. Basically, Hitler had this crazy idea that if he invaded Britain he might be able to get the Windsors to act as puppet King and Queen. The British government heard about this and decided to try and get the Windsors to come to Britain. They wanted them to come to London, but they still wouldn't receive Wallis or acknowledge her as David's wife. They also wanted them to get on a plane, which Wallis wasn't going to do because she was terrified of flying. Once she became aware of the gravity of the situation, Wallis agreed to go, but David refused because he felt like his wife was being disrespected.

Winston Churchill then called up George VI and Queen Elizabeth and asked them if they would receive Wallis. He explained that he really wanted to get the Windsors out of Spain and that the whole situation would be helped along a great deal if they would pretend they didn't hate Wallis for just a few weeks. They said no. He then told the Windsors that it would be the mature thing to do to come anyway and ignore the slight. They also said no.

While both sides were acting like four-year-olds (except for poor Churchill who had to manage both a war and the inbred clusterfuck known as The Royal House of Windsor), David was approached by a Spanish spy working for the Nazis. He basically explained to him all the "wonderful" things Nazism had to offer. Sort of like a Mormon missionary, except instead of Jesus he was talking about Hitler. David refused, and said that he was a loyal British subject. It's worth noting that the spy in question, when interviewed years later, recounted it happening like that, which goes against the now widespread theory that he was "in on" whatever plans the Nazis had. The Nazis then tried a combination of bribery and blackmail which also didn't work to convince him to do anything.

The Nazis then decided the whole thing would work a lot better if they kidnapped Wallis and David and then tried to brainwash them. To do this they needed to keep them in Spain long enough for their agents to get ahold of them. Which didn't work, because Wallis and David soon left for Lisbon to await further information from Britain. The Nazis then needed to get them back to Spain. They tried to scare them by throwing bricks through their windows and firing gunshots outside where they were staying. They did succeed in scaring them, but instead of going to Spain they finally agreed to go to Britain. Before they could get there, the government gave them an assignment to go to the Bahamas where David would serve as governor. He didn't want to do it, and Wallis really didn't want him to do it, but he wasn't in a position to say no and so Wallis and David found themselves on a ship called "Excalibur" like King Arthur's sword, headed to a smoldering Caribbean island in the middle of July. Wallis cried and complained to one of her friends that she "didn't pack for that".

The Tudor Rose

I call myself LadyTudorRose. Do you know about the Tudor Rose? The Tudor Rose was a symbol of the Tudor dynasty founded in 1485. Henry VII, the first Tudor king, was a member of the Lancaster family. He married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of the Yorkist king Edward IV.

During the War of the Roses, the Lancasters, symbolized by the red rose, and the Yorks, symbolized by the white rose, fought for the throne. When Henry Tudor took the throne and married Elizabeth of York, the Tudor Rose was taken to symbolize the Tudor dynasty. It had red and white petals, symbolizing both the York and Lancaster families and the end of the war between them.

You can see the Tudor Rose present in many portraits of members of the dynasty, including Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I, not to mention the many other members of the Tudor family.

LadyTudorRose will be out of town!

I am leaving Friday for Washington D.C. and will be spending until late Monday night in the D.C./NoVa/MD area. If anyone has some cool places to recommend, I'm all ears.

This means there will probably not be any posts on Jezebel in the Saturday Night Social an Sunday Night Wrap up threads like I usually do. If I have both time and internet access, I may post one or two pictures and possibly part six of my series on Wallis Windsor which I have been working on. Maybe even part two on Mathilde. But that's a big maybe. As it is I am working on a paper, and generally being boring until then.

I am styling a photoshoot for Virginia Fashion Week on June 19th in Richmond in this wonderful abandoned warehouse space. It's great; true industrial ruins the like of which you can't find in many places. But Richmond is wonderful for stuff like that. I am looking for edgy looking models and some vintage, goth, and steam-punk fashions. We have some make-up artists booked, and four amazing designers have agreed to show clothing. I want it to look like Italian Vogue, but I don't have that kind of budget sadly. Plus, this is the USA so nudity is pretty much out.

Mathilde

Here we have the scandalous Mathilde Kschessinska, wife of Grand Duke Andrei of Russia, and mistress to two other members of the Romanov family, with her son Vova. Mathilde was born on August 31, 1872 outside of St. Petersburg to a family of performers. Mathilde's parents, grandparents, and siblings were involved in the theater or ballet. From childhood, she was pushed to be a dancer. Petite, with a thin waist, thick legs, and beautiful face, Mathilde was a natural candidate to be a ballerina in Moscow. She first appeared onstage at age nine, and had trained since she could walk. She started the Imperial Ballet School at age eight. This was a major opportunity for a young girl with aspirations to be a ballerina, but it didn't allow her to have much of a childhood. Her parents were stage parents who wanted her to succeed on stage and also pushed her sister, Julia, into becoming a dancer. She was taught by several famous dancers. She was heavily influenced by Danish and Italian dancers who's style was different from what was being done in Russia at the time. They put more weight on acting and showmanship, though Mathilde had excellent form and execution the focus on drama helped her succeed. She was the Lady Gaga of the turn-of-the-century Russian dance world and attracted attention with her flair for drama, extravagant costumes, and outrageous lifestyle. Her formal debut was in 1890, when she was almost eighteen. For the next twenty-seven years she would be the Prima Ballerina of Imperial Russia.

At age eighteen, she met the future Czar Nicholas II. He was impressed by her dancing, and began attending all her performances and sending her gifts back stage. The Romanov men loved dancers. They were considered ideal mistress material and it was not unusual for a popular dancer to have a royal "patron" who gave her jewels and subsidized her lifestyle. In her memoirs Mathilde recalled meeting Nicholas socially the first time and feeling an immediate spark between them. Within a few months there was a sexual relationship going on according to comtemporary speculation. Though we are somewhat unclear on that as Nicholas was a major goody two-shoes an without much proof it could just be they had a "courtly love" thing going on. Nicholas once wrote her that he could barely hold his pen because he was feeling such passion for her. Mathilde began living the lavish lifestyle of a royal mistress. Nicholas rented her a large house and sent her many extravagant jewels, including once necklace with diamonds the size of walnuts that was too heavy for her to wear. Mathilde's career also set off to the point she only danced for special productions, and spent the rest of her time entertaining and being entertained. Her fame and reputation increased. Her father was upset at her for allowing herself to be branded a "scarlet woman", though he had pushed her onto the stage from the time she could walk and knew full well how the royals felt about dancers. And how dancers felt about them, as well. Mathilde and Nicholas's relationship continued until 1894, when Nicholas fell in love with Princess Alexandra of Hesse and broke off his relationship with Mathilde. He visited her backstage after one of her performances, gave her a gift and explained that he had met someone else and would probably be getting married and so needed to break off the relationship. That was actually a very noble thing to do; one of the standard manners of breaking up for royals involves avoiding them, taking up with someone else, and hoping they get the point. The other involves getting a hanger-on or servant to tell them they're no longer welcome at the palace. Mathilde would have been lucky to get a letter.

Nicholas, though entirely faithful to his wife, did occasionally see Mathilde dance and send her gifts (though not romantic jewelry) and they always remained on good terms. Though Alexandra was careful about them not seeing too much of one another; Nicholas had told her of his relationship with Mathilde before they got engaged and begged her forgiveness for him having a past. I told you he was a goody-two shoes with his lady loves, if not where peasants and anti-monarchists were concerned. Meanwhile, she had been introduced to Nicholas's cousin Grand Duke Sergei, who continued to support her. He even bought her a lavish home and even more jewels. Mathilde continued to be a legendary dancer, and she often used her own jewelry with her costumes on stage to give a more dramatic effect. She had the lead role in almost everything she danced in from 1894 on. In 1896 she was named Prima Ballerina of the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet. She often used her royal connections to advance her career. Though Mathilde liked Sergei and appreciated his support, they did not have the same level of chemistry she had had with Nicholas. Around 1900, she began to fall in love with Grand Duke Andrei, Sergei's cousin, who was seven years her junior. She definitely had a think for royalty. Mathilde was incredibly attracted to Andrei and was charmed by his shyness and awkwardness; he knocked over a wine glass on to her gown one of the first times they dined together. Despite her blooming relationship with Andrei, Sergei continued to support her. And both men gave her lavish gifts. In late 1901 she discovered she was pregnant, and didn't know which one of them was the father.

Her only child, Vladimir, was born June 30, 1902. He was known in the family as Vova, which was a nice nickname for a Romanov. There was one unfortunate Grand Duke who was known as Bimbo. Vova's birth had been very difficult, and Mathilde took a long recovery after his birth. Though her replacement had proved popular and her star was fading a bit, her status as Prima Ballerina remained. When Vova was a child, Nicholas II gave him a title as a favor to Mathilde and he was acknowledged in private as royalty, though no one could agree who his father was. Andrei acted as his father, and legally adopted him after the revolution. Mathilde continued to balance her two royal lovers, and thanks to her great charm and personality, they didn't mind sharing her that much. But Andrei was the love of her life. The home Sergei had bought her became a center of society and her lavish lifestyle was legendary. During a harsh winter when almost no coal could be found to heat anyone's home, Mathilde's house received truckloads of coal every week. She used the finest of everything, and lived a better lifestyle than Nicholas II and his rather sheltered family. Though she was not on the same level as some of the Romanov relatives, who's lavish lives along with Nicholas's isolation, made the public rather miffed with the whole Romanov clan. Not that Mathilde didn't have plenty of enemies. She was not popular with the commoners, who considered her a whore living off royal money and an embodiment of the lust and corruption of the extended Romanov family. She also liked to sabotage young dancers she saw as rivals, though during that time period that was really standard behavior for ballerinas and actresses. Special comment was made about women who weren't divas. Mathilde and Andrei settled into a nice routine of travel and parties, with the occasional ballet and spoiled their son rotten.

But by 1910, things in Russia had begun to change and the future was not looking bright for Mathilde Kschessinska. This will be at least a two part post.

Fergie's friend who needed $38k: Real or fictional?

So, I saw the Oprah interview. Sarah Ferguson made a point of having had to get part of that money right away for a "friend" who needed money.

Assuming this person does exist, it's kind of excuse making that she focused so heavily on $40,000 for them rather than the $500,000 that was definitely for her coming down the line. So either way, she's definitely manipulating the situation.

But, here are a few questions:

1. Why didn't she mention it on the tape? Unless she did, and they didn't release it, which I doubt. But if you are taking a large amount of money from someone and you have a reasonable excuse; that the money is for a friend who desperately needs it, wouldn't you mention that? But all she seems to mention is her bank account (in regards to the second pay out) and does nothing to imply any of the money is for anyone other than herself.

2. Who goes on the line like that to get money for someone else? Most people I know would only do something like that for someone who's practically family. If that's the case, who is this person? Why do they need the money? If Fergie had a known close friend who was going through serious financial trouble, the press would've jumped on it when she mentioned her "friend" and named names.

3. She said they needed $38k. Did she round up and ask for $40k so they'd have some extra just in case, or to pocket the extra?

4. What did they need the money for? Sarah gives no indication. Was it home expenses? Medical? In the U.K. they have Universal Healthcare, so presumably that would imply the person was American. Serious sudden medical expenses are about the only things I'd help someone get that much money for. But considering she asked for cash, I'd assume it was probably something illegal. Like owing the mafia. It seems implied they needed the money right away.


I think she's lying about part of this. I took years of acting classes, and have a pretty good eye for lying. I definitely think she was being untruthful in at least part of the interview. In particular, I was caught by when Oprah asks her if she's done it before. Her response starts off "No, I don't think so..." And then she gets a nervous look and says "No, of course not!" most forcefully. From what I could tell, she was lying there. How could she "not think so"? You would know if you'd done something like that, and the way she caught herself... I know exactly what she was doing. When you lie, especially if you think you might be caught, you're reluctant to commit to it. That's why it was "I don't think so" at first. It's like if you ask a seven-year-old if they've done their homework and they haven't. You'd get a similar response. "I think I finished it..."

But she caught herself. She knew what she was saying was going to cause speculation, and decided to further commit to the lie. You can see it in her eyes.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were other lies, but none blatantly jumped out a me like that one. I really don't dislike Sarah and would like to believe the best of her, but she's making that hard. I certainly think the "friend" story is possible, even if she's not selling it. I have heard so many stories of hangers-on coming to royalty (or ex-royalty in her case) and asking for large sums of money. They always have a sob story, too. And if they did exist, I know why they would keep her from revealing their name. They don't want the negative media attention turning on them, because they know they manipulated her.

Now, my favorite part of Fergie's story is how she was "drunk". She seemed buzzed, perhaps a bit tipsy, but not totally drunk. Even if she was, she went to see him with the intention of taking his money, and she was not so drunk as to lose control of her judgement. Even if she was, the "I was drunk" excuse works for one-night stands, bad dancing, and stepping on your flowers. Not taking money in exchange for "opening doors" to your ex-husband. If she had actually done something illegal, she couldn't go to court and say she was drunk and avoid responsibility.
She actually seemed more drunk to me on Oprah than in the tapes, but that's an opinion. Though with the tapes I think she got more intoxicated as things went along.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

So, I finally finished the book I've been reading for the last few weeks. I had kept it in my purse and was spacing it out, reading it whenever I was out of the house and waiting for something.

I had been hearing about how wonderful this book was for years, but never bothered to get a copy. Then I was at a library sale in Portsmouth (I live for library sales) and they had a shelf of free paperbacks by the cashier. So while they were ringing up my seven royal related books, I looked over the shelf and saw a small paperback copy of Perfume. It was perfect; small enough to fit in my purse, which is more than I can say for most of my personal library.

So, I started reading it. The brilliance of this book is in the details. I'd have to say it actually took me along time to really "get into" the plot. I had to force myself to read the first 100 pages or so, and I kept telling myself "this gets really good, you have to keep going" as I went along. And it does get really good.

Perfume is a historical fiction/crime/fantasy novel. I really don't know how to describe it. Without giving too much away, it's about a rather disturbed young man in eighteenth-century France who has an incredibly strong sense of smell, but is haunted by his own total lack of scent. The main character, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, is someone you shouldn't be able to sympathize with, but like Humbert Humbert in Lolita, you can't help it. It's all in the writing. Beyond the plot, characters, and twists, this book is really about a time and place.

More so than any other historical fiction novel I've ever read, this book takes you there. It describes every scent with such strong detail that you can't help but smell it yourself. Every thing that a character experiences is described in enough details for you to feel like you're experiencing it. But this is not a realistic novel; far from it. I would consider Perfume borderline fantasy. On some level the narrator (though not a character; the story is told in third-person) is meant to be unreliable. But it doesn't matter. It all is described so well and makes so much sense, you can't help but thinking the world is really dominated by scents as it is in this novel.

This book gets recommended a lot. I've seen it recommended on about four different sites I frequent. But please read it. And push yourself through where it drags on a bit, and you'll be very glad you did.