Read Online The Peoples King by Susan Williams - Free Book Online
Authors: Susan Williams
Tags: History, Non-Fiction
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between nations and cultures. On his tour of India in the early 1920s, Edward had been aware - and regretted bitterly - that he was given few chances to meet the native people. He complained to Lord Reading, the Viceroy:
The ostensible reason for my coming to India was to see as many of the natives as possible and to get as near to them as I could. At least, I presume it was the main reason, and I looked upon that as my duty. Well, I am afraid that I have not had many opportunities of doing this, either in British India or in the Native States. 51
Similarly, Wallis realized that because her life in Peking had been limited to the foreign colony inside the walled city, she learned very little about the people and their culture: 'Actually, I never did get much closer to the real Peking than [the] views from the top of the city walls and my occasional encounters with dealers in jades and porcelains and the can-do tailors.' 52
Well read, interested in politics and independent, Wallis was different from most of the women Edward met at court. Indeed, she 'was a great deal more intelligent than many in the Palace circle,' according to the writer and journalist John Gunther. 53 'Little Mrs Simpson is a woman of character and reads Balzac', approved the social hostess Emerald Cunard, herself a serious reader. 54 Her appearance, too, was striking. 'Mrs Simpson is quite a different sort of woman', judged the novelist Marie Belloc Lowndes. 'She doesn't pose as being young and in fact must be nearly forty ... I did not think her in the least pretty . . . She has an intelligent but in no sense a remarkable face.' Mrs Belloc Lowndes was at once impressed, though, 'by Mrs Simpson's perfect figure. She was of medium height, and beautifully dressed in the French way, that is, very unobtrusively.' 55 Mrs Simpson 'looked very well tonight, like a Vermeer, in a Dutch way', observed Chips Channon approvingly one night. 56 The unshowy elegance of her appearance seemed to him far more attractive than the dress of British women. This view was shared by aesthetes such as the Society photographer Cecil Beaton. When Beaton saw a home movie of some of Edward's house guests, he observed that the 'tall, badly or boringly dressed Englishwomen with their untidy hair' were in sharp contrast with 'the neat and perfectly turned out Wallis.' 57 At a photographic session in late 1936, he observed that Wallis was ' soignee and fresh as a young girl. Her skin was as bright and smooth as the inside of a shell, her hair so sleek, she might have been Chinese.' 58
Since Wallis's arrival in London in 192.8 she had developed a style of her own, with an emphasis on simple shapes and clear colours as well as immaculate grooming. No doubt her slim physique assisted this effect. Her favourite designer was Mainbocher, an American who had been the influential editor of French Vogue until 1929, when he resigned to open his own matson de couture in Paris which soon became known for his stylish, tailored look. Wallis often looked severe, but this was arguably useful for a woman who, in a man's world, liked to be independent. The aggressive behaviour of Win Spencer, her first husband, had given her a keen sense of the need to protect herself - and looking tough would have made her feel less vulnerable. Perhaps she was quite tough. Duff Cooper, a friend of Edward's and the Secretary of State for War, thought she was 'as hard as nails'. 59 Meeting Wallis must have been a puzzling if not intimidating experience for Duff, who had a very low opinion of women's abilities. He confided to his diary that Lady Cunard 'hasn't, of course, the faintest idea of what the British Constitution is all about. I suppose very few women have.' 60 He had numerous adulterous affairs with women, but presumably never expected to discuss political matters with them.
Wallis was a survivor in the face of considerable odds, and she was proud of it. When Bessie sent her a letter warning her of the
The ostensible reason for my coming to India was to see as many of the natives as possible and to get as near to them as I could. At least, I presume it was the main reason, and I looked upon that as my duty. Well, I am afraid that I have not had many opportunities of doing this, either in British India or in the Native States. 51
Similarly, Wallis realized that because her life in Peking had been limited to the foreign colony inside the walled city, she learned very little about the people and their culture: 'Actually, I never did get much closer to the real Peking than [the] views from the top of the city walls and my occasional encounters with dealers in jades and porcelains and the can-do tailors.' 52
Well read, interested in politics and independent, Wallis was different from most of the women Edward met at court. Indeed, she 'was a great deal more intelligent than many in the Palace circle,' according to the writer and journalist John Gunther. 53 'Little Mrs Simpson is a woman of character and reads Balzac', approved the social hostess Emerald Cunard, herself a serious reader. 54 Her appearance, too, was striking. 'Mrs Simpson is quite a different sort of woman', judged the novelist Marie Belloc Lowndes. 'She doesn't pose as being young and in fact must be nearly forty ... I did not think her in the least pretty . . . She has an intelligent but in no sense a remarkable face.' Mrs Belloc Lowndes was at once impressed, though, 'by Mrs Simpson's perfect figure. She was of medium height, and beautifully dressed in the French way, that is, very unobtrusively.' 55 Mrs Simpson 'looked very well tonight, like a Vermeer, in a Dutch way', observed Chips Channon approvingly one night. 56 The unshowy elegance of her appearance seemed to him far more attractive than the dress of British women. This view was shared by aesthetes such as the Society photographer Cecil Beaton. When Beaton saw a home movie of some of Edward's house guests, he observed that the 'tall, badly or boringly dressed Englishwomen with their untidy hair' were in sharp contrast with 'the neat and perfectly turned out Wallis.' 57 At a photographic session in late 1936, he observed that Wallis was ' soignee and fresh as a young girl. Her skin was as bright and smooth as the inside of a shell, her hair so sleek, she might have been Chinese.' 58
Since Wallis's arrival in London in 192.8 she had developed a style of her own, with an emphasis on simple shapes and clear colours as well as immaculate grooming. No doubt her slim physique assisted this effect. Her favourite designer was Mainbocher, an American who had been the influential editor of French Vogue until 1929, when he resigned to open his own matson de couture in Paris which soon became known for his stylish, tailored look. Wallis often looked severe, but this was arguably useful for a woman who, in a man's world, liked to be independent. The aggressive behaviour of Win Spencer, her first husband, had given her a keen sense of the need to protect herself - and looking tough would have made her feel less vulnerable. Perhaps she was quite tough. Duff Cooper, a friend of Edward's and the Secretary of State for War, thought she was 'as hard as nails'. 59 Meeting Wallis must have been a puzzling if not intimidating experience for Duff, who had a very low opinion of women's abilities. He confided to his diary that Lady Cunard 'hasn't, of course, the faintest idea of what the British Constitution is all about. I suppose very few women have.' 60 He had numerous adulterous affairs with women, but presumably never expected to discuss political matters with them.
Wallis was a survivor in the face of considerable odds, and she was proud of it. When Bessie sent her a letter warning her of the
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