Read The Duchess Of Windsor Online
Authors: Greg King
The Duchess Of Windsor (59 page)
Throughout 1941, following passage of the Lend-Lease Act in the U.S. Congress, American forces were dispatched to Nassau to construct a large airfield for use by American and British Air Force troops. Eventually called Windsor Field, it provided a boost to the local economy, which, due to the onset of the war, had slowed considerably with the drop-off of tourism. But the imported American workers were paid a higher wage than the mainly black Bahamanian workers, and by the late spring of 1942, an undercurrent of hostility began to grow over the situation.
25
Six months earlier, the Duke had proposed that workers’ wages be raised by eighty cents an hour; nothing, however, came of the plan when the legislature refused to consider the idea.
26
25
Six months earlier, the Duke had proposed that workers’ wages be raised by eighty cents an hour; nothing, however, came of the plan when the legislature refused to consider the idea.
26
On May 28, 1942, the Duke and Duchess sailed to Miami on a small private cruiser they had purchased called the
Gemini
. The Duke had certain business with the U.S. naval authorities regarding supplies to the Bahamas. Afterward, the Windsors traveled to Washington, D.C., where they stayed with Lord and Lady Halifax at the British embassy. On June 1 they dined at the White House with the Roosevelts; during the dinner, David was handed an urgent cable: Discontented Bahamanian workers, upset over the wage disparity, were rioting in the streets of Nassau. The president immediately put the secretary of the navy’s private airplane at the Duke’s disposal so that he might quickly return home.
27
Wallis would remain behind until the situation had calmed down.
Gemini
. The Duke had certain business with the U.S. naval authorities regarding supplies to the Bahamas. Afterward, the Windsors traveled to Washington, D.C., where they stayed with Lord and Lady Halifax at the British embassy. On June 1 they dined at the White House with the Roosevelts; during the dinner, David was handed an urgent cable: Discontented Bahamanian workers, upset over the wage disparity, were rioting in the streets of Nassau. The president immediately put the secretary of the navy’s private airplane at the Duke’s disposal so that he might quickly return home.
27
Wallis would remain behind until the situation had calmed down.
David returned to demonstrations in the streets, marches, and looting. He immediately called out the troops to restore order. His first concern, once the rioting had been quieted, was to resolve the problem which had led to the outburst in the first place. He tried to impose a 25 percent increase in wages for Nassau workers along with a free midday meal. Once again, however, his proposals were met with resistance at the hands of the Bay Street Boys, who exerted near total control over the legislature. David eventually managed to win meager concessions, which, though they fell far short of what he himself had proposed, proved acceptable to the rioters.
As soon as things had calmed down, David returned to Washington to collect Wallis. However, only a few days after their return, a devastating fire broke out in the center of Nassau. The Duke and Duchess rushed from Government House to the scene, and both quickly took charge: David stood in the middle of the street, amid the soot and rubble raining down all around him, directing firefighters and helping drag hoses to distant hydrants. “He seemed what he always should have been: prince-hero, battling odds, silhouetted against rising fire.”
28
Meanwhile, Wallis had run to Red Cross headquarters, which lay in the line of the fire; she organized a group of workers, and together they managed to haul most of the fittings and supplies from the building before it, too, caught fire and was destroyed.
29
All night long, the Windsors and hundreds of others desperately battled the flames; finally, when morning came, David ordered the neighboring buildings dynamited to stop the spread. His scheme worked. By afternoon, four city blocks lay smoldering in ruins, but the fire was out.
30
Although the cause was believed to be arson, the fire was never formally tied to the previous riots.
28
Meanwhile, Wallis had run to Red Cross headquarters, which lay in the line of the fire; she organized a group of workers, and together they managed to haul most of the fittings and supplies from the building before it, too, caught fire and was destroyed.
29
All night long, the Windsors and hundreds of others desperately battled the flames; finally, when morning came, David ordered the neighboring buildings dynamited to stop the spread. His scheme worked. By afternoon, four city blocks lay smoldering in ruins, but the fire was out.
30
Although the cause was believed to be arson, the fire was never formally tied to the previous riots.
Scarcely a month after the Nassau riots and the fire, David faced a personal tragedy. On August 25, 1942, word arrived in the Bahamas that the Duke’s youngest brother, George, Duke of Kent, had died in a plane crash. David dearly loved his younger brother, and this news devastated him. He immediately dispatched a letter to his sister-in-law Princess Marina, George’s widow, but somehow—whether accidentally or not—the letter was lost in transit; Marina, convinced that the Windsors had deliberately ignored her loss, refused to forgive them for what she believed a heartless snub. The Duke and Duchess had hoped that with George’s death “there would be a drawing together of the family, a softening of all hearts. But even these shared sorrows proved not enough.”
31
31
35
The Duchess’s War Work
T
HE WINDSORS
,” wrote Frances Donaldson, “have to be judged on their record in Nassau because on this they must rest all their claims to a job of world importance, many of their complaints against the Royal Family and the government of England, the belief that they were treated with spite and jealousy because of his superior gifts, and the grievance that his years of training were thrown away.”
1
Using these criteria, it is difficult to condemn the Windsors’ time in Nassau. There were, admittedly, certain missteps, mainly on David’s part; in fairness, however, he faced an uncooperative legislature and a notoriously volatile political, economic, and social situation. More than anything else, the Windsors showed that they were capable of performing to royal standards; they might continue to harbor a grudge against the King and dislike their temporary home, but in public they managed to convey genuine interest in, and enthusiasm for, the people of the Bahamas. Above all, Wallis’s time in the Bahamas witnessed an incredible transformation in her; far from the popular image of her as decadent adventuress, which the Royal Family continued to promote, she became, in fact, an ideal governor-general’s wife.
HE WINDSORS
,” wrote Frances Donaldson, “have to be judged on their record in Nassau because on this they must rest all their claims to a job of world importance, many of their complaints against the Royal Family and the government of England, the belief that they were treated with spite and jealousy because of his superior gifts, and the grievance that his years of training were thrown away.”
1
Using these criteria, it is difficult to condemn the Windsors’ time in Nassau. There were, admittedly, certain missteps, mainly on David’s part; in fairness, however, he faced an uncooperative legislature and a notoriously volatile political, economic, and social situation. More than anything else, the Windsors showed that they were capable of performing to royal standards; they might continue to harbor a grudge against the King and dislike their temporary home, but in public they managed to convey genuine interest in, and enthusiasm for, the people of the Bahamas. Above all, Wallis’s time in the Bahamas witnessed an incredible transformation in her; far from the popular image of her as decadent adventuress, which the Royal Family continued to promote, she became, in fact, an ideal governor-general’s wife.
Nevertheless, the Windsors’ image suffered from their time in the Bahamas in comparison with the Royal Family back in England. This was not because the Duke and Duchess were any less dedicated to the war effort or worked any less hard than George VI or Queen Elizabeth; however, the Royal Family was surrounded by advisers, cosseted and protected, the beneficiaries of an intense publicity campaign designed to showcase their efforts. The Windsors, on the other hand, operated almost entirely beyond the bounds of the royal system. As a result, few knew or appreciated the very real differences they made during their time in Nassau.
Then, too, the Royal Family continued to make very deliberate efforts to undermine all that the Duke and Duchess did. To assist the British relief efforts, David dispatched a large sum of money to London to establish a canteen for bombing victims. His only request, not unnaturally, was that it be called “the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s Canteen.” Buckingham Palace immediately objected, however. The King was still convinced that his brother was trying to undermine his position on the throne and seek publicity for himself. David was told, therefore, that so naming the canteen would not be acceptable to the palace. It is a measure of David’s dedication to the war effort and his ability to ignore the petty annoyances which continued to plague him that he agreed without comment and sent the money, anyway. The canteen duly opened, but not one of the refugees knew that their former monarch had funded their relief.
2
2
Two completely different legends surrounding the Royal Family and the Windsors themselves need to be exploded, for both directly affected the perception of the Duke and Duchess. In London, during the war, a great mythology arose about the Royal Family. Scenes of the King and Queen visiting bombed districts, digging victory gardens, or knitting for soldiers became legendary, ensuring the devotion of their subjects, who were thereby assured that neither George VI nor Elizabeth, not to mention either of their two daughters, enjoyed any extra privileges during the time of national crisis because of their positions. The Windsors, on the other hand, were—and continue to be—unfairly castigated for what has been termed their conspicuous consumption during the war.
When discussing the Duchess during the war, for example, Frances Donaldson, one of the more balanced writers on the subject, fell into the trap of bearing the animosity of the Royal Family and court in her biography of the Duke. Of Wallis, she wrote: “The Duchess was the more unpopular. Her pre-occupation with her appearance, her jewelry and her clothes was unsuitable to the role of Governor’s wife on a small group of islands. It may or may not have been true that she visited Miami every week to have her hair done or that while she was in Nassau her purchases from New York averaged a hundred dresses a year at an average of $250 a dress, but these things were said in the American Press and were generally believed.”
3
3
The fact is, however, that the Duchess of Windsor was not unpopular at all during her tenure in the Bahamas. Here Donaldson is guilty of condemnation based on demonstrably false facts; it would have been an easy matter to add that the stories in the newspapers concerning the Duchess were largely favorable or that the assertions she traveled to Miami to have her hair done or purchased hundreds of dresses in New York were inaccurate. In repeating the charges and leaving them unanswered, she has done no more than any number of writers before or since; unfortunately, the damage to Wallis’s reputation as a result is almost impossible to overcome.
Both Wallis and David were acutely conscious of the dichotomy between the press they received and the coverage extended to the King and Queen. They were also aware, unlike the majority of the British public, that the oft-repeated stories concerning privations at Buckingham Palace during the war were not quite accurate. It was true that Buckingham Palace had been bombed; but of course only a small portion of its six hundred rooms had been damaged, and unlike the vast majority of those whose homes were destroyed in the blitz, the King had five other houses untouched by the ravages of war. Queen Elizabeth’s oft-repeated statement “I’m glad we’ve been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face” was thus something of an exercise in good public relations.
4
It is true that the Royal Family was issued ration books; but they also owned thousands of acres of farmland and agricultural concerns, which kept their table stocked with fresh beef, game, and vegetables. Life at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle carried on as luxuriously as before; George VI even continued to order special toilet paper from America throughout the hostilities, sent by courier courtesy of the British embassy in Washington, D.C.
5
4
It is true that the Royal Family was issued ration books; but they also owned thousands of acres of farmland and agricultural concerns, which kept their table stocked with fresh beef, game, and vegetables. Life at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle carried on as luxuriously as before; George VI even continued to order special toilet paper from America throughout the hostilities, sent by courier courtesy of the British embassy in Washington, D.C.
5
Most irritating to Wallis were the inaccurate stories concerning her rumored extravagance where clothing was concerned. In fact, the Duchess spent far less on clothes and purchased fewer items than her rival Queen Elizabeth. Ordinary clothing rations in England during the war began at sixty-six coupons per person; as the war progressed, the number was reduced to forty-eight. In contrast to this, the Queen, like all other members of the Royal Family, received 1,277 clothing coupons a year—a fact which the public never learned.
6
When Wallis appeared at a hospital tour or charity benefit, her choice of clothing was subject to criticism: The British press maintained that the Duchess cared too much about her appearance, that she dressed inappropriately for such duties during a time of war. But Queen Elizabeth, touring the East End of London and meeting those who had lost everything they owned, was always immaculately turned out, with coats and matching dress, suede shoes and gloves, diamond brooches and her famous halolike hats. “If the poor people had come to see me
they
would have put on their best clothes,” Elizabeth declared.
7
The Queen, with the immense publicity resources of Buckingham Palace behind her, managed to become celebrated for such remarks; Wallis, on the other hand, who dressed for such occasions in a much more sedate fashion, was subject to criticism. The double standard hurt, but there was little she could do to fight against the establishment in England. Instead, she turned her attentions to the job before her, and in examining her work, the second legend—that of the frivolous Windsors—can finally be put to rest as well.
6
When Wallis appeared at a hospital tour or charity benefit, her choice of clothing was subject to criticism: The British press maintained that the Duchess cared too much about her appearance, that she dressed inappropriately for such duties during a time of war. But Queen Elizabeth, touring the East End of London and meeting those who had lost everything they owned, was always immaculately turned out, with coats and matching dress, suede shoes and gloves, diamond brooches and her famous halolike hats. “If the poor people had come to see me
they
would have put on their best clothes,” Elizabeth declared.
7
The Queen, with the immense publicity resources of Buckingham Palace behind her, managed to become celebrated for such remarks; Wallis, on the other hand, who dressed for such occasions in a much more sedate fashion, was subject to criticism. The double standard hurt, but there was little she could do to fight against the establishment in England. Instead, she turned her attentions to the job before her, and in examining her work, the second legend—that of the frivolous Windsors—can finally be put to rest as well.
Wallis readily assumed those traditional duties associated with the wife of the governor-general. She became president of both the Bahamian Red Cross and the Nassau chapter of the Daughters of the British Empire. She involved herself with charity work, hospitals, and schools and lent her name and presence to benefits that raised money for the underprivileged. But she also went beyond the ordinary boundaries that previous governor-generals’ wives had followed. Wallis had always been a woman of action, and this was never more true than during her tenure in Government House. Nor did she approach her new work cynically: No one who worked with her during these years had any doubt as to her sincerity. Given her anomalous position, made even more uncomfortable by the continued animosity of the Royal Family, Wallis was not required to do anything in her role as governor-general’s wife; that she did so—and did so well—is to her credit.
The scope of her work was all the more impressive because Wallis deliberately chose to involve herself in the most difficult and least fashionable problems: infant welfare, unwed mothers, education, and health care, and nearly all of her efforts were directed toward assisting the native Bahamian black population. Given her strong southern heritage and ingrained color prejudices, this was remarkable. Even more so was the extent of her actual work. “The Duchess of Windsor, American-born, is the only person known who has practised philanthropy, at least in the interests of health for the poor Negros,” declared a contemporary report by the Rockefeller Foundation.
8
8
“No one has any idea how hard she worked,” recalls one friend from the Bahamas. “With the Duchess, it wasn’t just raising money—she did plenty of that—but she went beyond what other Governors’ wives had done. She got in, rolled up her sleeves and worked. I’ll never forget her returning to Government House one night. She had been away for twelve hours, first at one hospital, then a school, a clinic, a canteen. Her energy was palpable, contagious. She walked in and immediately began planning what to do the next day.”
9
9
One of her first works was founding the Bahamas Assistance Fund, designed to improve the health care and education of the mainly black population of the out islands. The Bahamian legislature, not surprisingly, proved uncooperative in granting funds, and so the Duke of Windsor signed over the income from one of the charitable trusts he had founded when Prince of Wales.
10
It became one of Wallis’s pet projects and one to which she devoted her not inconsiderable talents as an organizer.
10
It became one of Wallis’s pet projects and one to which she devoted her not inconsiderable talents as an organizer.
The Duchess’s involvement with child-welfare agencies was deliberate, for it fulfilled in her a maternal urge which otherwise had no outlet. “The one thing missing in our lives was a child,” she would later tell one friend.
11
Although Wallis was not a particularly motherly figure—her streak of independence and sophisticated tastes meant that her patience with children was limited to carefully controlled periods of exposure—it is clear that she had moments when she actively sought to fill the void through her social work.
11
Although Wallis was not a particularly motherly figure—her streak of independence and sophisticated tastes meant that her patience with children was limited to carefully controlled periods of exposure—it is clear that she had moments when she actively sought to fill the void through her social work.
Both she and David delighted in entertaining both children and soldiers at Government House. For Christmas, 1942, she and David decided that they would not give each other presents and instead spend that money on soldiers and children. They went to Miami on a shopping spree. Wallis purchased Kodak cameras, shaving kits, diaries, billfolds, and pipes for the soldiers and toys for the children. She and the Duke provided hams and turkeys for all the troops and gave a number of dinner parties and dances on their return, during which the men were presented with their gifts and took their turns dancing with the Duchess.
12
12
This work also provided Wallis with an important sense of fulfillment. Previously her achievements had amounted to little more than taking care of her husbands and decorating houses. Now she could put her energies to productive use and, perhaps more important, experience the satisfaction of actually seeing results which directly affected the lives of others. The vast difference between providing a comfortable bedroom for David and potentially saving the lives of hundreds of children was not lost on her; Wallis, in both her head and heart, engaged in something she knew to be important. For perhaps the first time in her life, she threw herself into her work for others.
Wallis tried to involve herself in projects already under way when possible, for she felt it better to fund a proven program than risk important dollars on the unknown. She met and befriended Alice Hill Jones, a native black nurse who had for some time been working in local hospitals, trying to lower infant-mortality rates. Jones paid frequent visits to outlying communities, and Wallis soon learned that she had to use public transportation to reach her destinations; one day shortly thereafter, Wallis showed up unannounced at Jones’s house, with a brand-new four-door Plymouth sedan, the Duchess’s gift to help in her work.
13
13
Shortly after, Wallis began to pay regular visits to the weekly clinics held by Jones at Western High School. According to Jones, the Duchess was “awfully distressed to see what a terrible problem we had to deal with and how bad the facilities were. There and then she said she was going to set up a proper clinic, and that very night she rang America to arrange it all.”
14
Jones quickly had a string of permanent clinics, courtesy of the Duchess of Windsor and the money of her husband’s friend Axel Wenner-Gren. But Wallis’s involvement did not stop here, for she continued to involve herself actively in Jones’s work.
14
Jones quickly had a string of permanent clinics, courtesy of the Duchess of Windsor and the money of her husband’s friend Axel Wenner-Gren. But Wallis’s involvement did not stop here, for she continued to involve herself actively in Jones’s work.
Every week, on Wednesday afternoons, Wallis personally assisted in Jones’s clinics. Her approach was direct, hands-on. She helped Jones weigh and wash babies, change their diapers, feed them, and rock them to sleep. She also poured hundreds of her own dollars into obtaining proper supplies. “My heart sinks when I see the doctor write out the prescription for an undernourished case—milk, cod-liver oil, and fruit juice—because we can’t cope with it,” she declared. “But one day we will.”
15
Her commitment, financial and personal, made the difference, and soon the clinics were operating at a level of care at least comparable to similar institutions in America. “In her class and her time,” writes Michael Pye, “she could hardly have hoped for such achievement; when the chance was offered, she took it brilliantly.”
16
15
Her commitment, financial and personal, made the difference, and soon the clinics were operating at a level of care at least comparable to similar institutions in America. “In her class and her time,” writes Michael Pye, “she could hardly have hoped for such achievement; when the chance was offered, she took it brilliantly.”
16
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