Messages

46

The Windsors / Re: Queen Mary- part 4

« on: April 13, 2009, 01:08:09 PM »

wow great link thanks for posting! She looks very regal in her furs

Agreed. It's a good thing they didn't have PETA types throwing blood back in those days. Though I'd pay to see how Queen Mary, being the tough lady she was, would've responded to some college student throwing blood all over her nice coat.

Does anyone know if her furs are still in the family? A good fur coat can last for ages if you have a good furrier clean and restore it every decade or so(we have some in my family from when my grandmother was young), but I don't recall ever seeing Queen Elizabeth wearing any that date back more than a few years.

47

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: April 13, 2009, 12:40:46 PM »

Hi,

Thank you Tom;  these pictures are great and very revealing, I think....
Notice all the photos of her - in portraits and pictures on his bedroom table, as you pointed out.
But, she has none of him - only those ugly pugs everywhere.  Ugh!!
It says a lot about them both, doesn't it??

Larry

Actually, she did always have at least one picture of him on her bedside table, IIRC, but it's not visible in these pictures. She did have more pictures of the dogs than he did because they were her 'babies'. Kind of like Paris Hilton and Tinkerbell.

There are three great books with more pictures. The Private Life of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor by Hugo Vickers, The Windsor Style by Suzy Menkes, and the Sotheby's Auction guide from 1997. I have the last one which my mom got on ebay for a steal and I've checked the other two out of the library at various points. The pics tom romanov posted give the general idea, though. The whole place was very royal looking, though I think the pug pillows were rather tacky.


Our scanner is crap and gave out on me but I'll upload more as soon as I can, but here's what I got:

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5504/windsorstudybooks.jpg

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/5958/windsorbooks.jpg  (okay, this one is upside down, sorry!)

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/9149/windsordinner.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6939/windsorsalon.jpg

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/5866/windsorscanfoyerstairs.jpg

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/8839/windsordesk.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/4462/windsorsalon2.jpg

Wallis was more of a realist than sentimentalist. I think she grew to love him and depended on him (more than she realise). She did not need photos of Edward, since she saw him on a daily basis. Edward on the other hand (like most of Queen Mary's sons) had this "mother" complex that needed reconfirmation on a daily basis (interesting that Camilla seems to be doing that role for Charles now).

I agree that she loved him very much, she was just more independent than he was. She was in love with him and she liked being spending time with him but she didn't need to be around him all the time to be happy. But he needed her and thought about her every second she wasn't with him. It definitely had something to do with his relationship with his mother that he was so dependent on her. He would get fidgety and frustrated when she wasn't with him while she didn't need him all the time. If you look at her letters (especially from after they were married) she missed him when she had to go a while without seeing him but on the flip side there were times when she really wanted time to herself and got a bit claustrophobic with his constant attention. It reminds me of one of my favorite songs "Leave Me Alone, I'm Lonely".

48

The Windsors / Re: The Coronations in XX-XXI cent.

« on: April 07, 2009, 02:36:46 PM »

Personally, I think Charles should do the coronation similar to how his mother did it and keep with the traditions of how it was done for his grandfather and great-grandfather as well. He can make minor changes if he wants to (most monarchs have) but I think overall it should be like it always has been. So what if it's out-of-date and perhaps politically incorrect because of the religious elements? The entire monarchy is a bit out-of-date. That's one of the charms of it.

The coronation is an old ceremony. Nostalgia and love of tradition is one of the reasons they keep doing it when many other countries do not have coronations. I don't see the point of changing it.

I also think it could very well be William crowned in the next coronation rather than Charles. The Queen Mother outlived Princess Margaret, and Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, and Queen Mary all out lived children. If you look at the Windsor family the women tend to live longer than the men by several years. Plus remember than the Queen was only 22 when Charles was born, which makes it all the more likely she might outlive him than her younger sons who she had later in life.

Not saying that it will be William and not Charles, just that it's a very real possibility.

49

Balkan Royal Families / Re: King Alexander and Queen Draga of Serbia

« on: February 27, 2009, 08:31:45 PM »

I've been interested in Draga since I first heard about her but it's so hard to find information on any of the Serbian royals, Draga and Alexander included. There are some beautiful pictures in this thread, though. You can see she was an attractive woman, even if she was a bit older than was expected.

50

Having Fun! / Re: What if? IF AA DNA results did prove she was Anastasia

« on: February 26, 2009, 10:19:03 PM »

I think if she had been proven right it would've become a big cultural thing. They would've made a big-budget movie, tons of romanticized biographies about her would've been released, etc. Not saying that hasn't happened anyway, but if we knew she was for real it would all be that times a million.

Now that we all know she was a fake hopefully in a century people will remember the real Anastasia and her family much more than AA, who will fall into obscurity like most royal pretenders throughout history did.

51

The Windsors / Re: George and Marina, Duke and Duchess of Kent

« on: February 23, 2009, 09:48:57 AM »

I always wondered why if Marina was so position conscious that she didn't go after the Prince of Wales instead of Kent.  Why marry the youngest, when she could have campaigned for the prize title - eventual "Queen"...
I'm sure she could have bumped and trounced Wallis out of the way. And, King George & Queen Mary would have been all for it!!!

Larry

Who's to say she didn't? In fact, I remember reading in one book (I think it was "Young Royals" which focused on the children of George V) that people in both families pushed for a match between David and Marina. Plenty of Princesses went after him, got relatives to arrange a meeting, flirted and tried to charm him, etc. It never worked. Royal women didn't really interest him and there came a point when pretty much every royal girl gave up hope and decided to try for a guy she actually had a shot with. Just like today most of the aristocratic girls want to marry Prince William but even the most ambitious ones eventually realize it's just not going to happen.

52

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: February 23, 2009, 08:39:21 AM »

I always thought Kim Cattrall would make a good Wallis. She doesn't look that much like her, but her voice and some of her mannerisms make me think she could do a really good job. She also has a mole on her chin just like Wallis did.

I really think it'd be nice to get an American in the role as Wallis has already been portrayed by British actresses. Jane Seymour was pretty good, but I really didn't like what Joely Richardson did. It seemed like she was trying so hard to do an American accent that didn't sound like Julia McNamara she ended up just sounding like Julia McNamara in a community theatre production of A Streetcar Named Desire. The only non-American actress who I think could really pull it off is Cate Blanchett. She played Katherine Hepburn really well and can do a lot of accents convincingly and really becomes her character. She also really became Elizabeth I in the Elizabeth movies even though I felt the writing wasn't that great and she really wasn't given much to work with. Cate Blanchett doesn't really remind me of Wallis, but I think she could play almost anyone convincingly.

Slightly OT, but did anyone else think that ring Angelina Jolie wore at the Oscars last night looked a lot like Wallis's engagement ring?

53

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: February 19, 2009, 12:47:26 PM »

If it's a musical I think Madonna would be great. If not and she just has to rely on her acting talents I don't think it would be very good at all. One of the reasons she was so good in Evita is that it was almost like an extended music video and she was judged more by how she sang and what sort of visual she could provide rather than how well she could actually act.

54

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: January 31, 2009, 08:03:58 PM »

I got the Stephen Birmingham book on Wallis in the mail a few days ago. Not the best book I've read on her and it seems to rely on interviews with people who knew the Windsors quite a bit, and a lot of the people they talked to obviously didn't like Wallis very much, thus there's a lot of gossip printed as fact, like the idea that the Windsors never had sex though at the end they quote Diana Cooper who says she's "perfectly sure" that they did. That's not the only inconsistancy, so I wouldn't reccomend it if you've never read a better book. Tons of interesting anecdotes and quotes, though. Sone of which you won't see in most other books. Not a lot of pictures, but some I'd never seen before.

The best part is the last chapter which goes into the author's dealings with Suzanne Blum. Considering this book was written after Caroline Blackwood's but published before it (and thus neither author could've copied the other's claims), this certainly helps make the case (for me at least) that she was nuts and had an unhealthy obsession with her client. He also quotes Maitre Blum as saying Wallis was just like Queen Mary and that David forced her to marry him and claiming that she had some kind of letters or journal that would completely back up her increasingly implausible claims but refusing to produce any of it.

Wallis does not come off in a very good light. Then again, if you look at all the people who he went into because of their relationships with her, no one comes off looking very good.

55

Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: Fabergé’s Beautiful Creations (w/photos)

« on: January 26, 2009, 09:04:58 AM »

I don't know if any of you have ever been to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond but I was there for a fashion show my mom was involved with in November and they had an exhibit on Faberge that included many pieces that had belonged to the IF (at least according to the guard who told us "loud teenagers" we better not touch anything but I know people in museums sometimes don't know what they're talking about and she also said George V and Nicholas II were twin brothers) and picture framed with old photos of NAOTMAA in them. I was able to recognize the people in the photos and some of the stuff was incredibly beautiful.

I don't know if any of you have even seen that, but it was all beautiful. If you're ever there I would recommend it.

56

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: January 26, 2009, 08:48:03 AM »

I also had the same impression Grace.  How about Wallis' book the Heart has it's Reasons (? I think that's the right title) - has anyone read this? If so, what did you think?

I have it. I wouldn't really recommend it. I mean, if you can get your hands on it easily and inexpensively (like from a library or paperbackswap which is where I got my copy) it's a good one to have, but it's hard to find in most places these days and I wouldn't put a lot of time and money into getting a copy. There are only a few cute anecdotes that you can't easily find in other sources but there's a lot glossed over or left out, as people tend to do in memoirs. It seems she was so afraid of making herself look bad that she's freakishly vague about her relationship with Edward and though she mentions she first had feelings for him in 1934 she says nothing at all about when they actually got involved as more than just friends. It pretty much goes from "he would come over for fried chicken sometimes and I went on a trip on his boat" to "and then he met with the Prime Minister to decide how we would go about getting married" without giving much of an idea how they got from point A to point B. I know she had to be pretty PG and censored about the whole thing, but I'm not even talking about like sexual stuff. Just things most women would mention to give an idea how exactly they ended up in a relationship like when the first time they kissed was and when they first admitted to having feelings for each other.

Also, I have the Frances Donaldson book coming from paperbackswap and now I regret ordering it. Is it really that bad? I know it's a bit harsh but I liked the miniseries well enough, though I thought for a couple who were supposedly in love Edward and Wallis really seemed to just live in a state of UST in the whole thing and Wallis needed to grow a backbone. But it was better than the BBC one with Joely Richardson.

I also have the book on Wallis by Stephen Birmingham coming as well. Does anyone know how good that one is? One of my friends said it was pretty balanced. If no one's read it I'll be sure to post what I think of it here when I get it.

57

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: January 25, 2009, 08:25:34 AM »

I would say the best books on the Duchess are The Woman He loved by Ralph G. Martin, the one you read by Greg King, The Windsor Story by Bryan and Murphy (which gives a more negative perspective to balence the positive ones). Royal Feud gives a great idea what her "problem" was with the Queen Mother. The Last of the Duchess isn't as much of a scholarly one, and I wouldn't cite it but it's an incredibly fun read and gives you an idea who Wallis's friends were, who liked her, who didn't, and a lot of anecdotes about her, both positive and negitive. Also, the whole issue with the crazy lawyer is really bizarre. It's not a biography and it doesn't give an account of her life as much as it gives an account of how people felt about her and what sort of woman she was as well as what happened to her at the end of her life (though there have been questions if Caroline Blackwood exaggerated a bit on some points and she does speculate a lot). I read it in two days and have since reread it as it's a really interesting and addictive book and written like a novel.

I'm not going to discount the Higham one completely. Most of it is gossip and just total crap, but I do like that he does print the gossip (though some times he states it as fact) because it really gives a sense of why so many people disliked her, especially in the royal family. Unfortunately that was the first book I ever read on the Duchess (it was the only one my local bookstore had) and it took a while for me to realize it was inaccurate, so I certainly wouldn't reccomend it unless you've read other books first and realize when you open it that it's not accurate. The Windsor Story is better for a less gossipy negative perspective.

58

The Windsors / Re: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (nee Bowes Lyon)

« on: January 24, 2009, 04:35:31 PM »

Beautiful pictures, Alexandre! Very few women could pull of a tiara as well as the late Queen Mother.

59

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: January 24, 2009, 03:45:12 PM »

A simple search on the Duchesses funeral would have told you the following "There was no funeral address, in accordance with the Duchess's wishes, and at no point in the service was there any mention of her name, or reference to her life." [BBC]

Then why did you say

And as far Wallis's name never being mentioned at her own funeral, that's hilarious.

and

I fail to see how a funeral cermony can not even mention the name of the deceased!

(even after I gave you a very specific source from a published book by a respected historian)
if a "simple search" would've told you that Lilly and I were right about this?

60

The Windsors / Re: King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Duke and Duchess of Windsor)

« on: January 24, 2009, 03:03:51 PM »

OK -  Thank those of you who sent personal messages and those who posted support for me. I was really shocked to see that anyone would respond so rudely.

I'm also kinda new here and I really don't think that sort of attitude is appropriate.

Now, I do not know if the author Greg King is credible as it is the only book I have read on Wallis. Please advise me if anyone knows.

Greg King is a very reliable source. He actually used to post here and I have a book he cowrote on the IF. I read his book on Wallis from the library but the only book I had on me with the source about Wallis's name not being mentioned at her funeral was Sarah Bradford, who I would also consider a reliable source.