Memoirs of the Duchess of Windsor — Installment Four — The Day She First Met the Prince of Wales!

When I returned to London, I had to look for a new home, and Ernest and I decided to gather in this home of ours the largest possible collection of objets d'art and antiquities.

And for the first time in my life, I was able to arrange the home I had been dreaming of; it was in the modern style, yet it rested on a firm foundation of old history. Our house soon became a center where friends met — a mixture of Americans and Londoners...

It was my habit to return home at six o'clock, however far away from it I might be... and this led our friends to come calling on us at just that hour, when I would offer them a "cocktail" and we would sit down to talk.

Several stories have been told of my meeting with the Prince of "Wales," but this is the story as I know it, drawing for that on my husband's recollections; he believes we met for the first time in the autumn of 1931... He was right about the season, but our meeting goes back a year earlier... At that time Aunt "Bessie" visited us, and I traveled with her and Ernest to Europe, and our journey ended in Paris... I was thinking of buying a dress from one of the famous fashion houses of Paris, and Ernest and my aunt did not approve of such extravagance, but that did not deter me from the idea of buying a few elegant dresses... This makes me certain of the year of our meeting... "Thelma," or "Countess Furness," was one of the friends who had joined my circle, and it was said in London circles that the Prince was fond of her — some even said she was his mistress; her sister "Connie" was my friend as well, and I once received an invitation from her, telling me to accompany her to her sister's house to help her prepare the house to receive the Prince of Wales, who was going on a hunting trip with some companions, and they would spend the weekend at her place... She told me that we would play the part of hostesses while we were there...

My feelings were a mixture of alarm and joy; like everyone else, I was dying to see the Prince. Thelma was attractive; she had wide eyes and black hair parted in the middle and drawn back in the form of a "chignon," while her complexion had the purity of a camellia blossom, and her figure was slender and willowy.

I kept thinking to myself: whatever would I say to the Prince?... How would I receive him?... And "Connie" increased my self-confidence when she told me that he was not difficult and that he liked Americans... Ernest consented to accompany me, and so we accepted the invitation together, and on the way he whispered in my ear, saying: All that is asked of you, my dear, is to behave naturally... I had brought with me the dresses I had purchased in Paris;

among them was a gray and blue dress of "tweed" cloth, and a hat "to match it," both of them fit for receiving the Prince of Wales...

It may have been my excessive excitement that brought on an illness in every part of my body; as for the agitation that seized me, it was beyond description... What is it like to receive kings and princes? What on earth would I do?...

We arrived at "Melton Mowbray" in the midst of a sheet of fog. Thelma's stepdaughter received us, to tell us that the others had been delayed by the fog, but they would not be long in arriving... We entered a heated room, and my temperature began to rise, until I felt that the best thing I could do was to sleep... But that was impossible... We waited two hours before the two Princes arrived; Thelma received them, then presented me to them, and I dragged up what remained of my courage to offer my greeting to the Prince of Wales — and it came off well, contrary to what I had expected.

The Prince of Wales, as I recall, was wearing a coat of "tweed," and his brother had followed his example, though he seemed more reserved... And as I studied the face of the Prince of Wales, I kept thinking of the great resemblance between him and his photographs; but I had never supposed he was so short — exceeding my own height by only two "inches"... His brother George was taller than he, and looked merry, unlike the face of the Prince of Wales, which always wore a touch of sadness.

What drew me to the two Princes was their naturalness, so much so that I forgot that only moments before I had been dreading extreme reserve and a strange aristocratic spirit... Thelma may have drawn their attention to the fact that I was an American, and that Ernest had studied in America as well; so they talked with us about America most of the time, and that made me forget the fever and the illness.

A little later, Prince George's friends came and carried him off to where he intended to spend the holiday; and I went up with Ernest to our room to get ready for dinner; and I felt better after a hot bath and two aspirin tablets.

There were nearly thirty people at the party, and we knew not one of them; and after dinner, the playing of "poker" and "bridge" began... We did not know the first game, but I took part at the "bridge" table while Ernest sat watching the play, and talking... I listened to the sounds coming from the "poker" room and knew that the Prince was very pleased — that showed in the cries of enthusiasm he let out from time to time... The play ended at midnight, because the Prince was to rise early for the hunt.

I did not wake early in the morning; and when I came down to the drawing room, the Prince and his aide, General Gerald Trotter, had already returned from the hunt.

When we sat down to lunch, my place happened to be beside the Prince, and he reminded me afterward that our conversation turned on the difference between the American and English points of view on heating by gas... The party held in the evening was small, and ran along the lines of the first; and on Monday morning everyone scattered, each to his own place...