Memoirs of the Duchess of Windsor — Episode Thirteen — What Would You Do If the King of Britain Abdicated... for Her Sake??

There came over me a moment when I thought the earth was reeling and the air was in tumult, and I wished I had listened to Perry and gone to Belton; at least I would have come to an understanding with David there — especially as I had begun truly to feel the widening of the breach between the King and his subjects at home and in the colonies. Nothing remained before him but abdication — or that I should come forward myself and announce the severing of my relations with the King in the hearing of the world. Since he would not give me up, it was my duty to do so; and this, without doubt, was very hard. I had no way of choosing otherwise if I wished to respect him and to preserve my own self-respect.

I was afraid David would not believe what I announced, and would think I had done it under pressure; he would never believe that I was giving him up of my own free will. Nor would my preaching and counsel avail, urging him to turn his attention to duty, for he knew his duty. So I thought of a new method of persuasion: to make him understand that our marriage would affect not only the Throne but my reputation, without which I could not face the world. Perry and Herman helped me to write a statement to be distributed to the press, and this is its text: Mrs. Simpson has, throughout the past weeks, avoided any attempt or suggestion of a kind to distress His Majesty or the Throne; but her position has now changed, and she wishes to withdraw from this situation if that would be of any service or of general benefit.

Perry was not satisfied with the language, and wanted me to make my language plainer still — to declare that I had never once thought of marrying the King. But I knew David's temperament through and through, and I could not wound his feelings to that degree; he had borne pains and troubles enough... And so I telephoned David on the afternoon of Monday, January 7, to tell him of my decision. At first he did not believe me; then I felt that he was moved and angry, and he asked me to read him what I had written. When I finished, an interval of silence passed in which I thought David had hung up the telephone from the violence of his anger; but then he said quietly: Do what pleases you — it does not matter to me.

At seven o'clock that evening Perry conveyed the decision to the press, and he was well pleased with what he had done, for it produced a strong reaction in social and political circles — so much so that everyone began to think the crisis was on the point of ending.. My heart lightened when I heard that, and I felt that a heavy load had been lifted from my shoulders; and for the first time I slept with an easy mind. When I rose

the next morning I was lively and gay, but I soon found myself facing a problem of a new kind. David spoke to me that same afternoon and told me that the solicitor in charge of my divorce from Ernest Simpson, Mr. Goddard, had left for the south of France in Mr. Baldwin's private airplane, and might arrive in the evening. David told me he did not understand this game, nor what Mr. Baldwin, who stood behind the events, was aiming at; and he warned me likewise not to be influenced by anything the solicitor might say — he even urged me to refuse to see him.

I returned once more to the shore of bewilderment. What did my solicitor and the Prime Minister of Britain want? What lay behind it? Many questions like these hung suspended in the air of my room, and I could answer none of them. Nevertheless I waited, in eagerness and perplexity, and night came on without Mr. "Goddard" appearing; so I sat with Perry and Herman going over the latest news of London and what I ought to do. Our talk was interrupted by David, telling me that the situation remained as it was and that nothing new had happened; and I was able to understand that he said this to spare me any distress that would add to my misery... These honeyed phrases did not convince Perry, who had understood, by his own methods, that the King was on the road to abdication — and that even the Government was content to let him go.

Our evening ended at half past two the next morning, when the guard came in with a note in his hand, which he passed to Perry, and on which was written: Mr. Goddard, the well-known lawyer and the solicitor for Mrs. Simpson's divorce, has arrived at Marseille by private airplane...

He is accompanied by Dr. Kirkwood, the specialist in women's diseases.. and a psychiatrist...

And the messenger remained standing at the door, awaiting our comment on his message, and whether it interested us to see the reporters standing at the door.

I was thunderstruck, and could not move. What had happened to the Prime Minister and my solicitor? Had they lost their senses? Had they lost their minds?.. And Perry flew into a rage, saying: "I have done the impossible, with Herman, to protect your reputation and the King's standing — the utmost that any human being could do — and now I will not stand with folded hands..." He uttered these words as he went out of the villa; and when the newspapermen surrounded him he denied this report, and convinced them that Mr. Goddard was coming about my house in London.

After breakfast Mr. Goddard arrived. When he had telephoned the villa to fix a time for meeting me, Perry gave him leave to come — especially after learning that there was no connection between the doctors and our affair — and made it a condition that he come alone and bring no medical bag with him; then that he leave the "taxi" carrying him some hundreds of meters from the "Villa Rogers," and walk thus between the ranks of the newspapermen.

Hardly had he entered when he began apologizing for the troubles he had unknowingly caused me; and he told me the reason for his visit, which was intended to persuade me to withdraw the divorce, on which I still had five months to decide... If I consented to carry out his request, the possibility of the King's marriage would vanish, the disturbances would subside, and the problem would be finally solved. I remember that I answered him, trembling with agitation: "Mr. Goddard, I will do anything to calm the situation and to keep the King upon his throne"... And he answered quietly: "I was confident that your answer would be so, and I persuaded Mr. 'Baldwin' of it!.."

Goddard was sure of himself; he knew he was performing a mission that would have its place in history — and moreover, he succeeded in performing it... I asked him whether I might speak to Lord "Brownlow" and ask his advice, and he refused my request outright.

Perry listened in sorrow to my conversation and to Goddard's counsels, and at the same time he doubted whether this plan would in any way affect the King's decisions... He ended his talk by saying: Should the King abdicate, nothing would remain before him but marriage; and if the divorce papers were withdrawn, matters would end in a great tragedy, as I see it...

I knew that Perry spoke from his whole heart, but in spite of that I wanted to make one last attempt. So I excused myself and left the room to speak to the King. I telephoned the Fort and told David the substance of the conversation that had passed between me and Goddard, and acquainted him with my plan. He was silent a long while, then went on to say that matters had gone further than I supposed, and that he would ask George Allen to acquaint me with everything... And Mr. Allen did indeed tell me all that had happened, and informed me that the King was about to abdicate, and that nothing could turn him from his resolve.

I could not believe what I heard, and I went back to Mr. Goddard and told him what I had heard. He shook his head, repeating: If that is so, then my mission is ended, and there is nothing more for me to do.

Perry spoke to me at a late hour of that day and said: The time is past, and fate is moving with a speed beyond description; so I must seek out for myself a fitting position should the King abdicate.

The world clouded over before my eyes — I, who had never dreamed that her name would be mentioned in history, saw it beginning to be engraved on the rock of time in letters of hatred and loathing. And I found myself crying in his face: What would you do if you were in my position? And Perry answered calmly: I would leave Europe at once — there is still room to save the situation — and if you decide to carry out this plan, I am ready to go with you.

I was in a state in which I could not think, and my spirit was crying out for a way of escape to the outside, to a world of quiet and rest. And so I bowed my head before him, repeating: I am ready to travel — make the preparations for me!