NEWS AND NOTEsfrom

The Fauquier Historical SocietyVol. 22, No.2 WARRENTON, VIRGINIA Spring & Summer 2000

Part II: Romance, Abdication and ExileWallis Warfield in Warrenton, and Beyond

The Warren Green Hotel at the time of Wallis Warfield's stay.

By JOHN TOLERNewsletter Editor

Upon her return from China inSeptember 1925,Wallis resolved to endher marriage with Win Spencer. Whilestaying with her cousin Corrine MustinMurray at Wakefield Manor in WarrenCounty, she began the legal work toobtain her divorce.

Cousin Corrine introduced Wallis toFront RoyalAttorney Aubrey "Kingfish"Weaver, a family friend who agreed tohandle the divorce. It was determinedthat the most expedient grounds for thedivorce would be Win's "desertion."

In addition to one-year of residencyin Virginia, Wallis would be required toproduce a document from Win statingthat he no longer wanted to livewith her,and that he had in fact deserted her.

Wallis contacted Win at HamptonRoads, and asked him to write a letterto that effect. She further requested thathe backdate his statement to June 1924,to coincide with his assignment to China- although in fact the couple livedtogether there for several months beforeWin moved out.

Under this scheme, the divorcecould be granted as soon as June 24,1927.

Wallis went ahead with the plan, butsurprisingly had a last-minute change ofheart.

When Win arrived at Weaver'soffice in Front Royal to go over thepaperwork, she offered to reconcile. ButWin insisted that they go through withthe divorce.

Then, the issue of Virginiaresidency had to be addressed. Wallistraveled to Warrenton on October 5,1925,staying first at Oakwood, the homeof Mr. and Mrs. Sterling Larrabee, oldfriends of Cousin Corrine.

She returned to Washington brieflybefore beginning her stay in Warrenton.

According to an article written forThe Fauquier Democrat in 1950 by M.Louise Evans, 'The Old Timer," a familyconnection with Warrenton wasestablished years before when hermother, Alice Montague, spentsummers in the home of Mr. and Mrs.John James on Main Street. It was laterthe home of Dr. Frank Folk, and is nowowned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rice.

But unlike her mother, Wallis wouldnot be vacationing in Warrenton. For thenext year or so, her home would beRoom 212 in the Warren Green Hotel,overlooking Hotel Street and theFauquier National Bank. She would haveto share a bathroom.

In her autobiography, she describesher arrival in town:

"So one hot October morning I tookthe early train ... the dusty, rattling trainhad left my flowered chiffon dress asdispirited as I was myself. I did not have

the resolution to lift my bags. In thisextremity, an affable Negro porter cameup, introduced himself as 'Jake from thehotel,' and asked me to follow him."!

She goes on to describe her hotelroom as "fifteen feet by twelve, withfaded flowered wallpaper, a high brassbed, battered night table, imitationmahogany bureau ... a classic exampleof what my mother used to call inferiordecorating."

"Wallis Spencer had no servants atthe hotel," wrote Edwina H. Wilson inher biography, Her Name Was WallisWarfield. "But Jake, the old coloredporter, could not do enough for her. Jakeused to wash her dog, "Sandy" ... whichshe had acquired by adoption. He hadother owners, but as long as Wallis wasin Warrenton, he remained with her."

While living at the hotel, Wallisfound herself most often in the companyof traveling salesmen, or "drummers,"

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Those who knew Hugh Spilmanwere aware of his unrequited love forWallis.

As Higham explains, "Spilmanasked her to marry him as soon as herdivorce was over; she refused politely,pointing out that if she ever marriedagain, it would only be for money.Spilman manfully settled for secondbest. He joined her at lawn parties andsecond-floor parlor dances and privatesocial gatherings at the Warren Green.It was a harmless, pleasant romance."5

Warrenton insurance executive G.Wayne Eastham, who has worked onCulpeper Street for many years, recallsanother local legend about the Warfield-

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View from Room 212 of the WarrenGreen, as it appears today.

they played golf; they spent evenings atthe golf club cafe', where they playedpoker until the small hours. Spilmanremembered Wallis as a bad loser."

physician who delivered her, who wasnow living in Winchester.

Others she socialized with includedArthur and Jane Derby; Mr. and Mrs.Baldwin Spilman, who at the time ownedClovelly on the Springs Road; and Mr.and Mrs. Fred Hasrick, Mr. and Mrs.Robert Winmill and Mr. and Mrs. JohnBuchanan. Friends from theMiddleburg area included Mr. and Mrs.Arthur White.

Perhaps her most memorable friendwas Hugh Spilman (1892-1980), whomshe had dated years before, when Hughwas a student at the exclusive GilmanSchool in Baltimore and she was atOldfields. During World War I, Spilmanserved in France with an ambulancecompany.

In Wallis' autobiography, she wrotebriefly of their relationship. "After a time,I ran into an old acquaintance, HughSpilman, who worked in the bank andwhom I knew in Baltimore. He took mein tow and launched me in the socialwhirl of the local horsy set. He was alsopossessed of an old three-pedal rattlingflivver. The two of us must have madequite an impression as we rolled up tothe porticoed mansions for formaldinners."4

According to Higham, Spilman was"a blond and good-looking formerfootballer" who Wallis first met "in thedancing class where she had learned thetwo-step."

"Spilman told her he was working asa teller, to learn the business, at theFauquier National Bank. They becameclose in those drawn-out weeks ofboredom. Walliswould drop by the bank(whichwas directly across from the hotel)and drink Coca-Colathrough straws fromthe bottle until the manager orderedHugh back to his window. On Sundays

HUGH ARMISTEAD SPILMAN1892-1980

Hugh Spilman was a native andlife-long resident of Warrenton.Many knew him through his long-term affiliation with the FauquierNational Bank and his 65-year mem-bership in the Fauquier Club, buthe is best remembered for his hu-mor and congeniality.

The perennial bachelor andman-about-town, Hugh was finallymarried in January 1954 toWilmotine P. owens, widow of Dr.W Duncan Owens. But the unionfasted only until November 1955,when Mrs. Spilman succumbed tocancer.

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Exile(Continued from Page 1)

since the Warren Green was at the timechiefly a commercial hotel.

She met an older man who lived atthe hotel named Jack Mason whoappeared to have some culture and hadlived for many years in England. Theybecame friends, often taking long walksaround town.

"On the whole, my first year atWarrenton was the most tranquil I haveever known," she wrote. "I simplyrusticated, and when I wasn'trusticating, I vegetated with equalsatisfaction."2

Years later, M. Louise Evans wrote,"Wallis Warfield Spencer lovedWarrenton, and Warrenton loved Wallis,for a more personable girl never lived.She was universally popular with bothsexes, and certainly 'the last word' insmartness of attire and neatness."3

As she did everywhere else, Wallismade friends and renewed acquaintanceswhile in Warrenton. Her circle of friendsincluded Phoebe Randolph, an oldclassmate from Arundell, who wasmarried to Henry Poole, and FlorenceCampbell, a friend from Oldfields, nowMrs. Edward Russell.

Also returning from Wallis' pastwere Lloyd Tabb, her first boyfriendfrom the old days at Burr/and, andremarkably, Dr. Miles Lewis Allen, the

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Spilman relationship: "After Wallisleft Warrenton, she told her friends thatshe would have married Hugh if heknew how to read anything besides theDaily Racing Form."

Wallis spiced-up her "rustic" lifewith frequent trips to Washington, D.C.and Baltimore. Occasionally, she wouldride the train to New York, where shewould stay with her old friend, MaryKirk, and her husband, Jacques Raffray.

In mid-summer of 1927, she wasinvited on pleasure trip to Europe withher aunt, Bessie Merryman. Whilethere, she got word that Uncle SolWarfield had died, necessitating a quickreturn home. She missed the funeral.

By then, the period of establishingthe residency required for her divorcewas nearing fulfillment.

On December 6, 1927, her divorcepetition was submitted to FauquierCounty Circuit Court, where it washeard by Judge George LathamFletcher.

"Among the dispositions by hermother and others was the letter Win

Judge George Latham Fletcher

was supposed to have sent from China,complete with American postagestamps, a detail the judge chose tooverlook," wrote Higham.

'There is no question that this wasa collusive divorce, since Wallis'statement that she had not seen Win infour years was contradicted by theevidence, and she had omitted anymention of China from her disposition,thereby perjuring herself."6

The divorce decree was granted onDec. 10, 1927.

Wallis would return to Warrentononce or twice in later years, but today,

fewpeople remain who remember muchabout Wallis Warfield Spencer's time atthe Warren Green.

Long-time Warrenton resident D.Harcourt Lees was just a child in the1920s and never met her, but he recallsthat Wallis affected different people inhis family in different ways. "My auntliked her, but my mother and anotheraunt didn't think much of her at all," hesaid recently.

But many Warrenton residents havefelt over the years that her stay here wasat least an interesting footnote in localhistory.

. Her divorce final, Wallis was free,but she hadn't made plans on what shewould do next. With "nowhere else togo" and limited funds coming from asmall trust set up by Uncle Sol, sheturned to thoughts of becoming afashion writer, or even going to workselling steel construction scaffolding fora friend's company in New York.

Neither of these endeavors evermaterialized, so Wallis continued to missout on the one thing she had neverexperienced in her life - holding downajob.

Husband Number TwoWhile still living at the Warren

Green, Wallis took up with a marriedman, Ernest Aldrich Simpson, of NewYork and London. Simpson was thepresident of an international companythat bought and sold ships, and hadstrong ties, through his parents and thebusiness, to England.

It was during a visit over Christmas,1927 with the Raffrays that Wallis metSimpson and his wife, the formerDorothea Parsons Dechert, whom hehad married in 1923. They had a four-year-old daughter.

Simpson's marriage mayor may nothave been in trouble before the affairwith Wallis began.

The first Mrs. Simpson, frail andprematurely gray, was in a hospitalrecovering from an illness when shebecame aware of the affair, and soonfiled for divorce. She remained verybitter toward Wallis the rest of her life,and was quoted as saying, "Wallis wasvery smart. She stole my husband whileI was ill."7

Wallis left Warrenton for good, andshe and Ernest were married on July 21,1928 -barely seven months after Wallis'divorce was final. This second marriagewould serve one important purpose:introducing Wallis Warfield to Britishhigh society.

The new Mrs. Simpson soon joinedher husband in London. By now a skilled

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Ernest Aldrich Simpson

social climber, she quickly worked herway up the ladder to the highest levelsof British society.

Wallis had more than a passinginterest in Edward Albert ChristianGeorge Andrew Patrick David Windsor,the Prince of Wales, for years. She methim informally through a mutual societyfriend, and later, she was formallyintroduced to the Royal Family at herpresentation to the Court on June 10,1931.

(Interestingly enough, among theother nine American women presentedat court that day was another localperson, Mrs. Charles O. Broy, ofSperryville, Va.B)

A mutual attraction was quietlyestablished there, and the Prince invitedErnest and Wallis Simpson into his innercircle.

The illicit romance bloomedsomewhat discretely at first, andincluded overnight trips to countryhomes and other intimate get-togethers.

In the beginning, most of theseactivities included Ernest; but as timepassed, most did not.

Whether or not Ernest Simpsonknew what was going on - or just didn'tcare - no longer matters. Apparently, hehad other romantic interests ofhis own,as well.

By late 1936,Wallis Simpson wouldcharge her husband with adultery,based on the contents of a love letteralleged to have been sent to her bymistake, and the results of the findingsof her private investigators. Theevidence was presented to a Britishcourt.

It is ironic that while they wereseparated - and probably, even before-that Wallis was deeply involved in a

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similarly adulterous relationship withthe Prince of Wales.

The divorce decree was issued bythe judge on October 27, 1936, and wasaccompanied by much public interestand fanfare. Ernest Simpson did noteven bother to show up.

The name of the correspondent inthe divorce case was withheld, but onlymonths afterward, Ernest remarried.He chose as his third wife their oldfriend, Mary Kirk Ratfray. It was leakedthat she had written the incriminatinglove letter. Could she be the one?

Royal RomanceVery few people outside of her

closest circle of friends knew of thecircumstances of Wallis' first twomarriages, and considered her ex-husbands to be at fault.

As a result, most observers weresympathetic and intrigued by thisinteresting "woman with a past."

During the depths of the GreatDepression, the world watched withgrowing interest her fairy-tale romancewith the Prince, next in line to becomethe King of England.

And as this romance played out inthe world media, there is no doubt thatmany local people recalled WallisWarfield's days in Warrenton, less thana decade earlier.

The world press closely followedthe couple's comings-and-goings onyachts and in private train cars, and staysin Medieval castles across Europe.

Following her divorce from Ernest,Wallis lived at Cumberland Terrace inRegent's Park, where she continued heraffair with the Prince and gave partiesfor her friends and sycophants.

Among those likely to be present ata soiree at her home were the usualBritish upper crust, but often Joachimvon Ribbentrop, Adolph Hitler's specialadviser for foreign affairs was there. Inaddition to detailed descriptions in thewritings of Higham and Birmingham,this fact is presented most matter-of-factly in the Wilson biography as wel1.9

With the death of King George VonJan. 19, 1936 and the accession ofthePrince of Wales to the thronespeculation ran rampant that Walli~Simpson would soon become the nextQueen of England.

Months of turmoil would follow, asthe King and the still-married Mrs.Simpson conducted their affair quite

Wallis Warfield Simpson at herpresentation to the Royal Court,1931.

openly. She was a frequent overnightguest at Fort Belvedere, the King'scountry home, and accompanied him ona tour ofEurope on the yacht Nahlin andthe Orient Express during the summerof 1936. The Royal Family was aghast,as were many Members of Parliament.

In America, the mood was quitedifferent, with many people excitedabout the possibility of Wallis Simpsonbecoming Queen, or at least marryinga king. There was not much interest inthe constitutional angle here at home.The emphasis was focused solely on theromantic possibilities.

The King had spent a great deal oftime working in the background tomake certain that the Simpson divorcewas granted, but would not tell even hisclosest advisers what he ultimately wasgoing to do.

Futile EffortsIn Buckingham Palace and in the

backrooms of Parliament, much of themonth of November 1936 was spentarguing the ramifications of a twice-divorced, foreign commoner becomingthe Queen of England.

When it became clear that manypeople - including his mother andbrothers - would never accept Wallis

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Warfield Simpson as Queen, KingEdward modified his demands, offeringto consent to a "morganatic" marriageto her.

Under this arrangement, Walliswould be married to the King and wouldlive in England. She would be given thetitle of "Duchess" or some other royaltitle, but not Queen. She would not beincluded on the Civil List (in terms ofpersonal income), and should she havechildren, they would not be entitled toany part of the royal inheritance norwould they ascend to the throne.

Wallis was intrigued by this offerand probably would have gone alongwith it. But the opposition - which wasgrowing daily - would not, and shortlyafterward, the King withdrew the idea.A constitutional crisis loomed.

By the first week ofDecember 1936Edward VIII decided that his onlycourse of action was to abdicate thethrone.

Assisted by Winston Churchill, hewrote his abdication speech, which hedelivered by radio broadcast on Dec. 10,1936.

Wallis, who was staying in Francewith friends at that time, had tried in vainto convince him not to abdicate, andhoped until the last moment he wouldchange his mind. She would have beenhappy to continue as his mistress, aslong as he remained King.

But a determined Edward VIIIabdicated the throne after only 325 daysto "marry the woman he loved." Thecrown passed to his brother, the Dukeof York, who became King George VI.

No longer burdened by his royalresponsibilities, Edward immediatelyset forth to legalize the relationship thathad cost him so much.

Many decidedly un-romantic detailshad to be worked out as well: the

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Edward VIII, reading his abdicationannouncement over worldwideradio.

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meaning of his new title, as "Duke ofWindsor;" securing a regular income,and disposition of royal properties to hewhich he was once entitled.

On May 11, 1937 - the day beforehis brother's coronation - he announcedhis engagement to Wallis Simpson. Thewedding took place at the Chateau deCande' on June 3, 1937.

The Duke and Duchess ofWindsorwould remain married until parted bydeath; but in nearly all respects the"world class romance story" w~uldbecome a tarnished legacy ofselfishness, excess and perfidy.

Aftermath of AbdicationIn the years between the abdication

and the outbreak of World War II theDuke and Duchess of Windsorpresented an ongoing embarrassmentfor the Royal Family and for Englishcitizens in general. With their excessesgeneral insensitive behavior andoutwardly Fascist/Nazi sympathies,they make the problems of the current"Royals" trivial by comparison.

The most serious problem was theWindsors' relationship with AdolphHitler and Italian dictator BenitoMussolini in the years leading up toWorld War II. The Duke, who spokefluent High German, was in awe of thepower and elitism of the self-proclaimed"master race."

And there were other strange, deep-rooted relationships that seem more likesomething out of a bad soap opera.

Count Ciano, Wallis' old lover, wasto married Mussolini's daughter. Thechance meetings in the years before thewar were understandably awkward.

Former naval aviator Win Spenceremerged from the distant past as well.In 1936, he received a medal fromMussolini for helping his air minister,ltalo Balbo, set up the Italian air force.

These odd relationships continued,even as Europe was falling to the Nazis.

The Duke's attitude was clearly oneof defiance: if his homeland would notaccept his Queen, there just might beanother way.

On several occasions, the Duke metwith Hitler and his agents to discuss"matters of mutual interest." Accordingto Higham, one such meeting took placeat Hitler's headquarters atObersa1zburg, Germany, on October 221937. '

'There was no question that in theFuhrer's grand design for the future,

iI,

Wedding photo, June 3, 1937

Lloyd George ... who was his favoriteBritish politician, would become thehead of the puppet English governmentunder his control, with the royal familyexiled to Canada, and the Duke restoredto the throne with Wallis as queen."10

Because of the integrity of themonarchy, the resolve of WinstonChurchill, and the courage of theEnglish people, such an eventualitynever materialized.

The Duke was finallybrought homeand assigned to the British military atthe foreign mission in VincennesFrance, as a way to control him. '

Even as the Nazis were rollingthrough Europe, the Duke wascontinually AWOLto visit his wife in thesouth ofFrance. The situation got so badthat Churchill had to threaten theformer King to return to his post, or facea court-martial.

When France fell, the Duke wasrecalled to England, and later given thegovernorship of the Bahamas. This wasdone to get him and Wallis out of thecountry and away from the action, andto keep them in a place where they couldconceivably do no harm.

They spent the better part ofWorldWar II in the Bahamas, where their tourwas marked by rioting natives adisastrous fire, frequent trips to N~wYo~k for shopping and some societyaction.

While they were there, a suspicious

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murder occurred. Businessman SirHarry Oakes was brutally slain in acrime made to look like a voodoosacrifice. Although it was never provedin court, the killing was probablyarranged by one of the Duke's friends.

The Duke was never directlyimplicated in this particularly grislymurder - which was considered bymany at the time to be 'The Crime ofthe Century" - but he seriously bungledthe investigation. And instead of goingafter the likely killers, he pushedinvestigators to implicate another manliving on the islands who had donenothing more serious than to insult him.

As a result, an innocent man's lifewas ruined, and Sir Harry Oakes realmurderer never caught.

Return to WarrentonAt least once during World War II

the Duke and Duchess returned toWarrenton.

M. Louise Evans recalled in her1950article a visit in October 1941,whenthe couple came down from Washingtonto visit the Larrabees at Oakwood. TheWindsors dined the evening before withthe Lord and Lady Fairfax.

The word had gotten out to theWashington, D.C. press, and the "OldTimer" recalls that she was bombardedwith requests for information, photosinterviews - anything to do with th~visi.tors. "On the 19th (of October), theyarnved by cars from Washington via theLee Highway, and your Old Timer waspart of a large crowd that gathered atTom Frost's to see the royal couple,"Evans wrote.

After spending the night atOakwood, the couple attended a huntbreakfast in their honor on the front lawn

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The Windsors are greeted by AdolphHitler, October, 1937.

-Photo courtesy of Mrs. Richard GookinThe Duke and Duchess of Windsor posed with British children staying atClovelly Farm during a visit to Warrenton in October 1941.

while the rest of the world was on thebread line, the party never seemed toend."12

The Fauquier Historical Society

p.o. Box 675, Warrenton, VA20188

Address Correction Requested

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PAIDWarrenton, VAPermit NO.1 09

Footnotes1. Windsor, Wallis Warfield, The

Heart Has Its Reasons, David McKayCo., c. 1956. Page 110

2. Ibid., Page 1123. M. Louse Evans, in The Fauquier

Democrat, Sept. 14, 1950.4. Windsor, Page 1125. Higham, Charles, The Secret Life

of the Duchess of Windsor, McGraw-Hill,c. 1988. Page 11

6. Ibid., Page 647. Ibid.8.Wilson, Edwina H., Her Name Was

Wallis Warfield, H.P. Dutton, c. 1936.Page 87.

9. Ibid., page 10210. Higham, Page 239

ten to forty times their actual value.Joe Allen Jr., president ofAllen Real

Estate Ltd. ofWarrenton, was one of thecurious who attended the auction. Heremembers the unbelievable prices paidfor the most insignificant personal itemsthat went on the auction block, includinga large collection of photographs soldone-at-a-time.

Long after their deaths, otherswould try to analyze the mystique of theDuke and Duchess of Windsor.

Wrote Charles Higham at the endof his biography, "Those who dippedinto their purses and pockets wanted notonly to possess the belongings of royalty- though ironically the Duchess ofWindsor had never been allowed to usethe title 'Her Royal Highness' - but alsoto partake, albeit vicariously, of an agein which society was society, the richwere almost uniformly glamorous, and

The War Ends. After the surrender of Germany, the

Wmdsors returned to France, wherethey found their properties - which hadbeen declared off-limits by the Nazioccupation forces - still in fine shape.

What followed were more than twodecades of whirlwind trips to excitingplaces, the continued accumulation ofwealth, and a particularly decadentlifestyle based on the Duke's name androyal past.

As the couple aged, they became~ere ~aricatures of the stylish,mfluential people they had been in thepast.

They took up with the likes ofJimmy Donahue, a wealthy New Yorkplayboy - heir to the Woolworth fortuneand an aggressive, obnoxioushomosexual - as their standing in thesociety world continued its strangetwists and turns.

The Duke died in 1971, and Wallisin 1986. But regardless of theirdiminished stature in the world, theyboth died rich, at least from amaterialistic standpoint. This would betheir final legacy.

At an auction of the Windsor'sjewelry and personal effects conductedbySotheby'sinApriI1987, the proceedstotaled over $51 million. Items went for

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of the mansion.Later on Saturday, they visited

Clovercroft,near Warrenton, where theymet 14English schoolchildren and theirteachers who had come to Virginiaseeking refuge from the bombings inLondon.

That evening, they wereentertained at cocktails by Mr. and Mrs.R. C. Winmill at Clovelly,their home onthe Springs Road, followed by dinnerhosted by Mr. and Mrs. William E.Doeller at ProspectHill, near Orlean.

Sunday found the Windsors atWakefield Manor, near Front Royal,where they lunched with the Duchess'aunt, Mrs. George Barnett. The visit wasfollowed by a trip down the SkylineDrive to enjoy the changing leaves.

Before returning to Washington,D.C, they visited Mrs. Charlotte Noland,former mistress of Burrland, who nowoperated the exclusive Foxcroft School.

A midnight train ride brought theWindsors back to New York,where theystayed briefly before returning to theBahamas.

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