The Secret Windsor Tapes (Part Two): Wallis Simpson - China Dossier was 'Venom, Venom, Venom'

It was the dossier that followed Wallis Simpson to her grave. Dubbed the China dossier, it allegedly landed on the desk of the King’s Private Secretary and the Prime Minister. The slim manilla file, I say this even though its never been seen, contained salacious details of her sex life, of her working in a brothel, and her intriguing sexual technique that she perfected called the ‘Shanghai grip’, which apparently could drive any man wild, including her future husband. Of course no-one has ever seen the dossier even though during her life and death, it took on a life of its own.

In this episode she takes on the critics including those alleged to have seen the China dossier, she dismisses it as ‘venom, venom, venom’ and she refuses to be cowed.

She even had her stalwart friend and possible lover Herman Rogers open the tidal wave of poison pen letters and read them out to her. She called herself a prisoner of the press as she was surrounded by the media. A situation that has a modern paralell with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who lives effectively in an open prison on the Sandringham estate. Nothing has really changed, as you will hear.

Transcript of an interview between Charles Murphy and Wallis Simpson, 1954

Charles Murphy: Could you perhaps tell me a little bit about the difference between your life at Cannes and that which you led at Candé.

Wallis Simpson: Well you see, Cannes, first, I mean, was the beginning of the whole bubble burst, and that’s where I went, Cannes. And then three months/four months later I went to Candé. So that, of course, even the interest in the whole thing was at fever heat when I arrive in Cannes and the Roger’s house had very small grounds, also it’s on the mountainside, you’ve seen the house, it was on the mountain.

I was overlooked by neighbours in every direction. For, I think, for at least two weeks, I never put my foot out of the house because there were these cameras, so that I was a prisoner at Cannes. And then, as things got calmer, Herman would drive me up into the hills back of the house. We’d take a walk up there with the Rogers’ dog because it was quieter up there. I couldn’t go down to the town and so that Cannes was a very difficult time.

They had people, they would ask people to dinner at times, to try and divert me a little bit, and we used to play cards in the evening, but I didn’t live. It was like I wasn’t living a life in the world at all. I was a prisoner of the press. I couldn’t go out. And not only that, I didn’t wish to go out because I never knew which member, which English person might say something rude to me on the street. I didn’t wish to walk in Cannes. I had no desire to do that.

And we, as I say, we took this exercise, a walk in the garden of the Rogers, that had been photographed. We gave one photograph and hoped that the photographers would go away, but of course they didn’t. And we let them in for one photograph. That was Harry Brownlow, and so forth. But we didn’t have any privacy, and that’s all did at Cannes, I never went out at night. But it was a different feeling because it was then that I was beginning to understand the world wasn’t made up of goodwill, but rather jealous people, a great many crazy people, and spiteful, all the things I had never really had time to bother about because they weren’t in my mind.

I really never had any spite in my make-up or wanting to or envy of other people. I’m afraid again comes my selfish side again. I was also interested in myself, whether it was the smallest thing that was going to happen to me, but I just [inaudible], people were nice, attractive and I never went down into what all human nature is made of until it was absolutely thrown at my head, like a bombardment I got [inaudible] what life really is. My world was totally blown up and I was thrust into being a public character in twenty-four hours. People that become public characters generally become public characters because they want to be one, I mean a politician knows he’s going to be a public character in a way, a succesful politician.

Charles Murphy: You used a very striking phrase a moment ago: your world blew up on a breakfast tray.

Wallis Simpson: Tray of letters. But I had to train myself, Herman is a very good philosopher. I had to train myself to, I used to get terribly bitter at times, because I thought it is unfair to judge someone, I mean, for the world, these letters. To suddenly judge a person you’ve never seen, didn’t know the circumstances surrounding it, to put pen to paper to damn someone that you didn’t know. I mean the letters that were of sympathy to me were the most human people but they were in the minority and I must say I couldn’t take these threats to kill me very seriously. A long time afterwards Herman Rogers told me that a special man was determined to kill me and that’s why he always had a revolver. Well he was right because that would have made me very nervous of course.

Charles Murphy: Did they ever find the man, ever identify the man?

Wallis Simpson: I never heard of it till 5 or 6 years ago when Herman told me. I had to make up my mind, as Herman said you’ve got to make up your mind if you’re going to let this get you down and change your make-up, then you’re going to have a very unhappy life, you’ve got to learn to live with these things and don’t open the letters. He was very much against my opening my letters and having had a dose of the letters, I couldn’t resist them, so I opened them all. He was very much against that.

Charles Murphy: You mentioned earlier, speaking about Candé that during this period, the press everywhere was putting stories about you. In other words, there was apparently a change in the journalistic interest. First there was the shock of the abdication, the debate of the abdication. Now everyone was [inaudible].

Wallis Simpson: I never read one newspaper about myself, that’s one thing I didn’t do, I never read the newspaper reports and I said to Herman, keep them away from me however disagreeable they are or anything. I can’t have the newspaper reports and the letters, so I’m going to choose the letters.

Charles Murphy: But then you did mention these outrageous things being said about you in the press.

Wallis Simpson: Well, that’s, you know, Herman used to tell me certain things, because we used to have debates, whether we’d write. Because I mean, the press made up — the British put out a terrific propaganda. I always think they did. I don’t know, I’ve no proof of it, but Lady Astor goes around talking about some dossier of mine. We’ve never been able to trace some dossier. If anyone put out that dossier, it must be the British.

Charles Murphy: Yes I [inaudible]. I’ve seen a mention of that.

Wallis Simpson: Yes but we’ve never been able to trace it, I mean that’s one thing we tried to trace but we never could make any trace of this thing.

Charles Murphy: When did she first mention that, was it during the abdication?

Wallis Simpson: Oh she does everytime my name is mentioned I think.

Charles Murphy: Did you first hear about it during the adication?

Wallis Simpson: No. Afterwards, sometime afterwards. And then Herman said he had heard about it, and then we got hold of George Allen but we could never trace anything at all. And then different friends of mine told me the fantastic stories about how I came back from China, there was nothing fantastic about my life in China. The Rogers, I was living with them, and [inaudible] great stories about my life in China, that I knew a lot of Chinese. Well, I’d have been very pleased to have known them, they’re very intelligent people but as it happens the chinese don’t chat with europeans in that way. One would see every possible story of invention simply made by venom, venom, venom, was made, everything.