"Sir, I would like you to meet one of my dearest and sweetest American friends, Mrs Wallis Simpson."

In the autumn of 1930 Edward went to stay with his friends Lord and Lady Furness. This is how he described that weekend in a book called A King's Story:

I could see that Wallis was not feeling very well. She had a bad cold and her eyes were red. "I'm afraid that our English houses aren't very warm," I said. "We don't have American central heating here."

"How do you do, Mrs Simpson," I said. "Please come and sit down."

At one o'clock Wallis arrived with her husband. She was beautifully dressed and she smiled all the time. She spoke with Lord Furness for a few minutes, and then Lady Fur－ness brought her over to see me.

On Saturday the weather was cold and windy. It was raining heavily so we could not ride our horses. We decided to stay in the house and have an early lunch with some of Lady Furness' friends.

Lady Furness left us and we began to talk.

There was a long silence. Mrs Simpson turned her face and looked out of the window. Then she said: "You have disappointed me, Sir."

"My trousers?"

"It's your trousers, Sir."

"One day I'll be King of England," I replied. "And people are afraid of me. If I say that the sky is yellow, they say, 'Yes, Sir, you are right'. If I say that Wednesday is the first day of the week, they say,'Yes, Sir, you are right'. And if I say that Scotland is bigger than Canada, they say, 'Yes, Sir, you are right'. But you told me that I was boring! You told me the truth. I like that!"

"But why is that funny? Doesn't everybody do that?"

I began to laugh.

"Because everybody asks me about American central heating. I thought that the Prince of Wales would talk about something more interesting."

"And why is that?" I asked.

"Yes, Sir. They are black and your shoes are brown. These two colours don't look right together."

"What's the matter, Sir?" Wallis asked. "Have I said something wrong?"

There was another silence and then Wallis began to laugh. "Can I say one more thing, Sir?"

"Yes, Mrs Simpson, what is it?"

"No," I replied. "I'm laughing because you didn't lie to me. You told me the truth."

When lunch was ready, we walked through into the dining room. I sat at one end of the table and Wallis sat at the other end. I was watching her very carefully. I thought how beautiful her hands were. She began talking to Lady Furness and then, a few minutes later, she turned and smiled at me. I felt very happy.

I stood up and looked in the mirror. "Yes, Mrs Simp－son, you're right. I look very strange. The next time we meet, I will be better dressed."

After lunch Wallis came over to say goodbye. "My hus－band and I have to leave now, Sir. We're going to another party in London."

"What would you like to know?" she asked.

I wanted to speak to her but I could not find the right words. I don't know why. We shook hands and Wallis walked away.

I went into the next room and sat down near Lady Fur－ness. "Tell me about Mrs Simpson," I said.

"Everything!" I said.

"Then perhaps, Sir, you would like to walk in the gar－den. We can talk more freely there."

We stood up and left the house by the back door. We walked slowly through the trees, and Lady Furness told me about Wallis…