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changed her style to suit current fashion; with the help of Hartnell, she impressed it on
the public mind – the crinolines, the draped misty blue crepe, the triple row of huge real
pearls, the off-the-face hat, and always the high heels to increase her stature. She
invented her own version of the obligatory royal wave, a twirling, wrist-driven gesture
which became her trademark; she had the self-confidence to break the royal tradition
and smile. She perfected the art of keeping the royal distance between herself and the
rest of the world without seeming to do so; she was so successful that not one of her old
friends accused her of being stand-offish, although a study of her correspondence as
Duchess of York and Queen reveals a marked difference. Her warmth sometimes led her
old friends to overstep the mark. When they did so, the King pounced. Replying to a
letter from Walter Monckton, a much-appreciated go-between where the Duke of
Windsor was concerned, he gently reminded him that real familiarity was lèse-majestè: ‘I
gave the Queen your “love and duty”,’ the King wrote, ‘at which she was both surprised
and pleased. I wonder if you did not mean “loyal duty”!! Anyhow it made us laugh… ‘ 7
As a natural actress, she certainly gave the impression that she was thoroughly
enjoying herself, much to Wallis Simpson’s disgust. ‘Really David,’ she wrote, ‘the
pleased expression on the Duchess of York’s [she could not bring herself to call Elizabeth
the Queen] face is funny to see. How she is loving it all.’ 8 Harold Nicolson, attending a
grand dinner at Buckingham Palace, was full of admiration for the way the new Queen
handled herself:
The Queen… wears upon her face a faint smile indicative of how much she would have liked her dinnerparty
were it not for the fact that she was Queen of England. Nothing could exceed the charm or dignity
which she displays, and I cannot help feeling what a mess poor Mrs Simpson would have made of such an
occasion… 9
The Abdication, although never mentioned by the family, was neither forgiven nor
forgotten. The new Queen echoed Queen Mary’s outrage and backed up her blacklisting
of those people whom they considered the ringleaders of the pro-Wallis and Edward
clique. Prominent among them was the brilliant, American-born hostess Emerald
Cunard, who had made the running at the court of Queen Wallis (Noël Coward was
heard to scream on receiving yet another invitation from Lady Cunard: ‘I am sick to
death of having “quiet suppers” with the King and Mrs Simpson!’). While the King told
Prince George that neither he nor Marina must see Lady Cunard again, Queen Mary
wrote to Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, George’s brother-in-law and a man who owed
Emerald Cunard many favours, asking that they too ostracize her. When the celebrated
hostess Lady Londonderry sent her in advance the guest list for a post-Coronation ball,
the Queen replied thanking her for her ‘thoughtfulness in writing to ask about certain
people being invited to the party on Wednesday’, and adding that Lady Cunard was the
only person that they did not want to meet just at that moment. 10
Uncle David married Wallis, who had reverted to her maiden name of Warfield for the
occasion, at the Château de Candé in France on 3 June 1937. His family were not
amused by the fact that he had chosen, perhaps with some subconsciously Freudian