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What
a dame When
King Edward VIII gave up the throne of England in 1936 to marry
American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, there were those who applauded
his decision as the epitome of romantic love. Others - the Queen
Mother among them - dismissed Mrs. Simpson as a gold digger and
predicted that the relationship would end in tears. Now
it seems that the royal love affair very nearly did end in tragedy
when the Duchess of Windsor, as Mrs. Simpson became after she married
Edward, fell in love with American multi-millionaire Jimmy Donahue,
pushing the Duke of Windsor to the verge of suicide. The
painful love triangle, exposed in 2000 in Christopher Wilson's book
Dancing with the Devil, so fired the imagination of British producer
Harry Alan Towers, that he is now making a film starring Michael
York as the cuckolded Duke of Windsor and Faye Dunaway as his unfaithful
wife. "It
is a very colourful story," says Towers, "but there will
be nothing offensive about the Duke except to show him as a very
weak, tragic figure. As for the Duchess, I don't care. I don't think
she was a very nice lady." Indeed,
by 1950, having wooed and won the King of England, whom she married
in 1937, the 54-year-old beauty had grown frustrated with her emotionally
dependent husband (his former equerry John Aird once noted that
the Duke had "lost all confidence in himself and follows W
around like a dog"). She
also chafed at the Royal Family's attitude toward them, a barely
disguised hostility that left the couple permanently cash-strapped.
So,
when Wallis met 35-year-old Donahue, the attraction was instant.
The blond, baby-faced grandson of F. W. Woolworth, founder of the
famous department store, appeared to be a man of action. He could
fly a plane and speak several languages. He was a wit and raconteur
with a reputation for what the Duchess called "naughtiness"
- he once drove through Palm Beach dressed as a nun, and, on another
occasion, stood at the top of the stairs at a nightclub, naked except
for a well-placed red and white checked napkin. And,
perhaps most attractive of all, he boasted the money and lifestyle
to which the Duke and Duchess aspired. Despite the fact that Donahue
was almost 20 years her junior and openly gay, Wallis began an affair
with the American while Edward watched helplessly from the sidelines.
For
the next four years, the trio became inseparable, embarking on transatlantic
cruises and holidays in Palm Beach, Florida and the Bahamas, where
the Duke had served as Governor during World War II. The
intensity of their closeness was such that rumours began to spread
that it was actually the foppish Edward with whom Donahue was involved.
But
nothing could have been further from the truth. While researching
his book, British journalist and author Christopher Wilson spoke
to sources on all three sides of the love triangle, including Mona
Eldridge, secretary to Donahue's cousin, Woolworth heiress Barbara
Hutton. "Hutton and Jimmy Donahue were cousins and close friends,"
says Wilson, "and she often provided the discreet hotels and
bedrooms where the couple allegedly romped." Another
source revealed that Donahue "had always been a foot fetishist
and she [Wallis] discovered this and indulged the perversity completely".
Discretion was not in the vocabulary that Wallis and Jimmy shared.
He bought
the fashion-conscious Duchess haute couture clothes and jewellery
worth millions. At the parties and nightclubs, casinos and resorts,
restaurants and dinners the trio attended, guests noticed that the
pair giggled and whispered together like young lovers, while the
Duke seemed to be a tag-along or mere chaperone. As for
Edward, while he watched Wallis grow more and more obsessed with
the young man, he became so terrified of losing her that he tolerated
the affair. Painfully aware that his government allowance was too
small to satisfy his wife's expensive tastes, the former king sat
back and let Donahue pick up the tab for their lifestyle. "Up
until this point he has been seen as a sort of brave soldier who
hobbled along," Wilson says of the public's perception of the
former king. But his weakness in the face of his wife's infidelity
fundamentally alters that image. "Suddenly you see him as being
someone who was cuckolded, aware of it, and happy to accept gifts
in return for it." If he was guilty of being weak and ineffectual,
the poor Duke was also desperately miserable. Fearful
that his infatuated wife was contemplating divorce, he considered
suicide. "Had the divorce occurred, as it so nearly did, it
would have been the greatest betrayal in the history of love,"
says Wilson. "I think it does actually rewrite history. The
belief up until this point was that the king gave up his throne
for the woman he loved and she gave up everything to be faithful
to the man who had given up everything for her. Yet
it is clear that, 14 years after the abdication, she drew Jimmy
Donahue into her bed and there he stayed for the next four years
and three months." Fortunately
for the beleaguered Duke, American gossip columnist Walter Winchell
intervened. Revealing that the Windsor marriage was in trouble because
of Jimmy Donahue, Winchell forced the Duchess's hand. Jolted
into the realisation of how much she had to lose by leaving her
husband for the unreliable playboy, she brought the four-year affair
to a close in her own inimitable fashion. One
night in 1954, as the trio sat down to dinner in Baden-Baden, the
Duchess complained to Jimmy that his breath stank of garlic and
that he was selfish and vulgar to expose them to it. Slightly
drunk as always, Donahue lost his temper and kicked his lover in
the shins with such force that it ripped her stockings and drew
blood. Driven to action at last, the Duke rushed to his wife's side,
attended to her wounds, then turned to the man who had cuckolded
him for so long and said: "We've had enough of you Jimmy. Get
out!" "And to think," Wallis is said to have shrieked
at the end of the affair, "I gave up a king for a queen."
Their marriage restored, the Duke and Duchess remained together
until Edward's death in 1972. On her
death 14 years later, Wallis was reunited with the husband she had
almost abandoned when she was buried alongside him in the royal
cemetery in Windsor Home Park. With its romance, glamour, drama
and betrayal, the story of the Duchess's love affair has all the
ingredients that producers look for in a movie. And,
as Prince Charles considers his future with Camilla Parker Bowles,
its themes have never been so timely. "I wasn't at all sure
that the new generation would have a great deal of interest in the
Windsors," says Harry Alan Towers, "but recent events
have proved me wrong and that it is time to make the film."
Golden
past and bright future The
book, a pictorial account of the heritage of Bangladesh, covers
a timeframe between the 2nd century BC and the 18th century, with
the main focus on three periods - The Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim,
that represent the cultural heritage of Bangladesh at its best.
Through
it the author draws attention to the glorious past as depicted in
their sculpture, architecture and education. Bangladesh
is a land of natural calamity, a cyclone prone area where frequent
floods wash away the humble huts of people who happen to be among
the poorest in the world. Nonetheless, the people have a strange
resilience, the author explains. "They don't cringe before
the fury of nature, rather stand up and rebuild on the ravaged land." He goes
on to tell a different story through a profile of its people and
land. Through a vibrant historical account he provides readers with
a glimpse of the ancient culture and significant events and developments
that have made Bangladesh what it is today, evoking a sense of dignity
and respect for the people. Bangladesh
is a new state with an ancient culture, which formed an integral
part of a civilization, which flourished in the whole of eastern
India, explains the author. While the first chapter deals with the
geographical features of the land, a terrain largely influenced
by the rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra, the second deals with tracing
the race, customs and traditions of the people. It is
interesting to note that their ancestors who lived on the banks
of the Ganges made famous supple muslin and other fine textiles
and sold them to the west long before the birth of Christ. Their
ships held sway over the Indian Ocean and they had flourishing trade
with the entire South and South East Asia. Further,
the discovery of ancient artefacts and Stone Age tools in the Mainamati
Lalmai hill range indicates the faltering footsteps of early Stone
Age man in this region. The
writer summarises details of these findings with attractive photographs
of the relics that stand as evidence, that the country's history
dates back to the pre-historic period Bangladesh's
history is steeped in legend. Stories indicate that the people of
the region showed fierce, heroic resistance to the Aryans and other
invaders. "The invasion could not prevent them retaining what
they valued most - their culture, language, arts and rituals." Most
interesting of them is the legend that is celebrated in many Sri
Lankan epics such as the Mahavamsa. It tells the story of prince
Vijaya who was sent into exile by his father King Sinhabahu . With
700 followers he took a long sea voyage to Sri Lanka where he formed
a kingdom known as Sinhala. A number
of Sinhalese scholars have apparently supported this view. Fifty
percent of the words of classical Sinhala are identical with those
of Bangali - this stands as further evidence of an ancient culture. The
many ancient Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries in the country
point to the various religious influences. Those periods (8th-12th
centuries) saw the chiselling of some of the most charming images
in stone. Glossy pictures of intricately carved panels in the Kantanagar
temple are figures associated with the Krishna legend, Rama and
Lakshman - planning how to cross over to Lanka, etc. There
is also a description of the two ancient cities, now in ruins -
Pundranagar and Devaparbata that are mentioned in the great epic
Mahabharatha. "Sensuousness
and grace were the strong points of the sculpture," the author
reflects, pointing out the intricate details of the figurines. There
are splendid pictures and descriptions of the terracotta treasures
from the 1st century BC and the sculptured glories done in bronze
and stone, representing Buddhist and Hindu gods and goddesses, which
abound in Bangladesh. There
follows an interesting phase brought about by the overwhelming Muslim
presence between the 13th and 17th centuries. The Muslim conquest
of the region, in a commando-like operation was conducted by a daredevil
group of just 18 soldiers than a battle proper. Vivid
descriptions of this battle, and a comprehensive account of others
that followed, trace the historical developments in that period,
their effect visible on literature, religion, culture and architecture. "The
Muslim Sultans built some exquisite mosques and were responsible
for making education a universal phenomenon. The literature and
language which Bangladeshis are so proud of got the most generous
patronage of the independent Sultans." By the
descriptive accounts of the 8th century’s ancient universities
like Somapura Vihara and Salban Vihara, which the author says were
established a few hundred years before Oxford and Cambridge and
details of Bangali scholars abroad, one can assume that the region
was a great centre of learning. The
book also provides attractive glimpses of the present - bamboo rafts
and boats, the only means of transport in certain areas during the
monsoon, jute plants, tea girls and the large stretches of paddy
fields with bullock drawn ploughs, still the chief mode of tilling
the land. The
author has effectively portrayed Bangladesh's rich cultural heritage. The
recent discovery of huge gas reserves and the possibility of finding
oil in the land and its offshore areas have focused the attention
of the world on Bangladesh, the author writes. He thinks that the
visits of potential investors will further dispel the misconceptions
about Bangladesh. Enayetullah
Khan, a Master's Degree holder in Mass Communication and Journalism
was a lecturer in the same department between 1979 and 1982. A successful
entrepreneur of the Cosmos Group of Companies, he launched the first
fully computerised wire service in South Asia. He has been the Chief
Editor of the United News of Bangladesh since its inception and
also the editor of Dhaka Courier, a national newsweekly that he
founded in 1984. The
author has been actively involved in humanitarian and social welfare
activities and has represented his country in several media and
business related forums at the UN. He is also a guest lecturer at the University of Columbia, NY in the US and is an alumnus of the Georgetown Leadership Programme. |
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