Hugo Vickers has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Royal Family, and has had a fascination with the story of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, since he was a young man.
While he has his own theories about the Abdication itself, and he makes it clear that Mrs Simpson did not lure the King from the throne, the drama of this narrative comes from the criminal exploitation of a sick woman after the death of her husband.
‘A definitively brilliant history of the whole story ’ A. N. Wilson
‘With a lifetime’s interest in the subject, Vickers knows everything there is to know about the Windsors . . . The first half of Behind Closed Doors, as well as being an accumulation of evidence against Blum, is the story of a personal journey into the world of the Windsors in which Vickers quotes from nearly 40 years of his own diary entries. It is also a hugely entertaining account of the battle between biographers for ownership of their subject . . . The book’s second half is a biography of Wallis Simpson, nee Warfield. Vickers delves into her family tree with his accustomed detail and gives a realistic account of the end of her marriage to Ernest Simpson.’ Telegraph
Death and the Duchess
I’m not usually tempted by biographies of royals, living or not long dead. They tend to be written in deferential tones and I prefer something neutral or, better yet, something with teeth....
Read more
