![]() After the 1936 abdication, the Duke and Duchess were often strapped for funds. Oh, the tales Wilson tattles: Oxford students, talking about Hansel and Gretel, romantically linked tutor Henry Peter Hansel with his student, Prince Edward. The book’s index is like a who’s who of high-society types, many of whom most readers will probably not know were gay. In short: a dysfunctional trio that was bankrolled by Donahue’s mother, who delighted in throwing spectacular parties at which the Duke and Duchess became freeloaders. The wonder was that in the 1950s the Duke continued to adore her once it became known that she was romantically involved with Donahue, the colorful and promiscuous homosexual son of a manic depressive and bisexual father. ![]() Little wonder that Buckingham Palace at the time disliked the Duchess, American-born Wallis Simpson. Wilson’s blow-by-blow account tells of the Duchess of Windsor’s relations with the Duke as well as with Donahue, the handsome young grandson of the super-rich “dime store” Woolworth family. It’s more mouth-watering than Monicagate! Talk about dishing the dirt! Christopher Wilson’s Dancing with the Devil, The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue (HarperCollins, £12.50) is in a class with Jean-Claude Baker’s The Josephine Baker Story and Gore Vidal’s Palimpsest. Gossip from Across the Pond by Warren Allen Smith ![]()
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