The story was a scoop. In October 1970, I was 23 and working as a journalist for the Daily Mail in Paris when the young Prince of Wales made an unexpected visit to his great-uncle, the former King Edward VIII, who was living there in exile.
The former King, then Duke of Windsor, and his wife, the former Mrs Wallis Simpson, were desperate to regain their royal status and Prince Charles, as he was then known, arrived at the Duke’s home on the Route du Champ d’Entrainement with the British ambassador, Sir Christopher Soames, in tow.
“It was a surprise visit,” a member of Windsor’s staff told me. “I don’t think the duke was expecting it, but he was very, very pleased.”
The memory of that visit came back to me following the revelation in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday that another duke in self-inflicted exile, Prince Harry, was keen to rehabilitate himself.
The Duke of Sussex is said to be consulting his former aides about finding a way back into royal life. Harry, who turns 40 in two weeks and is undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer, appears to have realised that life in California is not enough for him, however much he loves his wife and two children.
Prince Harry and Prince William attend the unveiling of a statue of their mother Princess Diana in The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London on July 1, 2021.
Edward became a royal pariah in December 1936 when he abdicated the throne after just 11 months so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Above: The couple arrived in Britain in 1967 for a visit as guests of the Queen.
In October 1970, 21-year-old Prince Charles met his great-uncle, the former King Edward VIII, at his home in Paris. Above: Prince Charles accompanies his mother, the Queen, as she meets the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson just ten days before her death
Charles’ meeting with his great-uncle, the former King Edward VIII, was dramatised in the third season of The Crown. Edward was played by Derek Jacobi and Charles by Josh O’Connor (above).
But the parallels with the past are not encouraging.
The Duke of Windsor never obtained a pardon from the Firm and, 18 months after that meeting with Charles, he died in France of throat cancer at the age of 77.
Earlier this year, palace sources suggested that King Charles was willing to consider a rapprochement with his youngest son. He has always been a spiritual man, has consulted religious leaders and is willing to put past arguments and insults behind him.
It was he who, in 1970, also offered an olive branch to the Windsors in Paris. His first idea was to invite them to spend a weekend in England. When the high officials of the court flatly rejected this proposal, he proposed to make a visit himself, saying: “It seems pointless to continue the dispute.”
But she had not reckoned with the deep animosity her grandmother, the Queen Mother, harboured towards the Duke and Duchess, whom she blamed for the premature death of her husband, who reluctantly ascended the throne as George VI after the abdication.
His daughter, the Queen, was equally implacable. Devoted to her father’s memory, she knew that George had always resisted plans to bring the Windsors back into his fold.
William and Harry pictured in 2021 arriving at the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor at their home in Paris during the filming of a scene from A King’s Story, the 1965 documentary about their lives.
Edward abdicated in December 1936 so that he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Above: The king during the broadcast of his abdication
During World War II, the Duke and Duchess were sent to govern the Bahamas, and while there they made repeated demands of Prime Minister Winston Churchill for greater official recognition. Angry at what he saw as his brother’s betrayal, George refused, until his own death from cancer in 1952. He knew that allowing the Windsors back would generate endless headlines about their exhibitionism, their partying and their politics – such a toxic spectacle would make his own role impossible.
Today, Prince William can see the same risks involved in pardoning Harry and Meghan. His ability to generate negative royal publicity is limitless, whether through books, TV series or high-profile celebrity interviews.
Following the Queen’s death two years ago, the royal family is in a fragile state, especially given the serious illnesses of both the King and the Princess of Wales. Harry’s return would be a hard blow for all of them.
Charles may be willing to consider it, but William is not. And as heir to the throne, it is William who calls the shots.
The notice of abdication signed by Edward VIII at his home in Fort Belvedere. His brothers Albert, Henry and George also signed the document
On June 3, 1937, Edward married Wallis Simpson in a French chateau, while a businessman whom the American divorcee actually loved looked on.
The lifelong hatred between Wallis and the Queen Mother is reflected in the deep divide between Meghan and Princess Catherine. After that venomous accusation of racism made by the Duchess of Sussex during her TV interview with Oprah Winfrey (and amplified by Harry in his autobiography, Spare), how will the couple ever be able to return to royal life – and how could they be trusted if they did?
Harry clearly hopes a solution can be found. His announcement that the Spare paperback edition will contain no new material and that he will not give interviews to promote it must be interpreted as an offering of peace.
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Her Netflix deal appears to be on hold, her Spotify contract was terminated amid humiliating recriminations (one senior executive dismissed Meghan and Harry as “swindlers”) and her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, has so far proved fruitless.
While Harry might want to return for emotional reasons, she may have more commercial ambitions. But for both of them, the palace door, as it was for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, is likely to remain locked and secure.