Letters from a Prince: Edward, Prince of Wales, to Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward

by Rupert Godfrey (Editor)

While the correspondence between the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson has been preserved and published, it had been thought that many of the Prince of Wales' letters to his earlier mistress, Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward, had been destroyed by her sometime before her death. But in November 1996, while holidaying abroad, Rupert Godfrey by chance came across 262 letters dating from 1918 to 1921, over 100 photographs, and assorted cards and memorabilia. They covered the last year of World War I and the Prince's official tours of Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, when he was in his early twenties. The letters are published in this book.

Genres: Nonfiction

544 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jinjer]

Why this book? Because, unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a biography of Freda Dudley Ward so this is all we've got? What happened to her letters to him I wonder? Maybe she never wrote him back. Hahahahaha.

[M-n · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well now, what an interesting book. Thankfully he didn't become King during WW2. Its amazing how copy and paste his sentiments were , and baby talk ,and initials and jewellery and threats of self extinction he was with Freda and Wallis. I actually felt sorry for him with the tours, they were brutal. In The NZ Australian tour a month after the strenuous Canadian tour he travelled over 45k miles by land and sea , visited 208 places in the 210 days of the trip. And was involved in a train derailment . After shaking thousands of hands and being clapped on the back, led to injuries not to mind stomach issues. Those psycho nannies who half starved both him and Bertie leaving both with stomach issues and one with a stutter and the other with Mummie Issues....As a glimpse into life at the time and attitudes its fascinating. Stick with it. hard book to find nowadays.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit that Downton Abbey brought me here. I was intrigued by the real life character of Freda Dudley-Ward and I thought it was interesting that the personal letters of a future king would be available almost 100 years after they were written. Since we don't know her side of the story, we can only speculate. She never commented or wrote a tell-all as formers lovers are prone to today.

However, Prince Edward or "David" as his family called him, has turned out to be childish and selfish. He certainly didn't see a problem in pursuing married women, as Mrs. Dudley-Ward was only the first in a long line. I found his writing to be very juvenile and self-centered. Keeping in mind these were to be private thoughts to his partner, his comments on other countries and their people are not complimentary. They certainly do not paint in him in a gracious light.

As an edited work, the editor has added some historical information to put the letters into perspective and that aspect was well done.