A ROYAL PAIN

"I was so frightened it was going to be in the press," Ma"tre Blum said to me. "Day and night the journalists keep telephoning. The press give me no peace. Whenever the Duchess goes into the American Hospital, they telephone me day and night. They want to know what's wrong with her."

Ma"tre Blum quite suddenly seemed to forget she was giving a press interview and she became naively confidential. She told me that it was always a problem deciding how best to palm off the press. She invariably said that the Duchess of Windsor was in hospital with appendicitis. Ma"tre Blum often worried that the press might not be satisfied with this statement. Ma"tre Blum had claimed the Duchess of Windsor was in the hospital with acute appendicitis too many times before. She feared the journalists might find it odd if they were told the Duchess's appendix was being continually removed.

cjr  |  archive  |  resources  |  contact  |  search  |  subscribe