The archive totals over 75 pages of material and includes 28 letters from Wallis Windsor and five letters from Edward. Also included are four candid color photographs of the Duke and Duchess. Highlights include: Letter to Honey Berlin, socialite wife of Richard Berlin and mother of Andy Warhol groupie, Brigid Berlin, thanking him for "Murray Bay socks" she sent. The TLS dated October 14, 1959 reads in part, "The colors couldn't be more gay and chic and the socks fit perfectly, I can't wait to wear them . . . We have enjoyed playing the tape recording of the messages on Dick's fiftieth year with Hearst. I don't believe I deserve your flattery but I was sorry they didn't record your message which must have been the best." The letter is signed "Edward" and then initialed "E" after a post script. A two-page TLS to Richard Berlin dated October 31, 1948 is marked "personal and confidential.” The letter discusses the presidential election and communists. In part the letter reads, " . . . I read your political news with relish and was glad to know that you could confirm all the reports I have received regarding the Presidential election. Tom Dewey impressed me a lot the only time I met him, and seems to have kept his campaign on a much more dignified and higher level than the president. It is, at any rate, encouraging to know that the republican party can be relied upon to continue the thorough house-cleaning job of Communists throughout Washington without cost to the tax-payers. I have just returned from a week's visit to Great Britain where one of the few brighter signs on an otherwise bleak horizon was the T.U.C.'s repudiation of the Communist elements within its ranks. The reports you receive from Europe must be far more accurate and detailed than any I could give you. I have never sat atop a volcano myself, but I believe the war of nerves conducted by the Kremlin must resemble that uncomfortable posture closer than anything else before. The Cominform's aggressive tactics towards E.R.P. have taken a dangerous and very effective form in France where a 26-day coal strike has depleted the stock piles of coal by some 3,000,000 tons, involving serious cuts in industrial power which will impose untold hardships on the French people– this among winter. However, unless the Russians declare a shooting war, various circumstances cause the Duchess and myself to see the winter through in Europe and not return to America until the Spring, We are sorry in many ways, and as climatic conditions will not be pleasant for golf I shall have to work hard on my game to be able to compete with you and Charlie when I get back." A TLS from Wallis to Honey Berlin dated May 27, 1960 from Paris regarding an injury she suffered. "I would have written sooner but I have had a most stupid accident fell over a chair tore a ligament in my ankle and landed on my shoulder which makes writing very painful - so forgive typing. My leg is in plaster for a month–I cannot say that I am interested in ordering clothes or going out much. Paris is full however and the so-called season is on." August 10th, 1963 ALS from Wallis "I do hope that you and Dick are having just the opposite times and that your . . . are improving quickly. I saw Anne Ford leave looking really sad - a legal separation isn't good for either side." Anne Ford was the wife of Henry Ford II. The couple divorced in 1963. Anne went on to receive ALS from Wallis Feb. 8, 1963 reads in part, ". . . We think we shall buy some land on the Costa del Sol - and whether we can afford to build a house is another matter - prices are going up in Spain and I do think Spanish . . . are pretty crude - certainly the French I have here are difficult . . . what a time Dick must be having with this ghastly strike. It certainly shows that people are more dependant on the written word than the spoken word." The archive also includes several telegrams from Wallis and Edward to Mr. and Mrs. Berlin regarding planned visits and thanks you for flowers and gifts. Four color photos from 1960 of the Berlins and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor presumably on one of the Berlins' visits. Wallis's ankle appears to be bandaged so perhaps these were snapped after the fall she writes about in her May 27, 1960, letter. In fine condition. COA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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