DIVORCE DECREE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 285, 1 December 1936, Page 10

DIVORCE DECREE.

MRS. SIMPSON'S SUIT.

AN ARRIVAL REHEARSED.

ABSOLUTE IN SIX MONTHS.

Citizens of the rustic market town of Ipswicli were stirring with excitement on the morning of October 24, hurrying through their chores so as to miss no single detail of the age-old pageant of "the law comin' to town," ushered in by the two criers' formidable shout: "Make way for God's and the King's judge!" cabled the "New York Times" correspondent. '

The opening of the assizes was replete with all the customary pomp and ceremony. First came two trumpeters, wearing the scarlet jackets and bearskin busbies of the Coldstream Guards. Next, escorted by the red-robed Lord Mayor of Ipswich, came Justice Sir John Anthony Hawke, wearing the black cocked hat and" heavy gold chain of his office. The trumpets blew, the crowd bared heads, and Mr. Justice Hawke walked into his Court. A Preview. Incidentally the townspeople were treated to a preview of what they might expect to see when Mrs. Wallis Simpson, the former Baltimore debutante, went to Court to press charges of her husband s misconduct, the only grounds for divorce under British law. The folk of Ipswich gaped at a strange demonstration of constables escorting an imaginary person through the crowds of the curious and into the courtroom. An automobile raced to the Court building, and two heavy constables leaped off, swinging their truncheons. Deftly they went throught the pantomime of helping someone from the car and making way for him or her through the crowd. Such, it was indicated, would be the police courtesy extended Mrs. Simpson. "Miss Kennedy." Three days later, after a number of cases had been heard involving alleged breaking and entering, and poaching of rabbits, the divorce suits were heard, Mrs. Simpson's heading a schedule of six. Mr. Justice Hawke announced a decree nisi after hearing formal testimony. Costs of the case were charged to the defendant, Ernest Aldrich Simpson, who did not contest the divorce. Name of the co-respondent was not mentioned in Court. Papers filed gave it as "Miss Kennedy." Six months must elapse before the decree becomes absolute. Mrs. Simpson on Stand. The hearing lasted 17 minutes. Mrs. Simpson was on the stand 14 minutes. She ' was questioned by her counsel, Norman Birkett, to bring out the case for the petitioner. She produced three letters, which dhe handed to the judge, _ Her evidence alleged that her husband, a shipping broker, ...was guilty: of misconduct at the Hotel do Paris, at Bray, near Maidenhead, Berkshire, at the end of July. £ A bellboy, a waiter and a clerk identified the hotel register to show the alleged misconduct. - }•'£ - Mrs. Simpson, in a suifc'with a polka-dot blouse and a smart blue wafer hat at a jaunty angle, showed not the slightest trace of nerves."; Lived Happily. "Were you married to the respondent, Ernest Aldrich Simpson, on July- 21, 1928, at the registry office in the district of Chelsea?" her counsel asked Mrs. Simpson when she took the stand. "Yes," Mrs. .Simpson replied, in a steady voice. "Is there any issue of that marriage?" "No." "Did you live happily with the respondent until the autumn of 1934?" "Yes." ! Was it at that time that the respondent's manner changed toward you?? "Yes." "What was the change, Mrs. Simnson?" i, He changed in his affection toward me." She complained about this change, she said, but isimpson paid no attention. Like' Recitation. Obviously well coached, Mrs. Simpson gave pat answers, sometimes almost before Birkett finished asking the question. . When Birkett asked her what prompted her to bring action, she spoke rapidly, as though reciting. Birkett handed her letters and photographs for identification, asking her to hand them to the judge. - Mr. Justice Hawke seemed dissatisfied with the letters,' two of which were not read out to the Court. He rebuked Birkett, pointing out that they were not sufficient evidence for divorce. One of the letters, Mrs. Simpson said, she found on a dressing table. The other was addressed to Ernest, but was enclosed in an envelope.addressed to her. Then she went to her solicitors, .she said, and wrote to her husbajnd, saying that as he had been staying at a hotel with a lady she was instituting proceedings. I

Her evidence finished, she returned to her seat in the well of the Court, chatted animatedly with Birkett, patted her hair and fidgeted while Mr. Frampton,. her associate counsel, examined nesses.

The next two ...witnesses„, y w.ere -slick, I small, pale-faced, typical; waiters. One j spoke with a marked Scottish accent. The other, appairently..}^talian, spoke English well. They gave evidence as though reciting., * : Counsel ;Rappe'di There was a dispute Erampton and Mr. Justice Hawke when the first waiter" was-lrecaUed'to pick Simp- son out from photographs aa the' man || i he saw in the hotel room, Erarapton p... - sa to the witness: ' J-, ". , "®o you recognise the figure on the "V • - j Photograph?" ' '^SeVvo^S 6 interPoSed an better' tha* .®' raTrl Pton. You know a »4 Wentiflea +E% Now you iave S° n « The judge B Sn- ?- for him-" and tucking - in his seat said: ° alB to »es around him, then . "Well, Mr. Birkett „ , in my mind." what is Wamea in'feJjfLiV;, Birkett replied he . £?& was referring to the respondent, but alth<p!fx.£ not offered in Court, <i£ wife l tio^ ic >-¥ woufd "That is just what is i n * s » Justice Hawke replied, but add&Sfe the name were m the petition it Wulfl ! suffice. B;rkett then said formally;.

"We ask for a decree nisi with costs.'' Justice Hawke wearily replied: "Yes, I suppose so." Mrs. Simpson and her counsel were ushered at once from Court, heavily guarded, as a second divorce case was called. As the car left police rushed two photographers and smashed their cameras. They cleared the street and halted photographers' cars trying to follow Mrs. Simpson.