“TO UPHOLD HONOUR OF PROFESSION”

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 159, 2 April 1937, Page 11

“TO UPHOLD HONOUR OF PROFESSION”

Intervention Move in the Simpson Divorce Case London, March 25. “I did it to uphold the honour of the legal profession,” explained Mr. Francis Stephenson, whose intervention in the Simpson divorce case Was formally struck out by the president of the Divorce Court, Sir Boyd Merriman.

“I was convinced,” he added, “that Mrs. Simpson was abusing British legal institutions.” Stephenson, who is managing clerk to a London and Ilford legal firm, said that he had acted independently. He had been a member of the legal profession for 50 years. “I knew King Edward personally,” he said, “and visited him at Sandringham. He was a splendid fellow. I acted entirely on my own inspiration because I believed I was doing the right thing.

“I fully intended going on with the matter, and completed the affidavit which it is necessary to lodge in completion of the formalities.

“Then I heard King Edward's farewell message on the radio, and could not go any further. I said to myself, ‘He’s a decent fellow.’ I have always liked him. He can have 400 women if he likes.

“When he said he could not carry on without this woman at his side, I was finished, and let matters take their own course.” Asked if he was satisfied with the Attorney-General’s statement that the King’s Proctor had found no grounds for Intervening, Stephenson hesitated several moments. Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I Was very glad to hear it.”

TASTE OF MRS, SIMPSON Spring Wardrobe Costs £BOO London, March 24. “Elegantly simple, and in the best taste,” is. the general comment on the clothes Mrs. Simpson chose at a Cannes dress parade arranged for her by Molyneux, of Paris, according to the “Daily Mirror." It is reported that her spring wardrobe cost £SOO. She selected a magnificent silver fox coat made from 10 valuable skins instead of the usual six ; also a morning ensemble in sandy beige wool, with a straight tailored skirt, and a mannish waistcoat; for afternoon, a high-necked tailored dress with a matching black wool coat; an evening gown of light blue satin, with a suggestion of silver-grey, fitting closely to below tlie knees, then spreading out in a flare. It has a low-cut back and a short tailored jacket of the satin, fastened with glass buttons.