DUKE OF WINDSOR.

Wairarapa Age, 4 May 1937, Page 5

DUKE OF WINDSOR.

PREPARATIONS FOR WEDDING. LITTLE-ROMANCE OF SOMME RECALLED. MAYOR TO PERFORM CEREMONY. (Received Monday, 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 2. The "Daily Mail’s” Tours correspondent says a story of the Duke of Windsor kissing a pretty French girl on the Somme battlefield lies behind plans for his marriage. The Mayor of Monts, the nearest town to the Chateau de Cande, is Dr. Charles Mercier, whose wife recaUs that when King George V visited the Somme front in war time, British headquarters were situated in the village in which she resided. Her father frequently entertained the officers and she was chosen to present a bouquet to King George, who thanked her and asked the Prince of Wales also to express his thanks. The Prince shook her hand and kissed her on the cheek. Now Dr. Mercier, as Chief Magistrate, will marry the Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Simpson. Dr. Mercier confirms the statement that the date has not been fixed, but he has been asked to visit the Chateau shortly to discuss arrangements with Mrs. Simpson and the Duke of Windsor. Madame Mercier says: "I am sure the Duke has not forgotten the Somme incident. I should love to attend the wedding.” Mrs. Simpson has been golfing and looks sunburnt. The Duke of Windsor is expected to be met at a secret rendezvous near Paris with a ear from the Chateau in which Mrs. Simpson may travel to greet him.

PICTURESQUE FAREWELL. AUSTRIAN VILLAGERS SING' & DANCE. (Received Monday, 8.30 p.m.) ST. WOLFGANG, May 3. Villagers crowded fifty illuminated boats and picturesquely farewelled the Duke of Windsor. Singers and dancers and a brass band assembled on a platform supported by two barges and proceeded to the villa after dusk, leading a procession of watercraft. The Duke of Windsor stood on a balcony for two hours, listening to folk songs and watching clogged performers demonstrate national dances. At the conclusion, he received the Burgomaster, who expressed the village’s sense of honour over the Duke’s visit. The simple pageant was not marred even by the Nazis who seized the opportunity to set on fire a giant wooden Swastika on a hillside.

MRS SIMPSON’S DIVORCE.

DECREE MADE ABSOLUTE. BRIEF FORMAL PROCEEDINGS. (Received This Day, 0.l a.m.) LONDON, May 3. Fifty seconds and less than a hundred words spoken by Sir Boyd. Merriman, President, and the Clerk of the Court, sufficed to make absolute 86 decrees nisi, including Mrs. Simpson’s, which was numbered 56. Although it was a merely formal procedure, hundreds queued at the Divorce Court entrance and the President’s Court was crowded when Sir Boyd Merriman took his seat on the Bench beneath the rope and anchor which are the symbolic sign of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division. Immediately the Clerk rose and, reading from the official list, said: “Applications to make absolute decrees nisi in causes numbers one to 78 from the principal registries.” Sir B. Merriman asked: "Does anyone appear to show cause why the decrees should not be made absolute?” There was a pause of five seconds, in silence, after which Sir B. Merriman said: “I then pronounce the decree nisi, as made, absolute.” A similar procedure was followed with the remaining decrees from the district registries and the crowd evaporated. Within a few moments of the decision, the Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Simpson were informed of it by telephone. It is now reported that the Duke of Windsor is leaving St. Wolfgang this afternoon, a dqy before he was expected to do so, and entraining at Salzburg for France. The Duke of Kent is expected to represent the Royal Family at the wedding. The first part of the honeymoon will be spent at the Vila Leroe, Lord Cholmondeley’s estate at Cannes.