By Stephen S. Lash, SS United States Conservancy Advisory Council Member
In March 1969, my wife and I returned to New York from Southampton aboard the SS United States. As we approached Le Havre there was a feeling of electricity in the air. We soon learned that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were among the boarding passengers. While Wendy and I had not previously met them, we did get to know HRH’s valet in the kennel because we were returning with our beloved Bearded Collie, Sam (aka “the Lamb”) and his sidekick, an Abyssinian cat, “Addis.” The Duke and Duchess were traveling with their own beloved dogs, a number of Pugs.
At the time I was reading “The Sassoons,” a book about an aristocratic British (formerly Baghdad) banking family who were close to the Duke when he was Prince of Wales. It occurred to me that the Duke might enjoy the book, so I gave it to the Valet in the ship's kennel during one of our visits with Sam and Addis. I also requested that the book be returned at the end of the voyage since it was on loan from my firm's library.
I reported this largesse to my bride when I returned to our cabin, only to be berated by her for invading the privacy of the Royals. She went on to say that I should have known better.
Suitably humbled I began to dress for dinner (black tie except first night out and Sundays) when the cabin telephone rang and was answered by my wife. Uncharacteristically, she put her hand over the receiver and said, “Someone says he is the Duke of Windsor.” It was indeed that celebrity passenger who was ringing to thank me for the loaned book and to point out certain inaccuracies which he had corrected by hand and initialed. My response was, “In that case, Sir, I will not be returning the book to my firm’s library.”
The Windsors were kind enough to extend an invitation to meet in the ship’s Ballroom that evening. Decked out with numerous large, impressive emeralds, the Duchess commented that her husband had been buried in the book all afternoon, resulting in her receiving no attention.
Decades later, I visited the museum in the one-time Sassoon-owned Peace Hotel in Shanghai. I learned of the Sasoon Archive in Texas and subsequently donated the annotated book to the Library at the University in Austin.
The only disappointing part of the entire encounter occurred 28 years later, by which time I had gone to work for the venerable British auction house, Christies, to open a salesroom in New York. Following the death of the Duchess in 1986, those incredible emeralds, along with many other unique items, and lots else were auctioned by our chief rival Sotheby’s in 1987.
Stephen S. Lash is the Chairman Emeritus of Christie’s in New York and an SS United States Conservancy Advisory Council Member.