Another Woman’s Husband

Travel Guide

The Gill Paul Tour:

London

“It was at Bryanston Court that Wallis held her famous KT hours, where the rich and famous flocked in the hope of meeting the Prince of Wales. As their relationship developed, she also entertained guests at the Prince’s homes: Fort Belvedere, a Gothic Revival house in extensive grounds, and Windsor Castle, perched on a hill above the Thames. Ernest takes Mary to various sites in and around London, travelling as far as Bath for a day and stopping at Stonehenge on the way back. They also stay at the Hotel de Paris in Bray for a night that was particularly important to the plot – but far be it from me to include any spoilers!”

Brighton

Rachel and Alex live together in Brighton, and her vintage clothes shop is in the North Laines. The town is a glorious mixture of Regency, Victorian and Edwardian architecture, with pale stucco and wrought-iron balconies, alongside modern bars and nightclubs. The West Pier was in a dilapidated state but still standing in 1997, when this story is set, but burned to a charred skeleton in 2003.

Baltimore

The story starts in Baltimore where Wallis and Mary first meet and become firm friends. The boarding school allows an closed environment for them to get to know each other but even here the differences between the two girls is evident.

“Wallis Warfield met Mary Kirk at Burrland summer camp in the Maryland countryside in 1911, and thus began a friendship that lasted for the next 24 years, their lives interlinking closely, moving apart for a while, then coming together again. They attended Oldfields school and socialised at the Baltimore country club, which are both still there today. ”

New York

The city where they all later live. Mary and Jacques settle in Washington Square and attend many functions and parties in and around the city’s clubs and bars. The city comes to life during the time of prohibition as the alcohol seems to be on tap even more than it was before. Parties are lavish and the chance to meet and mingle with men is just too darn appealing to some.

Washington Square  Bleecker Street

“The two plots cross over here: Mary and Jacques live just off Washington Square, then after their separation she moves to an apartment on Bleecker Street, where she and Ernest can sit on the fire escape watching the world go by. Rachel visits her friend Richard in New York and stays in his Bleecker Street loft, supping cocktails with him in a retro speakeasy bar. They walk across Washington Square, with its chess players and street performers, on their way to a sale of vintage clothing.”

London – Fort Belvedere

In 1930, Fort Belvedere became the residence of The Prince of Wales (future Edward VIII). When he became King, Edward continued to use Fort Belvedere as his Windsor residence. The fort is iconic in history as it is in the novel as this is where he signed the Instrument of Abdication, in the presence of his three brothers. Then,the very next night, after a radio address given from Windsor Castle, the now former King left the Fort for Austria where he awaited Mrs. Simpson’s divorce to become final.

Paris

The city of love and many many secrets it would seem. What is in the centre of the Bois de Bologne? Who would ever have guessed? And the tragic scene which plays out under the Alma Tunnel..now a shrine for the Princess and those who died here in 1997.

“Princess Diana visited the Villa Windsor hours before she died, and no one is quite sure why. This was the fact that inspired the novel, providing a link between Diana and Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor. Both married into the same family and were badly treated by them. Both were hounded by the press, both loved fashion and were much photographed, and both struggled to find love after an unhappy first marriage. “