July 2025 – Done & Dunne

248. Touring Bellevue Avenue | Kingscote, The Isaac Bell House, Bell Court, The Elms, and Chepstow

Join Alicia as we begin our leisurely stroll down Bellevue Avenue, backdrop of the Gilded Age in Newport, Rhode Island. We start at the top at The Casino and work…

247. Duchess Fever | The Jewelry Auction of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor

In this very last Wallis episode, we bring our man Dominick Dunne, who attended and breathlessly reported on the 1987 auction of her jewelry at Sotheby’s in Geneva. This story…

246. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | The King and Queen of International Society

Duke and Duchess of Windsor with Richard Nixon, 1970. See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In our finale of the Wallis, Duchess of Windsor series, we spend time with the Duke and the Duchess in their time as the toast of international society. David and…

245. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | Doing Time in the Bahamas and Post War Days

Duke of Windsor visits the Bermuda Flying School on his way to becoming Governor of the Bahamas. By Royal Air Force - Wing Commander Mo Ware, CO RAF Bermuda, Public Domain, Link

The Duke and Duchess should be in their long-awaited wedded bliss period, but King George VI is going to take his brother David up on that past offer to be…

244. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | Creatures of International Curiosity

The Duke of Windsor inspects SS troops during his 1937 Germany visit. By Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-17964 / Pahl, Georg / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Link Der Herzog schreitet die Front der SS im Burghof ab. Links: Robert Ley

Married life begins for Wallis and David, and although it is a time of decorating homes and settling into domestic bliss for the couple, there are troubled times brewing. David…

243. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | Becoming the Duke and Duchess of Windsor

Instrument of Abdication. Edward VIII, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In December of 1936, David is off the throne and has a little time on his hands. The former king cannot reunite with his love Wallis at the moment, as…

242. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | The Instrument of Abdication

King Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson on holiday in Yugoslavia, 1936. National Media Museum from UK, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

We have journeyed into this trashy series to fall of 1936, and the abdication of Edward VIII is coming fast and hard. The world now knows about Wallis, and everyone…

241. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | The Countdown to Abdication

By Vandyk (active 1881-1947) - https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/edward-viii, Public Domain, Link

No one inside or outside the palace seems all too pleased in this continuing episode of our Wallis series. We are definitely on the countdown to the December 1936 abdication…

240. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | The King is Dead, Long Live the King

After Albert Henry Collings, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

King George V has passed, and it is David’s time to assume the throne. The new King of England is pretty okay with it, for now – but only if…

239. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | That Woman

By Photographer unknown - Published in Life, 14 December 1936, p. 37, Public Domain, Link

This week, we bring Wallis and the Prince of Wales together, and it is some scandalous stuff. Walls sells out her friend Thelma. David is resolved to get Wallis into…