Edward VIII letter on how he helped George VI have affair is unearthed 103 years on

Edward VIII letter telling how he helped his brother George VI have affair with the original Australian ‘good-looking Sheila’ is unearthed 103 years on

The then Prince of Wales persuaded Lord Loughborough to play a round of golf
It was so brother ‘Bertie’ could be alone with his wife Lady Sheila Loughborough
It came as the princes visited Loughborough’s residence in Winchester in 1919
At the time Edward was in relationship with his married lover Freda Dudley Ward
Meanwhile ‘Bertie’ was said to be infatuated with her Australian friend Shelia

By James Gant For Mailonline

Published: 14:24 GMT, 27 January 2022 | Updated: 14:29 GMT, 27 January 2022

A letter by Edward VIII revealing how he helped his brother George VI have an affair with the original Australian ‘good-looking Sheila’ has been unearthed 103 years later.

The then Prince of Wales persuaded Lord Loughborough to play a round of golf with him so his brother ‘Bertie’ could be alone with his wife Lady Sheila Loughborough.

It took place when the two princes visited the Loughborough’s residence in Winchester, Hampshire, in 1919.

At the time Edward was in a relationship with his married lover Freda Dudley Ward and ‘Bertie’ was said to be infatuated with her Australian friend Shelia.

In the letter, Edward told Dudley Ward he ‘lured Loughie away’ to ‘give Sheilie a chance of being alone with Bertie’.

The then Prince of Wales (right) persuaded Lord Loughborough (centre) to play a round of golf with him so his brother ‘Bertie’ (left) could be alone with his wife Lady Sheila Loughborough

At the time Edward was in a relationship with his married lover Freda Dudley Ward and ‘Bertie’ was said to be infatuated with her Australian friend Shelia (pictured)

In the letter, Edward told Dudley Ward he ‘lured Loughie away’ to ‘give Sheilie a chance of being alone with Bertie’

The Sheila who shook up society by marrying an earl, a baronet and a prince… who was Lady Loughborough?

Sheila Chisholm was an Australian socialite who became the inspiration for the famous phrase Down Under – which was supposedly named after her – ‘a good-looking sheila’. Chisholm was a renown ‘it-girl’ around the time of the First World War, having dazzled many in high society with her beauty.

She married three times – Lord Loughborough, Sir John Charles Peniston Milbanke and Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich of Russia. But she was also close the future kings of the British Empire Edward VIII and George VI, having a romantic liaison with the latter. But their time together ended when his father, King George V, told him to find a more suitable, unmarried, partner. He went on to marry Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth II’s mother.

Sheila was an Australian beauty from Wollogorang, two days’ ride south of Sydney. She was a darling of the gossip columns, where her fashion style and antics were scrutinized with the same breathless fascination as those of Cara Delevigne or Pippa Middleton today.

Yet her life of glittering hedonism was marked by deep sadness. She was divorced twice, and outlived two of her three husbands and one of her sons. As a young mother she effectively brought up her two boys as a single parent while her husband, Lord Loughborough, struggled with the hopeless addictions to alcohol and gambling that would eventually ruin him. And during the Second World War she, like other war wives and mothers, suffered the anguish of not knowing when, or if, she would see her son and husband again.

The letter reads: ‘I simply couldn’t hit a ball at golf & Bertie beat my head off, f- him… we motored on to Winchester reaching Lankhills at 5:30.

‘After tea I managed to lure Loughie [Lord Loughborough] away on the pretext of wanting to play a few more holes of golf on the local course, so as to give Sheilie a chance of being alone with Bertie; they said they were tired & we left them…’

The two-page pencil note, signed ‘David’, has emerged for sale for £2,500 with London-based Forum Auctions.

George VI, then in his early 20s, and Sheila, an Australian socialite, met at a dance at Stafford House in London in 1918, with their affair lasting until 1920.

He had been warned off seeing her by his father King George V and she returned to Australia with Lord Loughborough in a bid to save their failing marriage.

But they remained friends and corresponded by letter.

George VI met Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – the Queen Mother – shorty after he ended his interest in Sheila and they married in 1923.

Edward VIII left Freda in 1934 and met American divorcee socialite Wallis Simpson, abdicating the throne in 1937 so they could marry. George VI took his place as king.

Sheila divorced Lord Loughborough, a gambler who ‘broke the bank in Monte Carlo’, and married twice more, to Sir John Milbanke and Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich of Russia.

She also had a relationship with Italian actor Rudolph Valentino and inspired the Australian phrase ‘she’s a gold looking Sheila’ because of her striking beauty.

She died in 1969. The letter has now been consigned for sale by a private collector.

Simon Luterbacher, specialist at London-based Forum Auctions, said: ‘A bit of sibling solidarity was at play as they tried to get George alone with Lady Loughborough.

‘It was a bit conniving on their part, and it is unusual to find a letter which goes into such personal detail.

‘The brothers clearly had a strong bond at the time, but this would change in later years with the abdication.’

The sale takes place on February 10.

The letter reads: ‘I simply couldn’t hit a ball at golf & Bertie beat my head off, f- him… we motored on to Winchester reaching Lankhills at 5:30’

Simon Luterbacher, specialist at London-based Forum Auctions, said: ‘A bit of sibling solidarity was at play as they tried to get George alone with Lady Loughborough.’ Pictured: The letter

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