Wallis Simpson’s note to Judy Garland written in style of Over The Rainbow after Hollywood star couldn’t join Edward VIII and the royal mistress for dinner sells for £3,250
- Simpson wrote the note in 1955 at the Colony Restaurant in New York
- It was written to the tune of Garland’s ‘Over the Rainbow’ from the Wizard of Oz
- Note signed by both Mrs Simpson and Edward VIII and kept for years by Garland
A remarkable note written by royal mistress Wallis Simpson to film star Judy Garland expressing her regret she could not join her and Edward VIII for dinner has sold for more than £3,000.
The message was written in an amended version of the ballad Over The Rainbow, the song Garland famously sung in The Wizard of Oz.
Sat at the table of New York restaurant The Colony alongside the then Duke of Windsor, Wallis wrote: ‘Somewhere up in the Plaza/ Way up high/ There’s a gal that we miss/ Oh me, oh my, oh my/ etc – etc – etc’.
A note written by royal mistress Wallis Simpson to Judy Garland expressing her regret she could not join her and Edward VIII for dinner has sold for £3,250. The message was written in an amended version of the ballad Over The Rainbow, the song Garland famously sung in The Wizard of Oz
The note, on the headed notepaper of The Colony restaurant, was signed by her, the Duke of Windsor and their dining companions that night.
The message reached Garland and was later referred to in her official biography that was published 20 years later.
The movie star kept the note, that was written in 1955 – 19 years after Edward abdicated the throne to marry Wallis – in a memory book for years.
It was acquired 15 years ago by a British collector who has now sold it with Chiswick Auctions, of London.
They expected it to go for £600 but it sparked fervent interest, and eventually sold for more than five times its estimate.
Valentina Borghi, a books and manuscripts specialist at Chiswick Auctions of west London, said: ‘This is a funny note that Wallis Simpson wrote when Judy Garland was unable to join her and Edward for dinner one evening in 1955.
The note, on the headed notepaper of The Colony restaurant, was signed by Mrs Simpson, the Duke of Windsor and their dining companions that night. The message reached Garland and was later referred to in her official biography that was published 20 years later. Above: Ms Garland as Dorothy with her character’s dog, Toto, in 1939
‘Wallis wrote a variation of the famous song from the Wizard of Oz and sent it to Judy Garland after getting those at the table to sign it.
‘These people included her husband and other high ranking members of New York society.
‘Wallis Simpson was a very witty woman and possibly after a glass or two of champagne, thought it was a good idea to write this.
‘But is appears she ran out of steam quite quickly because she only wrote the first verse of the song.
Although Wallis and Edward were ‘prolific’ in giving their signatures, the note was described as ‘unique’ by Valentina Borghi, a manuscripts specialist at Chiswick Auctions of west London
‘We know Judy Garland kept the note but it left her estate many years ago and now belongs to a British collector.
‘Both Wallis and Edward were prolific in giving their signatures but this item is truly unique.’
The other signatures on the note are for Babe Paley, the wife of the president of broadcaster CBS, Bob Young, president of the Penn Central Railroad, Bill Paley, chief executive of Columbia Broadcasting and composer Charlie Cushing.
Mrs Simpson was dining at New York’s Colony Restaurant, pictured in 1950, when she wrote the note to Garland. Above: diners at the venue in the 1950s. It closed in 1971