The Duke and Duchess charmed all

There was a big scandal when King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in 1936 to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simson. But that was ancient history by the time the couple made an ever-so-brief appearance on Opelousas.
Edward was the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary. He was said to be a charming rogue during his youth and when he became king in 1936 quickly raised eyebrows by paying little attention to the way kings were supposed to act.
He was only months into his reign when he brought on a constitutional crisis by his proposal to marry Wallis, who at that time had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second. When it became apparent that he could not marry her and keep his crown, he abdicated after only 326 days on the throne
He married Wallis in France on June 3, 1937, after her second divorce became final. After abdicating, Edward was made Duke of Windsor by his brother and successor, George VI, and Wallis became the Duchess of Windsor;
In 1940, the Duke was appointed governor of the Bahamas, but he quit that job in 1945, after which the couple shuttled between Europe and the United States, living the life of glamorous globe-trotters.
They were doing some of that trotting on February 2, 1950, when a Missouri Pacific train that included their special car pulled in for its usual five-minute stop at the depot in Opelousas.
It was running an hour behind schedule, and the Windsors apparently hadn’t intended to make an appearance. But about 150 people who were gathered at the deport called for them and, as the Daily World reported, “they descended from their special car at the rear of the train, smiling and gracious.”
They were headed to Texas and had visited in Baton Rouge, where they’d “stopped practically all activity” during a tour of the state capitol that included a call on Gov. Earl Long’s office. That certainly would have been one of their more interesting encounters, but, alas, Uncle Earl wasn’t there.
In Opelousas, the Duke said they were enjoying their trip and had just crossed “that river that is so hard to pronounce” (the Atchafalaya). He wore a boutonniere that had been given him in Baton Rouge in the left lapel of his double-breasted suit, “but graciously accepted another, a lovely camelia, from Mrs. Edna R. Kurtz and Mrs. M. J. Goudeau, local club women, and placed it in his right lapel.”
Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, “erupted into a smile” as she was presented with a bouquet. She was wearing “a two-piece navy blue dress with pearl choker.” Her appearance caused someone in the crowd to exclaim “ Why, she’s as pretty as the day she was married,” according to the Daily World, which added, “She was, too.”
After touring in Texas, the Windsors came back to Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans, again causing a stir. According to a news account, “Not since the Mardi Gras journey to New Orleans by the Russian Grand Duke Alexis in 1872 had the town been abuzz in such anticipation as when news broke that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor would pay a Carnival-time visit to the Crescent City.”
New Orleans writer Ronnie Virgets wrote on February 21, 1950, “The Windsors arrived into the Missouri-Pacific yard on their private railroad cars at 7 a.m. filled with what one witness described as ‘God-knows-how-many trunks.’”
It seems liked the trunks should have held everything they needed, but there was no worry if something was forgotten. Biographer Ralph Martin wrote, “It did not seem outlandish to [the Duke] that a bellhop at the Waldorf in New York [the Windsor’s more-or-less permanent U.S. residence] flew down to New Orleans to bring him his white tie and tails for a big ball.”
There was also another potential dilemma. Carnival protocol demands that the Mardi Gras royalty never bow to anyone. But Rex and his queen were to be presented to the former King of England. Who was supposed to bow to whom?
Once again, the Windsors showed their grace. A history of the Rex organization records, “When the captain of the Comus organization presented the Duke and Duchess of Windsor … the Duchess hit the floor with two of the most beautiful and graceful curtsies ever seen, and the Duke bowed from the waist, almost touching the floor with his forehead. Comus’ 2,500 guests were in ecstasy. They responded with deafening applause.”
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.