How Anderson Cooper's great-aunt had affair with Edward VIII

Revealed: How Prince Harry interviewer Anderson Cooper’s great-aunt had an affair with the Duke’s great-great grandfather Edward VIII when he was Prince of Wales

• Prince Harry was interviewed by Anderson Cooper ahead of his book release
• The 60 Minutes host and the Duke share an unusual link dating back to the 1920s
• Cooper’s maternal great aunt, Thelma, had an affair with future King Edward VIII
• She also introduced the then-Prince of Wales to his future wife, Wallis Simpson 

When Prince Harry sat down with CBS’s Anderson Cooper for an interview about his new book, there was a little known and unusual link between the pair.

Despite their families being born thousands of miles apart and on different sides of the Atlantic, the interview was not the first time they have crossed paths.

In the 1920s and 30s Cooper’s great-aunt, Thelma Furness, had an affair with the Duke’s great-great grandfather, Edward VIII.

And in a twist of fate, it was Lady Furness who ended up introducing the then-Prince of Wales to his future wife, Wallis Simpson.

Thelma Furness, pictured with Edward VIII, the then-Prince of Wales, in during their affair in 1932

Prince Harry, pictured here, sat down for an interview with Anderson Cooper about his new book

It is unknown whether either the Duke of Sussex or the American TV personality were aware of the link before they met as part of Harry’s publicity blitz ahead of the release of his autobiography, Spare, next week. 

However, information about the link between their families has long been in the public domain.

The Prince, who had a reputation for being a clingy and needy man, had his fair share of romantic liaisons, including with a courtesan who murdered her husband.

He had originally met Lady Furness at an agricultural show in 1926.

The pair struck up an affair despite the fact she was married to Marmaduke Furness, who was 20 years her senior and owner of a shipbuilding firm.

Edward had moved onto Lady Furness despite being besotted with Freda Ward, the wife of MP William Dudley Ward.

Their passionate affair had come off the rails when Freda embarked on another affair with an American polo player in a bid to get the Prince to move on.

He did so in the form of Lady Furness – with the couple exchanging teddy bears from Harrods when to remind them of each other while they were apart.

Edward’s association with Lady Furness also facilitated his introduction to his future wife, Wallis Simpson.

A chance meeting between the pair at one of Lady Furness’s parties at her house in Melton Mowbry soon blossomed into a close friendship, reports The History Press.

Wallis and her second husband, Ernest Simpson, had only been invited to the party after another married couple dropped out at the last minute.

It was only after Wallis divorced her second husband, Ernest Simpson, that Edward would enter into a relationship with her, sparking a royal crisis that ended with his abdication and the accession of Harry’s great-grandfather, George, to the throne.

In her book ‘Before Wallis: Edward VIII’s Other Women’, author Rachel Threthewey remarked that despite the affair not lasting, one of the teddy bears was found at the bottom of Lady Furness’s handbag when she died of a heart attack in 1970.

Towards the end of her life, when asked if she had any regrets, she had said: ‘I’d do it all again. The only thing I would not do again is introduce Wallis Simpson to the Prince of Wales.’

It is unclear whether Harry or Cooper, pictured, were aware of the link between their two families

Lady Furness and her twin sister Gloria Vanderbilt pictured together. Gloria was the grandmother of CBS’s Anderson Cooper

Lady Furness later said she regretted introducing Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson, pictured together in 1942

Thought Harry was making waves? How troublesome Prince Edward VIII fell for a murdering courtesan and left the royal family rocked by scandal 

 

Lady Furness’s twin sister, Gloria, had also married into high society in the form of the Vanderbilt’s, one of America’s richest families.

At the age of 18 she wed Reginald Vanderbilt, an heir to the Vanderbilt fortune who was 24 years older than her.  

They would have one daughter, who was also called Gloria, before he died and she would later become the subject of a highly publicised custody battle between Ms Vanderbilt and her sister-in-law Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.

The younger Gloria would later give birth to Anderson Cooper – the youngest of her seven children – with her fourth husband, author Wyatt Emory Cooper in 1967.

MailOnline has contacted representatives of Prince Harry for comment.

A trailer for his interview with Cooper, as well as a separate quizzing from ITV’s Tom Bradby, was released on Monday.

In the advert for his interview on CBS, Harry was asked why he had not communicated his grievances with the rest of his family in private.

‘Every single time I’ve tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife. 

‘The family motto is never complain and never explain – it’s just a motto.’

He adds: ‘They [Buckingham Palace] will feed or have a conversation with a correspondent, and that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story, and at the bottom of it, they will say they have reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.

‘But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting.

‘So when we’re being told for the last six years, ”we can’t put a statement out to protect you”, but you do it for other members of the family, there becomes a point when silence is betrayal.’

Royal experts say Harry and Meghan need to learn ‘silence is common sense’ after Prince claims he wants reconciliation during publicity blitz for new book 

It comes ahead of the publication of his memoir, Spare, which is being released in the UK next week.

In the trailer for his interview with Mr Bradby, Harry says ‘it never needed to be this way’ and refers to ‘the leaking and the planting’ before adding ‘I want a family, not an institution’.

He also says, in an apparent reference to the royals, ‘they feel as though it is better to keep us somehow as the villains’, adding that his family ‘have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile’.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams says proclamations made by the Sussexes in the press are not helping the fractured relationship.

‘This resembles a publicity circus which looks rather desperate,’ he said.

‘Harry might like to “get his brother back” and “…his father back”, but must surely know giving this catalogue of woes even more exposure, is not the way to do so.

‘Further accusations of stories being planted against them by the Palace in both interviews show how bitter he and Meghan still are but, though their fans may support it, there will come a time when even the media tire of exposure at this level.

‘Harry says in the trailer for the CBS interview, referring to the Palace’s inability to protect them from false reports, that “there comes a point when silence is betrayal”.

‘There is also a point, if they wish any relationship, however distant, with the royal family, when silence is common sense. When will the Sussexes learn this?’

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