People, Jul. 3, 1972

"The woman I love" for whom Edward VIII renounced the British throne was not the only one. A forthcoming biography of the late Duke of Windsor, by his friend Frances Donaldson, tells the story of his long friendship with Mrs. Dudley Ward, wife of a Liberal Party whip in the House of Commons. They met in 1917, during an air raid, when Freda Ward took refuge in the cellar of a house where a noisy party was going on. She chatted in the gloom with an unknown guest in his early 20s, and after the all-clear, the hostess pressed her to join the party: "His Royal Highness is so anxious that you should do so." They danced together all night, he escorted her home, and a friendship began that lasted for 17 years. But in the spring of 1934, after several weeks of preoccupation with an ill relative, Freda called St. James's Palace, and an embarrassed operator told her: "I have orders not to put you through." Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson—then married to the brother of the hostess who had introduced Freda to the Prince in 1917—had appeared on the scene.

Splitsville continues to be the country's fastest growing community. Johnny Carson's Joanne received her divorce (plus $100,000 a year, an art collection and other property) when she tearfully told the judge how Johnny—after nine years, no children—was "abusive" and changed the locks on their Manhattan apartment. Peter Fonda's Susan filed suit for divorce after nearly eleven years and two children, claiming "irreconcilable differences" and her half of more than $2,000,000 worth of joint property. Andy Griffith's Barbara also filed for divorce (23 years, two children), while California's Republican Congressman Paul McCloskey, onetime presidential candidate, separated from his wife Caroline after 23 years and four children. By contrast, one California marriage enjoyed a happy 32nd anniversary dinner at the White House. Tricia and Eddie Cox helped the President and Mrs. Nixon celebrate with Pat's favorite foods: Swiss steak, whipped potatoes, corn on the cob, cucumber salad, cornbread.

In a swirl of white feathers, a dazzle of rhinestones and a white Adolfo dress that seemed pasted to her, Gloria Vanderbilt Cooper outswanned them all at the Swan Ball in Nashville, Tenn. She was not there for social swimming, she explained, but for Art—an exhibit of her collages and drawings at the Tennessee Fine Arts Center. It was Gloria's fine-line slimness, though, that caught the eye. What magic diet had brought her 5 ft. 7½ in. down to 98 Ibs.? "It just happened," she told Columnist Eugenia Sheppard. "In the mornings I just drank a cup of coffee. I was working all day in my studio, so I ate a bowl of Granola, one of those health cereals, with some milk. At night I had steak, vegetables and a diet pudding."