• Behind Closed Doors

  • By: Hugo Vickers
  • Narrated by: John Telfer
  • Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (115 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Behind Closed Doors  By  cover art

Behind Closed Doors

By: Hugo Vickers
Narrated by: John Telfer
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.92

Buy for $22.92

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The life of the Duchess of Windsor came to an end in Paris on 24 April 1986. She was almost 90. Many people assumed that she had died years before, since she disappeared from public view for over a decade. Sebastian Faulks wrote in the Sunday Telegraph, ‘She is seen as no more than the star of an old romantic film that most French have forgotten.

’But the world did take note, describing her death as the final curtain on one of the greatest love stories of the twentieth century. The story of the Abdication was retold, embers of the feud between the British Royal Family and the Windsors in exile were fanned once more, and there was increasing speculation about the many historical treasures owned by the Duke and Duchess, in particular her jewels.

Hugo Vickers has followed the unfolding saga of this tragic couple since he was a young man. And, with the help of previously unpublished papers and personal testaments, he now brings a whole new perspective to the story. In particular, Vickers focuses on the last years of the Duchess of Windsor, revealing the cold truth about the ruthless exploitation of a vulnerable old woman by an unscrupulous French lawyer called Suzanne Blum.

Behind Closed Doors is a potent mixture of detective story and revelatory royal history. Hugo Vickers combines meticulous research with an intense fascination with his subject to tell a tale whose dramatic impact has only increased with time.

©2011 Hugo Vickers (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Behind Closed Doors

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    49
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    19
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    46
  • 4 Stars
    25
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    38
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You Reap What You Sow

I just finished reading That Woman, and was curious to learn more about Wallis and Edward in exile. This couple never looked happy to me, and I suspect that he only used this woman to relieve himself of being King, a job he never enjoyed. No love there to make your wife the most hated woman in England.
I suspect that had they had inkling of how ostracised they would be in their new life he might not have abdicated. The most startling revelations in this book are the chapters dealing with the Duchess after Edward died. Poor of health and isolated from all her remaining friends, she is a virtual prisoner of her staff and lawyer. Who rob her blind.
Not a great love story at all, but a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
This is a thoroughly well researched book and dispels much of the nonsense and innuendo that have followed this couple.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

43 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Trying to make a heroine where one didn't exist.

I think the reader is supposed to feel sorry for the Windsors and the mess they made of everything. The book comes across as empty as its subjects.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The end of the Affair

This is a very accurate and sad account of the dishonest lawyer who overtook the life of the Duchess of Windsor and her money.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

The Book of Agony

What would have made Behind Closed Doors better?

Strong editing that would have excised massive repetition and eliminated many useless pieces of information, speculation and invention.

Has Behind Closed Doors turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not really but I certainly will not read anything else from this author....though I suspect he has no other books of purported insider knowledge.

Any additional comments?

This is subtitled "The Book of Agony" because it was a tortured tale that could have been successfully told in one hour or as a short story. There is endless repetition and irrelevant, agonizing detail that is more properly Appendix material for those who care about such minutiae The people are pathetic, selfish, hopelessly helpless and shamefully weak. The author wishes her knew more or that he was somehow actually connected in their story, but is clearly only an obsessed researcher. There is no romance nor levity in the story of this story of the personal relationship of the Windsors but rather a depressing and frustrating tale of friends and royalty who stood back and did nothing to help or protect a friend or the important artifacts and papers of the former King of England. Compounding the situation is an avaricious and bloodless attorney who stole and dissipated the Duchess' assets.

I never give up on a book while listening in hopes that there is some redeeming aspect but in this case, there is no reward here for the hearty optimist. Certainly, while some books are better than others, this one is way behind the pack and is a waste of time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting

I like the narrator. The book started out strong but I didn't feel that the life stories of some of the people surrounding the duchess were necessary. Intervening overall and well read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Nothing New.

Very hard to get through. I found myself using it like Sominex, because it was so dry it put me to sleep. No secrets here...like I said: nothing new. Obviously written by a fan of the Windsors who viewed them as these huge victims rather than the captain's of their fates.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb book

Nor saint nor demon, but a flawed human being, Vickers brings The Duchess of Windsor to life in her many shades of being.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Incredibly Boring

What didn’t you like about John Telfer’s performance?

His voice is a bit monotone. Could put you to sleep.

Any additional comments?

The subject matter is what caught my attention because I love their story. However, the book is so incredibly boring I couldn't get through it all.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Book one has too much French

Book 1 ..way too much French. Was this about Metra Blum or the Windsors?
Very little here that we didn't know.
One wonders though with modern medicine how they would have fared.
SO WHERE DID THE MONEY GO ?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Grab a French translator first-

Of course a compelling subject, but I was distracted by the narrator's very flowery and overly pronounced French. Making things worse, in most cases, there was rarely a translation made to help us out. The editing was not the best - but if things like that don't get on your nerves- enjoy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful