Prince Harry will speak candidly to Anderson Cooper in a CBS news special which will air ahead of his upcoming memoir, Spare.
The Duke of Sussex isn’t holding back and has dropped several bombshell revelations in the chat which has been teased across social media.
However, it has emerged the 38-year-old has a secret connection with Anderson who is related to the person who introduced Harry’s great-great Uncle King Edward VIII to his future wife, Wallis Simpson.
READ MORE: Prince Harry breaks silence on returning to royal fold in bombshell interview
However, it is not known whether Harry or Anderson, who is the son of Thelma’s sister, Gloria Vanderbilt, were aware of their hidden link.
(Image: CBS News)
King Edward abdicated the throne in 1936 in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis, causing a constitutional crisis and changing the monarchy forever.
But before Mrs Simpson came along, Cooper’s great-aunt Lady Thelma Furness had an affair with Edward while he was the Prince of Wales during the 1920s through to the 30s.
Edward was known for his lothario ways which included a romance with a high-class prostitute who murdered her husband.
(Image: Getty Images)
However, the Duke of Windsor had originally met Lady Furness back in 1926 while they were both attending an agriculture show in June 1929.
It’s believed that the pair instantly struck up a romance and engaged in an affair, despite Lady Furness being married to wealthy businessman Marmaduke Furness who was 20 years older than her.
At the time of their affair starting, Edward was said to be head over heels in love with Freda Ward who was married to MP William Dudley Ward.
(Image: Getty Images)
After meeting Thelma, she and the Prince gifted one another teddy bears from the luxury department store Harrods in a bid to remind each other about one another when they were not together.
Author Rachel Trethewey has previously claimed that Thelma’s teddy bear from the late King was found at the bottom of her bag when she died after suffering from a heart attack in 1970.
Their romance soon heated up with Thelma joining the prince on a safari holiday to Kenya in 1930 which she recalled being blissful.
(Image: CBS News)
Following their return to the UK, Thelma frequently joined the prince at Fort Belvedere until January 1934 while he also visited her home in Elsworthy Road, Primrose Holl, as well as her family country house, Burrough Court.
But in January 1931, Thelma made the mistake of introducing Edward to Wallis Simpson at Burrough Court.
Towards the end of her life, Thelma shared her regrets, explaining: “I’d do it all again, the only thing I would not do again is introduce Wallis Simpson to the Prince of Wales.”
Following her death in New York, Thelma’s niece Gloria Vanderbilt said: “She dropped dead on Seventy-third and Lexington on her way to see the doctor.
“In her bag was this miniature teddy bear that the Prince of Wales had given her, years before when she came to be with my mother at the custody trial, and it was worn down to the nub.”
Daily Star has approached Prince Harry and Anderson Cooper’s representatives for comment.
READ NEXT:
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
